MY GRIPE WITH FELLOW VO ACTORS

Hey Everyone,

Last week, I was a part of a very popular facebook voice over group and someone new joined and asked a question about P2P sites.

She was then barraged with negativity and a great percentage of it was aimed at her. A few of the other vo actors came to address the negativity but overall it was almost EXPECTED and even laughed at. 

Here's a word of warning to all newer vo actors out there. 

Make sure you get advice from SPECIFIC people. 

If you are asking questions about P2P, you can cut through all the crap by saying something like, "I only want responses from people who are currently using or had currently been a member of that site over the past year" or "I would only like to ask non-union members to respond".

As a rule, all union members will spew bile at any and all p2p sites. It's within their right, in essence smaller jobs are something they can't do because their union and won't do because it's too small priced of a job. Sure, they can talk about how it's "ruining" the market or you're getting screwed out of money. But, the fact is, it exists. And, we are not marketers. We are not small business owners. We are actors trying to figure it out.

I find it sad that vo actors seem to disrespect those who are interested in joining their ranks. It angers me that "negativity" can be shielded by "honesty". 

A VO actor also took the opportunity to post and market an article of his, entitled "Giving Pearls to Swine". A lovely analogy making him this godly creature gifting the pigs of voice over his amazing advice. 

I have respect for all voice actors. But, nobody knows the path to being successful. I have a website, www.everythingvoiceover.com that provides great information for new voice over talent. BUT, it's from my perspective. These are suggestions. I would never degrade someone for asking or berate someone for choosing another path.

That's the scary but amazing thing about voice over. It's the wild west. Everyone is trying different things and some are working and some aren't. 

Keep your head up guys. 

Pre-Vacation Setting for Voice Over Actors

If you ever find yourself on vacation, I know, it's a rarity for voice actors to ever get a day free, then you had better prepare for it.

Most vo actors say, BRING YOUR STUDIO WITH YOU, and that's great! You can definitely take ALL your crap with you, check it on a plane, get to your hotel, set it up and just do auditions and jobs there. It's definitely possible. But, I don't do that.

If there's a client that needs my voice, I communicate my schedule to them as far in advance as I can. I even change my template weeks before. I want clients to NOT hire me if they have to have it during my vacation. I want clients to either toss me the script early and get pickups after or WAIT until the vacation is over.

The best voice over clients, the repeat clients will always help out with your schedule. Remember you have been working around their schedule forever. How many 2-4 hour turnaround times?

Anyway, here's a great article for a few steps you should take before going on vacation.

Safeguarding Your Audition

When i was teaching at the voices.com conference in San Francisco, I was surprised that a lot of students were very concerned about getting their auditions stolen.

This is a common fear among newer talent because p2p sites often have jobs that end up not being worked or maybe they get well reviewed and then nothing. It's a tough racket and unfortunately you have to take those things with a grain of salt.

If you really want to make sure your voice over auditions  are unusable for the client, there are a few key strategies that will help.

The first strategy is watermarking which is a little complicated but a quick youtube search will get you a few great tutorials on Adobe Audition.

For some really great easier ways to safeguard your auditions, check out this article I wrote a few months ago.

Safeguarding Your Voice Over Auditions

Have a great week!!!

Review of the CAD e100s Condenser Microphone

Hey Everyone,

I recently upgrade this lovely microphone to a Sennheiser 416 but I felt like I needed to post up a review to reiterate just how good the CAD e100s is!

First off, this is a mid-range mic. It's on the high end of consumer and the low end of professional. So, it's a step to pro.

What I love about it, other than the price, is the fact that there are so many uses for it. If you're a musician, CAD has a great sound and can pick up real subtlety and nuance from instrument. If you consider your voice an instrument, which I do, you want something that'll make you sound great.

There is a slight hum to the microphone and I've heard people talk about it but I ended up running a denoiser on it to remove it and it sounded spectacular. Ideally, you shouldn't need to do this but the quality is still top notch.

Here's a link to an older review of the Cad e100s, which I still stand by today.

If you're looking to upgrade your mic, this is the best mid range upgrade. My opinion.

Reaper: A New Tool for Voice Over Artists

For the longest time, I was using Audacity and Sony Movie Studio for all my voice over.  I had gotten used the slower paced setup, cutting, rendering individual takes and going back and forth.

I recently found a great application called REAPER

This is an editing software that's $60 that has everything from being able to render multiple regions with a specific naming scheme as show here.

It also has the ability to use hotkeys to speed up your workflow. It's definitely worth checking out if you want to SPEED up the audition process. 

Check it out!

Getting an Agent

Agents are the gatekeepers of the Voice Over world. These guys get the auditions from casting directors and they send you out. I was lucky enough to get an agent in New York at about a year into my stay in NYC. However, I definitely targeted getting an agent. It can be a pricey proposition but here's an article to help you get started from Everything Voice Over. (click here)

And remember, voice over is a process. It's gonna take time, but you can do it! Keep your acting skills sharp, check out Voicebank and mimic those voices that you sound like, and be patient.

The ones that stay in the community the longest are the ones that reap the rewards.

Much love,
Justin

A Great Audition Template.

Hey Everybody,

Once you get started in voices.com or voice123, you come across the dreaded "Audition Template". This is the text you'll send out with every audition. 

Some people go the personal route and really try and sell to the client themselves. Unfortunately, once you get to the 10,000th audition or you realize you're personalizing 20-30 auditions a day, you realize that maybe a template is a way to go.

Here are some really great techniques. 

You want to make it feel somewhat personal but be general enough to be universal. If you can create that perfect combination of personality, stats, and qualifications, you may have created a great template.

Here's the great article for voice actors. 

Everything Voice Over really helps nail it down.

Take care everyone!

Justin