You've Got A Great Voice

Has anyone ever told you you've got a great voice? That's what happened to me in 1974 as I worked as a mechanic in a large automotive super center in the St. Louis area. Little did I know that in less than 10 years I would begin working as an audio engineer at Clayton Studios, “St. Louis’ Fastest Track Team”. I’m Keith Filges and since 1983 I have been working…no PLAYING with the buttons, knobs and my talented counterparts at Clayton Studios.
My story began in 1974 when none of the other guys wanted to do the in-store announcements over the company’s PA system…you know the ones that start with "Attention Shoppers." They were embarrassed of how they sounded. So I went into a little office, wrote out a little script; picked up the phone and with a bit of a shaky voice, let it rip. It wasn't a week later when a guy walked up to the service desk, made an appointment and as he left said 'Hey was that you on the PA system? You've got a great voice". A day later another guy said the same thing! I thought to myself... maybe I'm on to something.
It wasn't long before I got my first radio station job. Pulling an air-shift, reading the news, sports, obits, farm reports, and my favorite; voicing RADIO COMMERCIALS!!! I loved the commercial work because I knew I could always make them sound perfect with the magic of editing and re-doing the voice track. I soon found out I really did have an EAR for audio.
Looking back, I think my interest all started with watching the Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends cartoon show. Listening to the character voices. Listening to the great over-the-top announcer. Listening. Listening. Listening. If you're in the voiceover business that's what you have to do. LISTEN! Listen to direction. Listen to the way the writer interprets his copy. When you're at home, DON'T watch the commercials on TV... LISTEN to them.
It's also very important to learn how to parrot. Not sound like a parrot, but to echo another person’s words. The late John Smith, one of the best writers and producers I've ever met, was the inspiration of this method and was kind enough to share it with me, and others in the St. Louis advertising community.
You know this may be one of only a few professions where there is no right way or wrong way of doing things. I mean you could actually read a spot BACKWARDS! It certainly would draw a lot of attention, wouldn't it? Then you could TAG out the spot by saying something like.... "Life really CAN be confusing... why not let the ABC company smooth out the rough spots in your life." Like I said, there really is no right way or wrong way of doing things.
Hey, if someone has said to you "you've got a great voice", be proactive and do something about it. Start LISTENING! Or better yet, let people know you’ve got the voice that “sells”.
If you have done voiceover work and have other tips you would like to share let us know. If you are interested in finding out if you have a voice that “sells” we want to hear from you too. For more information on voiceover training or to listen to some of the talented voices in the area visit www.voiceoverstlouis.com.

History of Clayton Studios

I’m Dick Ulett. I’ve been working in the recording business in St. Louis since 1965. And, as you can imagine, I’ve seen more than my share of changes in this industry. We’ve gone from razor blades to computer editing, reel-to-reel to digital audio files.

I was in the radio business for the first part of my career and was lucky enough to work at the legendary KXOK, KSD, and K-SHE. But after a dozen years behind the mic, I felt it was time to be my own boss. In 1976 I started a studio in my house in University City. My first client was Imo’s pizza and it didn’t take long before I was working with local and national clients and producing quite a few radio and TV commercials. My clients liked that I had a radio background and knew the ins and outs of how commercials were supposed to sound.

As my clientele grew, so did my studio needs. Outgrowing the small one-room home studio, I moved to a commercial location in the heart of downtown Clayton. We doubled our space and renamed the studio, Clayton Studios. At the time, St. Louis was a center for large ad agencies like Gardner Advertising, D’arcy, Kenrick, and Kerlick/Switzer, our client list continued to grow…Budweiser, Six Flags, Ralston Purina, Boatmens Bank, Dads Root Beer… Those were good ol’ days when advertising budgets were huge and projects were many.

In 1979 the landlord increased our rent, and it was time for a location change. We said,” why not own our own building and lot”. So we bought our building at 1126 S. Big Bend. (It was another 10 years before we had our own lot) With business going well I thought it was time to hire another engineer, so Keith Filges was brought on board and that brought about the addition of Studio 2.

As our commercial and corporate business continued to grow, so did our music business. In the early 80's we added 2 more studios that included a much larger music studio. We’ve been lucky to have worked with some great talent that come from St. Louis and beyond…Nelly, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Brian Setzer, Lou Rawls, Jordin Sparks and others.

Today Clayton Studios has evolved into 5 studios, including a video suite, CD duplication, DVD replication, and a staff that I am proud to say has been with me almost from the beginning. I feel blessed that everyday I get to come to work and do what I love with people I can call my “family”.

But enough about me, we like to hear about you. If you have a good studio or advertising story we’d love to hear it. Or, if you had a great session at Clayton Studios, we’d love to hear about that, too. Share your stories or feel free to share ours.

Check us out!

Welcome to the Clayton Studios Blog. We hope you find it entertaining and informative. On our blog we’ll share articles about who we are, and what we do. As our industry continues to change and grow, Clayton Studios is leading the way with technological advances. Our aim is to help our clients communicate in a way that’s easy to understand information. And we do that with the end user in mind.

This Clayton Studios blog serves as a platform for us to share our knowledge about what’s happening in the production field, whether it’s music, spoken word, or video. Find something you like, pass it on. If you have any suggestions on future topics you would like us to explore, let us know. And if you have any comments on what we’ve posted, we want to hear.