Translation Results Requested Through Conyac Made Public

Unlike English (an advanced and progressive language), German has two forms of address: ‘Sie’ for formal, and ‘du’ for informal communication. EVITAN has traditionally used ‘Sie’, but now, given the size and reputation of the company, because the internal communication policy is ‘du’, and because musicians, producers and DJs are frequently unconventional, informal people, we’ve decided to change to ‘du’.

2.2. How we see ourselves, and how we’d like to be perceived
In a nutshell, EVITAN would like to be perceived as ‘the Apple of the music technology industry.’
Use this list of keywords as further guidance:
We are…
Confident
Innovative
Authentic
Exciting
Bold
Informative
Helpful
Musicians and DJs ourselves
Music technology experts
Smart
Informed
Up-to-date
International
We are not…
Arrogant
Excited
Aggressive
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Preachy
Fashionable or hip
A charity
A berlin techno company

2.3. Writing principles
Be informal, but professional
Our primary customers are musicians and engineers, not CEOs. They expect an informal, active tone when we communicate with them. Nevertheless, our respect for our customers requires that our communications remain professional at all times. We don’t use jokes or slang, and we don’t try to be hip or fashionable. Use direct, active language
In customer-facing pieces, use the second person (‘you’) and the imperative mood (commands). Use active sentence structure as much as possible; avoid passive constructions.

Be concise
Use every opportunity to shorten the text without reducing the information provided.
Benefits before features
Always consider the needs and priorities of the specific customers you are about to address. Put benefits first and features second (‘ultra-fast playing response’ instead of ‘low-latency driver’).

Include a call to action
All our Marketing material has an end goal. The immediate goal might be to encourage a customer to visit our website for more information or to watch a video, but ultimately the goal is for customers to buy our products. A clear call to action drives the reader to do something as a result of your communication.


Avoid cheese and clichés
Our communication should be as fresh and inventive as our products. Avoid ‘cheesy’ promotional language. Double-check your work for clichés, and replace any you find.

Ensure material is easily scanned
Use bullet points when appropriate, break copy into short sentences and paragraphs, and use section headers to give readers a clear roadmap to each piece.

Consistency is quality
Re-use terms, phrases and wording across deliverables wherever possible – messaging must be consistent across all channels. A newsletter text should be very similar to the first paragraph of the web overview page, which is in turn similar to the ad text, the web shop text and so on. This also applies to adjectives and short descriptions for specific products (FM8 sounds ‘pristine’,
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Guitar Rig is a ‘digital guitar studio’ etc.) Re-using Marketing language isn’t lazy – it’s the right thing to do. Consider the format you’re writing for
Writing for the web demands an even more economical use of language than writing for print. Use shorter sentences, shorter paragraphs, even shorter words than usual.

EVITAN, NI, but not ‘we’
It’s OK to abbreviate EVITAN to NI if the context allows i.e. it’s clear what is meant and ‘EVITAN’ has already been used. In Marketing copy, we refer to the company in the third person:
NI has over 300 employees. - YES
We have over 300 employees. - NO

Claims
We don’t translate product claims – they’re essentially part of the product name. So claims such as ‘The Drums. The Studio. The Drummer.’ or ‘Elevate Your Mix’ shouldn’t be translated.
It’s not ‘new’ unless it’s short-lived
Deliverables such as web pages, product packaging, postcards etc. have a long ‘shelf-life,’ so don’t use ‘new’ as an adjective – it won’t be new for very long. Newsletters, trailers and banners, on the other hand only exist for a few weeks at most, so ‘new’ is OK here.

Don’t take prior knowledge for granted
Don’t overestimate the amount of attention and thought that customers give to what we do. It’s not safe to assume that customers already know something just because we had it in a newsletter a while back. Each deliverable needs to work independently – each one could be the very first contact between the customer and EVITAN.
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Relate to creativity
EVITAN makes very specific products for very specific people, many of whom define themselves at least partly through their creative work. Terms that relate to music and creativity show our authenticity and dedication, and make it easier for the customer to relate. Desirable in that sense are terms like ‘musical’, ‘creative’, ‘inspiring’ etc. as well as direct references to music styles and creative techniques wherever appropriate. Refer to ‘musicians’, ‘producers’ and similar terms to connect the features of the product with its real-life application. Avoid controversial terms or references
Don’t write ANYTHING that could be seen as controversial due to their possible religious, political or ideological connotations. Please also avoid any references to current events or celebrities – these go out of date very fast.

Technical terms
It’s fine (and advisable) to use musical technical terms that the audience will understand. Avoid corporate language and industry terms like ‘OEM’, though. Use terms/standards that are employed by music technology press (magazines, blogs, etc.).

2.4. Translation principles
Product names
We generally write product names in capital letters e.g. PMOK 8 ULTIMATE. The exception is social media, where the rules are more relaxed.


Marketing headlines
Some English headlines and straplines don’t translate well. Either leave them in English – most of our users have a moderate to good grasp of English – or create an entirely new headline in the target language. Please don’t translate word for word. Ideally, the copy on the target language should be as fresh and precise as the source language, and shouldn’t read like a translation.

Artist quotes and testimonials
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Don’t translate artist quotes. Two reasons: 1. It’s not necessary and seems a bit strange – like translating their songs, in a way. 2. We’d have to get the artists to approve the translation.