What's Been Goin' On with Joe Cipriano?

It’s always a pleasure to hear from our friend and voiceover legend, Joe Cipriano. Joe has been a part of the Benztown Brigade as a voiceover artist for years and had an extensive career as a voiceover artist for both television and radio imaging. A lot has been going on with him since the last time we invited him onto the Benztown blog so we’re excited to share all the new dish!

1. What have you been up to lately (new projects, life happenings, etc)?

It’s been a great year, Susan…thanks for asking. Besides continuing to work on TV shows like America’s Got Talent and Hollywood Game Night, I’ve started working as the promo voice for a couple of new cable networks as well. Of course, radio imaging is something I love to do. Radio is where I came from and where I was discovered originally by the Fox Network just a few months after they hit on the air. I was their comedy promo voice for 20 years and also the comedy voice for CBS 15 years. Radio holds a special place for me and I’m honored to work with great stations like Classic Hits, K-Earth 101 in Los Angeles. In everything I do, radio imaging is the most fun and continues to be the most creative.

Joe Cipriano VO – Video Promo Demo Vers 2 from Joe Cipriano on Vimeo.

2. You’ve had an outstanding career already. What are some goals you have professionally?

Voice Over is an ever changing business and in the past 10 years there have been huge disruptors in the industry, like the pay to play casting websites that have changed the way voice over jobs are found and won. It’s always my goal to remain relevant. It takes constant attention to what’s going on today and have a clear understanding of the business. It’s why I went with Benztown from the beginning of the operation, because the business model was innovative and I knew it was about to change the radio imaging business. So staying relevant and always looking for new opportunites are my professional goals.

Take a listen to a few of Joe’s Demos:

3. Any new gear or upgrades?

Something else that has changed dramatically in 10 years. When I built my Clubhouse studio 10 years ago it was an absolute must to have a great pre-amp such as my Avalon M5, imperative to have had ISDN capability and so much more. Today, my studios are drastically different. I have a studio in our apartment in New York and one here in Los Angeles that are built around newer technology, such as the UA Apollo Twin Solo which replaces not only my Avalon pre-amp but every single piece of outboard gear I could ever have in a rack. Some things stay the same…I still rely on my Sennheiser 416 and my Neumann U87 for different uses, but the way I record now is almost exactly that same in both my studios and my “on-the-road” rig. Same equipment.

4. How has new technology changed the way you work?

Just about everything I’ve mentioned up to now underscores how technology has changed the way I work. Gear like the UA Apollo Twin Solo as my interface in my studios and road gear has been a great advance. And now the utilization of the CEntrance Mixer Face to record at an extremely high level of quality into my iPhone, when needed, has given me even more flexibility. I’ve always tried to be at the cutting edge of remote recording technology and it’s always exciting to find new ways to be able to work while on the road without disrupting the reason I’m on the road in the first place. The latest addition to my road gear is the Skyroam mobile wifi interface. I took Skyroam with me to France and Italy this summer and I was able to connect at VERY high speeds on cellular networks wherever I was for an all-inclusive $99 fee for 30 days. The wifi connection was fast enough to connect to buyers via Source Connect and I was able to do virtual ISDN sessions on Skyroam via ipDTL all from my laptop. Technology rocks! ☺

5. What advice can you give to aspiring voiceover artists trying to get into the biz?

It ain’t about the microphone. It ain’t about the equipment. Those are tools. They are the shovels you use for digging, the scissors you use for cutting. It IS all about education. Workshops, coaching, seminars…layering a foundation where upon you can build your voice over career. So don’t fall into the trap where you think a certain microphone will make you a successful voice over artist. It’s the work you put into your career before speaking into a microphone that counts. Don LaFontaine could interpret a piece of copy and turn it into something remarkable to listen to and then speak it into a two dixie cups connected by a string. And it would still be magical.

Connect with Joe on Social Media

Twitter: @joecip

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeciprianovo/

Website: www.joecipriano.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/joecipvo