Before the Music Dies

This is pretty powerful stuff.

I've written before about the "quality" of modern music, but usually in the context of the technical aspects of recording, winning the "Loudness War", etc. This documentary does a very good job of examining the history of the music industry, how we got here, and where we might go.
Moving interviews with Dave Matthews, Quest Love, Erykah Badu, and scores of other performers,  journalists, and critics painfully contrast with "man on the street" interviews of people talking about their current fave pop acts.
If you care about your "art", be it Film, TV, Music, Theatre, New Media, etc, this is a great look at what happens when the BIG money rolls in.

A film narrated by Forest Whitaker, 'Before the Music Dies' lays out a cautionary story about the deteriorating state of the music business, and argues that the quality of music is going downhill. This is a must-see for anyone who cares about music. Out since 2006, it's steadily gained a following and has achieved critical acclaim.

read more | digg story

And here's the trailer:

Dragon Ball Z Voices "Behind The Screams"

Just a fun Sunday post.
This is a year old vid on Youtube, a making of documentary called "Behind The Voices" that was released for DBZ Budokai 3. I don't know why I was, but I was kind of surprised by how many of the voice actors from the show were used in the game.

I should start showing this to people when jerks talk about how "easy" voice acting is, and how under-valued video game voice over is.

Check it out, these people rock the mic, and keep coming back for more.



My favorite part is at around 6:20 when the actor who plays Goku laughs about passing out in the booth.

I MET A LIVING LEGEND!!!: Norman Corwin Edition

Yup he's 97, and as sharp as ever.

I got to go hang out at the the Museum of Television and Radio yesterday. AFTRA was wrapping up this years mentoring program by having college students perform a radio play, complete with live sound effects. Of course I'm a sucker for this and had to be there. It was only after RSVP-ing that I realized the play they were performing was an unpublished work from Norman Corwin, and that he would be in attendance. To be honest I only had a cursory understanding of who Corwin was, but I knew enough to know that this was a pretty big deal.

I showed up 90 minutes early.

The play was a funny little romp called "The Strange Affliction", and dealt with a woman who couldn't stop speaking in rhyme, and the students had a fun time performing it. After the play we were then treated to the Academy Award winning documentary about the life of Corwin called "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin".

As it was also so close to his birthday, a reception was held with a cake and refreshments. My favorite moment was Corwin's proclamation post blowing out the candle on his cake, that he couldn't enjoy the cake because of dietary restrictions, but that it was sweet enough knowing there were only some 500 days left for Bush.

It was a great way to spend an afternoon.

For those not as familiar with Corwin's work, first up, check out these Youtube clips of him speaking, the link should direct you to search results.
Then check out his web page here. It has tons of clips of his work in radio.


someaudioguy some audio guy narration voice over production aftra voice acting radio drama plays theater demo audiobooks

Today in Narration: Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet Edition

They're doing a narration together for IMax's Deep Sea, and their performance is getting positive reviews.

From RJ Carter at The Trades:
The narration is nicely done, with an even -- although not quite chatty -- back and forth between Depp and Winslet.

See! He LOVED IT!

This is one I actually want to see. I'm not a big ocean fan, but it is always really stunning photography, and I think I would enjoy hearing a story from these two.

Also the whole thing is scored by Danny Elfman, so how can you go wrong.

Check out RJ's write up here!
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Today in Narration: A Two-fer - Sigourney Weaver and Charlie Sheen!

Two Quick blurbs.

Discovery Channel starts 11 part 'Planet Earth', set to include some of the most beautiful scenes ever filmed. Can Sigourney Weaver's narration save it's horribly over-written script?
'Planet Earth' is a whale of show but for bragging @ OrlandoSentinel.com





She's so hot!




Says Charlie Sheen:
A year ago the 41-year-old actor told America's GCN radio network: "It seems to me like 19 amateurs with box cutters taking over four commercial airliners and hitting 75 per cent of their targets; that feels like a conspiracy theory. It raises a lot of questions."
Now we're set to hear about 90 minutes more from him on the subject, and the above seems like such a succinct point...
Charlie Sheen May Voice 9/11 Documentary


He's so hot!
someaudioguy some audio guy narration voice over film tv radio voice acting announcer documentary