Daniel is the voice of international TV & radio campaigns, corporate films, trailers, videogames, audio books and news & sports programs, heard across the world.
He also runs “networks Europe”, a global, multi-language team of translators, transcreators, copywriters, localisation professionals, voice talents, audio producers, musicians, composers and sound designers.
To find out more about Daniel check out his website, http://danielrichards.tv/ or www.networkseurope.net
Don’t forget to like our facebook page and if you have a question of your own you’d like us to answer, post it there and we will answer it as best we can.
You’ll also find us on the web at theproaudiosuite.com
The Pro Audio Suite Podcast copyright George Whittam, Andrew Peters, Robert Marshall & Darren Robertson.
00:02
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welcome to the pro audio suite a podcast
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00:21
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00:26
[Music]
00:31
now let’s get on with the show from Los
00:34
Angeles George Wickham from Chicago
00:36
Robert Marshall from Sydney Australia
00:39
Rob oh and from sunny Melbourne and
00:42
repeaters this is the pro audio suite
00:46
welcome to another pro audio suite
00:49
this week we’re definitely global our
00:51
special guest is based in Milan in Italy
00:54
he runs a studio called networks Europe
00:57
his name is Daniel Richards good morning
00:59
to you good morning to you lovely to
01:02
talk to you when Sasha we’re all over
01:04
the place because Robert is it’s almost
01:07
night time for Robert in Chicago and
01:09
it’s afternoon for Rob oh and I in
01:11
Australia hmm just had my leftover
01:14
Chinese for lunch
01:15
off to you and that does not bode well
01:19
we better get this show over and done
01:20
with pretty quickly yes
01:26
that’s nasty now I’m curious because
01:30
obviously I’ve worked with you Daniel so
01:33
we’ve talked to each other you know
01:35
on several occasions but I’ve never
01:37
asked you the question how did you end
01:38
up in Milan right well I was in a very
01:45
small theatre company in the UK in the
01:48
southwest of England Exeter area in the
01:52
early 1980s and I was running a
01:57
community theater but we also have what
01:59
was then called an alternative comedy
02:02
duo I was in an alternative comedy
02:04
viewer called human cartoon and we used
02:10
to support some of the new comedians so
02:12
it came down to the southwest of England
02:13
from London and one of them was a guy
02:15
called Ben Elton and enough yeah yeah
02:18
there’s over him pretty miss Hayne oh
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great okay there you go
02:23
and he’d asked us to go up to London and
02:27
support him in a gig and and go onto at
02:29
least to do a test for what was then the
02:32
The Comedy Store and for some
02:34
preposterous reason we decided not to
02:36
and stay faithful to the community and
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then I kind of thought well hang on a
02:41
minute
02:42
I’m not quite sure if this is really the
02:44
right decision let me just
02:45
take a couple of weeks off to think
02:46
about this and I just happen to come
02:48
over to Italy to do my thinking and I’m
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still here 35 years later still thinking
02:55
as I decide what to do with my life no
02:58
that’s just kidding but I mean yeah
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that’s how it happened I mean it just
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came over for a break and then got into
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a bit of voice recording over here
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started teaching a university over here
03:10
and then opened up my studio and and so
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on so I mean it literally was on and it
03:15
I’m still on an extended holiday
03:17
basically so your background was not
03:20
necessarily voiceover it was comedy yeah
03:22
very early on I mean I was 22 when I
03:26
came over here so um and the comedy kind
03:30
of got hit and you know hit the comedy
03:31
on the head at that point because being
03:34
at that time to be honest being English
03:36
in Italy was really quite a novelty for
03:41
the Italians English are you from there
03:46
were not that many foreigners around so
03:49
the comedy you know the the performing
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part there wasn’t an audience basically
03:54
so that fell by the wayside but the
03:57
voiceover work that I started that
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pretty much immediately I got here
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obviously 1980s early 1980s no ISDN no
04:07
Internet you know only if you wanted to
04:11
record something in English you had to
04:12
have the person right there or send a
04:14
letter pretty much to somebody or a fax
04:17
they existed to the studio in somewhere
04:19
else and get them to do it or fly over
04:22
and do the session yourself so well
04:24
having an English person here in Milan
04:27
that was willing to sort of go to
04:30
different studios throughout the day and
04:32
do all do their stuff in English for
04:34
them was it was was good for everybody
04:36
and and they really I was pretty much in
04:41
the early 80s I think there were two or
04:43
three of us doing it I made my little
04:46
cassette tape demo in a small studio and
04:50
the next day basically went around
04:53
knocking on doors got the Yellow Pages
04:54
out talking 1980
04:57
384 got the yellow pages out and went
04:59
around knocking on doors and when a week
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later I was a voice talent phone-sized
05:04
how many how much work was there and
05:06
what was the main work was it to
05:08
translation work or was it term stuff
05:10
for these K yeah now it’s very much what
05:13
it still is today what you and I do our
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regular kind of bread-and-butter stuff I
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mean lots of corporate videos in English
05:20
whether for the international fairs you
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know product videos that company history
05:26
demo videos of how products worked and
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what’s quite interesting I mean whatever
05:32
is interesting what happened is a lot of
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these smaller companies that is because
05:38
Italy produces a hell of a lot of stuff
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it really and and the the area above
05:45
Milan the third tech and for furniture
05:48
making and then of course fashion Lehman
05:50
on itself and their electronics and
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civil engineering companies and there’s
05:55
a there’s a company that makes a fader
05:58
system for pro tools similar to slate in
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Italy too I think they’re called like
06:03
devil devil something yeah I mean I had
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hundreds of names in my address book and
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I used to get in the car and drive out
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to some godforsaken part of of the
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country’s light above Milan and go into
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a factory where they’d have a not a
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professional booth but you know as one
06:26
of somebody had made their film and
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there was a kind of microphone in a
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small room not necessarily professional
06:34
microphone either and you just record
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your the commentary to the corporate
06:39
film and off you go take me about two
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hours to get there and you know the
06:45
films used to be so long in those days
06:47
there was just no idea that you know
06:49
it’s best to get it over and done
06:50
placing everything between four and ten
06:52
minutes things used to be like 40
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minutes long with huge you know really
06:58
long shots of factory machinery working
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and and so on so I mean syncing it all
07:07
up and getting it getting it right a
07:09
plus the fact that in I mean
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the company cat used to do the
07:12
translations so I mean it normally took
07:15
me a couple of hours to work out what
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they were trying to say put it into
07:18
semi-decent English as he’s much better
07:20
than than they’d given me and then go
07:23
and record it so it was quite a long and
07:25
painstaking process you know I’m talking
07:28
about the early 80s so things have
07:29
improved hugely since then also under
07:31
sort of translation and sensitivity to
07:34
the need to communicate well in the
07:35
language that you’re trying to
07:36
communicate in that but that has
07:38
improved vastly but in those days you
07:41
know it was actually well my my son is
07:44
yeah it’s good English he translated it
07:47
more whatever and it was difficult to to
07:52
tell them but yeah you needed two hours
07:55
to go away and just rewrite the whole
07:57
thing I think we both experienced that
07:59
recently well we did yeah yeah you’re
08:01
right but and again I repeat it’s um
08:05
it’s much much much better than it used
08:07
to be yeah when did you set up your
08:10
studio I set it up in the late 80s and I
08:16
think the foot we actually opened in 18
08:18
in 1990 yeah people would always ask me
08:24
have you got a French German Spanish
08:26
colleague and then it started going a
08:28
bit further afield and you know and it
08:31
just seemed the right thing to do
08:34
finally set something up and be able to
08:36
record myself and and have other foreign
08:39
language voice talents and come in and
08:42
do the stuff so yeah I mean we’ve always
08:45
been known since then as a localization
08:49
hub basically I’m still trying to
08:51
convince our Italian clients that we can
08:54
also do Italian he has 350 Italian voice
08:58
talents on our on our books and we do
09:00
actually know we do much more but our
09:02
real sort of reputa locally our
09:04
reputation has been for obviously for
09:06
localization as and and rightly so I
09:08
mean that’s how it that’s how it started
09:10
so do you see do you see networks is
09:13
also a casting service as well as the
09:15
studio almost definitely yeah yeah I
09:17
mean we do send castings pretty much
09:21
every day in lots of different languages
09:23
and that has been a sort of process of
09:26
selection that’s been going on for four
09:28
decades obviously now it’s much much
09:30
simpler to find voice talents with with
09:35
all the different services that there
09:36
are out there from voice 23 invoices
09:39
calm and and so on and so on and so on
09:41
and also country-specific casting
09:46
services on websites but obviously the
09:49
experience in whittling down the the
09:52
masses to those four three four five six
09:56
voices that will fit the bill for
09:57
whatever you’re trying to or your
09:59
clients are trying to cast that still
10:01
takes experience I think so yes we do
10:04
that and we have several thousand on our
10:07
own database and then we’re always
10:10
convene a constantly expanding it by
10:11
jings Danny but I’ve just said you know
10:14
going on to the science going to new
10:16
Studios which is how we found you I’d
10:20
better leave yeah
10:22
so now you’ve got quite a few studios
10:24
that networks when did you start to
10:25
expand what did you start off small and
10:27
grow or as it always been kind of
10:29
sizable are they are they in the same
10:31
facility or the they are on the same
10:33
facility yeah yeah ya know we started
10:37
off with one in a lovely little
10:40
apartment overlooking what the park that
10:43
leads to thee to the duomo to that two
10:46
mañana’s Cathedral so we had a great
10:47
view and it was literally it wasn’t it
10:50
was a two-bedroom apartment we didn’t
10:53
have any beds in it obviously converted
10:54
into into office space and studios so
10:57
yeah we started off as one then that
11:00
became two and then we converted the
11:03
most miniscule kitchen in the history of
11:06
kitchens into a little booths and I used
11:10
to be able to record myself in there and
11:13
I must have waited quite a few links
11:14
with the with the states and other
11:16
countries in there so then we had three
11:19
and it was kind of pretty ridiculous
11:21
tiny apartment with three Studios a hit
11:24
so a certain point we decided to get a
11:27
bit more serious on me it came to this
11:29
vicinity where we are now where we have
11:32
we have five studios which is which is
11:36
great it gives us just that
11:37
a little bit more play so yeah and I
11:41
would say 90% of the stuff we do is
11:44
linking with people on yourself yes so
11:48
um yeah and we can wait at times when
11:52
you’re doing the localization do you
11:53
find that you’re doing a lot of
11:54
recording remotely with picture sync or
11:57
do you just do wild records and cut
11:59
things in kind of 50/50 a lot of the
12:03
time okay as we do a lot of e-learning
12:06
as well so longer videos and it doesn’t
12:14
need the same degree of of sync as a
12:19
maybe a corporate film although actually
12:22
it does come to think of it but anyway
12:23
it’s long so there we very often if the
12:28
voice talent on the other end
12:29
understands the source language which
12:33
okay for us is Italian but then it often
12:34
gets done first into English so if our
12:37
German French or whatever person is
12:39
happy to have the English in their
12:42
headphones and just go over and go over
12:45
it with a one or two second delay then
12:48
we do that there’s no need to actually
12:50
really send them you know detailed
12:52
videos of screws going into holes or
12:55
tractors came down the field kind of
12:58
thing right ever it is so English
13:00
becomes like a common like like you do
13:03
that translation the first helps the
13:04
other translation yes exactly yeah yeah
13:07
that’s one way we do it although
13:08
obviously for the for other stuff I mean
13:11
for example a series of stuff for
13:15
MasterChef with Joe Bastianich who the
13:18
Americans may know he’s actually half
13:21
Italian and for the Italian version of
13:24
MasterChef he dubs himself into Italian
13:27
so yeah
13:29
those obviously we sent him himself in
13:34
the in the US a version of MasterChef
13:37
and he he went over in Italian we’ve
13:39
done films for sky and and send him
13:43
sending the video across and all the ads
13:46
we do we send the video across I think
13:48
you’ve got
13:50
got now in the States San Pellegrino is
13:53
in the States right now new campaign
13:58
aqua Panna is is is out now and all of
14:01
that stuff we did from here with the
14:04
video again it obviously it depends
14:06
because if it’s a one-liner yeah we can
14:10
do it once with the video they can see
14:12
it and then we’ll just go wild and put
14:14
it on afterwards are the translations
14:16
done do you handle the translations as
14:19
well or do you we do that you do yeah
14:22
yeah yeah we do the translations
14:24
sometimes depending on the client and
14:27
depending on the job we have a sort of a
14:32
trends creation as its trend early
14:34
called service now so we can we offer
14:40
the translation of the of the copy as
14:42
well all transcreation do you find that
14:45
you have to find translators that are
14:46
sort of aware of issues like timing and
14:51
how to make the spirit of the copy work
14:55
when there’s timing issues or maybe even
14:57
some sort of cultural thing absolutely
15:01
yeah absolutely
15:03
yeah yeah like different than the
15:05
translator they would just translate
15:07
show a text book for example absolutely
15:10
yeah for sure
15:12
timing for sure although it’s normally
15:16
not that dramatic but certainly the
15:21
phrasing the the same register in the
15:24
foreign language and not as you say
15:26
necessarily at all the same words and
15:29
that becomes quite tricky sometimes
15:30
because obviously you’re the client may
15:32
not understand then you register and may
15:35
even not very much like the fact that
15:37
his or her words have been quite so
15:40
obviously changed so that’s the art of
15:43
persuasion probably the other thing you
15:48
run into and I know when we do for
15:51
instance you know we start with an
15:52
English say industrial video about
15:55
whatever some product and printer and
15:57
and then we have to do the Spanish
15:59
version and of course the big battle
16:01
there is that
16:03
the Spanish is longer absolutely is
16:05
trying to fit things in and but I
16:07
imagine when you’re going from say
16:10
Italian to English for their trade shows
16:13
they are you’re finding yourself with
16:16
space ma right yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
16:20
I mean obviously one can try to add a
16:23
tiny bit if that becomes dramatic it’s
16:26
not normally that that much of a problem
16:27
for German going into German from
16:30
English or into Arabic that can become
16:33
quite dramatic so at that point
16:36
especially if it’s an industrial videos
16:38
you said or even even an e-learning
16:40
video which maybe has been edited quite
16:43
tightly in the original language then we
16:45
really have to say can we please have
16:47
the license to cut content you have to
16:53
give the translator something in very
16:57
plain English let’s say and also get the
17:01
scissors out in terms of content with
17:04
discretion of course but the experience
17:06
going along the way tells you you know
17:10
you’ve you become quite adept at knowing
17:12
what you can cut without offending
17:15
anybody and of course without changing
17:16
the meaning and of course without
17:17
leaving out essential stuff but yeah so
17:20
what’s the worst direction like like if
17:22
going from like Swedish to Chinese or
17:27
something like what’s the that’s what’s
17:29
the most dense language going to the
17:31
most fluffed up for lack of a better
17:33
word you know yeah well I think is
17:36
pretty dense but is there a denser than
17:38
English no I mean in my experience
17:43
English is definitely the most compact
17:47
language that we have to deal with and
17:51
then for sure Arabic has caused us the
17:57
most kind of headaches in terms of that
17:59
extra time needed to save the center to
18:01
get the same content and German
18:04
sometimes we not always but yeah German
18:07
can be pretty tricky it’s like that
18:09
classic joke were someone translates and
18:11
the person speaks for five minutes and
18:13
then the translator said he said yes yes
18:18
yes yeah yeah exactly so it’s a
18:23
challenge but yeah it’s always fun and
18:25
it’s great to be able to give somebody
18:27
back 15 20 languages and and everything
18:31
is just perfectly synced up so I mean
18:33
it’s a good feeling to be able to
18:35
deliver and do I mean right at the
18:38
beginning to be perfectly honest I mean
18:39
years and years and years and years ago
18:41
before we’d kind of got the hang of this
18:43
we used to just say well for the Arabic
18:45
or the German you know the end of this
18:47
sequence you’re just gonna have to have
18:49
a freeze frame for another four seconds
18:52
after all it’s only eLearning if they
18:54
can handle it yeah and that’s what used
18:56
to happen but I mean now I think we’ve
18:58
no not I think for sure we’ve got the
19:00
hang of making the language fit the
19:03
timing do you find they’re either you
19:06
have to use a say resort to time
19:09
stretching or compressing very
19:12
occasionally yeah very occasionally but
19:15
again it’s really fractional um yeah
19:19
it’s funny how some some people can read
19:22
and they can take more time compression
19:24
than other people were it’s very obvious
19:27
that it’s been compressed and other
19:28
people they just so how the way they
19:30
speak and they pronounce it everything
19:32
it compresses and survives that’s that’s
19:36
very true yeah that’s very true yes the
19:39
the the clearer the enunciation of the
19:41
words and the less difference there is
19:45
within a sentence or group of sentences
19:47
because some people do tend to sort of
19:50
suddenly speed up and if you suddenly
19:52
speed up and the rest of the stuff is
19:55
kind of fairly slow yeah
19:56
I’m exaggerating off-course but if that
19:59
is a is a characteristic of obviously
20:04
that does not react well to be speed it
20:07
up you suddenly get this you know it
20:11
makes it more obvious essentially
20:13
exactly yeah yeah yeah yeah so do you
20:16
get into actually dubbing films where
20:20
you know maybe you’re trying to fake
20:22
lip-sync even though it’s a new new
20:23
language but you’re trying to pick
20:26
translations that might work within not
20:29
just the timing but even
20:31
the mouth mouth yeah sure to be honest I
20:35
had my experience with that is almost
20:38
exclusively and not exclusively but
20:41
almost exclusively from Italian but
20:44
other languages into English so I
20:50
personally do almost all of that and
20:55
that is a long job it really really is I
20:59
mean we’ve just done not just one sort
21:03
of six eight months ago we did a film on
21:06
Michelangelo for maybe sky and that went
21:11
when I went out to cinemas last year and
21:14
that was all lipstick it was three
21:17
actors basically and that was a bastard
21:20
it’s good fun but I mean it was it was
21:22
tough lip synching the whole thing
21:26
fortunately there we did it locally so
21:29
basically um I was cast and as
21:32
Michelangelo and the other two people
21:35
were also him to Milan so that was good
21:38
we could do it you know as one normally
21:41
does idea but in other situations we’ve
21:45
linked and what I have always done so
21:50
far hopefully not to the frustration of
21:53
too many the voice talents is I’ve kind
21:55
of whispered in my sink my lip sync just
21:59
to provide a guide also to be honest as
22:01
when you’re doing this adaptation you
22:04
kind of need to say that loud at least
22:07
that’s the way I’ve I’ve found it works
22:09
best so yeah I I always say it out loud
22:13
oh no that doesn’t work let’s try it out
22:15
that oh yeah mmm that’s almost oh okay
22:17
let’s take out that particle there oh
22:19
let’s change to change that verb do it
22:22
again oh yeah that perfect and so I just
22:25
record it even if it’s not me
22:27
I still recorded on the film that I’m
22:30
adapting for lip sync so at the end I’ve
22:33
got the whole thing there
22:34
if the talent wants to hear that and
22:36
especially if it’s just a few lines I
22:38
mean so you do your version of the sync
22:40
so that you can test it find it and then
22:44
talent has something to serve a shadow
22:47
or a scratch track to reference exactly
22:50
so yeah yeah so if you can also hear the
22:53
rhythm obviously I mean if it’s kind of
22:55
supposed to be like that so they if it’s
22:58
kind of supposed to be like that so they
23:00
can get that uh better putter especially
23:04
if they’re dubbing from a language that
23:06
maybe they don’t understand why why do
23:08
you find it useful to whisper it is that
23:11
I just do that so I don’t add my
23:13
interpretation Roop yeah because I think
23:17
that’s a lot of like one of the possible
23:21
problems if the voice director is also a
23:24
talent there’s always the danger I think
23:28
that you you try and get the person to
23:32
do as you do it right your direction
23:35
tends to morph into trying to get
23:38
someone to you know basically to imitate
23:41
how you do it
23:42
so whispering kind of reduces
23:46
considerably yes sure it is literally
23:50
just a rhythmic guide and there’s only
23:53
because maybe you know if it’s a safe
23:56
it’s a one or two liner you can
23:58
certainly let them see the film first of
24:00
in let them leave certainly send the
24:01
film they can see the film but you don’t
24:02
really need a hundred percent to to send
24:09
them that part of the film and then redo
24:11
it and read it always under film once
24:13
once once they know what they’re doing
24:15
they can they can do it wild yeah and
24:18
some some actors work better off of like
24:21
hereit’s say it it’s not always about
24:22
looking at the film I’ve seen I’ve seen
24:24
many times where the film becomes almost
24:26
a distraction yes
24:29
something that over complicates things
24:30
and if you can get the right timing if
24:34
it’s you know if it’s lip sync and you
24:35
have a guide track like you have that
24:38
that may that may be all that’s
24:39
necessary yeah yeah yeah some sometimes
24:42
it really really is absolutely yeah yeah
24:44
yeah I mean it’s great for somebody able
24:46
to see who they are so I mean sure so
24:49
they get an idea of the character
24:50
exactly Authority Cala T as well and
24:54
also their what they’re doing I mean
24:57
yeah the kind of
24:58
that we do as unfortunately we don’t
25:01
have a lot of cinema
25:03
and certainly not not linking not viet
25:07
not you know not with those like remote
25:09
area yeah yes i mean it’s not it’s not a
25:13
common problem for us but anyway being
25:16
able to see who you are and see if
25:19
you’re you know speaking straight to
25:21
camera or you’re kind of turning around
25:23
and doing something else and then coming
25:25
back I mean all that kind of stuff it’s
25:26
certainly good to see it I think it’s
25:28
sometimes a telltale sign when you see
25:31
something that’s dubbed in the dubbing
25:32
is too clean or sometimes some of the
25:37
physical like movements and things that
25:41
might make somebody who knows like out
25:44
of breath or just even some of the
25:47
movements that maybe are captured as
25:48
part of the dialogue and then when it’s
25:50
you know switched out so now that
25:53
original track is gone and the new
25:55
language is in sometimes the issue is
25:57
that the new language is like to clean
25:59
that makes it too obvious that it’s been
26:00
replaced and you don’t show like do do
26:03
the actors have to sometimes get into a
26:05
little bit of movement or whatnot to try
26:08
to you know sell the the new performance
26:11
that it’s absolutely yeah absolutely I
26:15
mean especially in what we know mentally
26:17
doolittle of which is of course cinema
26:19
just in brackets I mean Mussolini banned
26:23
foreign language and so the Italians
26:28
everything was dubbed and yeah there are
26:32
some you now now of course with Netflix
26:34
and and and and Prime and so on people
26:39
are getting more used to looking at
26:40
subtitles than the last five years or so
26:42
I mean I would always watch a Spanish
26:44
film in Spanish with subtitles
26:45
personally because in the UK that that’s
26:48
how I was brought up kind of thing but
26:50
yeah I I certainly appreciate watching
26:52
it in the original language and I don’t
26:54
mind looking at the subtitles because
26:55
that the Italians have had they’re not
26:59
used to it and as I say now now they’re
27:02
getting more used to it for decades
27:04
everything was dubbed absolutely
27:06
everything was dubbed into Italian and
27:07
still is in mainstream TV absolutely
27:10
Aldous
27:12
well it’s a heavenly series brought over
27:15
from the states
27:18
reality TV comedy series crime series
27:23
everything dubbed into Italian sir I
27:25
mean actually the Italians I think
27:27
probably if not the most accomplished
27:32
and others down the world certainly
27:37
although oh you do know about the
27:38
Russian story have you heard this story
27:40
no sir so in in the 80s you know
27:45
American movies were banned but they
27:48
would smuggle them in and the way they
27:50
would do the dubbing is they would
27:52
literally just like whoever smuggled
27:55
these in had a girlfriend who spoke
27:57
English or sorry who spoke English so
28:00
she could understand and they would
28:01
literally just sit there in the theater
28:04
shoot the video off of the screen while
28:08
she listened on headphones and just
28:11
repeated everything back in in in
28:13
Russian oh sure one though was doing the
28:15
whole thing right so she was the voice
28:16
of Rocky
28:17
she was the place of everybody and and
28:20
she’s like a celebrity because all
28:22
Russians like she’s the iconic right
28:25
when it’s amazing it’s simultaneous
28:28
translation yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I
28:34
think the classic story though is um the
28:36
first Mad Max when it was released in
28:38
America was dubbed it was dubbed by an
28:43
American no Gibson was dubbed by an
28:45
American yeah Wow
28:47
Chaz from access talent was the guy that
28:51
was the agent who who supplied the the
28:54
act of heaven for the Mad Max film and
28:57
we had a conversation about it and the
28:59
guy was with an Australian guy said I’ve
29:01
got a copy of that on VHS and we sent it
29:04
to him right that was in the days when
29:07
no one can understand Australians what’d
29:09
you say I said I live in Austria in your
29:19
studio because we always have to get a
29:20
bit techie what sort of gear have you
29:22
got oh right
29:24
oh this you asking absolutely the wrong
29:26
person stupidly I didn’t ask them to
29:28
make me a list but what’s the badge on
29:31
the microphone you’re talking into
29:32
computers
29:34
but we’re using pretty much Illinois
29:36
Minh Mike’s we’ve not updated completely
29:41
our pro tools yet don’t ask me what
29:42
version we’ve got but we’re not using
29:43
the very latest one because with five
29:46
Studios it comes in at quite a price to
29:49
keep on updating everything um yeah but
29:53
anyway we’re all Pro Tools it’s all pro
29:56
tools everywhere but we’ve also got
29:57
you’ll see use Cubase and logic and
30:00
stuff for the music for the musical
30:02
stuff what else I was finding
30:06
interesting they’re talking about gear
30:07
though how in different countries
30:10
different gear is adopted it’s not a
30:13
general thing I saw a photograph pop up
30:15
on Twitter and it was just um a female
30:18
voice talent who had won an award or
30:20
something I can’t even think what it was
30:21
now but I looked immediately saw the
30:23
photograph went English and the thing
30:25
that gave it away was the only people in
30:27
the world and I’ve got a funny feeling
30:29
you have a pair of these Daniel is the
30:32
BBC style huge white headphones yeah
30:37
that’s right I can’t even think of one
30:39
right now that I saw the point English
30:41
because no one else wears them no you’re
30:44
right
30:44
but because because they’re so closed
30:49
yeah I mean they really really are and
30:53
you really can tell the difference and
30:54
the MIT they maybe they don’t have the
30:56
best sound for you to voice talent in
30:58
your ears I don’t know well though it’s
30:59
pretty damn good
31:00
but they don’t leak so you know you can
31:03
have that film at a certain volume that
31:07
you’re listening to and dubbing over and
31:09
it won’t come out obviously it will a
31:11
certain volume but I mean there’s more
31:13
tolerance for these things do you’re
31:16
right is slightly wearing it they have
31:18
pretty industrial looking and feeling
31:21
but they’re not really cool that is so
31:25
unique and is so English to see those
31:28
headphones I think they’re actually they
31:29
were designed for drummers I think it
31:31
could be wrong but some interest is so
31:34
piqued like I’m trying to figure out
31:35
which ones they are now well if you just
31:37
have a look
31:38
any photographs of the Beatles they used
31:39
to wear them at EMI in London so they’re
31:42
they’re like the little flat ones with
31:43
the round things like they’re like a
31:44
flat rectangle with a round thing in the
31:46
middle Bayer dynamic is that who makes
31:49
them yeah thought they were I’m not sure
31:51
brand they are but they’re they’re huge
31:53
rectangular big like it’s almost like a
31:55
that’s right brick yeah yeah you see
32:01
those all the time but they still make
32:04
those are those just they do still make
32:07
them we have we have we still have all
32:09
the original ones that we got in the
32:10
early 90s we still got them and every
32:13
five or six years we just changed the
32:16
the pad part we’ve just ordered another
32:19
20 or so yeah
32:24
but they just pop out and you pop the
32:25
new ones on once they used to I was
32:28
going home and my girlfriend was saying
32:31
what’s all that black you’ve got on your
32:33
ears so okay yeah that’s that’s what is
32:39
this the the rubber so now we’ve got
32:41
these no other material bit squeakier
32:47
than the rubber but no much yeah yeah oh
32:49
my my oldest headphones and this is a
32:52
thumbs up for ikg there’s a pair of k14
32:55
ones that I got in 1980 well and are
33:00
still going strong perfect in fact they
33:02
did go in one ear but I just everybody
33:05
up off and we just sold it up the the
33:07
wired it snapped off and put them back
33:09
together again bingo
33:10
beautiful hell that’s pretty good that’s
33:12
coming up for 40 years yeah yes so for
33:15
everyone’s curiosity are we talking
33:17
about the beyerdynamic DT 100’s yes oh
33:26
the thing that comes across the top yeah
33:28
and go play football with that yeah it
33:31
looks like your um your cycling helmet
33:33
it’s like you’re in a factory or
33:35
something yeah yeah when you first set
33:39
up the studio I’m always curious about
33:40
this because we talked we spoke to Chris
33:41
Kent I think you probably oh yeah yeah
33:45
and when he set up his studio in London
33:48
I said well how do you go politically
33:50
it’s
33:51
or could being a talent and having a
33:53
studio don’t other studios get their
33:54
nose out of joint and he’s held him ya
33:57
know well I didn’t do that I mean
34:00
there’s the kind of hub the studio hub
34:03
in in Milan is near where the Rye
34:07
Italy’s version of the BBC is and there
34:11
were I don’t know 30 or 40 studios in
34:15
that area and I set mine up in a
34:18
different area on purpose so as not to
34:21
UM tell my the people that have you know
34:24
fed me for 10 years previously that I
34:27
was um kind of starting up in
34:30
competition with them and to be honest I
34:32
mean we do an awful lot of work in the
34:34
education in the language education
34:36
market I would say that well no not I
34:38
would say I know damn well that that is
34:39
like 60% of the stuff we do so we record
34:42
dictionaries for HarperCollins we’ve
34:45
just done one in seven languages we
34:49
record language courses you know the
34:51
monologues and the dialogues for for
34:55
Pierce and for lots and lots of
34:59
different people so I wasn’t really into
35:02
competition and I tried very much I
35:04
didn’t go fishing for the clients that I
35:07
knew I just you know I’ve been recording
35:08
with other people so I think I was very
35:11
diligent about that having said that
35:12
though Andrew you’re absolutely right I
35:15
mean a week after I’d set up my studio
35:17
all of my clients just stopped calling
35:21
me my local clients I mean the local
35:23
studios not going to say that but the
35:25
studios just said oh right that’s that
35:27
so to discourage people also in a way to
35:34
come to me because everybody would
35:35
always go to this other hub and you know
35:37
that all the video post-production
35:39
facilities were in that hub so it always
35:42
made sense for people to do any
35:44
voiceover work there as well they could
35:46
literally walk across the road and go to
35:48
a recording studio and then come back
35:49
again and finish off the video edit and
35:51
more and more companies were setting up
35:55
where they do both video and audio so it
35:57
kind of made sense and we were happy
35:58
doing our language our language course
36:01
and and another stuff although yeah
36:04
so so yeah I lost a lot of clients when
36:07
I when I set up and then 12 years later
36:09
I just decided enough is enough guys
36:12
happy came here to the heart and in said
36:15
applause did you hear
36:16
no they fine with it now there are is is
36:18
still a bit of animals animosity um well
36:21
I mean I’m yeah they’re kind of fine
36:24
with it get him well with everybody I am
36:27
being cold now much more than I was for
36:29
the first five to ten years after its it
36:33
was quite dramatic because I mean I
36:35
would have death thing ever went over 12
36:37
or 13 dubs in a day but there were times
36:42
when I’d leave the taxi running outside
36:43
jump in do the stuff go back get up back
36:45
in the taxi and go somewhere else
36:47
the the eighties really there were like
36:49
that and when I’ve started up I really
36:51
didn’t when I first started up I we had
36:54
one studio and it was mainly for me and
36:56
I didn’t really advertise it and so yes
36:58
it was a bit like risk and said I mean
37:00
it just didn’t didn’t shout about it but
37:01
as soon as we started doing the
37:03
different languages and started to
37:06
market ourselves then that then then it
37:08
and kind of the roof fell in for me as a
37:12
talent here locally but yeah now they’re
37:16
okay yeah now we’ve um kind of shaking
37:20
hands and made up sort of thinking could
37:23
actually talk about that though so do
37:24
your work as a talent has that um
37:26
dropped off dramatically or is it G
37:29
balance it with running networks or how
37:32
does it work now yeah it’s I mean if I
37:34
compare what I do now to what I did in
37:36
the 80s there’s just no comparison to be
37:39
perfectly honest in the 80s I really was
37:41
doing masses of work also because as I
37:45
say that if it was a market thing I mean
37:47
there would either the guy came to your
37:49
studio or the girl or you didn’t get the
37:53
dub I mean no he didn’t get the you know
37:55
you couldn’t do it or you literally just
37:57
crossed your fingers now someone else in
37:58
another country didn’t and sends you the
38:00
audio but again in the 80s and how would
38:02
you send the audio the internet didn’t
38:04
exist I mean it was lit was still really
38:06
was still talking reel-to-reel recording
38:08
and no digital ever every recording
38:11
studio would have you know different
38:13
sized envelopes and packages with their
38:16
logo on it because they’d be sending
38:18
first you know reel to reels and then
38:21
CDs and dats and PETA maxes and whatever
38:25
it was you know you’d actually send them
38:27
by post or by courier to your clients so
38:30
being here in this case in Milan and
38:34
being able to offer you know cut through
38:37
all of that and just go to the studio
38:38
and do it was was was hugely beneficial
38:42
for for them as well for the clients so
38:46
yeah I mean it was in it would be
38:47
impossible I think that anybody to
38:49
maintain that kind of flow work because
38:51
obviously slowly men started fitting up
38:54
with with other with other people that
38:56
were doing doing voiceovers and offering
38:58
the same service and Milan was a fashion
39:02
center there were loads of models
39:03
walking around and so on but and English
39:07
teachers would come to Milan for
39:10
teaching the language schools and
39:11
British Council and what-have-you that
39:14
was pretty much it what do you prefer do
39:16
you prefer being in town or do you
39:18
prefer being a producer oh dear I really
39:22
really like both it’s so good though to
39:26
do the production stuff the the
39:29
producers or the voice directors or
39:32
whatever you want to call them are
39:33
obviously the butt of many greg joke and
39:38
we all know the you know the classic
39:41
going through 25 takes and ending up
39:44
where you’ve started from the guys like
39:46
dad that one and you’re gonna be here
39:49
that’s right that’s not what I started
39:51
with my you know yeah so but I don’t
39:55
know about you Andrew when when I was a
39:59
again a did some things as a theatre
40:03
director and actor and when you’re doing
40:05
the two things together and you’re on
40:07
stage he kind of thinking you know this
40:10
is the one time when there’s not
40:11
somebody offstage saying why don’t you
40:13
do it like this or puff from that but I
40:16
mean just giving you some feedback and I
40:18
find that really really useful it has
40:21
the talent rather than necessarily being
40:23
left there completely to do whatever you
40:25
think is is its most appropriate well
40:28
it’s interesting you should say that
40:29
because you are probably one of the few
40:31
fact
40:31
yeah one of the very few people I work
40:34
with in another country that actually
40:36
jumps on line and directs me normally
40:38
I’m left right here to do my own thing
40:40
sure sure which is great of course cuz I
40:43
mean it but I don’t know how you felt
40:45
about its first time we did it but no no
40:50
I liked like you said like I agree
40:52
completely with you I think it’s um it’s
40:54
always far more beneficial to have
40:56
someone either sitting outside the booth
40:59
or down the line because there’s you
41:02
know you get into it you know it’s like
41:03
you basically humans are lazy so we get
41:06
into a pattern and a rhythm and we just
41:08
churn that out and it’s only yes I’m one
41:11
who’s directing you says well have you
41:12
tried this or why don’t we try it this
41:14
way that it actually gets something much
41:15
better out of you yeah oh yeah yeah yeah
41:17
well that’s good I’m very glad that you
41:19
feel that way I certainly feel that way
41:22
and it’s great being as it had to come
41:23
back to your question it’s actually
41:25
great being on the other end it’s great
41:27
being the having the producers hat on
41:30
because again with that same provider
41:33
that I mentioned before not wanting to
41:35
waste your style onto somebody else but
41:39
yeah obviously you have to come from
41:42
your style because he cannot as part of
41:45
you kind of thing but as you’re not
41:49
actually doing it you can play around a
41:53
little bit then you know go from imagine
41:55
how you do it of course you can’t avoid
41:57
that but also have them have a kind of
42:01
you know a bird’s-eye view of it as well
42:03
and kind of think of different ways of
42:06
doing the same thing I mean I said I
42:08
think that it’s a bit of a challenge and
42:11
but it’s also great and it’s also great
42:12
when you actually in sync with the
42:14
talent you know and some talents don’t
42:17
like me Taunton otherwise you know like
42:22
I said I’ve had it easier or not and
42:23
there’s also there’s other things that
42:25
play depending on your accent then the
42:30
rhythm is completely different that’s
42:31
true though that’s true
42:33
like if you’re American or Australian
42:35
New Zealand English Scottish whorls
42:37
whatever you’re all speaking the same
42:39
language
42:39
but it actually is completely different
42:41
in the in the rhythm of yeah where you
42:43
deliver absolutely phrase
42:45
and inflection um are noticeably
42:49
different yeah I was just thinking of a
42:52
particular thing must have been a couple
42:55
of years ago I was with an American
42:56
talent here in Milan in Chile I just
42:59
noticed a certain point he said well you
43:01
know and we suggest and I said David
43:04
you’ve just said suggests it suggests he
43:10
said well no I think we say suggests in
43:13
American English I’ve kind of said nah
43:15
come on David I’ve watched you know
43:18
hundreds thousands of hours of American
43:20
films have never heard suggesting let’s
43:23
just check it oh my god it is suggest so
43:29
yeah that I mean a lot of my family’s in
43:32
the states I I mean you know no no
43:34
stranger to American English but hey
43:36
sometimes there’s a tiny little thing
43:38
that that can escape you yeah YUM so
43:41
that was a lesson for me have you ever
43:43
said something yeah heard anyone say
43:45
suggest well I I see it as s you and
43:49
then just so the G likes that’s a good
43:52
so asked or I’m not sure I follow
43:57
I’m obviously now super aware of this
43:59
because after embarrassing myself to be
44:03
perfectly honest yeah I hear it all the
44:06
time now
44:07
I suggested it’s the G the first is very
44:11
light I was I was I was um over
44:14
emphasizing it therefore yeah for
44:16
registration but I mean yeah suggest and
44:19
another interesting one in the same
44:21
areas clothes who everyone just has
44:24
clothes yeah oh yeah you know clothes
44:28
there’s a D and then a TA clothes yeah
44:31
actually
44:32
oh one the one that you fury eights me
44:33
if we just wanna is the STS ending which
44:38
is not which is not anything to do with
44:39
wave which part of them how are you from
44:42
that yes some people have real problems
44:45
with that and I do I have a process like
44:47
that I could admit say her name but the
44:49
Beavis one of the BBC pronounces of a
44:52
podcast says if you can hear us on
44:55
little little alert dot podcasts
44:58
and I said well guys I’m listening to
45:00
you yeah or that
45:02
yeah no teapot it sounds like pod car is
45:05
like little little pods
45:07
oh so many words get like little
45:09
syllables dropped off and and people go
45:12
their whole life
45:13
slightly mispronouncing things and not
45:16
realizing it and that everyone knows
45:19
what you mean and in common count
45:21
conversation but then under the
45:23
microscope you like you know that’s a
45:25
funny thing I’ve been saying that wrong
45:26
the whole time yeah don’t say for if
45:29
it’s in a conversational script you’d
45:31
say and for whatever reason bla bla bla
45:34
instead of for whatever reason or an a
45:37
there’s all sometimes there’s no you
45:40
know you can do it either way and it’s
45:41
like what rolls off the tongue better
45:43
but there’s a lot of like for jest like
45:47
for just as a whole word onto itself
45:49
it’s interesting that what you’re saying
45:51
there about
45:52
enunciate in and the fur and the for and
45:57
the because that fur is the the schwa
45:59
sound
46:00
that yeah which we have in father and
46:02
and so on and it’s the most common sound
46:04
actually in the English language that so
46:07
but of course if when you’re doing when
46:11
you’re trying to talk to a global
46:13
audience many of whom are not English
46:17
mother tongue speakers very clear for
46:20
them they are often yes and I mean from
46:24
the first at least 10 or 15 years of my
46:25
experience over here people always
46:27
wanted stuff larger than life so I mean
46:31
it always had to be quite histrionic you
46:33
know it was kind of Shakespeare meets
46:35
the contemporary world kind of thing and
46:38
always you know slower than normal and
46:42
well enunciated so that it can be
46:45
understood by people from anywhere in
46:47
the world you know and so on so and that
46:51
is now completely gone out the window
46:54
luckily but the way that you present in
46:58
an voice a video or something that is
47:01
communicating to people from different
47:02
languages and different cultures and
47:04
different
47:04
yeah with not English mother tongue
47:06
almost always does actually have to be
47:09
not more histrionic
47:12
but enunciated and and pronounced in a
47:15
way that is slightly different from the
47:16
way that you would speak to people with
47:19
your own mother tongue what’s
47:22
interesting is I you know I was gonna
47:24
say when when you have to do stuff
47:26
that’s into English how often is it
47:28
English accent versus American accent
47:31
hahaha
47:32
yeah that’s a good one obviously I’ve
47:34
fought for our pitch for many decades
47:39
especially I mean for stuff coming out
47:42
of Europe and actually going back into
47:44
Europe but if it’s going to the States
47:47
obviously I mean the opposite is true I
47:50
mean sometimes again decades people used
47:54
to say to me currently just do it with a
47:56
mid-atlantic accent or can’t you just
47:59
fake an American accent and I would
48:01
always say and obviously still do know
48:06
what is I remember doing I was you know
48:10
doing an industrial video and they were
48:14
hiring a talent from America and the
48:16
recording studio was in I think it might
48:19
have been Ireland actually so there they
48:21
are an english-speaking country and for
48:24
their product video they wanted an
48:26
American accent because and I and I
48:28
remember asking them and they said in
48:30
general the person the producer was like
48:32
in general there’s a more like high-tech
48:36
the American accent can convey more
48:39
heights whereas the English accent might
48:41
might convey more culture or and and and
48:45
the opposite happens so then we’re doing
48:46
industrial videos and it’s so funny
48:48
because often when you want the sound of
48:50
authority it’s an English accent why
48:54
well as I was explaining to Andrew
48:56
recently I mean at least we always get
48:58
this kind of can you do we always not
49:01
always but we do sometimes still and to
49:03
get this kind of mid-atlantic I just
49:04
don’t want it to British or to Americans
49:06
and now I’m saying well why don’t you
49:07
just have it Australian attacked yeah
49:10
you know yeah people that are non
49:12
English and native speakers if they’re
49:15
unsure of where as coming from you’ve
49:17
you’ve won the battle if you don’t want
49:19
to sound too British or sort of you know
49:20
them obviously with British English I
49:24
mean if you if you sort of go
49:26
the scale and become very RP and sort of
49:28
BBC it sounds a bit like it’s sort of
49:29
1950s newscast or documentary or
49:32
whatever or maybe that you’ve just come
49:35
out of Buckingham Palace and if you
49:37
don’t go to sort of Street is just
49:39
sounds like kind of really funny you
49:41
know whatever so you know there’s no
49:46
real escaping a British accent whatever
49:48
you do and anywhere in puff him in the
49:49
middle it’s not we’re in the middle but
49:50
if you but I mean it’s always gonna be
49:54
recognizably British and whatever doing
49:57
Europeans recognise the subtleties of
49:58
different American accents I mean when
50:00
they say an American it’s like oh you
50:03
can’t get some this country guy or you
50:05
can get someone from Chicago and there’s
50:06
these you know New York there’s so many
50:09
different American accents and then in
50:11
America it’s often that the Midwest and
50:13
the Canadians are deemed as being the
50:16
most neutral yeah I mean I can go down
50:20
south to the right place and it’s
50:21
another language
50:22
sure sure sure sure you know I’m sure
50:26
that Daniel you will remember because
50:29
I’m kind of funny feeling it could be a
50:31
similar vintage back in the days did you
50:35
have you Stillson to Radio Luxembourg
50:36
when you were a kid I did yeah yeah that
50:39
was never an avid listener but I’d yeah
50:41
yeah I did yes and so if you listen to
50:43
Radio Luxembourg back in the maybe late
50:46
60s early 70s
50:48
yeah half those half those people on the
50:51
air were Australians amazed to call that
50:53
Mid Atlantic Oh jet set ads for peter
50:56
stuyvesant cigarettes and all that kind
50:58
of thing but there were a whole bunch of
51:00
Aussies the recite the Yale and
51:03
a Deveraux and all those guys nicked
51:06
eighths and all those characters of what
51:07
you know wandered into the UK yeah well
51:10
they yes is you’ve got a good pedigree
51:12
there yeah but it was failure because
51:14
that that became can you do mid-atlantic
51:16
yeah that’s mid-atlantic that’ll fit and
51:19
it was just a you know a world spoken
51:21
Ozzie I guess yeah yeah sure that’s
51:23
that’s great that’s good so that banks
51:25
up my my theory and and advice to people
51:29
yeah okay so you use that one a lot
51:33
please absolutely by the way I mean if
51:39
anybody wants to
51:39
look more at what we’re doing it’s
51:42
networks Europe net and if we want to
51:45
book Daniel how do we go about that
51:46
oh we just chemical know my personal
51:51
website is Daniel Richards dot TV it was
51:54
the only one that still had a Daniel
51:55
Richard so yeah that’s that’s excellent
52:02
thank you so much thanks again I think I
52:05
Milan you lucky devil
52:08
yeah it’s becoming really nice I must
52:10
say yeah yeah it’s a beautifully pray
52:12
and kind of northern European Central
52:15
Europe in whatever no not in European
52:17
kind of not grimy but sort of very
52:20
workaholic place that’s become really um
52:23
it’s very much on the stop on the
52:26
tourist itinerary so it’s full of
52:28
tourists now it’s really striking
52:30
shopping 30 25 30 years ago you know the
52:34
the Cathedral Square was just abandoned
52:37
a completely empty most of the day now
52:40
you can hardly get you have to kind of
52:42
you know the elbow your way through it
52:44
these days yeah yeah no no it’s
52:47
absolutely booming and loads of new
52:49
restaurants and night sports and cool
52:53
museums and exhibitions and stuff to do
52:55
I mean it really is it’s buzzing now
52:58
it’s it’s great it’s been being fun
53:00
watching and being part of not being
53:03
Pope yeah me being being here for that
53:05
transformation because it really really
53:06
is very very noticeable so yeah drop I
53:11
yeah I was there in first time I went to
53:14
Milan was 1986 and I met it was actually
53:19
when Chernobyl went up all right so
53:21
we’re all there in Italy we felt we
53:24
actually wasn’t in Milan when we found
53:26
out I think we just gone to Rome and
53:28
then the knees broke but it obviously
53:30
been up weeks before anyone knew and
53:33
yeah so we scattered and because what
53:37
everyone thought the cloud was heading
53:38
south as it turned out it wasn’t heading
53:41
south it was heading west so you know a
53:43
couple of us we flew back to the UK and
53:46
set up to thicken nuclear cloud we’re
53:49
happy about that or radioactive cloud
53:51
I’m still here though
53:53
yes right you know Oh Oh all your your
53:56
your extra fingers and everything yep
53:59
I’ll get ahead like a cactus but apart
54:00
from that everything’s TV good acting
54:02
pretty pers but we don’t hear very much
54:04
need yeah let’s say thank God for that
54:09
have a great rest of your day
54:12
night that was the pro audio suite if
54:17
you have any questions or ideas for a
54:19
show let us know via our Facebook the
54:22
pro audio suite podcast
54:28
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Products or companies we discuss are not paid endorsements. They are not sponsored by, nor do we have any professional or affiliate relationship of any kind with any of the companies or products highlighted in the show…. sadly! It’s just stuff we like, think is cool and may be of interest to you our listeners.
this is a test of the emergency
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[Music]
00:15
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00:18
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00:21
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00:26
[Music]
00:31
now let’s get on with the show from Los
00:34
Angeles George Wickham from Chicago
00:36
Robert Marshall from Sydney Australia
00:39
Rob oh and from sunny Melbourne and
00:42
repeaters this is the pro audio suite
00:46
welcome to another pro audio suite
00:49
this week we’re definitely global our
00:51
special guest is based in Milan in Italy
00:54
he runs a studio called networks Europe
00:57
his name is Daniel Richards good morning
00:59
to you good morning to you lovely to
01:02
talk to you when Sasha we’re all over
01:04
the place because Robert is it’s almost
01:07
night time for Robert in Chicago and
01:09
it’s afternoon for Rob oh and I in
01:11
Australia hmm just had my leftover
01:14
Chinese for lunch
01:15
off to you and that does not bode well
01:19
we better get this show over and done
01:20
with pretty quickly yes
01:26
that’s nasty now I’m curious because
01:30
obviously I’ve worked with you Daniel so
01:33
we’ve talked to each other you know
01:35
on several occasions but I’ve never
01:37
asked you the question how did you end
01:38
up in Milan right well I was in a very
01:45
small theatre company in the UK in the
01:48
southwest of England Exeter area in the
01:52
early 1980s and I was running a
01:57
community theater but we also have what
01:59
was then called an alternative comedy
02:02
duo I was in an alternative comedy
02:04
viewer called human cartoon and we used
02:10
to support some of the new comedians so
02:12
it came down to the southwest of England
02:13
from London and one of them was a guy
02:15
called Ben Elton and enough yeah yeah
02:18
there’s over him pretty miss Hayne oh
02:21
great okay there you go
02:23
and he’d asked us to go up to London and
02:27
support him in a gig and and go onto at
02:29
least to do a test for what was then the
02:32
The Comedy Store and for some
02:34
preposterous reason we decided not to
02:36
and stay faithful to the community and
02:40
then I kind of thought well hang on a
02:41
minute
02:42
I’m not quite sure if this is really the
02:44
right decision let me just
02:45
take a couple of weeks off to think
02:46
about this and I just happen to come
02:48
over to Italy to do my thinking and I’m
02:51
still here 35 years later still thinking
02:55
as I decide what to do with my life no
02:58
that’s just kidding but I mean yeah
03:00
that’s how it happened I mean it just
03:01
came over for a break and then got into
03:04
a bit of voice recording over here
03:07
started teaching a university over here
03:10
and then opened up my studio and and so
03:13
on so I mean it literally was on and it
03:15
I’m still on an extended holiday
03:17
basically so your background was not
03:20
necessarily voiceover it was comedy yeah
03:22
very early on I mean I was 22 when I
03:26
came over here so um and the comedy kind
03:30
of got hit and you know hit the comedy
03:31
on the head at that point because being
03:34
at that time to be honest being English
03:36
in Italy was really quite a novelty for
03:41
the Italians English are you from there
03:46
were not that many foreigners around so
03:49
the comedy you know the the performing
03:51
part there wasn’t an audience basically
03:54
so that fell by the wayside but the
03:57
voiceover work that I started that
04:00
pretty much immediately I got here
04:02
obviously 1980s early 1980s no ISDN no
04:07
Internet you know only if you wanted to
04:11
record something in English you had to
04:12
have the person right there or send a
04:14
letter pretty much to somebody or a fax
04:17
they existed to the studio in somewhere
04:19
else and get them to do it or fly over
04:22
and do the session yourself so well
04:24
having an English person here in Milan
04:27
that was willing to sort of go to
04:30
different studios throughout the day and
04:32
do all do their stuff in English for
04:34
them was it was was good for everybody
04:36
and and they really I was pretty much in
04:41
the early 80s I think there were two or
04:43
three of us doing it I made my little
04:46
cassette tape demo in a small studio and
04:50
the next day basically went around
04:53
knocking on doors got the Yellow Pages
04:54
out talking 1980
04:57
384 got the yellow pages out and went
04:59
around knocking on doors and when a week
05:01
later I was a voice talent phone-sized
05:04
how many how much work was there and
05:06
what was the main work was it to
05:08
translation work or was it term stuff
05:10
for these K yeah now it’s very much what
05:13
it still is today what you and I do our
05:16
regular kind of bread-and-butter stuff I
05:17
mean lots of corporate videos in English
05:20
whether for the international fairs you
05:22
know product videos that company history
05:26
demo videos of how products worked and
05:30
what’s quite interesting I mean whatever
05:32
is interesting what happened is a lot of
05:35
these smaller companies that is because
05:38
Italy produces a hell of a lot of stuff
05:41
it really and and the the area above
05:45
Milan the third tech and for furniture
05:48
making and then of course fashion Lehman
05:50
on itself and their electronics and
05:52
civil engineering companies and there’s
05:55
a there’s a company that makes a fader
05:58
system for pro tools similar to slate in
06:00
Italy too I think they’re called like
06:03
devil devil something yeah I mean I had
06:07
hundreds of names in my address book and
06:10
I used to get in the car and drive out
06:12
to some godforsaken part of of the
06:17
country’s light above Milan and go into
06:20
a factory where they’d have a not a
06:23
professional booth but you know as one
06:26
of somebody had made their film and
06:28
there was a kind of microphone in a
06:31
small room not necessarily professional
06:34
microphone either and you just record
06:37
your the commentary to the corporate
06:39
film and off you go take me about two
06:42
hours to get there and you know the
06:45
films used to be so long in those days
06:47
there was just no idea that you know
06:49
it’s best to get it over and done
06:50
placing everything between four and ten
06:52
minutes things used to be like 40
06:55
minutes long with huge you know really
06:58
long shots of factory machinery working
07:03
and and so on so I mean syncing it all
07:07
up and getting it getting it right a
07:09
plus the fact that in I mean
07:11
the company cat used to do the
07:12
translations so I mean it normally took
07:15
me a couple of hours to work out what
07:17
they were trying to say put it into
07:18
semi-decent English as he’s much better
07:20
than than they’d given me and then go
07:23
and record it so it was quite a long and
07:25
painstaking process you know I’m talking
07:28
about the early 80s so things have
07:29
improved hugely since then also under
07:31
sort of translation and sensitivity to
07:34
the need to communicate well in the
07:35
language that you’re trying to
07:36
communicate in that but that has
07:38
improved vastly but in those days you
07:41
know it was actually well my my son is
07:44
yeah it’s good English he translated it
07:47
more whatever and it was difficult to to
07:52
tell them but yeah you needed two hours
07:55
to go away and just rewrite the whole
07:57
thing I think we both experienced that
07:59
recently well we did yeah yeah you’re
08:01
right but and again I repeat it’s um
08:05
it’s much much much better than it used
08:07
to be yeah when did you set up your
08:10
studio I set it up in the late 80s and I
08:16
think the foot we actually opened in 18
08:18
in 1990 yeah people would always ask me
08:24
have you got a French German Spanish
08:26
colleague and then it started going a
08:28
bit further afield and you know and it
08:31
just seemed the right thing to do
08:34
finally set something up and be able to
08:36
record myself and and have other foreign
08:39
language voice talents and come in and
08:42
do the stuff so yeah I mean we’ve always
08:45
been known since then as a localization
08:49
hub basically I’m still trying to
08:51
convince our Italian clients that we can
08:54
also do Italian he has 350 Italian voice
08:58
talents on our on our books and we do
09:00
actually know we do much more but our
09:02
real sort of reputa locally our
09:04
reputation has been for obviously for
09:06
localization as and and rightly so I
09:08
mean that’s how it that’s how it started
09:10
so do you see do you see networks is
09:13
also a casting service as well as the
09:15
studio almost definitely yeah yeah I
09:17
mean we do send castings pretty much
09:21
every day in lots of different languages
09:23
and that has been a sort of process of
09:26
selection that’s been going on for four
09:28
decades obviously now it’s much much
09:30
simpler to find voice talents with with
09:35
all the different services that there
09:36
are out there from voice 23 invoices
09:39
calm and and so on and so on and so on
09:41
and also country-specific casting
09:46
services on websites but obviously the
09:49
experience in whittling down the the
09:52
masses to those four three four five six
09:56
voices that will fit the bill for
09:57
whatever you’re trying to or your
09:59
clients are trying to cast that still
10:01
takes experience I think so yes we do
10:04
that and we have several thousand on our
10:07
own database and then we’re always
10:10
convene a constantly expanding it by
10:11
jings Danny but I’ve just said you know
10:14
going on to the science going to new
10:16
Studios which is how we found you I’d
10:20
better leave yeah
10:22
so now you’ve got quite a few studios
10:24
that networks when did you start to
10:25
expand what did you start off small and
10:27
grow or as it always been kind of
10:29
sizable are they are they in the same
10:31
facility or the they are on the same
10:33
facility yeah yeah ya know we started
10:37
off with one in a lovely little
10:40
apartment overlooking what the park that
10:43
leads to thee to the duomo to that two
10:46
mañana’s Cathedral so we had a great
10:47
view and it was literally it wasn’t it
10:50
was a two-bedroom apartment we didn’t
10:53
have any beds in it obviously converted
10:54
into into office space and studios so
10:57
yeah we started off as one then that
11:00
became two and then we converted the
11:03
most miniscule kitchen in the history of
11:06
kitchens into a little booths and I used
11:10
to be able to record myself in there and
11:13
I must have waited quite a few links
11:14
with the with the states and other
11:16
countries in there so then we had three
11:19
and it was kind of pretty ridiculous
11:21
tiny apartment with three Studios a hit
11:24
so a certain point we decided to get a
11:27
bit more serious on me it came to this
11:29
vicinity where we are now where we have
11:32
we have five studios which is which is
11:36
great it gives us just that
11:37
a little bit more play so yeah and I
11:41
would say 90% of the stuff we do is
11:44
linking with people on yourself yes so
11:48
um yeah and we can wait at times when
11:52
you’re doing the localization do you
11:53
find that you’re doing a lot of
11:54
recording remotely with picture sync or
11:57
do you just do wild records and cut
11:59
things in kind of 50/50 a lot of the
12:03
time okay as we do a lot of e-learning
12:06
as well so longer videos and it doesn’t
12:14
need the same degree of of sync as a
12:19
maybe a corporate film although actually
12:22
it does come to think of it but anyway
12:23
it’s long so there we very often if the
12:28
voice talent on the other end
12:29
understands the source language which
12:33
okay for us is Italian but then it often
12:34
gets done first into English so if our
12:37
German French or whatever person is
12:39
happy to have the English in their
12:42
headphones and just go over and go over
12:45
it with a one or two second delay then
12:48
we do that there’s no need to actually
12:50
really send them you know detailed
12:52
videos of screws going into holes or
12:55
tractors came down the field kind of
12:58
thing right ever it is so English
13:00
becomes like a common like like you do
13:03
that translation the first helps the
13:04
other translation yes exactly yeah yeah
13:07
that’s one way we do it although
13:08
obviously for the for other stuff I mean
13:11
for example a series of stuff for
13:15
MasterChef with Joe Bastianich who the
13:18
Americans may know he’s actually half
13:21
Italian and for the Italian version of
13:24
MasterChef he dubs himself into Italian
13:27
so yeah
13:29
those obviously we sent him himself in
13:34
the in the US a version of MasterChef
13:37
and he he went over in Italian we’ve
13:39
done films for sky and and send him
13:43
sending the video across and all the ads
13:46
we do we send the video across I think
13:48
you’ve got
13:50
got now in the States San Pellegrino is
13:53
in the States right now new campaign
13:58
aqua Panna is is is out now and all of
14:01
that stuff we did from here with the
14:04
video again it obviously it depends
14:06
because if it’s a one-liner yeah we can
14:10
do it once with the video they can see
14:12
it and then we’ll just go wild and put
14:14
it on afterwards are the translations
14:16
done do you handle the translations as
14:19
well or do you we do that you do yeah
14:22
yeah yeah we do the translations
14:24
sometimes depending on the client and
14:27
depending on the job we have a sort of a
14:32
trends creation as its trend early
14:34
called service now so we can we offer
14:40
the translation of the of the copy as
14:42
well all transcreation do you find that
14:45
you have to find translators that are
14:46
sort of aware of issues like timing and
14:51
how to make the spirit of the copy work
14:55
when there’s timing issues or maybe even
14:57
some sort of cultural thing absolutely
15:01
yeah absolutely
15:03
yeah yeah like different than the
15:05
translator they would just translate
15:07
show a text book for example absolutely
15:10
yeah for sure
15:12
timing for sure although it’s normally
15:16
not that dramatic but certainly the
15:21
phrasing the the same register in the
15:24
foreign language and not as you say
15:26
necessarily at all the same words and
15:29
that becomes quite tricky sometimes
15:30
because obviously you’re the client may
15:32
not understand then you register and may
15:35
even not very much like the fact that
15:37
his or her words have been quite so
15:40
obviously changed so that’s the art of
15:43
persuasion probably the other thing you
15:48
run into and I know when we do for
15:51
instance you know we start with an
15:52
English say industrial video about
15:55
whatever some product and printer and
15:57
and then we have to do the Spanish
15:59
version and of course the big battle
16:01
there is that
16:03
the Spanish is longer absolutely is
16:05
trying to fit things in and but I
16:07
imagine when you’re going from say
16:10
Italian to English for their trade shows
16:13
they are you’re finding yourself with
16:16
space ma right yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
16:20
I mean obviously one can try to add a
16:23
tiny bit if that becomes dramatic it’s
16:26
not normally that that much of a problem
16:27
for German going into German from
16:30
English or into Arabic that can become
16:33
quite dramatic so at that point
16:36
especially if it’s an industrial videos
16:38
you said or even even an e-learning
16:40
video which maybe has been edited quite
16:43
tightly in the original language then we
16:45
really have to say can we please have
16:47
the license to cut content you have to
16:53
give the translator something in very
16:57
plain English let’s say and also get the
17:01
scissors out in terms of content with
17:04
discretion of course but the experience
17:06
going along the way tells you you know
17:10
you’ve you become quite adept at knowing
17:12
what you can cut without offending
17:15
anybody and of course without changing
17:16
the meaning and of course without
17:17
leaving out essential stuff but yeah so
17:20
what’s the worst direction like like if
17:22
going from like Swedish to Chinese or
17:27
something like what’s the that’s what’s
17:29
the most dense language going to the
17:31
most fluffed up for lack of a better
17:33
word you know yeah well I think is
17:36
pretty dense but is there a denser than
17:38
English no I mean in my experience
17:43
English is definitely the most compact
17:47
language that we have to deal with and
17:51
then for sure Arabic has caused us the
17:57
most kind of headaches in terms of that
17:59
extra time needed to save the center to
18:01
get the same content and German
18:04
sometimes we not always but yeah German
18:07
can be pretty tricky it’s like that
18:09
classic joke were someone translates and
18:11
the person speaks for five minutes and
18:13
then the translator said he said yes yes
18:18
yes yeah yeah exactly so it’s a
18:23
challenge but yeah it’s always fun and
18:25
it’s great to be able to give somebody
18:27
back 15 20 languages and and everything
18:31
is just perfectly synced up so I mean
18:33
it’s a good feeling to be able to
18:35
deliver and do I mean right at the
18:38
beginning to be perfectly honest I mean
18:39
years and years and years and years ago
18:41
before we’d kind of got the hang of this
18:43
we used to just say well for the Arabic
18:45
or the German you know the end of this
18:47
sequence you’re just gonna have to have
18:49
a freeze frame for another four seconds
18:52
after all it’s only eLearning if they
18:54
can handle it yeah and that’s what used
18:56
to happen but I mean now I think we’ve
18:58
no not I think for sure we’ve got the
19:00
hang of making the language fit the
19:03
timing do you find they’re either you
19:06
have to use a say resort to time
19:09
stretching or compressing very
19:12
occasionally yeah very occasionally but
19:15
again it’s really fractional um yeah
19:19
it’s funny how some some people can read
19:22
and they can take more time compression
19:24
than other people were it’s very obvious
19:27
that it’s been compressed and other
19:28
people they just so how the way they
19:30
speak and they pronounce it everything
19:32
it compresses and survives that’s that’s
19:36
very true yeah that’s very true yes the
19:39
the the clearer the enunciation of the
19:41
words and the less difference there is
19:45
within a sentence or group of sentences
19:47
because some people do tend to sort of
19:50
suddenly speed up and if you suddenly
19:52
speed up and the rest of the stuff is
19:55
kind of fairly slow yeah
19:56
I’m exaggerating off-course but if that
19:59
is a is a characteristic of obviously
20:04
that does not react well to be speed it
20:07
up you suddenly get this you know it
20:11
makes it more obvious essentially
20:13
exactly yeah yeah yeah yeah so do you
20:16
get into actually dubbing films where
20:20
you know maybe you’re trying to fake
20:22
lip-sync even though it’s a new new
20:23
language but you’re trying to pick
20:26
translations that might work within not
20:29
just the timing but even
20:31
the mouth mouth yeah sure to be honest I
20:35
had my experience with that is almost
20:38
exclusively and not exclusively but
20:41
almost exclusively from Italian but
20:44
other languages into English so I
20:50
personally do almost all of that and
20:55
that is a long job it really really is I
20:59
mean we’ve just done not just one sort
21:03
of six eight months ago we did a film on
21:06
Michelangelo for maybe sky and that went
21:11
when I went out to cinemas last year and
21:14
that was all lipstick it was three
21:17
actors basically and that was a bastard
21:20
it’s good fun but I mean it was it was
21:22
tough lip synching the whole thing
21:26
fortunately there we did it locally so
21:29
basically um I was cast and as
21:32
Michelangelo and the other two people
21:35
were also him to Milan so that was good
21:38
we could do it you know as one normally
21:41
does idea but in other situations we’ve
21:45
linked and what I have always done so
21:50
far hopefully not to the frustration of
21:53
too many the voice talents is I’ve kind
21:55
of whispered in my sink my lip sync just
21:59
to provide a guide also to be honest as
22:01
when you’re doing this adaptation you
22:04
kind of need to say that loud at least
22:07
that’s the way I’ve I’ve found it works
22:09
best so yeah I I always say it out loud
22:13
oh no that doesn’t work let’s try it out
22:15
that oh yeah mmm that’s almost oh okay
22:17
let’s take out that particle there oh
22:19
let’s change to change that verb do it
22:22
again oh yeah that perfect and so I just
22:25
record it even if it’s not me
22:27
I still recorded on the film that I’m
22:30
adapting for lip sync so at the end I’ve
22:33
got the whole thing there
22:34
if the talent wants to hear that and
22:36
especially if it’s just a few lines I
22:38
mean so you do your version of the sync
22:40
so that you can test it find it and then
22:44
talent has something to serve a shadow
22:47
or a scratch track to reference exactly
22:50
so yeah yeah so if you can also hear the
22:53
rhythm obviously I mean if it’s kind of
22:55
supposed to be like that so they if it’s
22:58
kind of supposed to be like that so they
23:00
can get that uh better putter especially
23:04
if they’re dubbing from a language that
23:06
maybe they don’t understand why why do
23:08
you find it useful to whisper it is that
23:11
I just do that so I don’t add my
23:13
interpretation Roop yeah because I think
23:17
that’s a lot of like one of the possible
23:21
problems if the voice director is also a
23:24
talent there’s always the danger I think
23:28
that you you try and get the person to
23:32
do as you do it right your direction
23:35
tends to morph into trying to get
23:38
someone to you know basically to imitate
23:41
how you do it
23:42
so whispering kind of reduces
23:46
considerably yes sure it is literally
23:50
just a rhythmic guide and there’s only
23:53
because maybe you know if it’s a safe
23:56
it’s a one or two liner you can
23:58
certainly let them see the film first of
24:00
in let them leave certainly send the
24:01
film they can see the film but you don’t
24:02
really need a hundred percent to to send
24:09
them that part of the film and then redo
24:11
it and read it always under film once
24:13
once once they know what they’re doing
24:15
they can they can do it wild yeah and
24:18
some some actors work better off of like
24:21
hereit’s say it it’s not always about
24:22
looking at the film I’ve seen I’ve seen
24:24
many times where the film becomes almost
24:26
a distraction yes
24:29
something that over complicates things
24:30
and if you can get the right timing if
24:34
it’s you know if it’s lip sync and you
24:35
have a guide track like you have that
24:38
that may that may be all that’s
24:39
necessary yeah yeah yeah some sometimes
24:42
it really really is absolutely yeah yeah
24:44
yeah I mean it’s great for somebody able
24:46
to see who they are so I mean sure so
24:49
they get an idea of the character
24:50
exactly Authority Cala T as well and
24:54
also their what they’re doing I mean
24:57
yeah the kind of
24:58
that we do as unfortunately we don’t
25:01
have a lot of cinema
25:03
and certainly not not linking not viet
25:07
not you know not with those like remote
25:09
area yeah yes i mean it’s not it’s not a
25:13
common problem for us but anyway being
25:16
able to see who you are and see if
25:19
you’re you know speaking straight to
25:21
camera or you’re kind of turning around
25:23
and doing something else and then coming
25:25
back I mean all that kind of stuff it’s
25:26
certainly good to see it I think it’s
25:28
sometimes a telltale sign when you see
25:31
something that’s dubbed in the dubbing
25:32
is too clean or sometimes some of the
25:37
physical like movements and things that
25:41
might make somebody who knows like out
25:44
of breath or just even some of the
25:47
movements that maybe are captured as
25:48
part of the dialogue and then when it’s
25:50
you know switched out so now that
25:53
original track is gone and the new
25:55
language is in sometimes the issue is
25:57
that the new language is like to clean
25:59
that makes it too obvious that it’s been
26:00
replaced and you don’t show like do do
26:03
the actors have to sometimes get into a
26:05
little bit of movement or whatnot to try
26:08
to you know sell the the new performance
26:11
that it’s absolutely yeah absolutely I
26:15
mean especially in what we know mentally
26:17
doolittle of which is of course cinema
26:19
just in brackets I mean Mussolini banned
26:23
foreign language and so the Italians
26:28
everything was dubbed and yeah there are
26:32
some you now now of course with Netflix
26:34
and and and and Prime and so on people
26:39
are getting more used to looking at
26:40
subtitles than the last five years or so
26:42
I mean I would always watch a Spanish
26:44
film in Spanish with subtitles
26:45
personally because in the UK that that’s
26:48
how I was brought up kind of thing but
26:50
yeah I I certainly appreciate watching
26:52
it in the original language and I don’t
26:54
mind looking at the subtitles because
26:55
that the Italians have had they’re not
26:59
used to it and as I say now now they’re
27:02
getting more used to it for decades
27:04
everything was dubbed absolutely
27:06
everything was dubbed into Italian and
27:07
still is in mainstream TV absolutely
27:10
Aldous
27:12
well it’s a heavenly series brought over
27:15
from the states
27:18
reality TV comedy series crime series
27:23
everything dubbed into Italian sir I
27:25
mean actually the Italians I think
27:27
probably if not the most accomplished
27:32
and others down the world certainly
27:37
although oh you do know about the
27:38
Russian story have you heard this story
27:40
no sir so in in the 80s you know
27:45
American movies were banned but they
27:48
would smuggle them in and the way they
27:50
would do the dubbing is they would
27:52
literally just like whoever smuggled
27:55
these in had a girlfriend who spoke
27:57
English or sorry who spoke English so
28:00
she could understand and they would
28:01
literally just sit there in the theater
28:04
shoot the video off of the screen while
28:08
she listened on headphones and just
28:11
repeated everything back in in in
28:13
Russian oh sure one though was doing the
28:15
whole thing right so she was the voice
28:16
of Rocky
28:17
she was the place of everybody and and
28:20
she’s like a celebrity because all
28:22
Russians like she’s the iconic right
28:25
when it’s amazing it’s simultaneous
28:28
translation yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I
28:34
think the classic story though is um the
28:36
first Mad Max when it was released in
28:38
America was dubbed it was dubbed by an
28:43
American no Gibson was dubbed by an
28:45
American yeah Wow
28:47
Chaz from access talent was the guy that
28:51
was the agent who who supplied the the
28:54
act of heaven for the Mad Max film and
28:57
we had a conversation about it and the
28:59
guy was with an Australian guy said I’ve
29:01
got a copy of that on VHS and we sent it
29:04
to him right that was in the days when
29:07
no one can understand Australians what’d
29:09
you say I said I live in Austria in your
29:19
studio because we always have to get a
29:20
bit techie what sort of gear have you
29:22
got oh right
29:24
oh this you asking absolutely the wrong
29:26
person stupidly I didn’t ask them to
29:28
make me a list but what’s the badge on
29:31
the microphone you’re talking into
29:32
computers
29:34
but we’re using pretty much Illinois
29:36
Minh Mike’s we’ve not updated completely
29:41
our pro tools yet don’t ask me what
29:42
version we’ve got but we’re not using
29:43
the very latest one because with five
29:46
Studios it comes in at quite a price to
29:49
keep on updating everything um yeah but
29:53
anyway we’re all Pro Tools it’s all pro
29:56
tools everywhere but we’ve also got
29:57
you’ll see use Cubase and logic and
30:00
stuff for the music for the musical
30:02
stuff what else I was finding
30:06
interesting they’re talking about gear
30:07
though how in different countries
30:10
different gear is adopted it’s not a
30:13
general thing I saw a photograph pop up
30:15
on Twitter and it was just um a female
30:18
voice talent who had won an award or
30:20
something I can’t even think what it was
30:21
now but I looked immediately saw the
30:23
photograph went English and the thing
30:25
that gave it away was the only people in
30:27
the world and I’ve got a funny feeling
30:29
you have a pair of these Daniel is the
30:32
BBC style huge white headphones yeah
30:37
that’s right I can’t even think of one
30:39
right now that I saw the point English
30:41
because no one else wears them no you’re
30:44
right
30:44
but because because they’re so closed
30:49
yeah I mean they really really are and
30:53
you really can tell the difference and
30:54
the MIT they maybe they don’t have the
30:56
best sound for you to voice talent in
30:58
your ears I don’t know well though it’s
30:59
pretty damn good
31:00
but they don’t leak so you know you can
31:03
have that film at a certain volume that
31:07
you’re listening to and dubbing over and
31:09
it won’t come out obviously it will a
31:11
certain volume but I mean there’s more
31:13
tolerance for these things do you’re
31:16
right is slightly wearing it they have
31:18
pretty industrial looking and feeling
31:21
but they’re not really cool that is so
31:25
unique and is so English to see those
31:28
headphones I think they’re actually they
31:29
were designed for drummers I think it
31:31
could be wrong but some interest is so
31:34
piqued like I’m trying to figure out
31:35
which ones they are now well if you just
31:37
have a look
31:38
any photographs of the Beatles they used
31:39
to wear them at EMI in London so they’re
31:42
they’re like the little flat ones with
31:43
the round things like they’re like a
31:44
flat rectangle with a round thing in the
31:46
middle Bayer dynamic is that who makes
31:49
them yeah thought they were I’m not sure
31:51
brand they are but they’re they’re huge
31:53
rectangular big like it’s almost like a
31:55
that’s right brick yeah yeah you see
32:01
those all the time but they still make
32:04
those are those just they do still make
32:07
them we have we have we still have all
32:09
the original ones that we got in the
32:10
early 90s we still got them and every
32:13
five or six years we just changed the
32:16
the pad part we’ve just ordered another
32:19
20 or so yeah
32:24
but they just pop out and you pop the
32:25
new ones on once they used to I was
32:28
going home and my girlfriend was saying
32:31
what’s all that black you’ve got on your
32:33
ears so okay yeah that’s that’s what is
32:39
this the the rubber so now we’ve got
32:41
these no other material bit squeakier
32:47
than the rubber but no much yeah yeah oh
32:49
my my oldest headphones and this is a
32:52
thumbs up for ikg there’s a pair of k14
32:55
ones that I got in 1980 well and are
33:00
still going strong perfect in fact they
33:02
did go in one ear but I just everybody
33:05
up off and we just sold it up the the
33:07
wired it snapped off and put them back
33:09
together again bingo
33:10
beautiful hell that’s pretty good that’s
33:12
coming up for 40 years yeah yes so for
33:15
everyone’s curiosity are we talking
33:17
about the beyerdynamic DT 100’s yes oh
33:26
the thing that comes across the top yeah
33:28
and go play football with that yeah it
33:31
looks like your um your cycling helmet
33:33
it’s like you’re in a factory or
33:35
something yeah yeah when you first set
33:39
up the studio I’m always curious about
33:40
this because we talked we spoke to Chris
33:41
Kent I think you probably oh yeah yeah
33:45
and when he set up his studio in London
33:48
I said well how do you go politically
33:50
it’s
33:51
or could being a talent and having a
33:53
studio don’t other studios get their
33:54
nose out of joint and he’s held him ya
33:57
know well I didn’t do that I mean
34:00
there’s the kind of hub the studio hub
34:03
in in Milan is near where the Rye
34:07
Italy’s version of the BBC is and there
34:11
were I don’t know 30 or 40 studios in
34:15
that area and I set mine up in a
34:18
different area on purpose so as not to
34:21
UM tell my the people that have you know
34:24
fed me for 10 years previously that I
34:27
was um kind of starting up in
34:30
competition with them and to be honest I
34:32
mean we do an awful lot of work in the
34:34
education in the language education
34:36
market I would say that well no not I
34:38
would say I know damn well that that is
34:39
like 60% of the stuff we do so we record
34:42
dictionaries for HarperCollins we’ve
34:45
just done one in seven languages we
34:49
record language courses you know the
34:51
monologues and the dialogues for for
34:55
Pierce and for lots and lots of
34:59
different people so I wasn’t really into
35:02
competition and I tried very much I
35:04
didn’t go fishing for the clients that I
35:07
knew I just you know I’ve been recording
35:08
with other people so I think I was very
35:11
diligent about that having said that
35:12
though Andrew you’re absolutely right I
35:15
mean a week after I’d set up my studio
35:17
all of my clients just stopped calling
35:21
me my local clients I mean the local
35:23
studios not going to say that but the
35:25
studios just said oh right that’s that
35:27
so to discourage people also in a way to
35:34
come to me because everybody would
35:35
always go to this other hub and you know
35:37
that all the video post-production
35:39
facilities were in that hub so it always
35:42
made sense for people to do any
35:44
voiceover work there as well they could
35:46
literally walk across the road and go to
35:48
a recording studio and then come back
35:49
again and finish off the video edit and
35:51
more and more companies were setting up
35:55
where they do both video and audio so it
35:57
kind of made sense and we were happy
35:58
doing our language our language course
36:01
and and another stuff although yeah
36:04
so so yeah I lost a lot of clients when
36:07
I when I set up and then 12 years later
36:09
I just decided enough is enough guys
36:12
happy came here to the heart and in said
36:15
applause did you hear
36:16
no they fine with it now there are is is
36:18
still a bit of animals animosity um well
36:21
I mean I’m yeah they’re kind of fine
36:24
with it get him well with everybody I am
36:27
being cold now much more than I was for
36:29
the first five to ten years after its it
36:33
was quite dramatic because I mean I
36:35
would have death thing ever went over 12
36:37
or 13 dubs in a day but there were times
36:42
when I’d leave the taxi running outside
36:43
jump in do the stuff go back get up back
36:45
in the taxi and go somewhere else
36:47
the the eighties really there were like
36:49
that and when I’ve started up I really
36:51
didn’t when I first started up I we had
36:54
one studio and it was mainly for me and
36:56
I didn’t really advertise it and so yes
36:58
it was a bit like risk and said I mean
37:00
it just didn’t didn’t shout about it but
37:01
as soon as we started doing the
37:03
different languages and started to
37:06
market ourselves then that then then it
37:08
and kind of the roof fell in for me as a
37:12
talent here locally but yeah now they’re
37:16
okay yeah now we’ve um kind of shaking
37:20
hands and made up sort of thinking could
37:23
actually talk about that though so do
37:24
your work as a talent has that um
37:26
dropped off dramatically or is it G
37:29
balance it with running networks or how
37:32
does it work now yeah it’s I mean if I
37:34
compare what I do now to what I did in
37:36
the 80s there’s just no comparison to be
37:39
perfectly honest in the 80s I really was
37:41
doing masses of work also because as I
37:45
say that if it was a market thing I mean
37:47
there would either the guy came to your
37:49
studio or the girl or you didn’t get the
37:53
dub I mean no he didn’t get the you know
37:55
you couldn’t do it or you literally just
37:57
crossed your fingers now someone else in
37:58
another country didn’t and sends you the
38:00
audio but again in the 80s and how would
38:02
you send the audio the internet didn’t
38:04
exist I mean it was lit was still really
38:06
was still talking reel-to-reel recording
38:08
and no digital ever every recording
38:11
studio would have you know different
38:13
sized envelopes and packages with their
38:16
logo on it because they’d be sending
38:18
first you know reel to reels and then
38:21
CDs and dats and PETA maxes and whatever
38:25
it was you know you’d actually send them
38:27
by post or by courier to your clients so
38:30
being here in this case in Milan and
38:34
being able to offer you know cut through
38:37
all of that and just go to the studio
38:38
and do it was was was hugely beneficial
38:42
for for them as well for the clients so
38:46
yeah I mean it was in it would be
38:47
impossible I think that anybody to
38:49
maintain that kind of flow work because
38:51
obviously slowly men started fitting up
38:54
with with other with other people that
38:56
were doing doing voiceovers and offering
38:58
the same service and Milan was a fashion
39:02
center there were loads of models
39:03
walking around and so on but and English
39:07
teachers would come to Milan for
39:10
teaching the language schools and
39:11
British Council and what-have-you that
39:14
was pretty much it what do you prefer do
39:16
you prefer being in town or do you
39:18
prefer being a producer oh dear I really
39:22
really like both it’s so good though to
39:26
do the production stuff the the
39:29
producers or the voice directors or
39:32
whatever you want to call them are
39:33
obviously the butt of many greg joke and
39:38
we all know the you know the classic
39:41
going through 25 takes and ending up
39:44
where you’ve started from the guys like
39:46
dad that one and you’re gonna be here
39:49
that’s right that’s not what I started
39:51
with my you know yeah so but I don’t
39:55
know about you Andrew when when I was a
39:59
again a did some things as a theatre
40:03
director and actor and when you’re doing
40:05
the two things together and you’re on
40:07
stage he kind of thinking you know this
40:10
is the one time when there’s not
40:11
somebody offstage saying why don’t you
40:13
do it like this or puff from that but I
40:16
mean just giving you some feedback and I
40:18
find that really really useful it has
40:21
the talent rather than necessarily being
40:23
left there completely to do whatever you
40:25
think is is its most appropriate well
40:28
it’s interesting you should say that
40:29
because you are probably one of the few
40:31
fact
40:31
yeah one of the very few people I work
40:34
with in another country that actually
40:36
jumps on line and directs me normally
40:38
I’m left right here to do my own thing
40:40
sure sure which is great of course cuz I
40:43
mean it but I don’t know how you felt
40:45
about its first time we did it but no no
40:50
I liked like you said like I agree
40:52
completely with you I think it’s um it’s
40:54
always far more beneficial to have
40:56
someone either sitting outside the booth
40:59
or down the line because there’s you
41:02
know you get into it you know it’s like
41:03
you basically humans are lazy so we get
41:06
into a pattern and a rhythm and we just
41:08
churn that out and it’s only yes I’m one
41:11
who’s directing you says well have you
41:12
tried this or why don’t we try it this
41:14
way that it actually gets something much
41:15
better out of you yeah oh yeah yeah yeah
41:17
well that’s good I’m very glad that you
41:19
feel that way I certainly feel that way
41:22
and it’s great being as it had to come
41:23
back to your question it’s actually
41:25
great being on the other end it’s great
41:27
being the having the producers hat on
41:30
because again with that same provider
41:33
that I mentioned before not wanting to
41:35
waste your style onto somebody else but
41:39
yeah obviously you have to come from
41:42
your style because he cannot as part of
41:45
you kind of thing but as you’re not
41:49
actually doing it you can play around a
41:53
little bit then you know go from imagine
41:55
how you do it of course you can’t avoid
41:57
that but also have them have a kind of
42:01
you know a bird’s-eye view of it as well
42:03
and kind of think of different ways of
42:06
doing the same thing I mean I said I
42:08
think that it’s a bit of a challenge and
42:11
but it’s also great and it’s also great
42:12
when you actually in sync with the
42:14
talent you know and some talents don’t
42:17
like me Taunton otherwise you know like
42:22
I said I’ve had it easier or not and
42:23
there’s also there’s other things that
42:25
play depending on your accent then the
42:30
rhythm is completely different that’s
42:31
true though that’s true
42:33
like if you’re American or Australian
42:35
New Zealand English Scottish whorls
42:37
whatever you’re all speaking the same
42:39
language
42:39
but it actually is completely different
42:41
in the in the rhythm of yeah where you
42:43
deliver absolutely phrase
42:45
and inflection um are noticeably
42:49
different yeah I was just thinking of a
42:52
particular thing must have been a couple
42:55
of years ago I was with an American
42:56
talent here in Milan in Chile I just
42:59
noticed a certain point he said well you
43:01
know and we suggest and I said David
43:04
you’ve just said suggests it suggests he
43:10
said well no I think we say suggests in
43:13
American English I’ve kind of said nah
43:15
come on David I’ve watched you know
43:18
hundreds thousands of hours of American
43:20
films have never heard suggesting let’s
43:23
just check it oh my god it is suggest so
43:29
yeah that I mean a lot of my family’s in
43:32
the states I I mean you know no no
43:34
stranger to American English but hey
43:36
sometimes there’s a tiny little thing
43:38
that that can escape you yeah YUM so
43:41
that was a lesson for me have you ever
43:43
said something yeah heard anyone say
43:45
suggest well I I see it as s you and
43:49
then just so the G likes that’s a good
43:52
so asked or I’m not sure I follow
43:57
I’m obviously now super aware of this
43:59
because after embarrassing myself to be
44:03
perfectly honest yeah I hear it all the
44:06
time now
44:07
I suggested it’s the G the first is very
44:11
light I was I was I was um over
44:14
emphasizing it therefore yeah for
44:16
registration but I mean yeah suggest and
44:19
another interesting one in the same
44:21
areas clothes who everyone just has
44:24
clothes yeah oh yeah you know clothes
44:28
there’s a D and then a TA clothes yeah
44:31
actually
44:32
oh one the one that you fury eights me
44:33
if we just wanna is the STS ending which
44:38
is not which is not anything to do with
44:39
wave which part of them how are you from
44:42
that yes some people have real problems
44:45
with that and I do I have a process like
44:47
that I could admit say her name but the
44:49
Beavis one of the BBC pronounces of a
44:52
podcast says if you can hear us on
44:55
little little alert dot podcasts
44:58
and I said well guys I’m listening to
45:00
you yeah or that
45:02
yeah no teapot it sounds like pod car is
45:05
like little little pods
45:07
oh so many words get like little
45:09
syllables dropped off and and people go
45:12
their whole life
45:13
slightly mispronouncing things and not
45:16
realizing it and that everyone knows
45:19
what you mean and in common count
45:21
conversation but then under the
45:23
microscope you like you know that’s a
45:25
funny thing I’ve been saying that wrong
45:26
the whole time yeah don’t say for if
45:29
it’s in a conversational script you’d
45:31
say and for whatever reason bla bla bla
45:34
instead of for whatever reason or an a
45:37
there’s all sometimes there’s no you
45:40
know you can do it either way and it’s
45:41
like what rolls off the tongue better
45:43
but there’s a lot of like for jest like
45:47
for just as a whole word onto itself
45:49
it’s interesting that what you’re saying
45:51
there about
45:52
enunciate in and the fur and the for and
45:57
the because that fur is the the schwa
45:59
sound
46:00
that yeah which we have in father and
46:02
and so on and it’s the most common sound
46:04
actually in the English language that so
46:07
but of course if when you’re doing when
46:11
you’re trying to talk to a global
46:13
audience many of whom are not English
46:17
mother tongue speakers very clear for
46:20
them they are often yes and I mean from
46:24
the first at least 10 or 15 years of my
46:25
experience over here people always
46:27
wanted stuff larger than life so I mean
46:31
it always had to be quite histrionic you
46:33
know it was kind of Shakespeare meets
46:35
the contemporary world kind of thing and
46:38
always you know slower than normal and
46:42
well enunciated so that it can be
46:45
understood by people from anywhere in
46:47
the world you know and so on so and that
46:51
is now completely gone out the window
46:54
luckily but the way that you present in
46:58
an voice a video or something that is
47:01
communicating to people from different
47:02
languages and different cultures and
47:04
different
47:04
yeah with not English mother tongue
47:06
almost always does actually have to be
47:09
not more histrionic
47:12
but enunciated and and pronounced in a
47:15
way that is slightly different from the
47:16
way that you would speak to people with
47:19
your own mother tongue what’s
47:22
interesting is I you know I was gonna
47:24
say when when you have to do stuff
47:26
that’s into English how often is it
47:28
English accent versus American accent
47:31
hahaha
47:32
yeah that’s a good one obviously I’ve
47:34
fought for our pitch for many decades
47:39
especially I mean for stuff coming out
47:42
of Europe and actually going back into
47:44
Europe but if it’s going to the States
47:47
obviously I mean the opposite is true I
47:50
mean sometimes again decades people used
47:54
to say to me currently just do it with a
47:56
mid-atlantic accent or can’t you just
47:59
fake an American accent and I would
48:01
always say and obviously still do know
48:06
what is I remember doing I was you know
48:10
doing an industrial video and they were
48:14
hiring a talent from America and the
48:16
recording studio was in I think it might
48:19
have been Ireland actually so there they
48:21
are an english-speaking country and for
48:24
their product video they wanted an
48:26
American accent because and I and I
48:28
remember asking them and they said in
48:30
general the person the producer was like
48:32
in general there’s a more like high-tech
48:36
the American accent can convey more
48:39
heights whereas the English accent might
48:41
might convey more culture or and and and
48:45
the opposite happens so then we’re doing
48:46
industrial videos and it’s so funny
48:48
because often when you want the sound of
48:50
authority it’s an English accent why
48:54
well as I was explaining to Andrew
48:56
recently I mean at least we always get
48:58
this kind of can you do we always not
49:01
always but we do sometimes still and to
49:03
get this kind of mid-atlantic I just
49:04
don’t want it to British or to Americans
49:06
and now I’m saying well why don’t you
49:07
just have it Australian attacked yeah
49:10
you know yeah people that are non
49:12
English and native speakers if they’re
49:15
unsure of where as coming from you’ve
49:17
you’ve won the battle if you don’t want
49:19
to sound too British or sort of you know
49:20
them obviously with British English I
49:24
mean if you if you sort of go
49:26
the scale and become very RP and sort of
49:28
BBC it sounds a bit like it’s sort of
49:29
1950s newscast or documentary or
49:32
whatever or maybe that you’ve just come
49:35
out of Buckingham Palace and if you
49:37
don’t go to sort of Street is just
49:39
sounds like kind of really funny you
49:41
know whatever so you know there’s no
49:46
real escaping a British accent whatever
49:48
you do and anywhere in puff him in the
49:49
middle it’s not we’re in the middle but
49:50
if you but I mean it’s always gonna be
49:54
recognizably British and whatever doing
49:57
Europeans recognise the subtleties of
49:58
different American accents I mean when
50:00
they say an American it’s like oh you
50:03
can’t get some this country guy or you
50:05
can get someone from Chicago and there’s
50:06
these you know New York there’s so many
50:09
different American accents and then in
50:11
America it’s often that the Midwest and
50:13
the Canadians are deemed as being the
50:16
most neutral yeah I mean I can go down
50:20
south to the right place and it’s
50:21
another language
50:22
sure sure sure sure you know I’m sure
50:26
that Daniel you will remember because
50:29
I’m kind of funny feeling it could be a
50:31
similar vintage back in the days did you
50:35
have you Stillson to Radio Luxembourg
50:36
when you were a kid I did yeah yeah that
50:39
was never an avid listener but I’d yeah
50:41
yeah I did yes and so if you listen to
50:43
Radio Luxembourg back in the maybe late
50:46
60s early 70s
50:48
yeah half those half those people on the
50:51
air were Australians amazed to call that
50:53
Mid Atlantic Oh jet set ads for peter
50:56
stuyvesant cigarettes and all that kind
50:58
of thing but there were a whole bunch of
51:00
Aussies the recite the Yale and
51:03
a Deveraux and all those guys nicked
51:06
eighths and all those characters of what
51:07
you know wandered into the UK yeah well
51:10
they yes is you’ve got a good pedigree
51:12
there yeah but it was failure because
51:14
that that became can you do mid-atlantic
51:16
yeah that’s mid-atlantic that’ll fit and
51:19
it was just a you know a world spoken
51:21
Ozzie I guess yeah yeah sure that’s
51:23
that’s great that’s good so that banks
51:25
up my my theory and and advice to people
51:29
yeah okay so you use that one a lot
51:33
please absolutely by the way I mean if
51:39
anybody wants to
51:39
look more at what we’re doing it’s
51:42
networks Europe net and if we want to
51:45
book Daniel how do we go about that
51:46
oh we just chemical know my personal
51:51
website is Daniel Richards dot TV it was
51:54
the only one that still had a Daniel
51:55
Richard so yeah that’s that’s excellent
52:02
thank you so much thanks again I think I
52:05
Milan you lucky devil
52:08
yeah it’s becoming really nice I must
52:10
say yeah yeah it’s a beautifully pray
52:12
and kind of northern European Central
52:15
Europe in whatever no not in European
52:17
kind of not grimy but sort of very
52:20
workaholic place that’s become really um
52:23
it’s very much on the stop on the
52:26
tourist itinerary so it’s full of
52:28
tourists now it’s really striking
52:30
shopping 30 25 30 years ago you know the
52:34
the Cathedral Square was just abandoned
52:37
a completely empty most of the day now
52:40
you can hardly get you have to kind of
52:42
you know the elbow your way through it
52:44
these days yeah yeah no no it’s
52:47
absolutely booming and loads of new
52:49
restaurants and night sports and cool
52:53
museums and exhibitions and stuff to do
52:55
I mean it really is it’s buzzing now
52:58
it’s it’s great it’s been being fun
53:00
watching and being part of not being
53:03
Pope yeah me being being here for that
53:05
transformation because it really really
53:06
is very very noticeable so yeah drop I
53:11
yeah I was there in first time I went to
53:14
Milan was 1986 and I met it was actually
53:19
when Chernobyl went up all right so
53:21
we’re all there in Italy we felt we
53:24
actually wasn’t in Milan when we found
53:26
out I think we just gone to Rome and
53:28
then the knees broke but it obviously
53:30
been up weeks before anyone knew and
53:33
yeah so we scattered and because what
53:37
everyone thought the cloud was heading
53:38
south as it turned out it wasn’t heading
53:41
south it was heading west so you know a
53:43
couple of us we flew back to the UK and
53:46
set up to thicken nuclear cloud we’re
53:49
happy about that or radioactive cloud
53:51
I’m still here though
53:53
yes right you know Oh Oh all your your
53:56
your extra fingers and everything yep
53:59
I’ll get ahead like a cactus but apart
54:00
from that everything’s TV good acting
54:02
pretty pers but we don’t hear very much
54:04
need yeah let’s say thank God for that
54:09
have a great rest of your day
54:12
night that was the pro audio suite if
54:17
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54:19
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54:22
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54:28
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