Clangs and voice of The Tide are about safety first

NORFOLK

Clang-clang.

Woo-woo.

"Thank you for riding The Tide."

Light rail has brought its signature soundtrack to Hampton Roads - a melody of old and new notes destined to be part of our lives.

Some come from the past. The Tide's horns and bells are recordings of the real thing, the kind of train whistles and streetcar dings that once serenaded downtown.

Switches and buttons activate the modern versions, and a dry manual governs their use, dictating exactly where and how they'll be heard along the 7.4-mile track: Two long, high horns at Colley Avenue, bells at Botetourt Street, and so on.

Safety is the objective, of course - not nostalgic romance.

"We have people who aren't paying attention," said Tom Holden, a spokesman for Hampton Roads Transit. "They run a red light and run into a train - a 13-foot-tall thing with lights on it."

That's why HRT has refused to turn down the volume, despite requests from some folks who live near the tracks and find Tide noise annoying.

"It's a balancing act," Holden said. "A lot of people are really excited about the sound of it. They say it has a big-city feel."

Inside the light-rail cars, ears are intentionally charmed.

Meet The Voice, the woman whose velvety tones will become embedded in the psyches of regular riders.

"The next station is..."

Or:

"You'll be exiting to your left" - or right, whichever the case may be.

That sound comes from the throat of Karen Hutton, an actress who's found a niche narrating commercials, documentaries, tutorials, radio spots, answering-machine prompts and relaxation tapes.

Working with Siemens, the company that built Norfolk's cars, Hutton's voice is heard over the loudspeakers of light-rail systems in Charlotte, Denver and Canada. Her job requires more than just buttery vocal cords.

Announcement work tends to "drag you into a robotic way of talking," Hutton said. "I try to fight that - try to talk like I'm talking to one person."

She aims for a cadence that's clear and "a little soothing, but not mind-numbing. You're on the train, there's a lot of people, all the hustle and bustle. I want you to hear me over the din, but I don't want to create more anxiety in your day."

HRT provided her Tide script, recorded in her California studio. Hutton doesn't recall receiving any phonetic guidance, which explains why riders hear Monticello Station as "Monti-CHEL-o" instead of "Monti-SEL-o," as locals are prone to pronounce it.

"It's very important to me that I say the words properly," Hutton said. "I hope HRT comes back to me to fix that. I mean, it's not my light rail - it's yours. And it should feel like yours."

One thing she's noticed about her light-rail gigs: "Everybody's curious about The Voice. There's bells and whistles, but The Voice is what everybody talks about. People are not neutral about The Voice."

That was really obvious in Canada, when Hutton's voice replaced one that had announced Calgary stations for years. Some riders loved the change while others hated it, complaining that the new sound was "too American."

"Good or bad, no one was indifferent," she said. "That's why we work so hard to make it palatable."

Sounds do stir emotions. Hutton hopes riders in Hampton Roads will like listening to her.

And if they don't: "It's a train. Don't take it personally."

Joanne Kimberlin, (757) 446-2338, joanne.kimberlin@pilotonline.com