Jeff McNeal

If you happen to catch me in a recording session, here's how I work, just so you know what's going on... I primarily do TV imaging promos and theatrical trailers. When doing the TV imaging, I work on my own for the most part. But occasionally, I will do a live ISDN or phone patch session with a producer or director in a remote studio. If you're not "into" VO and have no idea what these terms mean, login to chat and ask. I'll be happy to answer your questions regarding the work I do. When I record under my own direction, I read the copy once or twice. If I'm satisfied with each line of the script, I will move on until it is finished. If I hear an unwanted noise enter the recording, make a mistake, or otherwise feel that I'd like to do another take, I will immediately re-record the line in question again. If I intend on leaving it in as an alt take for the producer or editor to decide which they like better, I will simply move on. If however, I want to edit out the preceding take because it doesn't meet my standards or to correct an obvious mistake or flub, I will usually follow the blown take with two sharp clicking sounds that I make with my mouth. This is a fairly common trick, but for those who are just beginning their VO careers or just happen to pop in, the reason for the clicks is to create a set of easily identifiable "visual spikes" that will appear in the wave form in the recording software. Then I can easily spot these spikes as a reference point when I go back to make my edit after laying down my tracks. It saves time and makes the editing process fly by pretty quickly. Thanks for watching/listening!