By Emmet Robinson                             King Street Recording Company
Professional Audio Services for Any Purpose You Can Think Of – Video and Photo Too!
Volume 64, Fall, 2016         610-647-4341           www.kingstreetrecording.com  kingstreetrecord@aol.com
Blog: www.emmetrobinson.com/wp/
Fiftieth Year of Operation!

You Asked For It!
In the business world, being a “One-Trick Pony” can be risky, and diversification becomes necessary for continued growth. Sometimes that happens as a natural process of evolution. When someone asks, “What do you do at your studio?” the answer is, “What do you want?”

• The business started in 1967 as a location recording service for musicians, capturing their performances “live” as they happened. 
• Then, when someone asked about an actual studio, I had to create one. 
• Requests for recording of larger groups led to moving to larger quarters.
• When someone asked about a video interview with a parent, lights, camera and tripod were added.
• An advertising executive heard me emceeing at a club, liked my voice, and asked me to read the script for a radio commercial. 
• Someone else heard the commercial and asked me to narrate a corporate audiovisual presentation. That’s like a commercial, but longer. Since then, working with other voiceover artists, we’ve produced hundreds of commercials and corporate training programs. 
• A request for instruction led me to offer private coaching in the effective use of the voice – for speaking or for singing. 
• A postcard request on a community bulletin board led to creating character voices, original music and sound effects for professional puppet shows. 
• When a neighbor asked about converting a vintage audiotape to disk, a new line of related services was born. CDs are now made from open-reel tapes, audiocassettes, micro cassettes and all forms of phonograph records.
• When someone asked about restoring a damaged photograph, an additional workstation was installed to handle the request. Developing that process led to restoring and preserving vintage photos, documents, certificates, hand-written letters, etc.
• In response to a request to restore and preserve a vintage video, some new equipment – and an extra computer – added yet another new service.

Thanks to the Internet, people now call from out of state and send work by mail. This has led to clients in Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, New Mexico, Oklahoma, California and Germany. 

This natural evolution, based entirely on requests, has allowed this small business to become the longest continuously operating sound studio on the Main Line – beginning year Number 50 as of this writing.

While there continue to be occasional variations in the menu of services, the bulk of the work currently consists of:

• Restoration of vintage sound recordings, videos and photographs
• Narration and audio production for instructional video
• Recording of acoustic (unplugged) voice and music 
• Professional entertainment services including Senior Serenades – shows presenting the Great American Songbook from 1925 to 1955.

All of these extensions on the original business occurred because someone asked for them. What do YOU want? Ask. You might get it!

IN THE STUDIO
Words
On the Web
Producing audio for website videos can be a lot of fun, and a good time was had by all in recording the narration for a new and innovative board game. The designers’ aim is to produce games and books that are both enjoyable and educational. Their products feature outdoor themes and emphasize teamwork and ethical values.

And Now this Brief Word…
One of the reasons archival disks are made of most sessions is that sometimes we need to go back to an original source. A major recycling company had discontinued one of their many specialties and replaced it with a new process – described in just two words. Since the narration on their video was now obsolete, it was necessary to record those two words and “paste ‘em in.” The trick was to make the revision match the original in pacing and tonal quality. Creating a new session file from the archival disk allowed comparing the old with the new, and a close match was achieved.

Archival disks – audio, video and photo – are retained for ten years at no charge.

Getting Smarter – On Line
I just finished narrating and producing the audio track for an online training program for medical personnel. Some of the technical terminology was truly challenging!

Many sentences had to be read several times before they made sense. The challenge was to decipher the actual meaning of each part of the script, and then make those messages real to the viewer/listener/participant. This training will be provided online to medical and healthcare personnel all over the country. If I don’t make the message real, and hold their attention, I haven’t done my job. Just reading the words isn’t enough. Each participant in this sophisticated program must experience the sensation of an actual person speaking directly to them. Yes, making the message seem natural and conversational does require a degree of acting ability. Although this kind of highly technical work is difficult, it’s also highly enjoyable. I wonder what’s next?

Getting On the Air
Mike has a very pleasant baritone voice and wants to narrate radio commercials, training programs and talking books. He has some useful advantages. One, he has a very good ear and recognizes subtle variations in timing, dynamics, pacing and voice inflection. Two, he takes instruction extremely well. And three, he’s well organized. That alone sets him apart from many others seeking similar goals.

In producing his demo, he was very easy to work with. One of his narratives was a reading from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Charged with emotion, his reading made me want to hear him read the rest of the story.

Across the Seas
Because the client company operates internationally, and the voiceover talent lived in this area, we recorded the narration for a promotional video being produced in Germany. The engineer in Nuremburg made contact by searching the web for a studio convenient to the talent. 

Production went smoothly, with appropriate file formats emailed to Germany, and my compensation received through PayPal.

On the Air
Another client was blessed with a magnificent bass profundo voice with the kind of resonance that makes James Earl Jones sound like a choirboy in comparison. Needing a demo, his visit here was his first time in a studio. Working with his original materials, we recorded two scripts that will represent him well in demonstrating his distinctive sound. To learn how to get paid for talking, call me at 610-647-4341.

Music
Back and Forth
With digital technology, it’s possible to do what could have never been done with tape.  

A recent project began with the client’s original mp3 files emailed here for editing. Since mp3s can’t be edited, they were used to create a digital session file in a computer.

With editing and processing completed, the digital session files were converted into standard AIFF files, stored on disk and mailed to the client for review and approval. 

Finally, with approval received, the AIFF files were converted back into mp3s, stored on a flash drive, and also mailed to the client.

How many conversions was that? I lost count! The point is that digital technology avoids nearly all of the loss of sound quality that would have occurred in making multiple generations of what began as an old analog tape. Digital audio – a modern miracle!

FROM THE ATTIC
AUDIO
Words
Found Words
All she had was a cell phone with old voicemail messages from family and friends, some of whom were no longer living. Working together, we were able to capture all of the messages. Then, careful editing allowed removal of all prompts such as, “That concludes this message…”

A single message from one parent was transferred to one disk, the others were put on a second disk. As a title she chose, “The Whole Mischpocha,” Yiddish for “extended family.”

Music
It’s not often that I’m required to correct errors made long ago by other studios. An open reel recording of a classical piano concert was delivered here on two separate reels. Each reel contained slightly different recordings of the same performance. 

Reel One, side A, was an excellent recording of a radio broadcast of a full orchestra – but not the performance the client wanted. Side B of the same tape began with a stereo recording of the correct performance. However, at about ten minutes into the program, the music from track one continued while track two began playing backwards! It was also incomplete, as the first few notes were missing from the beginning.

Reel Two, Side A, contained a monaural (single track) recording of the performance – but with the ending of the encore cut off.

Finally, on Side B, I found a superb complete monaural recorded performance of Chopin’s Twelve Etudes, Op. 25, followed by Nocturne in D Flat Major as an encore.

Software allowed splitting the single track so that the music would play through both speakers, and the client was delighted to have the performance preserved on disk.

The original recording was very likely done correctly in full stereo. Why were these copies done so poorly? The technician was careless, and used recycled materials for making the copies!

 VIDEO
Armchair Tourist
Meet and Greet
Preserving old family videotapes is always enjoyable because, through the images I see, I’m always meeting new people. With a recent client, I was able to meet the family, tour their elegant home, and enjoy their vacations in exotic places. Without the hassle of airport security, it’s a very pleasant way to travel and see the sights!

Happy Holiday!
He wanted to capture the squeals of excitement and the expressions on his kids’ faces as they opened their Christmas presents. Rather than try to hold the camera steady for that length of time, he simply put it on a tripod, set the zoom, and pressed Record.

The result was a super recording without any of the bounce and jiggle associated with hand-held camera work. If you don’t have a tripod for your camcorder, you might consider getting one. You’ll find uses for it!

Lighten Up!
In honor of his 65th birthday, his family and friends threw him an elegant birthday bash. The event was duly recorded on VHS videotape. Unfortunately, the rooms were not well lit and the entire party was shot using only available light. As a result, the video was so dark that most faces were unrecognizable. 

At the client’s request, careful adjustment of software settings allowed brightening up the images for a much more enjoyable recorded memory.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
This is King Street Recording Company’s fiftieth year of operation! That makes this small business the longest continually operating sound studio on the Main Line!

Thank you for helping to make that possible!

CHECK IT OUT!
Take a look at my other website at www.emmetrobinson.com. You might find something you like!