Voice Overs How Effective Are They?

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nextgen1

nextgen1

Mac Daddy DJ
Sep 23, 2006
3,178
784
65
Waterford, CA.
www.tngdj.com
This is from the wedding we did last night. The bride was kinda Hot :sqwink: the father was one of those kinda tough guys. The sound quality of the voice over was not very good. But I ended up losing about 250 dollars to find the right service (skype) great sound quality. This was not from skype. I had to get this done from a inexpensive service because other phone setup was not working well and would not send me the voice overs (magic Jack). But the real question is even with a crappy voice over how effective are these. Now the first 1:15 seconds is good after that its just the whole dance taking its's time. Watch the whole thing if you like but the first part is what I wanted to show you guys. Remember (Tough Dad) I like to make them cry and them make them sweat. :sqlaugh: Watch it in full screen mode. I love it. The photographer you see is one of the guys we work with all the time they refer us and we refer them. The bad thing was last night he sat a lens down and came back to get it and found it down a hill. Probably run over by one of the running kids. It cracked the lens (total cost 1800 dollars). Wedding was about 250 people.

Father & Daugher Voice Over on Vimeo
 
Dave to be honest I truly think Dad had no recollection of quality other than the beauty of the message. OF course we want to provide the best but truly this message brought emotion and obviously was heard to allow the results. I think that its likely that the higher quality would gained nothing further. Great moments happen when the message is understood.
 
I personally think you nailed it. Did you have them mixed prior and have one track, or were you playing two different tracks and hand-mixing them on the fly? I noticed the abrudt drop in volume right before the message, which would be my only critique to smooth out. I like it!
 
I always loop the intro in software while lowering the volume in that area I will lay the voice over. And yes you are correct. Nothing would have been gained by higher quality than making me happier with clarity. This bride was very nice but she never liked how she sounded and did her thing about 14 times on the voice over.

When it was done I was just glad to be done with it. Normally my fades in the software are much smoother also. For me this was the worst one I have done. But again this was simply to show how well these go over. In the last 7 weddings I have done 5 for them. Each time dad turns into a puddle and the bride is thrilled. The almost always get a round of applause also.
 
Randy A said:
I personally think you nailed it. Did you have them mixed prior and have one track, or were you playing two different tracks and hand-mixing them on the fly? I noticed the abrudt drop in volume right before the message, which would be my only critique to smooth out. I like it!
Click to expand...


Yep like I said for me this was my worst one. Fade intro and fade out where rough. I just really wanted it done and the bride was happy and that's all I cared about. Most of mine are done nice and the music is always smooth.
 
See Dave now your starting to get into the Videography field as that should have been better handled with professional gear at the videographers home where they do all the editing

I have been doing that for well over 15 years and are amazed how some want low quality over professional gear used

its like sending you out with an ipod to do a wedding - not good

it has it meaning, but it how it was created in my eyes, well I can see crappy sound and that was bad
sorry to say

the thoughts of what the bride done/added was good
 
I would never attempt this over a phone or VOIP at all. The best way to do this is straight into a mic, even a PC mic if you have nothing else. Set aside half an hour to have them come over or meet with them with a laptop. For that matter, you could even buy a handheld mp3 recorder and get it done very nicely. Once you have the source recording, process it accordingly at your leisure.

Any kind of transmission method is going to muck up the results and add an artificial quality to it. :sqcool:
 
DjDennis said:
See Dave now your starting to get into the Videography field as that should have been better handled with professional gear at the videographers home where they do all the editing

I have been doing that for well over 15 years and are amazed how some want low quality over professional gear used

its like sending you out with an ipod to do a wedding - not good

it has it meaning, but it how it was created in my eyes, well I can see crappy sound and that was bad
sorry to say

the thoughts of what the bride done/added was good
Click to expand...


This was done for me and no one else. I just used my new flip ultra hd. I'm thinking more of video logs. As far as the phone line is concerned most of the brides are maybe 500 miles away or even 50 but they have not had a problem with the general quality. As I said this woman did this 15 times Because she was not happy with her voice. I finally had to use a crappy service just to get something to use. And so far even with the crappy sound everyone one of these brides love it and so has the person that it was done for.
 
Great work and pretty awesome idea Dave. :) If it's an issue for you, perhaps there's an algorithm you can run the voice clips through to clean up the sound and bit and make them sound fuller. Almost like a photoshop filter. I know these filters exist because I've heard it done before.

Take a look at this forum thread: http://ask.metafilter.com/29454/How-do-I-clean-up-a-voice-recording
 
I have a free audio editor and it amazingly sounds great. Granted I have only played back on the computer but it sounds crystal clear. And I only used the built in mic in the laptop so if you used a head set or another mic, it might sound better.

http://www.free-audio-editor.com/
 
Frankly, I would not do voice-overs in this fashion.

It should not be the goal of the DJ to bring tears to people's eyes at a time when they are obviously already struggling to maintain their composure.

This tactic creates unnecessary anxiety is very much akin to the talk shows that would spring a "surprise" on an unsuspecting guest. We all know and understand how dad might be feeling right now - it is patently unkind to exploit him in this way.

A photograph of dad's tears is not what the bride wants to remember about her father 20 years from now.

Voice-overs belong in broadcast and recorded audio-visuals presentations. They are not for setting people in order to demonstrate some artificial "power of the DJ."

Both the bride and dad are going to cry today. Neither of them needs my help, and nor shall I appoint myself to determine when or where that shall occur.

One of the most revolting concepts in pop DJ culture right now is this notion of wedding DJs eliciting tears from thier patrons. It's not magic, and it's not professional. They are already on the verge of tears - pushing them over the edge requires no special talent. A true professional supports them in their effort to display every ounce of diginty and compsure during a very signifcant life transition.
 
Wow Pro sorry you feel that way. You obviously don't know me at all nor my heart. Personally these are alot of work and I would rather not do them. I only do these at the brides requests. Never on my own. I have never done one where the father of the bride was unhappy with it on the contrary was rather delighted and with a kind heart telling me how much it meant to them. I joke about liking to make them cry. I better stop bringing the rose for the mom for her dance with her son she usually cry's also.

I figure the bride is a big girl and knows what she is doing. What usually happens is that the people applaud for the bride. If you think I do this to be the power DJ. Please take your thoughts and Ideas of what I do and don't overlay them on my actions. I can honestly say that my clients love what I have done for them. If heading this direction and making my clients over joyed at there event is unprofessional. Then I hope that I never become that version of professional. I better stop raising my prices and start turning them away even if they come to me by word of mouth. At the end of this event for this voice over which I said was my crappiest one. The bride made a point at the end of the wedding in telling me this meant so much to her father. I think many people these days fail to express there love and for them this recording is gold plated. I 100 percent guarantee you that I will send this video as a suprise to the bride and she will love it as well as her father.

Our latest review on wedding wire it came in today

5 out of 5

Awesome DJ. A DJ can make or break your wedding and this DJ will definitly make your wedding. He makes sure you wedding day is perfect. He plays the music you ask for and is great!! He's goes above and beyond to make sure everything is exactly how you want it. He is very outgoing and great to work with!
 
In the end is the Bride choice. My 2 cents: Saying thanks to her father in such important moment is a wonderful idea.

Question for nextgen1. Do you charge for this service? Or freebe?
 
One free per event after that it is a 50 dollar charge. I had to do that because brides started wanting more than one of these per event and it was starting to be to much work. That and I told them that at one per event it makes it special and different. By the way this is not my idea other DJ's including Randy Bartlet have used voice overs. I just have made it my own and offered a service in my area that no one else offers. Which makes me different and sets me apart. I like that and so do my clients. And by the way I'm using (skype because of high call quality and another program called pretty may to convert it to an MP3).

Just to give you the other guys the info. It cost about 100 dollars for total setup and 60 dollars a year. Very cheap if you ask me and you can use the phone number to call any where in the USA and now add skype to your One free per event after that it is a 50 dollar charge. I had to do that because brides started wanting more than one of these per event and it was starting to be to much work. That and I told them that at one per event it makes it special and different. By the way this is not my idea other DJ's including Randy Bartlet have used voice overs. I just have made it my own and offered a service in my area that no one else offers. Which makes me different and sets me apart.

I like that and so do my clients. And by the way I'm using (skype because of high call quality and another program called pretty may to convert it to an MP3). Just to give you the other guys the info. It cost about 100 dollars for total setup and 60 dollars a year. Very cheap if you ask me and you can use the phone number to call any where in the USA and now add skype to your Iphone.

I did this about 1 1/2 year ago and it seems most brides make this there standard and then add to it. I don't tell them what to say or anything. They get there groove on all by themselves.
I always tell each bride that the quality will never be over phone line quality and they just don't seem to "DJ Care". :sqwink: Honestly what they like is the fact they can be 2000 miles away and do this and have it for their wedding.

YouTube - Voice Over









 
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