The first time I recorded a radio commercial I was working in radio. I walked into the booth, sat down in front of the microphone, put the gargantuan headset on, and waited for the cue from the producer.
Then I threw up.
Not literally, mind you. No, there were no chunks on the desk. What I mean is, the words that came out of my mouth didn’t even remotely resemble the words that were in the copy. I was nervous. I was a rookie. I was unprepared. I was humiliated.
Screwing up back in those days was a pain in the butt. You see, there was no Adobe Audition. No Pro Tools. There was tape. There was reel-to-reel. That meant one of two things. A) You nail the take. B) You cut and edit old school.
I don’t know why, but the producer wasn’t into option B.
I learned very quickly that before I sat down to record, I needed to be prepared. If my production shift was at 2pm, I’d show up at 1:45pm. I’d take all the scripts I had to read and I’d practice.
It took a while, but eventually I learned to become a one take wonder.
One take… after five or ten or forty-seven practice takes!
When you send me your script to record I read the entire thing over a couple of times before I ever push the record button. I want to get a feel for the script. I want to highlight sections that need emphasis. I want to look up any tricky names or words I might be unfamiliar with.
I rehearse so that when I record you get what you’re looking for.
Or, there’s this guy.
Have you got a script you need recorded right? I’d be happy to read it. Send me an email and we’ll talk. marc@marcscottonline.com
