"Do we
need to cast a voice-over talent for
this project?"
That's 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 Machine
In 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 that's being used to
synthesize background vocals on actual
recordings that are being sold to the
public--background vocals so good, you'd
be hard-pressed to recognize they're
fake singers. Now, considering the
dubious singing talents of many of our
current pop stars, maybe a Vocaloid
virtual diva named Britney isn't too
far-fetched. Audio manipulation,
including pitch correction,
equalization, compression, reverb, have
been used for decades to save the bacon
of many a pop star's performance
in-studio or on stage. Technically, it's
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 he's 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. It's been a long and painful
ordeal, but I've finally gotten them to
the point where they seem as real as any
other band out there--except no live
concerts."
I've Gotta Sing
And that's the crux of the matter. The
appeal of virtual entertainers probably
will be quite limited--at least for the
foreseeable future--because they can't
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 performer's
music. And, in this case, that's 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 of Forever Hold Your Peace
But voice over talents may not be so
lucky. Voice talents are not seen. They
don't 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, what's 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, voila, 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
you're done.
Far-fetched? If entertainment's got a
virtual band call The Bots, why can't
advertising and marketing have its own
virtual Don Pardo?
Well, it seems maybe they can...
©Peter
Drew
Peter
Drew, a freelance voice-over talent and
copywriter/producer with decades of
experience, is heard on radio and
television stations, corporate
presentations, web sites, and
messages-on-hold across America and
countries around the world. To send an
email regarding this article, please
visit Peter Drew Voiceovers at
http://www.peterdrewvo.com/
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