Ah, the American Dream.
If you work hard enough….
If you always put your best foot forward….
Then there’s a path from rags to riches for everybody.
Isn’t that the core of the message?
When I moved from Europe to the States, I noticed what pursuing this illusive dream can lead to.
An obsession with work!
Look around you. Fewer people are doing more and more work. Productivity is up in this “work hard – play hard” society. That’s what makes economists optimistic. Unfortunately, in the U.S. it seems to be all work and hardly any play.
In this no-vacation nation that claims to be big on family values, many kids are now raised by their grandparents because Mom and Dad need full-time jobs to stay afloat. And what if you don’t have any grandparents who live around the corner, or they need to be taken care of themselves?
A friend of mine has one child in day care and the other goes to early and late stay because his wife works as well. He did the math and discovered that most of his wife’s salary goes to childcare.
“Does that make any sense?“ he asked. “We want to spend more time with our children. Instead, we work more and see them less. And for what? Just to pay the babysitter, the daycare center and the elementary school? Is having the extra income really worth it?”
He just ran into the Law of Diminishing Returns which asserts that after a certain point, further investment or effort does not increase the expected return. In fact, it can even lower it.
Does this seem counterintuitive to you?
Totally with you on this, Paul. That’s one of the reasons I left my 5-station production gig last July to stay at home. I was spending an ENTIRE paycheck on just daycare for our 3-year-old and commuting gas. I crunched the #s and realized if we paid off a couple bills (which we did), all I had to do was make a minimum of $500/month and I’d actually break even! Plus I could be a stay-at-home dad, have time to build up my voiceover business, and work on my children’s writing. You’re right – there’s a point at which we start spending way too much money & time trying to save money and time.
Your children will forever be grateful for your decision, Matt. I know you’re an awesome stay at home – work at home dad and a great voice talent! And did I mention your literary gifts?
I too recently quit my “day” job for another that allows me to work from home. 1.5 hours per day saved from the commute, plus the gas money and lessened aggravation has made a vast improvement in our lives. Gas alone amounts to more than $200 saved per month. I consider it a raise in pay!
Thanks for your words as always, Paul, you are spot on in your observations.
Hi Jack, I live about 75 minutes from NYC and every now and then I have to drive into the city for a voice-over gig. At that point I am so grateful to be able to do what I do from my home studio. I hate being stuck in traffic and having to pay a fortune to park my car for an hour or so. More importantly, the time saved by not having to commute is precious.
Simple truth = Profound take-away. Surely it’s Paul Strikwerda. Loved this, brother. 🙂
Thank you, thank you, sister Barnes! For those of you who don’t know Debby, check out her blog Debby Barnes Voice-Over Rah-Rah
PS, the VoiceZam demo player looks and sounds awesome on your site!
Since you actually mention the Oktava in your audio test, I somehow am not surprised to see that the other microphone is your Gefell.
I’ve done a dozen or so microphone shootouts with some top engineers, producers and other “big ears” in attendance and the results have been all over the place.
I would say however that for many of us a “non-diminishing” return of having the same professional equipment that is used in outside studios is the peace of mind of knowing that “it ain’t the gear’s fault”.
Owning a Neumann U87 and a Sennheiser 416 has on a few occasions, been “the sauce on the ribs:, that got me the job.
In other cases, I’ve been able to do pickups and patch work from home because my signal chain closely approximates that of a pro studio I had recorded in.
I don’t consider myself a “snob” though because when people come to my studio, they often remark about it just being stereo. My reply is usually the same, “That’s one more channel than I need”.
If the $150 mic gets picked as the “superior” microphone to a $1,700 mic, then you have your answer. As long as the jury is out, I’d say stick to the Gefell.
Good points, J.S. When I tally up all the votes, the Gefell comes out on top but only with a slight margin. It’s good to remember that a microphone is just part of an entire recording chain. If you replace one element in that chain -let’s say a preamp- you change the characteristics of the sound. More on that in “Confessions of a hopeless gearhead.”
It’s also very important to factor in how people listen to the audio. Are they on an iPhone or iPad or do they listen to top-of-the line studio monitors? If they’re using headphones, do they use a headphone preamp? The variables are endless. And I’m, not even taking the recording space into account…
I still have a matched pair of MC012’s with 3 capsules. They were my choir mics, overhead mics, piano mics, just all-around work horse mics. One of the very few sets of mics I didn’t sell off when I stopped recording bands.
They were abused, used in the field, dropped from 15 ft when my tall stand was knocked over in a church, you name it, and they still work. They DON’T like humidity at all, I found out… But these are the original poor-man’s KM184’s and still one of the best values in mics today. And as you so aptly demonstrated, with proper mic technique, they can sound great on a voice, too!
So many wonderful gems in this post, Paul. Thanks!
It seems like too many people fixate on the microphone rather that the resulting output – folks with Neumanns who have computer fan noise and boxy/boomy resonance in everything they submit.
Work the math. Figure the equations. Whether it’s P=v/t or fixating on the brand of the mic, it’s about the sum gain.
A commencement speech waiting to happen.
In 3,2..
Some wise words Paul. I used to use a cheap & cheerful USB mic with which I got lots of work; one professional studio even asked me if it was a Neumann! As I say to my voice over students here in the UK, it’s all about return on investment.
It’s how you use what you have that is most important.