VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Mike Harrison

It can depend on several factors, but has landscaping or other noise ever interrupted (briefly or for a prolonged period) a live, directed session... or called a complete halt to one?

I ask because, after playing Russian Roulette for too many years and finally telling clients I could no longer guarantee directed sessions would not be interrupted, I am considering buying a booth. (Why only now? It's a long story.) However, I cannot afford a completely soundproof enclosure, so my choices are limited to those which will simply not keep all outside noise outside. So... even with a booth, has anyone had a live, directed session interrupted and, if so, how did you handle it?

Please feel free to reply privately, if you prefer.

(Edited to clarify: live, directed session.)
_________________
Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

Bruce · Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 12:27 pm Post subject:

Moe Egan posts regularly on how the gardeners at the neighboring church are "blowing for Jesus again", bringing her work to a stop. I have a similar situation here with the church gardeners across the small dale between us using blowers fitted with World War II surplus fighter plane engines. If I'm recording I just have to stop and switch to editing or cruising the Internet for half an hour. The gardeners at our condo group are not quite so noisy, but noisy enough to have to quit for a while.

B
_________________
VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

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

todd ellis · Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 12:42 pm Post subject:

when my nextdoor neighbor fires up his cessna denali turbo prop ZTR - it's all over. i might as well mow too.
_________________
"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

Mike Harrison · Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 1:25 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the replies thus far but, I'm sorry, I should've been more clear: has noise ever interrupted or brought to a halt a live, directed session?
_________________
Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

Bob Bergen · CM Joined: 22 Apr 2008 Posts: 981

My first Covid session in my home studio was, of course, on gardener day. Thank God I invested in a truly sound proof booth. I heard nothing with the door closed.

At the end of the session, my spouse comes running in. "OMG, I am SOOO sorry!!! Did that mess up your session?" I asked, "The gardeners? No, couldn't hear a thing with the door of the booth closed." "NO! Not the gardener! I accidentally set off the burglar alarm!"

....I heard nada. The moral of the story: Invest in a great recording space! And if you want to rob me, wait until a vo session!! Wink

Jack Daniel · Cinquecento Joined: 23 Jun 2016 Posts: 585 Location: SoCal

But what if I want to rob you of the booth, Bob?

I don't want to alarm you, but I just ordered some black-and-white striped shirts from Amazon.
_________________
Jack Daniel
Narrator / Man About Town

Bob Bergen · CM Joined: 22 Apr 2008 Posts: 981

Deirdre · Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 7:19 am Post subject:

I was going to buy a booth last year, but my ceilings are only 7' and the Whisper rooms are 6' 11" so there couldn't even be a carpet isolating it from the floor.

So I had a room-within-a-room custom-built for about the same cost, with a rubber floor and the whole shebang. Thing is, my house itself is acoustically transparent, so even though the panels we made are massively thick with shingles and MDF et cetera, the train (crossing is about 200 meters away) is still audible. Those long-as-heck sound waves just invite themselves in for tea.

All the higher frequencies are completely blocked, tho'. Once I get the interior design settled, I'll post pictures. 😊
_________________
DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

Karyn OBryant · Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 1:34 pm Post subject:

Beware if Jack starts ordering black hats. All the baddies have them.

Not much you can do about the train, Deebs. Just pour some tea for yourself and wait, I guess.

My cat (a lady of a certain age and deafness level) has learned to screech at a volume and pitch that pierces my best attempts at sound damping. She often has to be locked out of the entire room.
_________________
* * * * * * * * * *
Pretending to be other people since 1986.

www.karynobryant.com

Bruce · Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 3:41 pm Post subject:

When we're socked in with low clouds the airport changes it's flight path really close to our home and the big jets make a deep roar and rumble. There have been a couple of sessions over the years where we had to take a pause for that particular cause....usually just a minute or two. Thankfully it's not common.

B
_________________
VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

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

Lee Gordon · Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2021 1:02 am Post subject:

Many years ago, I used to record narrations to accompany educational film strips (I told you it was many years ago). The client's studio was in the attic of an old, non-air-conditioned, Victorian house that was located directly beneath the flight path of runway 6 at Bradley International Airport, about five miles away as the crow (and the low flying jetliner) flies. But that's not all. It was also less than half a mile from Ensign Bickford's manufacturing and test facility. They make high explosives. When it got hot in the attic, we recorded with the windows open. Between the planes and the bombs, it could get a little noisy.
I worked for another client whose animation studio was also in the flight path of runway 6, but they were just 2000 feet from the end of the runway.
_________________
Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice

ConnieTerwilliger · Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 1:25 pm Post subject:

I have had to pause for helicopters and trash trucks. Briefly. Luck has played into this I am sure.

But the other day, I was doing a Source-Connect test with a new (to me) "studio" and his 7-week old new baby girl was the noise in the background!

Mom had just ducked into the shower for a few minutes.

The next day, there was no interruptions on either end of the line.
_________________
Playing for a living...
www.voiceover-talent.com
YouTube Channel: http://youtube.com/connieterwilliger

Mandy Nelson · Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:50 am Post subject:

Yes - but rarely and I just go with it, tell them what is up and it has never been an issue. I imagine it is less of one now that so many people have been putting up with a lot of noise in the house around them as they work

When my kids were really little I was on the phone with a client and I kept one step ahead of the kids by continuing to walk up the front stairs, through the house, down the backstairs, through the house, etc. It was a time when I didn't tell people that my studio was in my home because a) it was generally frowned upon that I didn't go into a studio and b) working at home with kids underfoot didn't make me look too professional. Basically, being a woman had me feeling like I had to show a different face to clients. Well on this day I did so many laps he finally asked me why I was out of breath. Just as I came clean his 10yo came bursting into his home office asking a question. We laughed it all off and worked together many times after that.
_________________
006 member of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Mic. Bonded by sound.

Manfillappsoc: The Mandy and Philip mutual appreciation Society. Who's in your network?

Have you seen my mic closet? ~ me to my future husband