http://www.trishbertram.com en-gb trishbertram.com 2010-7-17T00:00:00Z trishbertram.com http://www.trishbertram.com/page11.htm#70614 Just back from a quick jaunt bargain holiday. On any flight I always lend a close ear to the flight attendant announcements. Not just because if something goes hideously wrong I a dont want to die just yet and b its a courtesy to do so those announcements are there for our benefit after all but also because I always wonder who trains the flight attendants how to make them. Rattling them out in a sing song rush all rising and falling cadences is not how it should be done. But if no one ever teaches them that then its really not their fault. A bit of training in this area couldnt harm. It would make the difference between sounding like they mean what they say which would have far greater impact on the listening passengers or sounding like Ive just got to read this out because its part of my job. Just a thought. 2010-7-17T00:00:00Z http://www.trishbertram.com/page11.htm#68360 I am known I suppose as a late adopter. I tend to watch how trends develop with a wry eye before I finally jump in and just recently I dipped another late toe in the world of social networking. Not without some reservation I signed up for Twitter. I am not sure yet what I think of it apart from that it seems to be another way to steal my time I havent yet got used to the notion of using it to tell anyone who might be reading just what I am up to at any given moment. I cant quite shake off the feeling of digital narcissism. Who would be interested But there are some very funny twitterers out there in cyberspace. In a sublime piece of inspiration the tweeting of Big Ben always puts a smile on my face. On the hourevery hour he tweets the requisite amount of bongs just when you expect him to.If you want to check it out its httptwitter.combigbenCLOCK. If you want to follow him hes bigbenCLOCKand if you want to follow me although I cant guarantee to be as entertaining as Big Ben I am VOT... 2010-6-19T00:00:00Z http://www.trishbertram.com/page11.htm#65770 Now what was that I was saying about the English accent recently...Russell Crowe appears to have been having his own problems with the vagaries of Englands mother tongue. Robin Hood may be a rollicking good movie but his Robin comes laced with an Irish lilt by all accounts. Its an interesting observation given that he allegedly took Michael Parkinsons solid Barnsley tones as his vocal guide. I just wonder who Dick van Dyke modelled himself on for Mary PoppinsAnd not too distantly related to the above I was recently in the frame for a vo job but someone along the chain had a concern. Youve got a great voice Trish...but can you sound less British 2010-5-20T00:00:00Z http://www.trishbertram.com/page11.htm#64046 Ive just got back from my travels which took an interesting turn when a certain Icelandic Volcano decided to make its presence felt. I had a lovely time in Australia after which a quick week in Dubai unexpectedly turned into two. At the risk of sounding like a colonial Brit I was amused to find that my RP tones were at times somewhat confusing. While haggling in Dubais Karama markets I was regarded with suspicion as they tried to place where in the world I hailed from. Are you South African I was asked. No I replied...Australian then ...No Im English.... I said. You dont sound like an English person accused my interrogator. My father who insisted on having me elocuted at an early age would have been most amused. But it made me realise that there really is no such thing as the typical English accent anymore. 2010-4-28T00:00:00Z http://www.trishbertram.com/page11.htm#58016 Well it had to happen one day. I was rung up and sounded out for my interest in a possible tv project. We thought that it would be great to have a retro voice ....and we thought of you. Not that I think of myself as a retro voice you understand. But I guess when you have been around as long as I have ....well you know the rest. The perception of voices voice styles and accents has always interested me. Despite having been elocuted at an early age I was taken on at LWT in the early 80s as the down market voice. Largely because my RP tones were not quite as uppercrust as some of my colleagues and I spent my youth trying to sound like a grown up aka posh broadcaster. Somewhere along the line I found my own announcing voice and style it takes awhile sometimes Forward to the 90s and another terrestrial broadcaster who was utilisng me in a promo capacity let me go ahem for making them sound too downmarket. Although I gather that was something to do with my smokey tones .... Fas... 2010-2-8T00:00:00Z http://www.trishbertram.com/page11.htm#52732 My good friend Radio Imaging Supremo Sandy Beech had tickets to see his good friend Chris Moyles recording an edition of his tv show Chris Moyles Quiz Night. So a party of us headed down to my old stamping ground The London Studios forever in my heart as LWT to watch Radio 1s finest in action in front of the cameras. He was exceptionally entertaining and it got me thinking about what it is that presenters from a radio background bring to tv. With a mix of banter insults and generally giving the impression that anything could happen Chris created a mood that we were all in his gang of mates for the evening. Just like radio. And I am not talking about just when the cameras roll but during the breaks and retakes. Now this may sound like I am stating the obvious but I have seen many shows being recorded over the years. For anyone who has ever sat in a tv audience youll know that once you are in youre in. Theres no escape And those lights are hot. So you really want to be kept a... 2009-11-17T00:00:00Z http://www.trishbertram.com/page11.htm#50819 Its a funny old world this home studio way of working. I find myself working much harder than I ever do when I just sail into a studio open my mouth and gaily sail out again leaving the director producer and dubbing mixer to carry on beavering away long after I have departed. Suffice to say it has given me a renewed respect for my fellow industry professionals. In just 10 months I have got to grips with the basic technicalities of my studio kit and can spend hours minutely tweaking in pursuit of the perfect settings to enhance my vocal chords. Where once I would run away screaming I can now discuss preampsmixers and microphones with fellow home studio voices til the cows come home. Cool Edit Pro my editing software can amuse me for days I am even not frightened of multitrack view anymore Thank you BBC Training for your online guide and all the cool hip hop deejays on youtube for teaching me a variety of tricks and tips. Then there is Mr Site. HTML is another w... 2009-10-17T00:00:00Z http://www.trishbertram.com/page11.htm#49614 Ive just got back from a trip to Barcelona. I hadnt visited this gorgeous city before and I wanted a quick snapshot of everything there was to see so I hopped on the tourist bus. I plugged in the issued headset to listen to the audio city guide. The voice of my guide was articulate and clear. But the gentleman whose vocal chords they were probably hadnt envisaged me and my fellow travellers in happy holiday mood on the top deck of open top bus in the Spanish sunshine. He was a little severe in his delivery and tended to bark the information at us. How would it have been if he had imagined who his listeners were what mood they might be in and in what surroundings they were likely to be listening to him A friendlier warmer tone would have complemented their mood and enhanced the delights of the city he was describing. It reminded me as a voiceover to never lose sight of not only who is going to be listening but where and in what mood or circumstances they might be listening... 2009-9-28T00:00:00Z http://www.trishbertram.com/page11.htm#44866 Along side my voiceover career I have been a tv continuity announcer for 27 years. In that time Ive seen many changes in the way the bits between the programmes get to come out of your tv set. But none more so than with the current tv channel I am announcing for. Its quite clever actually. I have spent literally thousands of hours sitting in various continuity studios over the years the main terrestrial channels and one or two of the digital channels still require their announcers to be live. And I have also gone into many more tv stations to prerecord announcements for other channels. Once upon time this would involve a producer recording all the links onto video tape which would then be edited into lots of separate carts to be played out then it progressed into self oping recording lots of seperate tracks straight on to a minidisc. These days of computer driven transmission announcers now record straight into a computer programme like pharos that can be downloaded into a ... 2009-7-13T00:00:00Z http://www.trishbertram.com/page11.htm#43976 A friend and colleague has sent me a link to a feature on The Guardians TV and Radio blog. Its about the worlds smallest radio station the recently Sony Award nominated Radio Scilly of which I am proud to be the Station Voice. Click below to sample the delights of the beautiful Scilly Isles and learn more about this extraordinary Radio Station launched by One Man Radio Powerhouse the remarkable Keri Jones. httpwww.guardian.co.ukculturetvandradioblog2009jun19radioscilly The Guardian newspaper concludes with If you make it to the 10pm closedown youre in for a treat as a lady with a slow soothing hypnotic voice lists the delights of the islands So if you want to know if I really do sound soothing and hypnotic Click here 2009-6-27T00:00:00Z http://www.trishbertram.com/page11.htm#41109 I have recently set up my home studio. For years I fought against it. But theres no denying the nature of voice work has been quietly changing since the rise of the internet. New technology coupled with recessive times make the voiceover with their own kit a valuable and cost effective resource for potential employers. I must admit I had to be bullied kicking and screaming into this new world my thanks to fellow British voiceovers Graham Bannerman and Mike Cooper see below for putting up with my endless squealing protestations and inane questions ...their help and advice was invaluable. Now I can honestly say I wish Id done it sooner. Not only has it added a new dimension to my work and given me new outlets but it has also opened up the whole 247 global market place. Which is the place to be these days. Here are my 2 home studio gurus and friends. Theyre both great voices ...check them out www.mikecoopervoiceover.com www.grahambannerm... 2009-5-5T00:00:00Z