Steve Snediker

Straight reads, singing, "muppet-like" character voices, English, Russian, French accents.

I have been doing voice-over and studio jingle work for over 30 years in several midwestern markets. As a singer and musician, my first gig was as a "walk-on" during a jingle session in Chicago. The bass didn't have the low "tonic" note for the big ending and I was humming it under my breath in the control room. The engineer swiveled around in his chair and asked, "You got it?" I gave him the thumbs up and he sent me in to drop in that last note. The rest is history. I have worked at a variety of radio stations in DJ capacity with a regular production responsibility and regular clients. In the late 80's, I served as creative lead in a start-up video production business and branched out to start my own multi-media production company in 1990. There I majored in audio for video, voice-overs, music production, and scriptwriting. The fruit of that season was numerous video voice-overs, on-hold messaging and music soundtracks for the likes of Gates Rubber Company, Cobb-Vantress, Braden Shielding Systems, and numerous private Christian Liberal Arts Colleges. In the mid 2000's, I worked for a Saatchi & Saatchi X (a part of the worldwide Saatchi network) as Director of Digital Media. My work there afforded frequent opportunities to produce voice-overs for major audio and video pieces for our renowned clientele. If I wasn't the voice-over choice, I worked with some of the finest voices in the world (literally) and so I understand the meaning of quality and getting the read RIGHT! I continue to get the call to provide my rich, baritone voice for a variety of projects. My recent resume includes work for The WalMart Foundation, The Soderquist Center, Southwestern Energy, John Brown University - ENACTUS, Hilti Tools, CarMart, numerous Christian universities, non-profits, and character voices for a top-selling children's series called "Birthday Blessings". Acted and played music at every opportunity presented throughout my teen years. Majored in music performance on the Oboe at Illinois Wesleyan University and the American Conservatory of Music. Started in radio at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst IL cutting my voice-over and on-air teeth with the evening news. Did studio jingle work in Chicago during this time as well. Begin official training in broadcasting at Moody Bible Institute, studying with the likes of Stan Ferris, Mike Kellogg, Chuck Christiansen, and David McCallister, to name a few. Hired by MBN to serve as lead producer of a daily radio magazine called Prime Time America. That was training under fire, opportunity to produce interviews with the likes of Chuck Colson, Rev. Billy Graham, Amy Grant, Jerry Baker (the Gardening Guy), etc. I practiced recording, editing, mastering skills daily and honed my craft to provide professional work for the last twenty-five years. I completed my formal broadcasting training at John Brown University under the tutelage of Mike Flynn, former TV news and anchor and host of the Folk Sampler heard on APR. My training as a musician really dictates my approach to voice-over narration work. I have done regular music gigs in both sacred and secular settings - classical and popular. I understand timing, accents, dynamics, through-line, pitch, etc. as it applies to getting the message of the copy across to the listener. My experience with radio has taught me to treat aural experiences as the theater of the mind. Taking a page from the likes of Stan Freeberg and Rex Brenner, I appreciate the nuances of working a microphone to get in their heads and touch their hearts. As a working magician, I appreciate the illusion of sound and the power of properly setting the stage to manage the audiences attention. If you lead them, they will follow. If they follow, I can tell them your story.