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Setting the Right Tone for Each Political Message

BACKGROUND: The 2006 political season, beginning with primaries in the spring, was a typically busy time. I recorded radio and TV commercials for (and against) a range of candidates that spanned nine states, mostly in the Midwest.

APPROACH: Each political spot required its own careful vocal shading. Although many of the spots I voiced were critical of an opponent, it was important to avoid any hint of anger and lean more toward a sense of incredulousness or disappointment. No matter what direction the spot took, strategic copy points needed to be highlighted with special care to be credible and win the voter's trust. Compare the tone in this TV spot to this one.

A Single Narrator and a Cast of Characters

BACKGROUND: Syndicated sportswriter Mike Lupica's recent novel, "Heat," tells the story of Michael Arroyo, a young Cuban refugee whose new life in Brooklyn revolves around baseball. Narrating this book calls in some special skills.

APPROACH: The narrator is "home base" for a book's listeners, in this case, primarily young adults. So job one is to keep the narrator's sensibility consistent and clearly separate from that of the characters. As the book's characters have non-American accents, it was an easy choice to set the narrator apart as an American. The characters, all fairly recent immigrants from Cuba, presented the greater challenge, ranging from youthful (Michael and his friends, male and female) to elderly (Michael's father, neighbor lady). I used pitch, pace and certain vocal characteristics, such as varying amounts of gravel or energy (for age) and breathiness (for gender) to delineate each character from the others.

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