Do That Voice!

New (Old) Music

2011-05-30T15:56:10Z

For any readers who didn't know, I'm a musician as well as a voiceover talent. Here's a new recording of an acoustic instrumental I wrote years ago. Hope you like!

(It's available for download, too, for only $0.99. In the player above, just click "Options", then "Store". Thanks!)

Cipher Complex

2011-05-03T23:34:48Z

Get a gander at this great clip of a game I gabbed on, as a guard, grunter, and groaner. Got it? Good.

Cipher Complex isn't a fully developed game; in fact, it unfortunately didn't make its way into full production. This clip is a vertical slice, or a gameplay demo for the early development stage. I did my work under the direction of the fabulous DB Cooper.

Even though this title didn't see store shelves, I'm still thrilled to be in the company of great voice talents like Anthony Mendez (Cipher), Philip Banks (bad guy General Kim), and DB, who appropriately voices Mission Control. Kevin Genus also gets guard and grunt duty here.

Neil Gaiman Audiobook Contest

2011-04-17T16:50:22Z

Harper-Collins Publishers are sponsoring a contest to award a speaking role in the upcoming American Gods: 10th Anniversary Edition audiobook. The first round of finalists will be selected by user votes; I've thrown my hat into the ring and, apart from simply announcing the news, I'm rather shamelessly asking for your vote!

There are hundreds of entrants, so to hear my audition and cast a vote for me, just click here and do the following:

Click the 'Vote' tab.

Type "dhvoice" in the Search field and go.

Vote!

Also, you can vote once a day, so I hope you'll return and give me a nod again. Thanks!

That's Easy For You To Say.

2011-03-31T10:44:39Z

This segment from Wednesday's The Rachel Maddow Show serves to remind that, even (especially?) for those of us who talk for a living, some words and names are more problematic than others:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I have to say, it's oddly comforting to know that I'm not alone in my regionally-specific social requirement to willfully mispronounce certain names and places: In Austin alone, "Manchaca" is "man-shack" and "Guadalupe" is "gwad-a-loop" (yes, even those who speak Spanish properly are compelled to use the "incorrect" but more common forms). I have fond memories of a novice newsman at a radio station getting his hand figuratively slapped over saying "Bexar County" just as it appears --- which is incorrect, as Bexar is properly said "Bay-er".

Rachel, I thoroughly and completely feel your pain regarding "procurement". I can say it easily and quickly now, but that's because it once gave me the same fits, prompting me to practice it over and over again until it sounded natural. (Yes, folks, this is what voiceover performers do. All of us have the occupational hazard of our own collection of a few relatively basic English words that mangle our tongues and make us sound like we're still learning the language.)

I use the Merriam-Webster pronunciation guide myself quite a bit; it's not only a lifesaver for tricky "everyday" words, but the handy "Medical" tab seems tailor-made for those of us who do a lot of medical narration.

(Voice talents --- and anyone else interested --- here's the link to the Voice of America pronunciation guide.)

A Compact Lifespan

2011-03-26T00:02:49Z

I still remember vividly when CDs were introduced as a sonic savior for music, promising to obliterate forever the crackle-and-pop of the vinyl album, and along with it the hiss and limited frequency range of the cassette tape.

I'm dating myself, to be sure, but my first introduction to the new format was on MTV in 1983, when Martha Quinn held up a prototype shiny disc and touted its promise. At the time, CD players weren't readily available in my area --- and those that were cost hundreds of dollars. I could be wrong, but as I remember it, there weren't even any commercial titles that I could go and buy.

Here's a promotional video, likely from '84 or '85, produced by Philips.

Before I got into VO as a career, I worked for a few years at a CD production company. We didn't manufacture the actual disc, but we did take spindles of pre-produced artists' discs and assembed them with the cover art and jewel boxes --- a mostly automated process that required a large robotic machine that I babysat and occasionally had to fix. (It's probably why I can't get enough of TV shows like How It's Made and Factory Made. But I digress.)

Billboard reports that In 2010, sales of compact discs fell by nearly 20 percent. This takes me back to about 1987, by which time CDs had already taken hold in the marketplace, and also by which time the recording industry was well on its way to burying the vinyl album --- citing simlar sales drops.

The parallels of these stories, however, are only skin-deep. Vinyl was readily ditched by the industry not only because they could market the CD as sonically superior, but because the latter took up less space in shipping trucks and in retail stores (true enough if one forgets the brief existence of the CD longbox). The higher price of the CD ---usually at least double that of the LP and cassette --- was defended by the industry as owing to higher production costs, which they promised would fall and take retail prices with them. As the 90s rolled on, they made good on the first part of the promise but not the second.

These days, CD sales are diminishing because the price was kept high, not because the industry was in love with the mp3 --- an audio format that didn't have its own physical conveyance and which the industry was slow to figure out how to monetize.

This history lesson is brought to you by my own melancholy, and also the assumption that you find this as interesting as I do. Even if only mildly so.

PSA - Red Cross Japanese Tsunami/Earthquake Relief

2011-03-16T01:44:10Z

Broadcasters / media producers / webmasters: Here's a free Red Cross - Japan tsunami/quake relief PSA from Peter O'Connell.

From the audioconnell site:

The American Red Cross is now taking donations on behalf of the Japanese Red Cross – helping those people impacted by the earthquake in Japan and the subsequent tsunami in the Pacific.
This PSA, written and produced by audio’connell Voice Over Talent from content taken directly from the American Red Cross web site, is available here from audio’connell Voice Over Talent for free download and general public use at no charge by any media outlet wishing to rebroadcast this audio clip only in its entirety.

Getting Inside the Script

2011-03-12T16:12:15Z

When presented with a VO script, it doesn't have to be Shakespeare to warrant bringing your best acting skills to the table. In my article Getting Started in Voiceovers, I pointed out: "Whether it's a ketchup commercial, an instructional tech video, or an animated Pixar blockbuster, the skills you need to bring to the mic are those of an actor."

Dan O'Day shares this clip of Christine Coyle demonstrating just what I referred to, teaching the kind of text analysis skills needed to get inside any script. (My friend Bob Souer is one of the participants.)

New Tools (And a Warning Label)

2011-03-08T22:19:45Z

Having quick access to handy tools is a must for any profession, no less so for VO artists. Voice talent J. Christopher Dunn has compiled a list of Five Must-Have Online Gizmos for Your Voice-over Toolbox that you'll want to check out.

I'm no lawyer (and I won't even play one here), but I would like to add a caveat regarding item # 4, "Save the Video". It's true that services like the one mentioned can grab online video, giving you the flexibility to post it to your site/blog/YouTube etc. However, just because you can grab it doesn't mean you should. Moreover, one shouldn't assume that a client's lack of response equals a "yes" when requesting a copy of the finished item. There is some debate about this; YouTube's own user agreement essentially states that once a video is uploaded, that clip is fair game for anyone's use. However, many of the content providers have legal decrees stating quite clearly the opposite. Unless you want to be potentially caught in a legal crossfire, your best move is to stick with content for which your client has given you the go-ahead.

Okay, enough finger-wagging. Go check out the toolbox and enjoy.

Choosing the Right Talent

2011-03-08T04:34:29Z

While they erroneously left hiring Yours Truly off the list (*ahem*), this article does contain some excellent tips for businesses looking to hire voice talent for their projects.

Additionally, Paul Strikwerda adds comments addressing the real value of hiring a genuine VO pro; it's required reading along with the main piece. (To paraphrase Paul here: to suppose that having a nice voice can make one a voice actor is to suppose that having an attractive pair of hands qualifies one to be a concert pianist.)

Getting Started: Another Take

2011-02-20T19:21:37Z

Wondering what it takes to get started on the right path to a career in voiceovers?

I've gotten a lot of nice feedback on my article about getting one's feet wet in the voiceover biz. Voice actor Smith Harrison has written his own superb piece on the subject of getting started in voiceovers, so I recommend you add it to your reading list if you're interested in laying the groundwork.

Dudley & Bob

2011-02-19T22:15:10Z

Earlier this week, I decided on a whim to slap together an intro for Dale Dudley's upcoming off-air podcast. This one won't be the "official" intro; however, Dale liked it enough to not only play it on the morning show, but to give my site a plug at the same time. This was really nice to hear, not just as a VO artist grateful for the publicity, but also as a longtime fan of the Dudley & Bob show. Here's a clip of that show segment:

VO Scam Alert: Update

2011-02-15T05:53:02Z

Voice talent Dave Courvoisier recently alerted the voiceover community about a scam artist, one who's been reportedly soliciting radio imaging liners and not paying for the work. Here's an update on the matter.

I had a minor exchange with this person last year. Ultimately, he didn't actually scam me out of anything (except the time taken to respond to his e-mail inquiries and provide a rate quote), but his behavior was suspicious to say the least. He contacted me requesting a quote for fully-produced liners to be used on his radio program; I gave him the quote and made it clear that partial payment up front would be required before any work was done. No reply. I followed up a month later asking if he was still interested. He replied saying he'd sent payment, which I knew was false (if for no other reason than a month had passed with no word from him). The reply was complete silence when I asked him to provide some kind of confirmation of the payment.

Dave's report seems to confirm that this guy is not to be trusted. This sort of thing is precisely the reason why, with some exceptions, several voice artists (myself included) request at least a partial payment up front for new clients.

Free Production Tracks - No Catch.

2011-02-08T05:26:16Z

Producers/voice artists/et al.: Need new production backing tracks without handing over the proverbial arm and leg?

Stock20 creates high quality music for media production. If you create a free account, they'll give you a $7 store credit (which will get you one free song). I've used their music beds, and the quality of the tracks is comparable to the more expensive services.

If you use my referral link (below), we can both get an extra $7 in free music--you'll get a total of $14.

Here's how:
1) Click this link, then create a free account (it takes about a minute):

http://www.stock20.com/gvr.php?rc=65xl2nv4056asd5v2x

2) Your new account will automatically be credited with $7 (enough to get a free track).

Then you'll get an additional gift certificate by e-mail, just for creating an account. That's a total of $14 in free production music.

Note: You can be assured that Stock20.com will not give away your info. They send out one e-mail per month when they release their new songs.

Disclaimer: Not Responsible If Your Face Gets Rocked Off.

2011-02-03T04:16:08Z

Updated Rock Imaging VO demo. (DISCLAIMER # 2: use method for becoming cool at own risk.)

Rock Imaging VO Demo

(If the Flash player doesn't work, you can download the mp3 here.)

The Right Coach

2011-02-01T05:23:11Z

Excellent insight from Bob Souer on finding the right voice coach for you.

How to evaluate voiceover coaches