Joe Van Riper

Overbearing boss, gravel-voiced cabby, spunky old coot, southern "good ol' boy", self-important orator, and most any variation on a stereotypical villan or "heavy". Or, for contrast, a cartoonish superhero!

My first commercial job was for Planters Peanuts in 1966. I popped the mike so badly it shredded the ribbon inside! Since then I've developed better mike technique and have done so many radio and TV commercials that I feel safe in saying that my voice has probably been heard in virtually every market in the US! Freelance voiceover and audio production has been my only source of income for over 40 years, having left my last salaried position in 1981. I've also done voice work in several other countries such as Ireland, South Africa, Switzerland, Brazil, and even voiced the only paid commercials ever broadcast in Indonesia! I've done ADR work to beef up an actor's dialog, lip syncing his lines. I've announced live, national network broadcasts both on and off camera. I've done cartoon voices, awards presentations, trade show displays, on-hold telephone messages, and just about anything you can imagine a voice talent doing. Once, I confess, I even did an on-camera TV spot selling a toilet paper dispenser that played "The Yellow Rose of Texas" when you pulled off a sheet! So, what can I do for you? College education: The American University of Beirut, Lebanon '60-'63 Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA '63-'65 (AB degree) Graduate School: Trinity University's Graduate Theater Extension, Dallas Theater Center '65-'66 Audio Production Training: WBT Radio, Charlotte, NC '76-'81 Jeffersonics Studio, Charlotte, NC '76-'81 Jay Howard Audio, Charlotte, '81-'05 (freelance) Misc.... I played guitar and sang folk songs in the '60s, performing on CBS TV's "On Broadway Tonight" in '64, and toured Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma coffee houses '65-67. I was the regular "house act" at Dallas' legendary Rubiyatt coffee house during those same years. Primary DAW: Twisted Wave. Also use Pro Tools, Audacity and others MacMini and MacBook Air MacPro dual core, 8 gig RAM/two 500 gig drives Mac G4 dual 1.25 mhz, standby/back up computer Primary microphone: Senheiser MKH 416 P48 PreAmps: Digidesign, ProSonus, Joe Meeks Gentner Digital Hybrid II phone patch interface Alesis power amp Roland (digital) & Behringer (analog) side chain mixers Misc. Music and SFX libraries In addition to voice work, I am also an accomplished audio engineer and producer with experience in all areas of commercial audio production, including sync-to-video audio tracks and sound design. I am also an experienced writer for media, familiar with everything from radio and TV advertising to industrial non-broadcast script development. I am especially good a finding ways to put a script "on a diet", cutting it's length without cutting relevant content. My years as a musician serve me well in the editing department, where I can usually get library music to sound like a custom-made track, tailored to the script.