The,Future,Voiceovers,Hold,You technology The Future of Voiceovers: Hold Your Tongue Possibly Forever
The electronic cigarette is not new. People who buy electronic cigarette knows that this product has been in the market for years now. Despite some sectors apparently trying to shoot the product down from the shelves, the popularity of elect Active shredder safety technology for the small office. Shreds 15sheets per pass into 5/32" x 1-1/2" cross-cut particles (Security Level3). Patented SafeSense® Technology stops shredding when hands touch thepaper opening. Designated shredde
Thats a valid question any producer might ask when creating an advertisement, corporate audio-video presentation, video game, etc. Of course, the answer depends on what elements the producer and client feel will best communicate with the audience. For a radio ad, a fully sung jingle with no voice-over could work best. A TV spot or corporate narration might be most effective using scrolling graphic and text, again without an announcer. But very soon producers could be pondering whether their productions need a voice over talent for a more disturbing reason. Vocal utterances produced by air passing through folds of tissue and formed by lips, teeth, and tongue may, simply put, become obsolete. Yes, the virtual voice talent may very well become a reality.Welcome to the MachineIn the May 2004 issue of Mix Magazine, in two separate articles, Stephen St. Croix and Paul D. Lehrman relate their experiences with a new piece of software ominously named Vocaloid. This little computer-coded wonder is a speech synthesizer thats being used to synthesize background vocals on actual recordings that are being sold to the publicbackground vocals so good, youd be hard-pressed to recognize theyre fake singers. Now, considering the dubious singing talents of many of our current pop stars, maybe a Vocaloid virtual diva named Britney isnt too far-fetched. Audio manipulation, including pitch correction, equalization, compression, reverb, have been used for decades to save the bacon of many a pop stars performance in-studio or on stage. Technically, its just a short step from this point to a singer in a box.In fact, in the letters section of the July 2004 issue of Mix Magazine a person identified only as BC, referring to the St. Croix and Lehrman articles, boasted that hes created a band called The Bots created wholly from speech synthesizers and 3-D graphics. BC further states, I use Vocaloid among a variety of other speech synths to make it more into an ensemble. The Bots have released two CDs, a record deal with Magnatune, and a second video in the works. Its been a long and painful ordeal, but Ive finally gotten them to the point where they seem as real as any other band out thereexcept no live concerts.I've Gotta SingAnd thats the crux of the matter. The appeal of virtual entertainers probably will be quite limitedat least for the foreseeable futurebecause they cant tour, do drugs, get into fights, sue their record labels, promote world peace, raise money for charity, or do anything live flesh and blood performers can do. We, the audience, love the performer as much as the performers music. And, in this case, thats a good thing. Tony Bennett, the White Stripes, Diana Krall, Toby Keith, Frederica von Stade, and all of the American Idol wannabes are quite safe from Vocaloid elimination.Speak Now or Forever Hold Your PeaceBut voice over talents may not be so lucky. Voice talents are not seen. They dont have adoring fans, except their moms and, maybe, a few other voice-over talents. They perform in short increments: 30 seconds, 60 seconds, a 30 minute narration on how to make a million in real estate. If speech synthesis has reached a point of sophistication sufficient enough to create virtual singers, whats to prevent a software genius from developing a program to replace voice talent? Write the program. Sample 300 to 500 voices, male and female, each with unique characteristics, incorporate them into the software and, voilá, Instant Announcer in a Box. Just load your script text into the program, which converts the text to perfectly uttered speech. No retakes. With a few clicks of the mouse to tweak inflection, emphasis, pacing, dynamics, etc. to polish the natural feel of the voice-over and youre done.Far-fetched? If entertainments got a virtual band call The Bots, why cant advertising and marketing have its own virtual Don Pardo?Well, it seems maybe they can...©Peter Drew
The,Future,Voiceovers,Hold,You