Monday May 19, 2014

EWABS Episode 143 May 12, 2014 with Harlan Hogan

Episode 143, May 12, 2014

Guests: Harlan Hogan of Voiceover Essentials and David McRell of CEntrance, introducing MixerFace.

George on the role of webcams in home studios.

Dan on what you call your “home studio.”

0:02:18 Opening of the show with Dan and George.

0:04:38 George talks about using webcams in your own studio to go back to face-to-face contact. Why aren’t we using video more? George urges to use your webcams and Skype to improve the connection you have with clients.

0:08:13 Dan weighs in on the topic. Sometimes bandwidth issues interfere. He uses his iPhone or iPad to do the video. Clients watch him, but he doesn’t watch them. Dan and George talk about whether it’s a distraction. George proposes we explore the idea.

0:11:52 Break

0:13:09 They’re back.

0:13:39 Dan talks about Studio Suit. People are raving! http://www.vostudiosuit.com/

Studio Suit comes in 8’x5’ pieces.

0:15:45 Tip of the Week: At WoVOCon the idea came up of not using the term “home studio.” Dan thinks we should change the name of “home studio” to “personal VO studios” for client consumption. No one needs to see how the sausage gets made! He lists pros and cons of studios at home. The only thing that matters is how does your audio sound. PPVOS: A personal, professional voice-over studio.

0:19:01 Back to the show. Dan continues the discussion. “Home studio” has a negative connotation.

0:20:54 Dan shows two business cards—two VO actors, but identically designed cards from Vista Print.

0:21:23 George likes the idea of losing the word “home” from a branding standpoint. Then he asks about how “professional” gets overused.

0:22:40 Dan and George fields a question about TwistedWave vs. ProTools. A TW user has created a keyboard shortcut for inserting silence to “punch and roll,” and the question was is that possible in ProTools. George wasn’t aware of one but suspects that a ProTools user out there has created something.

0:26:14 Break

0:27:49 They’re back with the guests, David and Harlan.

0:28:42 Dan asks Harlan how Voiceover Essentials got started. Harlan tells the history. It started with Porta-Booth. He stumbled into the idea and posted it on the web. Then somebody suggested making and selling them. After the first 1500 it occurred him that there was no VO source. It was a complete accident.

0:32:59 Harlan tells about how the business grew once he got set up at Amazon. http://voiceoveressentials.com/ He goes on to tell stories about his stopwatch and his book which looks at the days when VO actors and engineers all knew each other through studio work. http://alturl.com/t7x6x The second edition comes out in July.

0:40:00 Q: What does HH think of all the crowd sourcing of auditions? A: It sucks! It does speak to the difference between auditioning and building a business. That means going out and finding work. Pay-to-plays don’t build a business.

0:42:40 David McRell joins the discussion. He’s a development engineer at CEntrance. There are four MixerFaces in existence. It’s a portable solution for recording with iPhone, iPod, and iPad. http://centrance.com/products/mixerface/

0:47.53 David explains the limiter function to prevent clipping your audio when you get too loud. George says the limiter makes this product unique. Set it and forget it.

0:49:48 George talks about how difficult self-engineering is when you’re performing.

0:51:01 David shows the size of the MixerFace compared to an iPod Touch. It’s the same size as the iPhone5 generation.

0:52:00 George asks if it’s compatible with other devices, too. Yes, if you have a USB Audio Recorder Pro. Check your Android phone specs. If it has “USB Host” capability, then Android will work.

0:53:41 George asks what controls the MixerFace has. David shows controls. It can handle ISDN input.

0:55:35 Dan asks if you can plug it in or if runs off its own battery. You can charge both the MixerFace and your iPhone or iPad when you plug it in.

0:57:30 Available in July but probably August will be the earliest David said they will be able to ship MixerFace.

0:58:50 Q: Is the battery replaceable? A: The battery will last about seven hours.

Q: What about over the long term? A: It’s not super high powered so they expect the battery will last two years.

1:00:49 Break

1:01:29 They’re back. Harlan voices his own ad.

1:03:11 Harlan says email terry.lee@voiceoveressentials.com if you’d like to order a MixerFace when they’re available. When the device is actually going to be available, they’ll contact you. No obligation. Harlan then talks about how you could use the MixerFace to serve as a phone patch and mixing board. True phone patches allow you to play back audio for clients to hear during sessions.

1:08:24 Harlan talks about new items at Voiceover Essentials: Decoupling speaker foam (“speaker shock mounts”). They “decouple” your speaker from the shelf. http://voiceoveressentials.com/content/shock-mount-speaker-stand.htm

0:13:13 Harlan talks about a shotgun mic shock mount.

1:14:10 Harlan shows his find, a 2 oz. shotgun mic shock mount for a 416. Cost $29.99. http://voiceoveressentials.com/content/shotgun-shock-mount.htm

1:17:15 Harlan shows his adjustable mic stand. http://voiceoveressentials.com/Harlan-Hogan-Universal-Desktop-Microphone-Stand/M/B009W3B2FI.htm

1:17:59 Dan shows a new use for the “Adjustable Boom Stop.” http://voiceoveressentials.com/content/abs.htm

EWABS Episode 143 May 12, 2014 with Harlan Hogan

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