As I mentioned in my earlier post (Virgin Blogger pops Cherry), I have taken advantage of what technology has to offer in my line of work. Before I ramble on about my toys, I'd like you to know that I work as a Continuity Announcer for a TV station in the Philippines called the Hero Channel. It shows Japanese Anime and Sentai shows dubbed in Filipino. My voice, this time in English, comes in during the breaks, announcing promos, preview plugs, or what have you. In short, I'm the TV Station Voice. This has been going on since January of 2006.
To get to work, I drive all the way to the nearest MRT station (Ayala), park my car and take the train to the nearest station to ABSCBN (Quezon Ave). Then, in a futile attempt to burn calories (which I regain later during the day when snacking), I do an 8 minute walk to the TV station. On the 10th floor of the ELJCC building that's where the offices and the recording studio are. I say hello to the writers, get their scripts and their audio tapes, knock on the sound engineer's quarters to summon them for work, then off we go inside the recording studio. Once I'm done I give them back their audio tapes, then walk back to the station, ride the train, get to my car, drive home. If I'm to sum it up, the whole trip (to and back) takes about 3 hours. The recording process takes about 20 minutes. Crazy, isn't it? Don't forget that I subject myself to the stressful ordeal of driving through traffic, riding the public transport packed with people who haven't been introduced to a deodorant, and spending for parking, gas, and MRT tickets. Really crazy. So, I figured, there must be a way to make my life easier. After asking around with my friends in the recording industry, mostly sound engineers, I finally saw the light. Or in this case, maybe even heard it.
May I present to you the Samson Co3u. Go ahead and google it. It's a professional microphone, but this time it attaches itself to my Macbook via USB. No need for converter boxes, or pre-amps. Once I have downloaded the scripts sent to me by my writers via email, I just plug this baby right in, use iLife's Garage Band software to record and edit my voice, export it to iTunes to convert it to AIFF format, then upload it through Sendspace.com. Sendspace sends me a link where I may download or delete the file, then I forward this link to my writers. I do this without leaving the house. All I do is surround my table with pillows, put a pillow over my head (yes, I know, it looks so silly, but it keeps my voice from bouncing from the ceiling), hit the record button, and voice away. No need to drive or ride the train.
Best of all, I can do this wearing only my underwear. But that would paint a really nasty image so forget I said that.
Point is: I've set up my own portable studio. I can even work while travelling. However, this could only work for that particular job I mentioned above. I don't think this could work with Radio and TV advertisement recordings since the producers still prefer directing the voice talents in real time and in the flesh. But one has got to admit, technology has made my life easier.
I'm not keeping my hopes up, however. I know how much space I've dedicated harping over this form of convenience, but the truth is, I have yet to hear from the TV management if they are willing to allow this relatively new method. Honestly, I've been doing this for a couple of weeks already, and earlier today, I personally went there to get some feedback from our writers. Writers are okay with it, so I went to ask the channel producer. Channel producer said they are aware of: 1. my relocation to Singapore and 2. if they decide to keep me they will allow the emailing of my voice. Channel producer said they have yet to decide on it.
My take? They're going to let me go and get another talent.
For sure they're going to come up with some reason as to why it would be an inconvenience if I can't work in the usual fashion. They might even say that I'm pushing my luck. I myself wouldn't retain myself. I'd fire my pompous ass. It's not like there's a massive clamor for my oh-so-the-usual announcer voice. They could easily conduct auditions and get a replacement.
And so the adventure continues: will I still retain my TV station Voice-Over status? Or will they tell me to quit or else they'll ram my co3u USB microphone up my ass?
Stick around. I'll enlighten you.
12July07/ Manila, Philippines
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