Radio production engineers use effects in creating sweepers in order to jazz up these brief announcements and make them more entertaining to the listener.
The type of effects used to liven up radio sweepers help to set the mood and energy of the radio station. They assist in maintaining the momentum of the programs while informing listeners about the station they are listening to.
Radio station sweeper effects may include alterations to the announcer’s voice such as reverb, panning effects, voice overlapping, tempo modification or tone adjustments.
Music is a very common sound effect in radio sweepers, along with the insertion of audio clips from movies, TV shows and other sound bites.
Effects are integrated into sweepers after the basic voice announcement is recorded. Radio production engineers use multi-track audio recording and editing software (such as Protools or Adobe Audition) to blend effects into the final mix of the sweeper.