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JossiRossi posted:This is all a ploy for free advertisement by the Summerset Hills consortium! God I hate that script so much but it has everything: questions, excited question sell, soft relatable sell, creepy closing statement, p-words, numbers and "lillies." The Joe Man fucked around with this message at 00:31 on Dec 6, 2012 |
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Dec 4, 2012 19:57
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It really is perfect. Despite and Because of it's flaws. I've still not given it a try myself. I really should. I was curious if you could give another listen to one of those Valvetime News Round Ups? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vQRpVPcAQjU I've hopefully improved the cadence of my voice and not done the Up/Down, Down/Up shortcut on my voice. I really didn't catch it in the past though, so I'm not trusting me ears on that topic.
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Dec 4, 2012 20:01
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JossiRossi posted:It really is perfect. Despite and Because of it's flaws. I've still not given it a try myself. I really should. OH MAN YOU TRICKED ME! Thought you were gonna do the up & down thing again but it sounds a ton better and there's a shitload more APPROPRIATE variableness within the sentences. You trip over yourself a bit (about a minute's worth) right in the middle and you stagger off and on towards the homestretch but overall it's much improved. Focus on what you did for those first 3 minutes and try to emulate it for future videos.
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Dec 4, 2012 20:11
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JossiRossi posted:This is all a ploy for free advertisement by the Summerset Hills consortium! Move in today, stay for a lifetime. 
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Dec 4, 2012 20:54
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Old, but here it is:
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Dec 5, 2012 06:14
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It's always a good idea to redo your recording if you want input on it. A lot changes in a year. I'd say that ultimately it seems pretty solid, but with the music behind it, that can hide a lot of problems that are better off being addressed instead of Masked. The drawl isn't offensive, but at times you err on causual speaking opposed to aunniciation. I don't know if that is your normal voice or an affectation, but you might want to stress clarity of speech. You don't need to talk like you are from a place you aren't though, just need to be more clear.
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Dec 5, 2012 17:21
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titties posted:Also, would you be willing to talk a little about what it's like to record in a studio? I know I'm not ready to work professionally yet, but still the idea of actually stepping into the studio is terrifying since I don't know what to do or how to act and they'll all know I'm a poser and oh god Out of curiosity, where are you located? If this is something you're seriously considering, have you taken any voiceover classes? Group classes in a professional studio setup are, in my opinion, the best and most cost-effective way to train and learn what it's actually like to do this in a studio as opposed to sitting behind a mic in your coat closet. Even if you go the private route, any voiceover teacher worth his/her salt will have you in his/her own booth or recording setup as part of your training. But when I was just starting out I took some great classes at a local voiceover school/studio and I was able to learn all of the basics of studio protocol, mic technique, cold reading/copy analysis, techniques for reading both by oneself and with one or more other people, what producers/directors are looking for, and how to conduct oneself in an audition and during a booking. I had had a solid acting background, and admittedly the learning curve would have been a bit different had I not, but all told it was about a year and a half from my first class to my first commercial demo, much of which was produced using material I'd recorded in class, supplemented with a few private sessions. Unfortunately, my teacher has since moved (from NY to Philadelphia), but I like working with him so much I still occasionally have phone lessons with him, and even go out to visit and have a session in person when I can make the trip. If anyone in this thread is in the Philadelphia area, I can't recommend Chuck McKibben enough--he brought me from zero experience and training to ready to compete professionally, and did so incredibly affordably, compared to what other people in New York charge (and what he really could be charging). I also got my first few local spots through his class, and still keep in touch with many of the people I learned with. Feel free to contact him and tell him you got his name from Melanie. But yeah, those feelings of "what am I doing I am not good with studio" diminish and eventually go away altogether with enough practice. Monathin posted:So I've always kind of had an on-again, off-again relationship with voice acting (I tried it once stupidly several years ago and basically cut myself off with crippling lack of self esteem issues once I realized how awful I was). When it comes to actually talking, I stutter and stammer a ton(something I need to eventually get looked at or manage to shrug off), but I've got experience with script reading(being a rookie stage actor at our community playhouse) and can parse Shakespeare like an amateur champ. I want to train my voice so that I'm not embarrassed of it every time I hear it played back to me, and maybe even get it to the point where I wouldn't be opposed to doing voice work. Is there anything anyone suggests aside from reading everything aloud every day in order to get my voice to sound less awful? I can read off a script or two if need be if someone needs to hear how awful I am to identify what sort of voice practice I should focus on to make me sound less like a dweeb. Reading aloud every day. Seriously, that's what will get you there--your mouth, throat, tongue and lips, like any other parts of your body, contain muscles which can, and need to, be trained. Even if you have the nicest voice in the world, or tons of acting experience, you will still need to refine it for the intimacy of the mic. Yeah, it sucks hearing what you sound like at first, but like anything else, even that gets easier with practice. The first few times I heard myself, I was like, THAT'S what I sound like? But then I got used to it, tweaked it, and eventually got myself to sound slightly different, until I learned what I needed to do to sound how I wanted, and now it's a much more natural process. In addition to general VO technique though, I've always had a slight lisp with my "s" sounds--though actually, I didn't even realize it until I started doing VO work! I had never really scrutinized my speech before then. It took a couple of years of consciously correcting my tongue placement, but it's much better than it was (although I think I'll always have it a bit), and people don't really notice it now. These things aren't necessarily a detriment to your career, though--as long as you get it somewhat under control, they can add a nice unique quality to your sound. I do a lot ofwork on children's media projects, and it may even lend an air of authenticity or friendliness to my work. Who knows? Another thought--do you stutter when you sing, too? If not, you may want to try setting text to a tune and singing it. It may help you get into a rhythm and just feel more comfortable with it. Another BIG part of this for you, and I can just tell from how you talk about yourself and your work, is confidence and how you feel about yourself. It is just as important to take good care of yourself and your health as it is to know what to do in the studio and have all the training and preparation under your belt, because when you take better care of yourself you feel better about yourself, and when you feel better about yourself you will find that all of these things come much more easily. Make sure you're getting enough sleep--and that you're getting sleep at the right TIME, because there's a difference between getting eight hours of sleeping beginning at 11:30PM and eight hours of sleep beginning at 1AM--and that you're getting some exercise, even if it's just going for a walk a few times a week to start, eating well or starting to do so--just eliminating soda from your diet and replacing it with water, for example will do wonders for your waistline AND your vocal health, making your mouth more well-lubricated and giving you a clearer sound in your recordings! A few small changes here and there will go a LONG way. But keep in mind that none of this, the VO stuff or the health stuff, is quick; it is a process, but one that can have tremendous benefits if you keep with it. On my end of things, I decided several months back to pursue on-camera and possibly stage acting once again, which is where I had my background to begin with before I got into voiceover, and I had an interesting acting/VO week this week. Saturday night was the 5th Annual NYC Voiceover Mixer--which, apparently, is the last one they are holding, which I didn't know until afterwards. The mixer was nice enough and I got to meet the mighty King Lou!  Made a few interesting connections there, including a woman who may want me to do some Korean voiceover work. Hmm. On Monday, my teacher from the voiceover classes I've been taking through SAG-AFTRA told me that with a few of her suggested tweaks to my demo, she'd be happy to recommend me to her agent at CESD, one of the biggest agencies for VO and one of my very top agency picks.  And then on Monday night, at an event organized exclusively for alumni of NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, I got to hear the president of ABC Television speak, and got to speak with him briefly afterward. I told him that if he ever had to decide on a pilot that had me in it that he should okay it, because I would make it great. And I gave him my pen. So now the head of ABC Television has my pen. Cooool.Oh yeah, I got pens made! With my name and logo and website and stuff. Theory is that will casting directors get tons of headshots and postcards and business cards and toss them if they don't want them, they won't throw away a good pen. If you would like one or two just PM/email me your address and I will send them out posthaste! Oh, and shameless plug: I finally created a Facebook page and would greatly appreciate some new fans, or likes, or whatever it's called now. And if you have your own page, message me once you've liked mine and I would be happy to return the favor. I also have other social media links on the main page of my site if anyone wants to connect that way.
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Dec 5, 2012 19:49
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I liked your faceook! I don't mean to be rude but the photo on your fan page seems a bit off. The headphone cord kind of makes it look like the head is shaped like a big Jujubee 
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Dec 5, 2012 19:58
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blinkeve1826 posted:Out of curiosity, where are you located? If this is something you're seriously considering, have you taken any voiceover classes? Group classes in a professional studio setup are, in my opinion, the best and most cost-effective way to train and learn what it's actually like to do this in a studio as opposed to sitting behind a mic in your coat closet. Even if you go the private route, any voiceover teacher worth his/her salt will have you in his/her own booth or recording setup as part of your training. But when I was just starting out I took some great classes at a local voiceover school/studio and I was able to learn all of the basics of studio protocol, mic technique, cold reading/copy analysis, techniques for reading both by oneself and with one or more other people, what producers/directors are looking for, and how to conduct oneself in an audition and during a booking. Hi, Melanie. Glad to see you unbanned and back in the thread! I live in Michigan (49601). There is one production studio in town, but I don't know if they're still in business. I had classes with one of our local small business leaders, and he had mentioned that he uses them and they work on all sorts of national and international campaigns. I've tried calling them about lessons, but nobody ever answers the phone. I've registered with Edge, that might be the only kind of "training" I have access to right now. I don't have any acting background to speak of, I lettered in choir. I really could use some help cleaning up my regional accent - too much "ta" instead of "to", too much "fer" instead of "for". When I concentrate on fixing it it really sounds contrived.
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Dec 5, 2012 20:57
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blinkeve1826 posted:Out of curiosity, where are you located? If this is something you're seriously considering, have you taken any voiceover classes? Group classes in a professional studio setup are, in my opinion, the best and most cost-effective way to train and learn what it's actually like to do this in a studio as opposed to sitting behind a mic in your coat closet. Even if you go the private route, any voiceover teacher worth his/her salt will have you in his/her own booth or recording setup as part of your training. I live in Austin, TX—fairly big and hip city. I wonder if those sorts of classes are available here?
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Dec 5, 2012 21:32
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Hey, I didn't notice it linked at all in the thread, but Rob Paulsen's podcast has been a pretty inspirational (as well as informative) source for my voice acting jones. He has a ton A-List voice talent guests, (Maurice, Nolan North, DiMaggio, Mark Freakin' Hamill). It's also funny as hell, most of the time. Here's the first page of podcasts. I listen to them in the background while I animate. Thanks for the thread, Joe Man!
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Dec 6, 2012 00:22
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titties posted:Hi, Melanie. Glad to see you unbanned and back in the thread! Hey...you (I just can't bring myself to type out your username)! Good to be back. Hmmm...there's plenty in Detroit but Google Maps tells me you're not exactly close to there. The bad news is, there doesn't seem to be much in your area. The good news is, there doesn't seem to be much in your area--so you're not likely to have as much competition as you would in the bigger markets. However, if you don't have an acting background at all, that should probably be your place to start, anyway. You have to have some idea of how to convincingly portray different qualities, characters, emotions and states in order to be able to do so for the mic. I mean, you COULD go right to voiceover, but it will be a lot harder, take a lot longer, and there will be many, many others going up against you over time who will have that training and may ultimately be picked over you for it. For acting classes, you might want to try a local university--I don't know anything about Ferris State University, but maybe start there? And for voiceover-specific training, yeah, it looks like sessions via Skype are going to be the way for you to go for now. Because you're in a relatively remote location, you may want to invest in a home studio setup sooner than others. This can be as simple as a decent mic and audio interface (although I personally don't like and don't use external interfaces), or even a good USB mic to start, and some heavy blankets/foam mattress pads to absorb sound around you. Although...for demo production and true "studio" training, you might want to start at that production house. (I'm guessing it's MacDonald Audio?) They probably don't do "lessons", but you could just book an hour of studio time, bring some of your own copy, and record, having them give you feedback as you go. They are, after all, the ones who would be making these determinations if and when you eventually do this professionally. This option is actually pretty efficient, in that you end up with recordings to potentially use on a demo at some point, practice, AND you start developing a relationship with these guys, so that when the time comes they know you and will think to call you in! Huh. If I didn't produce my own demos I'd consider doing that myself. If you can reach these guys, tell them what you want to do and see if one of them would be down. I mean, if you're paying for studio time, I can't see what the problem would be. There seems to be a bit more in Traverse City, but even that's kinda far, so I'd explore these options first and see where they take you. Also, if you are going to go the Skype route, my aforementioned voiceover teacher offers Skype lessons at less than half of what Edge Studio charges. For just starting out for sure he can help you just as much as Edge can, if not more. (You might want to transition to Edge later if you end up wanting to specialize in animation or something, but that's down the road, after you're solid in your commercial/narration reads. Do yourself and your wallet a favor and give Chuck a call. He'll talk to you a while and give you a "consultation" over the phone at no charge and he's really helpful. Do it do it do it.) Adib posted:I live in Austin, TX—fairly big and hip city. I wonder if those sorts of classes are available here? You, I have to admit, I sort of envy at the moment. Austin is a hotbed for voiceover work, and Texas has tonsssssss of animation studios. (Off the top of my head, Funimation is located in Dallas. Not super close to you, but close enough for a day trip if you happen to book something.) A quick Google search brings back tons of acting classes and voiceover production houses and the like--what I'd recommend is calling a bunch, talking to different teachers/producers, and just getting a feel for what they're all like. Choose the one you feel most comfortable with and go for it! Edit: And thank you for the "like", JossiRossi
blinkeve1826 fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Dec 7, 2012 |
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Dec 7, 2012 01:33
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blinkeve1826 posted:Because you're in a relatively remote location, you may want to invest in a home studio setup sooner than others. This can be as simple as a decent mic and audio interface (although I personally don't like and don't use external interfaces), or even a good USB mic to start, and some heavy blankets/foam mattress pads to absorb sound around you. I am certainly just a hobbyist for now. I have recorded maybe 15 things ever since I started posting in this thread. My current setup is just a Yeti standard and Audacity without any soundproofing at all. It produces better results than I expected, but probably not broadcast quality. My most recent recordings were done for a group project. My group somehow came up with the idea of publishing erotica (completely without my input). I did a couple of non-offensive mock radio spots for them.   I'm happy with these, in that I think they're where they should be for my level of experience (none), and for my lack of equipment. Well, and also because I recorded these two and a third one between 2-5 am the night before they were due. Feel free to drop some criticism. I love feedback, the harsher the better. blinkeve1826 posted:Although...for demo production and true "studio" training, you might want to start at that production house. (I'm guessing it's MacDonald Audio?) They probably don't do "lessons", but you could just book an hour of studio time, bring some of your own copy, and record, having them give you feedback as you go. They are, after all, the ones who would be making these determinations if and when you eventually do this professionally. I'm surprised you found that. I think the name of the studio used to be different, but I'm pretty sure that you've got the right guy based on his name. I don't even know if I'm calling the right place. blinkeve1826 posted:Also, if you are going to go the Skype route, my aforementioned voiceover teacher offers Skype lessons at less than half of what Edge Studio charges. For just starting out for sure he can help you just as much as Edge can, if not more. (You might want to transition to Edge later if you end up wanting to specialize in animation or something, but that's down the road, after you're solid in your commercial/narration reads. Do yourself and your wallet a favor and give Chuck a call. He'll talk to you a while and give you a "consultation" over the phone at no charge and he's really helpful. Do it do it do it.) That doesn't sound like a bad idea. If you could, would you PM me or shoot me an e-mail with some contact info? It is spamcentral on the Juno dot com mail provider. Thanks for such a detailed reply!
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Dec 7, 2012 18:07
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titties posted:I am certainly just a hobbyist for now. I have recorded maybe 15 things ever since I started posting in this thread. My current setup is just a Yeti standard and Audacity without any soundproofing at all. It produces better results than I expected, but probably not broadcast quality. Honestly (and I have no problem with being harsh, believe me) I quite liked your reads, particularly your first. Compare those to your Summerset Hills read (the earliest one of yours in this thread that still exists on Tindeck) and you'll hear that even over those 15 or so reads, you sound much more natural/conversational and "level", for lack of a better word--not as artificial and "announcer-y". You do slip into it a bit in the second spot, but you ease into it towards the end. Was this your first take? You might want to get into the habit of recording a practice take or two before you record a spot, so you don't do that easing into it in the middle of the spot, but rather beforehand so your whole final recording will sound nice and even. Eventually you'll have to do less of that, though I still do it if I'm recording something in anything other than my natural voice. Your audio quality is surprisingly good, too, for what you're working with. Actually, I think you sound quite a bit like Steve Blum, so I may be a bit biased because Steve Blum is one of my favorite voice actors ever and I LOVE his voice. There were a few spots where you fumbled some things, and you may want to pay careful attention to those: the disparity between the speeds of the "are you getting" and "tired of boring book-of-the-month clubs" in the first was a bit jarring, you'd be better to keep the speed steady (by slowing down your opening just a touch); you do some "tuh"s instead of "to"s, "kin"s instead of "can"s, etc. that are typical of most people starting out. It's hard to pronounce those clearly and make them sound natural, but it comes with--guess!--practice; in the second, I feel like you're forgetting what you're saying and why you're saying it--in other words, "Sure, WE'VE all heard of 50 shades" makes less sense than, for example, "Sure, we've ALL heard of 50 shades". Not saying you should do it that way either, but while you're reading, just keep in mind what you're saying and why you're saying it, and that natural, easy read you already have a handle on will maintain itself. Honestly, though, I'm nitpicking because there weren't any huge major things you need to correct. As subjectively as possible, I think you could probably do this professionally if you really want to. Be warned that it is a long, torturous, and costly road, but if you really want to do this and stick with it, I think you could probably do this professionally. You already have a nice, easy, conversational read, which is exactly what commercial producers/casting directors are looking for now. quote:That doesn't sound like a bad idea. If you could, would you PM me or shoot me an e-mail with some contact info? I posted his website in my last post, I think, and his contact info is on there. But shoot me an email (melanie at listentomelanie dot com) and I'll send it to you anyway.
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Dec 7, 2012 19:31
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Thank you for the detailed feedback!blinkeve1826 posted:Honestly (and I have no problem with being harsh, believe me) I quite liked your reads, particularly your first. Compare those to your Summerset Hills read (the earliest one of yours in this thread that still exists on Tindeck) and you'll hear that even over those 15 or so reads, you sound much more natural/conversational and "level", for lack of a better word--not as artificial and "announcer-y". You do slip into it a bit in the second spot, but you ease into it towards the end. I think a lot of that improvement is due to feedback that I get from the thread, as much or more than the practice. The Joe Man, JossiRossi, and CuddleChunks in particular have really helped me. As far as the issues you're mentioning, that was definitely not the first take. A lot of the inconsistencies come from my process. I read the script aloud a few times before I record anything. Then I'll start recording and try to read all the way through. If I flub something I pause, then read it again. I'll do it 5 or 6 times, until I get one that doesn't make me want to puke. Then I go through it phrase-by-phrase. If the line is okay, I'll splice it into a fresh project. If not, I'll re-read it. So almost anything I submit is the result of pasting individual phrases from 15 different Audacity windows. Then I have to try to even everything out, since for some takes I was approaching the mic different or whatever. That's why the tone is different some of the time. I am doing what I can to work around it. I long for the day when I can do continuous takes. That is probably the cause of: blinkeve1826 posted:... a few spots where you fumbled some things, and you may want to pay careful attention to those: the disparity between the speeds of the "are you getting" and "tired of boring book-of-the-month clubs" in the first was a bit jarring ... It is harder than I expected to match my own speed, volume, and intonation across multiple takes. I am working on reducing my midwest accent, you kin pick it up on all of my recordings that you listen ta. blinkeve1826 posted:Actually, I think you sound quite a bit like Steve Blum, so I may be a bit biased because Steve Blum is one of my favorite voice actors ever and I LOVE his voice. This made my day, thank you. If you already posted the website I must not have been paying close enough attention. When I have a little money I'll probably hit him up.
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Dec 7, 2012 20:16
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titties posted:I think a lot of that improvement is due to feedback that I get from the thread, as much or more than the practice. The Joe Man, JossiRossi, and CuddleChunks in particular have really helped me. That's great to hear, and I'm happy you're noticing real improvement. That's what we're here for, and was a major goal of starting this thread.  I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS!! 1. I've decided to try and get heavy into audiobooks through ACX. I've never really done audiobooks before, and am honestly more character-oriented...so when it switches the POV to a new person, I have an instinct to make the new voice different. With an audiobook, am I supposed to do that and make each voice unique? Or just continue the same natural voice throughout every character in the book? 2. This is blasphemy but I think I've decided to finally get a pop-filter. Not having one is fine for small recordings but if I'm going to record something long (like an audiobook), I'd rather not spend double the time going back and redoing little parts here & there due to sudden magical gusts of wind from wherever. Is there a decent one that'll fit onto a Yeti? DISCLAIMER: YOU SHOULD STILL LEARN HOW TO SPEAK WITHOUT A POP-FILTER EDIT: Going with this unless anyone tells me different: http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-The-Universal-Filter/dp/B0002H0H4A The Joe Man fucked around with this message at 01:52 on Dec 14, 2012 |
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Dec 13, 2012 22:15
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The Joe Man posted:EDIT: Going with this unless anyone tells me different: http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-The-Universal-Filter/dp/B0002H0H4A I was just coming to post that specific pop filter. I knew they made one specifically for the Yeti, and that it was sexy. I don't know about how well it works, though. I have my Yeti on a boom so I can just attach the lovely $15 nylon filter. E: The Joe Man posted:I have an instinct to make the new voice different. With an audiobook, am I supposed to do that and make each voice unique? Or just continue the same natural voice throughout every character in the book? I've heard audiobooks that were fully cast, and ones where a single narrator does multiple voices. The majority of the ones I've heard, though, are just straight narration. Personally I find that the ones with a full cast or with character voices are much, much easier to follow. It's probably down to the author's preference, though. titties fucked around with this message at 16:24 on Dec 14, 2012 |
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Dec 14, 2012 14:58
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I have that one, and I have done little with it (I'm procrastinating a lot on jumping into this thread), but on what little I've done it seems to have made a big difference. I had my Yeti in the stand that came with it when I got the pop filter and found, like a lot of reviews mention, that it attaches to that stand very poorly or not at all without some power-tool modification. I bought a $15 tripod stand from B&H with thin, metal bar legs and attaching it to that's much nicer.
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Dec 14, 2012 16:13
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I'm not aiming to do anything professionally, but I've noticed that the short stories and LPs I've been recording seem to have my breathing rather upfront and obvious in Audacity. I don't think it's noticeable in the final product, but is there any way to neutralize this? Edit; And for the sake of an example:  Can anyone hear any of the breathing in that? Stratafyre fucked around with this message at 08:52 on Dec 16, 2012 |
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Dec 16, 2012 08:42
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I was sent here from an ask/tell thread about getting started in VO. The OP is really helpful, so I appreciate the advice. I'm looking forward to hearing any ways that y'all think I can improve, so here's my info: Name: WhollyChao Specialties: Upbeat, friendly, genuine voice. Not announcery or movie phone at all. More youthful, engaging and slightly (slightly) raspy. Tindeck: http://tindeck.com/users/testephen Contact: email at t.stephen.jr@gmail.com Payment: Contact via email or I have a paypal, but at this point, I'm just trying to work!
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Dec 17, 2012 23:26
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Stratafyre posted:
Nope, no breathing artifacts in there. The delivery was way too fast and flat for my tastes - loosen up! Smile some more and read slowly. You want your audience to feel that Somerset Hills is a wonderful place to retire. Sell them on these points with the emotion in your voice. Hahahah, vague enough? if you want, I can probably dummy up some sound files that would make things easier to hear.
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Dec 18, 2012 01:41
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The Joe Man posted:I've decided to try and get heavy into audiobooks through ACX. I've never really done audiobooks before, and am honestly more character-oriented...so when it switches the POV to a new person, I have an instinct to make the new voice different. With an audiobook, am I supposed to do that and make each voice unique? Or just continue the same natural voice throughout every character in the book? I've heard both, and what works best in my opinion is using your own voice (or close to it) for the narration or narrator's point of view, and variations for each character that are just different enough to recognize that they are distinct characters without distracting from the text itself. While part of the purpose of an audiobook is to bring alive the story for the listener, some do want some sort of autonomy in deciding what the characters look like to them, in which case if the listener has pictured the town butcher as big and burly, with a deep, amiable voice like the butcher in HIS hometown, but you've decided he looks and sounds like Joe Pesci, it may take away from the listener's enjoyment/experience of it. If you give the characters enough, well, character to be distinct without telling the listener THIS IS WITHOUT QUESTION WHAT THIS CHARACTER SOUNDS LIKE PICTURE HIM IN YOUR HEAD ACCORDINGLY, you'll hit a happy medium that will work for many projects. That said, if a character definitely deserves a specific voice, like a gravelly trucker or kindly old man or something, those should have a bit more definition. But three guys in their 20s, for example, don't need to have drastically different voices--just vary pace and/or pitch and/or speech patterns for each and you should have enough distinction there alone. For the love of all that is holy, do not read women's lines in a silly falsetto. For characters of the opposite gender, allow your interpretation of the character to be just that--an interpretation, not an impersonation. So you'll raise the pitch of your voice a bit, the voice will sit "higher" in your body, but you won't sound like a woman--that's okay. If that was the goal, they would hire women to come in and read those lines. So it's the same thing as above; you want to provide the definition/differentiation, but you don't need to spoonfeed the characters to the listener ("I'M A WOMAN NOW, SEE MY VOICE IS ALL HIGH AND GIRLY ooOOOOooh").
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Dec 18, 2012 03:42
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I want to hold faith of those in our craft that they'd not do female voices in bad falsetto. I really do. I NEED TO BELIEVE THIS. SOMETHING HAS TO BE GOOD IN THIS WORLD.
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Dec 18, 2012 03:45
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Oh absolutely, and I know The Joe Man would be least likely of anyone to do so. But just to cover all the bases for anyone just starting out, or anyone who just wasn't sure...
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Dec 18, 2012 03:51
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CuddleChunks posted:Hahahah, vague enough? if you want, I can probably dummy up some sound files that would make things easier to hear. Oh, thanks, but I'm pretty well aware of my current inability to emote. It works for what I'm using it for now, and I've never been great at emoting on command. Just a matter of needing more practice. I'm doing Herbert West: Reanimator at the moment, and it seems to work. ( I definitely do speak too fast though drat New York. )
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Dec 18, 2012 04:07
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JossiRossi posted:I want to hold faith of those in our craft that they'd not do female voices in bad falsetto. I really do. I NEED TO BELIEVE THIS. SOMETHING HAS TO BE GOOD IN THIS WORLD. blinkeve1826 posted:Oh absolutely, and I know The Joe Man would be least likely of anyone to do so. But just to cover all the bases for anyone just starting out, or anyone who just wasn't sure... I would do this in an instant if I could get away with it. IT WORKED FOR MRS. DOUBTFIRE ----------------------------- EDIT - Here's the last audition I did the other night:  I'm aware of a few noticable technical problems (mostly magic wind related), but anything else you can bring to my attention, go nuts! This was more of a quickie and I was running out of time to clean it up, but let me know if anything stands out. All suggestions are welcome! CuddleChunks posted:TheJoeMan - one note, early on in the interrogation scene with Farley you have him saying, "Please spare me Lord Azazel". The line reads that he *bellows* this. I'm sorry that you have such a dorky text but the voice you do for Farley is about the same intensity as in other spots, not a bellow. Oh and it's apparently teen lit. Therefore, no one will care. (myself included) The Joe Man fucked around with this message at 05:13 on Dec 18, 2012 |
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Dec 18, 2012 04:23
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blinkeve1826 posted:For the love of all that is holy, do not read women's lines in a silly falsetto. For characters of the opposite gender, allow your interpretation of the character to be just that--an interpretation, not an impersonation. So you'll raise the pitch of your voice a bit, the voice will sit "higher" in your body, but you won't sound like a woman--that's okay. If that was the goal, they would hire women to come in and read those lines. So it's the same thing as above; you want to provide the definition/differentiation, but you don't need to spoonfeed the characters to the listener ("I'M A WOMAN NOW, SEE MY VOICE IS ALL HIGH AND GIRLY ooOOOOooh"). Look at how wrong you are:  TheJoeMan - one note, early on in the interrogation scene with Farley you have him saying, "Please spare me Lord Azazel". The line reads that he *bellows* this. I'm sorry that you have such a dorky text but the voice you do for Farley is about the same intensity as in other spots, not a bellow. Lordy, what the hell is this thing? Stratafyre - Well, if you know about the emoting thing then making that your chief concern will do you well. SLOW DOWN! Take twice as long to read everything and you'll probably be right about the right pace for good clarity and understanding. You can start by just trying to draw out a passage of text longer and longer. If it feels weirdly slow then you're probably right on. After that, you've got to find a way to put some emotion into your voice. That's what will kick your game up to the next level. CuddleChunks fucked around with this message at 05:00 on Dec 18, 2012 |
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Dec 18, 2012 04:51
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On break at work, but when I get home I'd like to listen to and comment on all the fun new audio stuff when I get home to my freezing cold recording room. However this piqued my interest:WhollyChao posted:I was sent here from an ask/tell thread about getting started in VO. We have one of these? Is it active?
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Dec 18, 2012 18:44
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JossiRossi posted:We have one of these? Is it active? It's WhollyChao's own, located here.
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Dec 18, 2012 18:54
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Here's a different audition to rip apart:
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Dec 18, 2012 20:05
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JossiRossi posted:On break at work, but when I get home I'd like to listen to and comment on all the fun new audio stuff when I get home to my freezing cold recording room. However this piqued my interest: I started it because I had no idea that this megathread existed. Thankfully, I got linked over here. I just got started a few months ago and I tried the voices.com thing, but I feel like I'm getting screwed on that deal. I'm really just looking for feedback, and the downside of most of the freelance sites is that you don't get ANY feedback at all (short of a "thumbs up" if somebody "likes" your audition), so I have no idea if I'm any good or how I can improve. Really, that's what I'm hoping to get here.
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Dec 18, 2012 22:04
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I never really tried Voices.com but I thiiiink way early in the thread it was mentioned as being not really worth it. I think I recall the written advice not sucking though. Maybe it was Joe Man who said that?
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Dec 18, 2012 22:53
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JossiRossi posted:I never really tried Voices.com but I thiiiink way early in the thread it was mentioned as being not really worth it. I think I recall the written advice not sucking though. Maybe it was Joe Man who said that? It's in the OP.
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Dec 18, 2012 23:04
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The Joe Man posted:It's in the OP. About as early in the thread as you can get then. I think I should reread that sucker soon.
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Dec 19, 2012 00:30
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Stratafyre posted:I'm not aiming to do anything professionally, but I've noticed that the short stories and LPs I've been recording seem to have my breathing rather upfront and obvious in Audacity. I don't think it's noticeable in the final product, but is there any way to neutralize this? I'm hearing room echo more than breathing honestly. Did you do anything to remove breaths? There's also a persistent low hiss that I'm not entirely sure the source of. Sounds really, really consistent though. Perhaps a byproduct of processing? Also you sound a bit muffled. There's a lack of clarity in 4k+ Hz range I think. For performance although it wasn't asked, your base voice is a good start, you have a strong start some people aren't so fortunate to have. There's some "tongue sluggishness" I feel, but that's muscle development. It's also rather flat in performance. Things like "Why not move to Summerset Hills?" there's almost no real definition to the fact it's a question. There's plenty of language cues that are vocal shorthand for punctuation, and sometimes we need to find that sweet spot between being missed, and being too present. I'd say all in all unless you have a breath removal process that takes you a long time to complete, breaths are not a worry. Cuddlechunks is also right on the money with his advice. CuddleChunks posted:Look at how wrong you are: The Joe Man posted:Here's a different audition to rip apart:  Well ok the writing on both of these is atrocious. I'll try to push that out though. Your consistency in doing a voice for a long period of time while reading a story is really impressive, but there's something that's not quite there for me. In this Noir bit, I feel like I'd have a hard time listening to it for what may need to be hours. There's a nasally quality that seems to be accentuated with this particular reading style. I think that's what is really hitting me. As I listen I start ignoring the gruff part of the voice and begin to mostly just hear the nasal portions. "Blood Everywhere" around these words I am catching your Expander usage as there is a very noticeable drop in the background noise. In these parts I can hear a background hum and then when you stop talking it noticeably disappears. Those are really frustrating for me as it distracts my attention from the words and performance and draws attention to the man behind the curtain. I would almost prefer that a background hum continue (albeit lowered in volume) than to be removed entirely, it's less jarring. I'm not sure if it's this background noise dropping in and out but the reading sounds rather stilted. The flow seems to just die between sentences. It's almost as if each line were their own takes. Most of the technical problems are worse in the Heirs audition. I'm thinking that's your computer fan making the noise I am hearing. Your ability to do a range of voices in the Heir clip is really impressive again. That's definitely a strength you have, but there's at times a bit of a disconnect, and at others it just feels a bit too hard. I'd rather have a feeling that the story is read by one person with less exaggerated personifications than to have a suspicion that lines were done separately and pieced together audio drama style.
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Dec 19, 2012 04:44
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I can't believe I haven't posted in this thread yet. I'm tired and it's late, so I'll just ask about the most important thing I have on my mind at the moment. After reading the OP of this thread at... probably the beginning of the year, I took the plunge and got a Blue Yeti microphone. Trouble is, I didn't read all the way through and I missed the part where it was said the Yeti tends to pick up the reverb of your shoebox of a room. What are my options for fixing things? Because right now, I've resorted to wedging myself, my mic and my computer into a closet below the stairs and, funny as that might be, it's certainly not ideal. Any suggestions would be helpful, but the cheaper, the better.
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Dec 19, 2012 09:29
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JossiRossi posted:I'm hearing room echo more than breathing honestly. Did you do anything to remove breaths? There's also a persistent low hiss that I'm not entirely sure the source of. Sounds really, really consistent though. Perhaps a byproduct of processing? Also you sound a bit muffled. There's a lack of clarity in 4k+ Hz range I think. I'm using Audacity to remove background noise, could that be causing the problem? I've been having background noise problems with my microphone for awhile now, it's just the microphone that comes along with Rosetta Stone software.
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Dec 19, 2012 14:39
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Chinese Tony Danza posted:I can't believe I haven't posted in this thread yet. I'm tired and it's late, so I'll just ask about the most important thing I have on my mind at the moment. After reading the OP of this thread at... probably the beginning of the year, I took the plunge and got a Blue Yeti microphone. Trouble is, I didn't read all the way through and I missed the part where it was said the Yeti tends to pick up the reverb of your shoebox of a room. What are my options for fixing things? Because right now, I've resorted to wedging myself, my mic and my computer into a closet below the stairs and, funny as that might be, it's certainly not ideal. Any suggestions would be helpful, but the cheaper, the better. I have mine in a "portabooth" which you can build for yourself following these instructions: http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml B&H photo sells the Auralex foam in single panels. The downside with the Yeti in the portabooth is that it's so darn big. I have to push it way back in there to do any good. The Yeti Cave:  edit: it helps with the echo, is what I'm getting at. edit 2: Also, do any of y'all have experience with Bee Audio? They "recruited" me off the ACX site (I'm pretty certain they message every new account that opens). Apparently there's a SAG-AFTRA "do not work notice" on these guys for paying below standard. I already make below standard, and I'm not in the union. Anyone worked with them or know if it can affect future potential in union gigs? WhollyChao fucked around with this message at 14:59 on Dec 19, 2012 |
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Dec 19, 2012 14:52
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It's bad for the industry if you allow people like Bee to take advantage of you. It encourages others to do the same. If you want to practice I'm sure you can find better avenues for it, but if someone said that they worked for Bee and they are as bad as stated, then I'd personally rate them lower in my book.
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Dec 19, 2012 16:17
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| # ? May 5, 2024 11:32 |
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Yeah, I don't think I'm going to follow up with them, just because I have a bad feeling about the company anyway. Now, who wants to give me a critique! I read that Somerset Hills thing for you guys and I'm looking for ways to improve. 
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Dec 19, 2012 16:28
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