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Everything is changing

2009 February 22
by Steve Lawson

EVERYTHING IS CHANGING  

I remember first writing that headline for an article I wrote in a recording industry trade journal about 30 years ago. To be truthful, I continued to use that same headline a lot, because as I worked in and chronicled the audio industry those many years, the only constant was change.   

When I opened the doors of my first recording studio, Steve Lawson Productions, I got the opportunity to work on some very big national radio advertising campaigns.  Though we had great voice talent in Seattle, our big agency clients more often then not, preferred to use the vast talent pools in Los Angeles and New York; especially when the commercials would run nationally.

We would book a studio in Los Angeles, or New York and the voice actor would go to that studio to record.  Tape would roll across the glass from the voice actor and the Seattle ad agency producer and I would listen in and direct the actor’s performance over the telephone.  As soon as we were done recording, the “other” studio would make a copy of the master recording and would ship it to us via either the post office, or UPS.  When the tape arrived, usually a week later, we would edit the recording, add music and sound effects and finish the production.  In those days we didn’t use Fed Ex because it didn’t yet exist.  If we absolutely, positively had to have the master tape the next day, we could have a courier deliver it to an airline and it would be put on their next scheduled flight; an expensive proposition.  When Fed Ex did arrive on the scene it provided a very welcome change because from then on, in most cases we could record one day and edit the next.

Fast forward to 1987, when Bob Landers, one of the most talented and busiest voice actors in America (and a talented inventor), gave us the opportunity to take part in an experiment to “beam” those out of town voices into our studio via digital satellite.  All we had to do was put a huge satellite dish on the roof of our building and buy a digital audio satellite receiver.  Total cost was a out $15,000 installed.  The satellite was a great improvement over phone patch recording because for the first time we could really hear the talent while we directed them and we could record live and not have to wait for the master tape to arrive.  As in any new technology there were a few drawbacks and setbacks.  For instance, how could we have possibly known that our studio was situated right between AT&T’s microwave transmission and receiving towers and that their microwave signals would interfere with our satellite signal.  And, damn it, not only was AT&T here first – they actually had the authority to broadcast on those frequencies. So, we needed to filter their signal out of our dish which was accomplished by placing a big fence made out of chicken wire around the back of our dish.  

Since we hadn’t gotten any permits from the city of Seattle, we lived in fear that city inspectors would barge into our studio in the middle of a session to demand that we dismantle our ugly rooftop contraption.  Besides the aesthetic and legal issues with our dish, there were a few other drawbacks as well. For instance, only one satellite recording could originate from each coast at a time, so we had to be sure that our session ended on time, because just like a network –  at the end of the scheduled time Lander’s crew pulled the plug and our time was up; whether we were done or not.  And most important, satellite time was expensive.  Really expensive.

But more change was coming.   In October 1991 I attended the Audio Engineering Society Convention in New York City.  The only reason I remember the year was because of the release of Ron Howard’s film Backdraft.  I had absolutely nothing to do with that movie, but the movie had a large impact on our business.  Backdraft was being edited at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch in Marin County near San Francisco.  Sound editing and mixing was also being done at the Ranch.  But Ron Howard lived in Los Angeles so the Skywalker team headed by Tom Kobayashi installed a fiber-optic link between Skywalker Ranch and the new Skywalker South facility in Santa Monica.  Using the fiber link, work being done at the ranch could be seen and heard live at Skywalker South; so instead of having to fly up to San Francisco to supervise post production on his film, Ron Howard had only to travel to Santa Monica.

On that sunny October day while Tom Kobayashi, Tom Scott (Skywalker’s chief engineer) and I walked from the Javitz Center in NYC to our hotels, we talked about digital satellites and the recording industry and the two Toms brought me up to speed on the Skywalker/Backdraft experiment.  At that time they were incubating a new company called EdNet which would jump the curve and allow recording studios to connect easily to one another, anywhere in the world, first via fiber-optics and later via digital ISDN lines.  My walk that day with those giants, ushered us into a whole new league as my company then known as Lawson Productions, joined Skywalker (North and South), LA Studios in Hollywood, and Howard Schwartz Recording in New York City  became the only studios in the world with this fiber-optic connectivity.

While EdNet connected recording studios together worldwide, those digital pioneers along with the proliferation of inexpensive digital recording equipment paved the way for the world’s voice talent to set up their own studios, connected by ISDN to recording studios, TV Networks and production companies.  ISDN technology, high speed internet and low cost digital recording equipment democratized voice-over recording.  Talent no longer has to live in New York, LA or Chicago to make a living.  And for producers, finding new talent has gotten easier with the proliferation of talent aggregation websites like voice123, and voices.com.

Since selling Bad Animals/Seattle I have been fortunate to take advantage of this ISDN technology to provide voice-over work for HBO and Cinemax in Asia, Playhouse Disney Channel throughout Asia, and great TV and Radio stations across the United States.  But in this internet age, nothing stands still, and today it’s all changing again.  Talent no longer needs ISDN hardware and special phone service to connect.  New software allows studios to connect using the public internet.  All that’s needed is a computer, high speed internet connection, and a little software.  A microphone and some actual skills come in handy as well.

How is your business changing?  Can you keep up with the change?

9 Responses leave one →
  1. April 25, 2013

    I was BOB LANDERS commercial talent agent for the last 15 years of his life. Bob most always brought his own microphone to a outside studio for a commercial
    session. Nobody but BOB would dare do it, a real put down for the studio staff.
    BOB who had a rather high pitch to his voice would enjoy entering a studio with
    new clients and saying in his high voice, with his mike at his side, ” Hi, I’m Bob
    Landers, Thank you, for calling me”. The ad agency people would look at each
    other in disbelief. We must have booked the wrong guy. Who did this?
    Once Bob entered the booth he turned on that Fantasic Voice of his and went to
    work. Landers not only had the Voice, many do and are one trick ponies, Landers could read one line or simple phrase of copy many, many different ways. He was
    like a world famous painter with beautiful brush. He needed no direction. He had
    the skill to bring it alive. In 40’s years working with the top V/O talent in the country from Orson Welles to Casey Kasem, Bob Landers stands alone. Please
    excuse typo’s, gotta run, dp

    • Steve Lawson permalink*
      May 9, 2013

      Hi Don,

      I didn’t know that Bob had passed. The last time I saw him was probably 15 years ago. We were in NYC, and met for breakfast at a now defunct deli on the corner of 57th Street and 6th Ave. It was a Denny’s kind of deli. I remember Bob and I both ordered our breakfast. The waitress no sooner took our order then she returned with two piping hot plates of lox and eggs. Bob looked at her and said, “this is impossible, we just ordered. How could the kitchen have possibly made our breakfast that quickly?” To which the waitress replied, “we serve a lot of lox and eggs here. I called in the order and took the ones that just came up.” To which Bob bellowed in that high voice you mentioned so the whole restaurant would here “so we’re eating someone’s stolen breakfast?” Such great memories of a truly wonderful guy!

      He truly brought good things to life.

  2. Mike Schriber permalink
    March 13, 2014

    Just happened across this post. I worked for Bob in the late 80’s and early 90’s running the satellite links and doing in-house IT at Landco Labs. He was an interesting guy (and an interesting guy to work for) with a great voice. I wasn’t aware that he’s passed but I’m not surprised. He wasn’t in the best of health back then. He sure wasn’t afraid to ruffle some feathers or think outside the box (before thinking outside the box was even popular).

  3. Leona Edic permalink
    May 18, 2014

    Just saw this too, Hi Mike, Hi Steve! I know you because I worked for Bob Landers too. His voice amazed me from the first time I heard it. He gave his microphones to me, if anyone wants them let me know. Steve, I remember your studio well and the very pleasant people I worked with over the phone.

    • Steve Lawson permalink*
      May 18, 2014

      Hi Leona,

      I remember you well! Great to hear from you!

  4. July 1, 2014

    So nice to see some remembrances of Bob Landers online. My father, Tony Schwartz, used Bob on what must have been thousands of commercials over the years. Growing up in NYC in the house which also served as my father’s office, I used to see Bob all the time. Even after he moved out to California, he used to work with my father on a daily basis via phone and ISDN/satellite connections… and Bob and I would talk a lot about technology (I was a geeky kid) and other stuff. Bob was a brilliant man and stunningly articulate. We had lost touch, and I’m very saddened to hear of his passing. And saddened to see such a lack of discussion about him online. Anyone know if anything has been written about him, online or otherwise… or in touch with his family?

  5. Rocky Randall permalink
    April 26, 2016

    I am so saddened to hear that Bob passed. Although he wasn’t in good health for a long long time, I always ended up in hysterics whenever I visited him in his beautiful home in Rancho Santa Fe. To say he was funny is an understatement. He was an amazing talent… He had a truly amazing and very recognizable voice. When I first met him many years ago in LA, we became quick and close friends….we ended up referring to each other as brother and sister. I recorded with him so many times in his incredible home studios, with all of his special mikes and other inventions. He encouraged me, when I retired from being a very busy television and voiceover actress, to start my own post-production company (RockyRandallsReelTalent). We spoke often. His ex-wife Carol gave him the love of his life….a darling, of course, red-headed daughter. I’m so sorry that I hadn’t gone down to see him after he moved out of his home into a place where he had 24/7 medical care. The last time we spoke, he was having such a difficult time breathing and could barely talk. I couldn’t stop crying. I’m so blessed to have had Robert in my life for so many years……..all the jokes and always funny phone calls when I never knew who was on the other end…he had so many voices and hysterical characters.
    God, I miss my Bobby. You know he’s cracking up everyone in heaven. ❤️

    • Steve Lawson permalink*
      January 3, 2017

      Hi Rocky, Sorry for the so very tardy reply. Somehow your comment eluded me until today. Bob was a very special human being. He touched so many lives. I’ll always treasure the sessions I recorded with him and the breakfasts we shared in NYC. Thanks so much for your comment, and sorry again for my really late reply!

      Steve

      • Rocky Randall permalink
        January 3, 2017

        Still sad after all this time
        He was a dear dear friend, like a brother and such a fan and inspiration.
        I know he’s cracking everyone up where he is
        ❤️

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