VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Rick Riley]

I've been given good grades on my current commercial demo, but I'm getting tired of it and it's two years old. So I've taken new clips for the new year and I'm trying to come up with a new demo.

If I was in love with it, I would just use it, so since I'm posting it for opinions, that alone says something. And there's no better place to get a gathering of professional opinions than here.

http://soundcloud.com/rickriley-1/comm-demo-proto-a

As always, thanks for your help.
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Never do anything you wouldn't want to explain to the Paramedics

www.rickrileyvoice.com

[Bruce]

Well, all the pieces are very good, but I wouldn't start a commercial demo with a TV narration/promo piece or certainly two like you have. I'd certainly put those in a separate demo, but then I'd sprinkle one or both of them in later in your commercial demo.

The buzz words in national commercials right now are "natural, conversational, real", so I'd concentrate on those. Your 3rd piece ("school bus") sounds like a good starter. Actually your "up" commercials are fairly low key now that I listen again.

My thoughts are evolving as I listen again.... If you want to keep every piece just move the first two to later positions.

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[ricevoice]

+1 to everything Bruce said.

I really like your voice/vibe/sound, and I don't think this demo serves you that well. The first 2 clips seem like a very similar type of read (albeit with different production behind them)... there's no real vocal variety until almost :20 in. Personally, I'd like to hear a real conversational read... not just a "non-announcer" sounding read but something that sounds like you hangin with one of your buddies. And maybe something fun/funny if you've got it. This demo does a nice job of showcasing your voice but it doesn't show a lot of range/variety in what you can do with it. I also think the song clip at the end is a little distracting... you only have 60 seconds to play with and you're giving 6 of them to a song hook.

I just checked out your current commercial demo on your site and I think it does a much better job of showing all that you bring to the table... maybe think about taking a couple of those clips and work them in with some of the new stuff to balance everything out? Just some ideas.
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Chris Rice - Noisemaker
www.ricevoice.com

[heyguido]

Although your current demo may be 2 years old, it serves you well. Having listened to this one a few times, I can understand your mixed feelings. This isn't it, although there are some good reads in there. I'm with Bruce on the doc pieces.... Not for commercial demo, though I understand why you'd want a piece of the baseball read in just about any demo. It's great. Lose the country spot. It's not doing anything for you, and the music just eats the clock.

I have some other thoughts for you that may help focus your next edit/attempt, but I'm on my way out the door to a gig.... I'll shoot you a pm or email later....
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Don Brookshire
"Wait.... They wanna PAY me for this?"

[Rick Riley]

Thank you all for taking the time to listen and comment and also the extra time to listen to my current demo and compare.

My 'reasons' for construction really don't matter to the listener. Demo's get heard quickly, without explanation. But I will share them with you, the 'insiders' nevertheless.

When I first studied with Nancy Wolfson, I expected her to rip my current demo apart. She even prepped me before she heard it, that she WOULD be ripping it apart. She then listened to it four times and said, 'That's f****** good!' So to this day, it has stayed and it has brought me a considerable amount of auditions. But as I said, it's gone unchanged for two years.

To address your comments. The reason I began with the promo, is because it's been getting a lot of attention. It's for Major League Soccer. The St. Louis Cardinals, piece I put on another forum post is a direct result of this promo. Some other things are also happening as a result from this promo. So apparently for me, this is a money voice and I've always been told to lead with your money voice. But granted, it is NOT natural, nor conversational, nor real by any means, all the buzzwords that Bruce pointed out. Everything else on the demo is from TV spots, either regional or national, including the second spot on the demo, which is from the TV spots I do for the Minnesota Vikings.

To address Chris' suggestion, I would love to put something fun/funny or me hangin' out with buddies on my demo, but I don't have anything like that because apparently my voice doesn't lend itself to that. I'm trying to use stuff that has actually run.

I found this to be very interesting. In talking with a major agent regarding that MLS piece. He asked me how old I am. I said I'm getting old enough where I'm reluctant to say. He told me, if I were any younger, I probably wouldn't have been able to give it the read I did. It's experience in age that allows you to deliver that type of emotion. I thought that was very kind and quite insightful. So maybe the reason I don't have the 'hangin' out with my buddies' spot, is because no one wants to hear a guy my age say, 'Whoa, check out the chick in the orthopedic leotard!' A joke, but you get the idea. I'm getting older and so maybe my focus needs to change.

And the reason I ended the demo with the music spot was because it was uptempo, I like doing music spots if they come my way, and it was national. And I felt like having the 'available at Target' tag, said so.

That's my lengthy reasons, which really don't make a hill of beans difference, because you have offered me what you heard, and that's what's important. So I will work on it and when I think I have it nailed. I'll throw it on here as conclusion to the thread.

Again, thanks for your time and insight. I've been part of this board long enough to know your opinion matters. And I appreciate it.
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Never do anything you wouldn't want to explain to the Paramedics

www.rickrileyvoice.com

[ballenberg]

[bobsouer]

Rick,

Nancy had a similar reaction to my commercial demo when I started working with her in 2007. Three years later I brought that demo to her and she worked on an update to that demo for me, which I'm still using. Quite a bit more cost effective than the full Wolfson demo package and might be just what you need?
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Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
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