Word on the street is that if a job is worth doing it’s best to go straight to A1 VOX.

Word of mouth is a strong tool indeed. In fact we were recently approached by a new company who had been nudged our way by an A1 VOX client. Thank you very much.

In a bid to uphold this recommendation we flung ourselves at their mercy and we're only too happy to listen to their app idea.

Technology changes quicker than Angelina Jolie popping out her next sprog, and us folk at VOX Towers love to keep abreast of current trends by getting involved with projects that are a little bit different from the norm. On hearing said concept we leapt at the chance to get on board, and decided we were the ones to help bring it all to life.

The brief we were given was to supply a female artist that could speak a number of stock phrases, in six different accents. Nothing new there for old hats such as ourselves. The unique part of the gig was that they wanted to video the artists mouth as she was voicing.

They had a specific target market to which this app was aimed - namely your bloke on the street who reads Nuts and Zoo and downs lager as if it is going out of fashion. Wahey!

With this in mind, and the client needing a hot woman, (well who doesn’t),…….it fell to Miss Eleanor Howell to deliver the goods, I mean voice.

The day came before we could say 'Apple Mac' and Studio A quickly transformed from audio hub to temporary film set. There was much angling of lights and clearing of decks to make room for the camera but before long the stage was set.

Chris had a table top mic stand with a directional mic ( a c1000 AKG) angled towards Ellie as close as possible (but just out of camera shot). This ensured that A1 VOX got the best quality recording available, rather than leaving the clients to rely on the internal camera mic, which would have sounded 'roomy' due to it's distance from Ellie.

With quotes such as ‘It’s not Christmas, or your birthday, so don’t even ask’ said in numerous fashions, Ellie brought the house down.

She even applied different colour lipsticks for each region to give the whole shebang an authentic touch. Bravo Miss Howell.

So 'Luscious Lips Ellie' will be gracing smart-phones in the very near future, with the addition of some nicely recorded audio of course - how's about that then!

(As for Ellie’s other half…well he is happy to stick with the real thing giving him grief, even if she isn’t wearing fluro lipstick!).

Excitement reached fever pitch last week as Monty Python’ite extraordinaire Terry Jones came into the studio.

Chris was stoked that he would be working alongside one of his idols and with this in mind we thought a picture of Chris, with Terry, was the order of the day.

To some people he is a god but to coin a Life of Brian phrase…'He’s not the Messiah. He’s a very naughty boy!'

Terry will forever be synonymous with Monty Python but he is also a renowned medieval historian, controversially, a champion of church conservation, (even though Life of Brian is considered blasphemous and three out four movies that he directed were banned in Ireland: The Meaning of Life, Monty Python’s Life of Brian and Personal Services), oh….and at the age of 69 he is father of a two year old. I say!

He has written countless books and last year he directed a short opera that he also wrote a libretto for called The Doctor’s Tale.

We have met some seriously talented artists here at A1 VOX but Terry sure takes some beating!

‘He promised me all the gold I could eat’

It seems that Terry (unlike Brian's mum), got it all, as everything he touches turns to the shiny stuff - Lucky, talented so and so.

Terry was at our studio for a couple of hours as part of a PR agencies media day.

Another A1 VOX specialty is the ability to co-ordinate a schedule of interviews with different radio stations across the country.

Chris was at the helm to make sure that we connected successfully, swapping from one codec to another, and enabling the session to run without error.

As some of the stations were airing the interviews live, and not all were pre records, this was pretty hairy stuff.

Chris, ever the professional, took it all in his stride and put in an A1 performance.

Terry did his part too of course by sitting cheerfully in the booth and delivering each interview as if it were the first of the day.

Afterwards he was more than happy to hang around with a big smile on his face and a word for everyone. Legend!

A1 VOX NEWS

Many of you who are familiar with A1 VOX will know that one of our resident in house voices has a bit of a strange hobby…no it is not Trevor Nichols playing the lute with his thighs…step forward Lucy Scott.

Lucy likes to swim.. but not lengths of the local, (that would be far too normal). She likes to swim in sub zero waters - the loon!

Last weekend was the 2012 Winter Swimming Championships in Jurmala, Latvia.

The event is held every two years and involves 25metre, 50metre sprints, relay swims and endurance swims in water approximately zero degrees. The air is no better at around minus 20!!!! Makes England seem positively Caribbean.

The meet was set up by the Finnish sixteen years ago and they have been campaigning to turn it into a winter Olympic recognised sport.

Here is Lucy about to swim the 50 metres in a rather fetching glittery red number. You can take the girl off the stage but………..

Lucy was rewarded for freezing off all extremities by getting silver in the 50metres and gold in the 25metres – Well stoke up the fire and call me Wendy!

Well Done Lucy!.

The next event is in 2014, Lapland – the Arctic Circle. So if you fancy a madcap weekend, with people who like to submerge themselves into a vat of ice, (and grin about it afterwards), get in contact with Lucy who will show you that ‘The Only Way is Bloody Cold.’

Join us next week when Julian Barratt of Mighty Boosh fame makes an appearance, and we find out what makes this funny man incandescent with rage!