Sound Post Studios

07/11/2024

We know, we know, we know . . . double-space is dead.

As a journalism major and being graded down for not using two spaces after a period, making the change to single-spacing has been a mind-bend. Somewhere I still have my 1984 copy of 'Elements of Style.' I'm going to go find it and frame it and try to shoe this horse in the new and improved way going forward.
~ Stuart

Here is a friendly prompt from friend and writer Pam Patton.
Need a writer? My friend Pam Patton is a great choice. https://www.paragraphwriting.com/about
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Double-Space is Dead
Hello Stuart,

Recently, a colleague sent me a quick Slack message:

“Double space or single space after punctuation?”

My answer: “Single. Always.”

His response: “Why?”

Here’s why.

How many of us took a typing class in high school? I learned on an old-school (dare I say vintage?) manual typewriter. My poor fingers! It was a Godsend when IBM Selectric® typewriters came out—so much easier!—and bonus! I could change up the typeball.

(I had to hide the Helvetica one from my co-workers.)

But one rule from typing class has expired, and if you’re over 40, no one may have given you the message. Here it is:

Unless you type on a typewriter, you no longer must put two spaces after a period/full stop. Or a question mark. Or an exclamation point.

The rule applies to all end punctuation—just one space.

Here’s why: Back when we used typewriters, every character was given the same amount of space on the page. That meant the letter i was given the same amount of space as the letter m, even though it clearly didn’t need it. This is called monospaced typesetting. We needed that extra space between sentences to make it easier to see the beginning of new sentences.

The typeball introduced proportional spacing.

Today, programs like Word or Google Docs use proportionally spaced fonts, which adjust the spacing to the size of the letter. That’s why a proportional font can squeeze 12 letters into the same space, whereas a monospace font can only fit nine:

See? The Bottom Line: Don’t double-space after punctuation. Ever.

05/23/2024

Thank You Tanya Eby - Narrator & Writer for the kind words!

03/18/2024

FEBRUARY 2024 The AAF of West Michigan (American Advertising Federation) Awards were announced and Sound Post Studios contributed to our client’s work which garnered two Gold, six Silver, and one Judge’s Choice ADDY Award for television, radio, and social media projects. Over 230 advertising professionals and guests attended the award show.


At Sound Post Studios we’ve been a part of hundreds of award-winning projects.
Does your project require award-winning work? Contact us!
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02/26/2024

Exciting news from this February! Actor Torrey DeVitto came to Sound Post to record narration for the upcoming docuseries UNMUTED https://www.unmutedseries.com/about . This compelling series features women fighting to overcome tremendous obstacles and will inspire viewers to join their efforts to improve the lives of women across the globe. For this session the Torrey was at Sound Post and directors ZOOMed in from California. What an honor to have her!
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02/14/2024

Wishing everyone a happy Valentines Day!
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01/23/2024

I love this description from Stewart Copeland of 'the pocket' a good drummer will bring to music, the subtle and artful push and pull of the time and tempo.

12/20/2023

GRiZ comes to Sound Post Studios! One of the leading independent artists in electronic music today, GRIZ, spent the day at Sound Post Studios working on his latest tracks before his ‘Last Minute Farewell Show’ in Grand Rapids, MI

Wherever you are, what do you need? Voices, writing, music, production? How can we help with your company’s production? Contact us to learn more!
https://soundpoststudios.com/
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12/18/2023

Sound Post Studios connected with terrific voice talent Ciara Mashea to produce new radio spots for Cleveland-based Pierre's Ice Cream Company.
Ciara brought Pierre’s script to life performing the voices of chocolate chunks, caramel, nuts, cherries, fudge, and the announcer! When she is not voicing projects Ciara spends time as the marketing director the Los Angeles Master Chorale

Wherever you are, what do you need? Voices, writing, music, production? How can we help with your company’s production? Contact us to learn more!
https://soundpoststudios.com/
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06/26/2023

At Sound Post we’ve wrapped season two of the Steelcase ‘Work Better’ Podcast.

Steelcase is a global design and thought leader in the world of work. In this podcast, host Chris Congdon and producer Rebecca Charbauski interview thought leaders, authors, designers and artists who help us ‘think about work and ways to make it better.’ Guests for this series include; NYT Bestselling author of Work Rules, Laszlo Bock; WSJ Bestselling author of Beyond Happiness, Jenn Lim; David Rock, author, CEO, and co-founder of the NeuroLeadership Institute; and many others.

Find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen.
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06/19/2023

Just a little bit of work in Spanish for Culver’s! Nabil came to Sound Post Studios to record his spanish voiceover for a new series of TV spots for Culver’s! For this project we used Source Connect technology to connect to Culver’s agency in Wisconsin.
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06/15/2023

Actor Danielle Augustine recorded a voiceover for Toyota.

You may recognize Danielle from her on-camera roles in commercials and HBO’s White House Plumbers, Law and Order, The Watcher, and Awkwafina is Nora From Queens. Danielle is also an accomplished voiceover artist and coach and Sound Post Studios is her studio home when visiting West Michigan.

Danielle was on her way from her NYC home to her summer home on Mackinaw Island. She says, “I catch my breath every summer by spending three months on Mackinac Island where I give private tours by horse and carriage. Always a Michigander at heart!”

We work with voice talent from around the world, literally from the Canary Islands and Bejing, to LA, New York, and even remote Pennsylvania. For this project we connected to Toyota’s Atlanta agency using Source Connect real-time audio technology.
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05/11/2023

Overheard during a high school group tour at Sound Post last week: "This isn't a hole in the wall. It's the best man cave ever."
~ Conner, High School Senior.

04/26/2023

Sound Post Studios hosted actor Sammy Publes and recorded ADR for his character in the Starz Drama Series Power Book IV: Force

ADR, or dialogue replacement (sometimes called ‘dubbing‘) is a necessary step in the audio post production of films.
Often the sound recorded on the set is noisy, not clear, or maybe the director wants to change, add, or replace an actor’s line. ADR is the process to make those changes.

At Sound Post we have recorded ADR for many films and projects including actors Edward Herrmann for ‘The Gilmore Girls,’ Patrick Muldoon for the film ‘Christmas Town,’ Zyra Gorecki for NBCs
show La Brea, a couple Hallmark films, Chicago Fire, and many commercials.

Filmmakers, luthiers, musicians, artists, writers, advertisers… CONTACT US to discuss your creative project
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04/20/2023

Students from East Kentwood and East Rapids High School visited Sound Post Studios with mentor Steve Steketee of ShutterWerks Media to tour and record voices for their project film promoting careers in Grand Rapids Medical Mile and the Doug Meijer Medical Innovation Center and MSU Health West Michigan. We’ll add a link to the video once the project is completed!
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04/17/2023

Sound Post Studios is featured in a film for North Coast Guitar Company.
Not only did we record Master Luthier Russel Olmsted playing the soundtrack for this project, filmmaker Thom Bell shot on location at Sound Post Studios.
The final mix and sound design also provided by Sound Post Studio’s Stuart Poltrock.
Link to the video: https://vimeo.com/694899326

Filmmakers, luthiers, musicians, artists, writers, advertisers...
CONTACT US to discuss your creative project.
https://soundpoststudios.com/
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03/10/2023

At Sound Post Studios we’ve just wrapped season three of Brie Stoner’s ‘Unknowing’ podcast and what an amazing trip it’s been! Brie interviews guests from around the world, experts and luminaries in many fields to discuss life, spirituality, creativity, the maps we’re given to help us make sense of reality – and the journeys that we experience.

Guests so far include; music, artist, and grammy-award winner Kimbra, activist and chairman of Special Olympics Tim Shriver, poet and environmentalist Gideon Heugh, Korean-American rock musician, academic, and guitar player for The Smashing Pumpkins Jeff Schroeder, black-latinx transdisciplinary artist, designer, trickster, and wakeworker Brontë Velez, author and founder of Stray Reflections Jawad Mian, groundbreaking choreographer and dancer Annick Schadeck, celebrated international speaker, teacher, public intellectual, essayist and author Bayo Akomoloafe, biophilosopher and thought leader Dr. Andreas Weber, musicians, artists, dancers, thought leaders … and many more.

Season Three is subtitled ‘Composting Christianity’ and explores how Christianity became empire, its influence in US politics today, and how we might compost our beliefs into a more ecological (and creative) paradigm.

Seeking true north wisdom, join host, musician and artist, Brie Stoner, as she explores unknowing as the unexpected path of creative possibility. The podcast is available on all major outlets, Apple, Spotify, Instagram etc.

‘Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves . . . ‘ ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

03/07/2023

Sound Post Studios recorded ADR ( dialogue replacement ) with actor Gorecki for her NBC show La Brea. We connected with the show's post-production team in Australia and LA using SOURCE NEXUS and ZOOM to complete six episodes of ADR for season two. Zyra’s a joy to work with did her first ADR session at Sound Post Studios for her 2016 appearance on Chicago Fire!

Dialogue replacement (sometimes called ‘dubbing‘) is a necessary step in the audio post production of a feature film. Often the sound recorded on the set is noisy, not clear, or possibly the director wants to change, add, or replace an actor’s line. Dialogue replacement is the process for making these changes. At Sound Post we have recorded ADR with actor Christian Slater for his film Sacrifice, Edward Herrmann for ‘The Gilmore Girls,’ actor Patrick Muldoon for the film ‘Christmas Town,’ commercials, and many indie films and projects.

03/07/2023

MARCH 2023 – The AAF of West Michigan (American Advertising Federation) Awards were announced and Sound Post Studios contributed to our client’s four Bronze and two Gold Addy Awards!

At Sound Post Studios we’ve been a part of hundreds of award-winning projects. Does your project require award-winning work? From music, to voice, and sound design - Contact us!

02/09/2023

JAN 2023 - We just wrapped production of Jocelyn Dettloff's inspiring memoir audiobook 'It Rained In The Desert.' Jocelyn's great to work with and a natural story teller.

We Recorded the book over a few weeks last year and the audiobook is now available on Audible, iTunes, and other outlets ://www.audible.com/pd/It-Rained-in-the-Desert-Audiobook/B0BSP22RRS

WOTV's Teresa Weakley interviewed Jocelyn at Sound Post Studios last week. Click below for the story!

Do you have a book or story to bring to the world? Contact us!

https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/w-mi-author-hopes-audiobook-will-inspire-accessibility/?fbclid=IwAR1wMbDl_rd3TP1dhULdmyi1WOn8VaywNp7EJJ1ihDuUb4oB2rsmEqKGBOo

12/18/2022

Friends tackle Chick Corea’s ‘Spain’ at Thursday’s Sound Post Studios Christmas Open House. The great thing is that these players have not played this challenging tune together before, and drummer Zach Dubay had just met bassist Charlie Hoats and pianist Arlene McDaneils. When the players make it look easy you know they are good and well practiced. ( Zach sat in awhile for Randy Marsh ).

Arlene is playing the refurbed studio RHOADES 88 Suitcase piano. We recorded the entire evening and will post the mix soon!

12/15/2022

Pre Open House! Ready for Marshlandia!

07/11/2022

At Sound Post Studios we just completed production of actor Zachary Levi's audiobook 'Radical Love - Learning To Accept Yourself and Others' for Harper Collins. In his book Zach tells of his journey of mental health, intense family relationships and dysfunction, and personal and career ups and downs.

But there is much more to this book. Zach is a terrific storyteller and has a hard, compelling, and compassionate story to tell.

This is a great book and, I think, best experienced in Zach's own voice. Put this one on your 'listen to' list.

You know Zach as DC Comic's Shazam, Midge's love interest Ben in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Disney's Tangled, THOR Ragnorak, NBC's 'Chuck' and countless voiceover and TV and movie roles.

Zach recorded in studios in LA. The editing and post production were completed at Sound Post Studios. So, how does a big star's book get produced at our 'little engine that could' studio? Because we're damn good. Experienced. Professional. Connected. Talent.

07/07/2022

At Sound Post Studios we recently completed the production of a new song by artist and friend Mandy Ann Gaddy. 'With You' is a beautiful heartfelt song and was fun to produce with a talented ensemble. Cudos to Mandy for the writing and vocals, and to the musicians; Jesse Buck, Chris Cooney, Marley Ferguson, Stuart Poltrock, and Paul Militello.

Music production for artists and commericals is part of what we do at Sound Post. Need Music? Singers? Musicians? We're well connected.
https://open.spotify.com/track/1xkn99CGbDME5DS7A4sTTU?si=25chdYxzQk-7CDVPRnotQg&nd=1

06/28/2022

Part of the fun of this business, Sound Post Studios, is seeing who will walk through the doors. Actors, musicians, comics, writers, and NYT best-selling authors! We recently wrapped audiobook production with NYT best-selling author of 'The Five Love Languages' Gary Chapman and co-author Clarence Shuler. Their new book is 'Life-Changing Cross-Cultural Friendships: How You Can Help Heal Racial Divides, One Relationship at a Time,' for Harper Collins.

Audiobook production is part of what we do at Sound Post. We also work with great clients for commercial and music production, scoring, writing, podcasts, films, and more.

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Authors Clarence Shuler, Gary Chapman, and Sound Post Studio's Stuart Poltrock at Sound Post Studios in Grand Rapids, MI

03/11/2022

The 2021 ADDY Awards were recently announced and we're proud to say Sound Post Studios provided audio and creative for our clients earning Five Gold, Three Silver, and Five Bronze ADDY awards. Congratulations to all!

03/02/2022

What a great way to begin March 2022. Filmmakers Thom Bell and Darius Mathis filmed guitarist and luthier Russ Olmsted at Sound Post for a new project. Russ sounds great and we'll share the film when it's ready.

02/21/2022

So, in answer to a recent question 'what the heck do you do at Sound Post?' here is a montage of recent and favorite work. We provide creative audio production, music, voices and sound design for terrific clients and their clients. Including some fun original music for kids at 3:45 . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa5TDjnel9k

MARCH 2022 - A montage of recent and favorite work. Commercials, marketing films, translations in many languages, we work for terrific clients and their c...

11/17/2021

Is what you hear what you get? At Sound Post we recently provided ADR (dialogue replacement) sessions with actress Antoinette Robertson for her CBC legal drama 'Diggstown,' actor Terayle Hill for his STARZ drama 'Step up' and comedic actor/director Gary Anthony Williams for a project too secret to mention (they said they'd have to kill me).

We connected with production teams from Toronto to LA while the actors were in GR for a film shoot.

ADR? Sometimes in film and TV production the voices recorded on the set aren't always usable. A scene may be filmed on a noisy street or an echoey room, next to a rushing river or with a jet flying overhead. When noises ruin the dialogue, actors will be called in to replace it ( lipsync ) in studio. The industry term is 'ADR' Automated Dialogue Replacement - though there's nothing automated about it.

11/09/2021

It's intuitive to think that the sound of a film is the same sound recorded on the set. But that's not usually the case. When the sound of the film is great you can count on the fact that it was made through a process called 'audio post production.' You'll see all kinds of 'audio post' credits at the end of a film. And audio post production is part of what we do at Sound Post Studios.

Right now we're working on Brandon Layne's indie film "1,000 Words."
The story is about a runner and so we needed the sound of a race announcer to complete the soundtrack. Who you gonna call? Well, a few weeks ago I was sitting on friend John Depres' porch inbibing just a little bit when he said he had to get up early to call a race. What? Call a race? Turns out John is the goto person for announcing bike races in Michigan. Who knew? I was sitting next to the pro.

And now John Depres is the race announcer for Brandon's film.
That's how the magic happens.

11/08/2021

The soundtrack is a huge part of the audience experience and I'm often asked "What the heck do you do Sound Post?" Well, we keep very busy and the work is always new and varied. I'll start sharing bits and pieces, parts and ideas . . .

We recently completed the production of the Kevin and Sherry Harney's book 'Organic Disciples' for Harper Collins Publishers.

Recording and finishing an audiobook takes more than six times the book's finished length to record, edit, proof, revise, and then master the final audio files. So a five-hour audiobook will typically require 30+ hours to complete. We'll produce several books per year for independent authors, ACX, Harper Collins, Zondervan, David C. Cook Publishers, Penguin Random House, and others.



Kevin and Sherry are an amazing couple and are leaders of Shoreline Church in Monterey, California and authors of dozens of books and study guides.