The Six Facets of Commercial Audio Production?
With any type of creative project, audio production requires a lot of attention to detail. Most of the detail is in pre-production and planning of your audio piece. There are six facets to great commercial audio production that are considered before any equipment is ever powered up.
“Who is speaking to who” will be the core facet of creating any audio production? First identify yourself objectively as the communicator by studying your personality and how you present yourself naturally. Second, identify your audience and how they best receive information or entertainment. Make sure the audio piece matches both or you will lose a chance for the production to connect all together.
What are you trying to accomplish with your audio production? Are you trying to move people to take action, lure them into a certain emotion, or just looking to get a laugh? Match your motive with the tone of the production. It sounds odd when you have circus music in the background of a track where the speaker is discussing the complexities of cognitive dissonance.
Where do you want the listener to be when they are listening to your production? If you are educating on a boring topic, you might want to find a fun place in the theater of the mind to have the discussion. If you are selling trips to the Bahamas, you might want to paint a picture of a beach with waves in the background. Either way, create the space with simple, yet relevant sound treatments and appropriate effects when needed.
When will the audience be listening to the audio production? If their surroundings are going to be distracting, you will need to make sure the mix is simple and clear so the listener is able to receive the message in its entirety. Few things are worse than a radio spot where you can’t understand the voice over amongst the surrounding traffic because the producer decided to muddy the mix with busy music.
Why should the listener react to your audio production? If there is no purpose to the message or reason for anyone to care, why create a piece in the first place? If you miss the “why” factor, you will be left with nothing but something only you yourself will connect with. Finding the true “why” of your target audience is as important as understanding who your audience is in the first place.
How should the listener react? Should they call, click, visit, or just cry? This is a call to action and should be used in all occasions. Sometimes the call to action can be as blunt as “do this now.” Other times the solicitation can be subtly inferred. Either way, be sure to construct your “how” ensuring your message sticks.
If you need help with putting any of these facets together for your project, please call us to schedule a free consultation. You will get face-to-face time with a producer who will help you through the steps of getting your project ready for the production room. If you have a video project and want more help with polishing everything up, check out our video production section to learn more about how we bring everything together for you under one roof.
script
Whether creating a concept from scratch or adapting your rough idea, Buzzbizz Creative can produce scripts for your audio production resulting in target messaging that connects with your target audience.
voice
Getting the right voice for a project can be a very frustrating experience if you’re not in the biz. Buzzbizz Creative helps you by using our vast network of voice talents from the best of local and national talent pools.
music
What is in the background is as important as the foreground in many audio pieces. Creating the right space and feel is an art, and Buzzbizz Creative is the Bach of Foley and background music for your audio production.