ROCKIN’ the Mic!

 

Rocking the mic (I rock the mic) used to be the original name for the Voiceover Universe website. But they changed it. I can see why — Voiceover Universe sounds more representative of our group. As voiceover artists and stellar teachers worldwide gather there, it IS a virtual universe.

 

I’ve just fulfilled one of my goals. Hooray! I’ve been wanting to do a voiceover video version of a collection of positive thoughts & quotes for peeps to watch and listen to when they were in need of a boost. Finally I made it! It’s on the Voiceover Video 2 page if you’re curious and want a little peek.

I’m quite fond of my little Audio Technica USB mic. I got it when we were on holiday in New York — the sales advisor recommended it over the Snowball and Samson –and it has not let me down. Clients like the sound, and it handles well all the vocal changes that I have to go through when doing audio dramas from baby-voiced talking dustballs, to squeeky voiced robots, to well modulated receptionist and store clerks, to chesty vampire queens.

Several of my voiceover colleagues use their USBs, in addition to their collection of standard mics. Bill Campbell opines that the Samson CO3U sounds really good. 19MM capsule – fast transients. Supercardioid pattern – rejects unwanted room noise. Voice flattering frequency response. Additionally, Bill currently uses a Neumann TLM-193 and his Samson CO3.

Willie Edwards had an emergency come up, and turned to his MXL USB008 for recording. He said he “was tickled” with its performance.

Susan Berkley said, in Kim Snyder’s second Voices in Media podcast, that she uses the USB mic — Samson CO1U — for her auditions.

Another colleague told me “I have the Blue Snowball. It’s OK for auditions on the run, or podcasting. Quality isn’t hugely wonderful, and has a high frequency response with my voice.”

Finally, a poem taken from one of my favourite e-newsletters, Inspiration Line.

Start where you stand
(from Inspiration Line 12 Jan, 2009)

Start where you stand and never mind the past,
The past won’t help you in beginning new,
If you have left it all behind at last,
Why, that’s enough, you’re done with it, you’re through.
This is another chapter in the book,
This is another race that you have planned,
Don’t give the vanished days a backward look,
Start where you stand.
The world won’t care about your old defeats
If you can start anew and win success,
The future is your time, and time is fleet
And there is much of work and strain and stress.
Forget the buried woes and dead despairs,
Here is a brand new trial right at hand,
The future is for him who does and dares,
Start where you stand.
Old failures will not halt, old triumphs aid,
Today’s the thing, tomorrow soon will be;
Get in the fight and face it unafraid,
And leave the past to ancient history.
What has been, has been; yesterday is dead
And by it you are neither blessed nor banned,
Take courage, man, be brave and drive ahead,
Start where you stand.
~ By Berton Braley (1882-1966) www.BertonBraley.com

 

If  you’re a voice artist reading this and you’re getting lots of gigs…congratulations and keep up the good work. If you’re not working as much as you’d like to (and perhaps this goes for any field), get cracking. Get out there and market yourself. No matter what the economic climate, I believe there’s still a lot of work about. We just have to be like little terrier doggies and dig! The internet is our friend. You just have to keep your confidence, research, market, network and carry on. You CAN do it!

Cheers all…

MOVIN ON THE 2009 VOICE OVER TRAIL!

Buster Bumblebee

Been a busy bee lately. I’ve come across some brilliant voice over tips while reading mags, as well as on the internet, and thought I’d pass them on.

Lesley Garrett the famous opera singer is a copious water drinker. For every cup of coffee she has, she drinks several glasses of water. And, with all of her years of singing experience, Ms. Garrett still works out regularly with her vocal coach.

Training and striving for improvement is an ongoing activity for professional voices.

From Susan Berkley I learned these tips about how to improve delivery timing. Ms. Berkley recommends practicing with a stopwatch to improve our skills of reading exactly to time and shave or add seconds on command. We can tape commercials, time them, transcribe the copy and see if we can match the announcer’s timing. Susan says we can also visualise the space between the words getting increasingly smaller to encourage a faster read.

One really hot book for training and improving our voices is the classic — Voice and the Actor, by Cicely Berry. It’s full of information and exercises covering Vocal Development; Relaxation and Breathing; Muscularity and Word; the Whole Voice; Speaking Poetry; Listening and Using the Voice.

Rodney Saulsberry’s recently come out with a new vocal workout — tongue twister regime.

Here’s the URL for the new version, Part II:

Part II

And, in case you missed it, here’s the URL for the earlier, Part I:

Part I

Here’s a little marketing tip — lately lots of voice actors have been putting clips of their demos, their work — or themselves in the studio — on YouTube. It’s easy to do and works a treat! My advice to you? Get in there! Let’s use all practical and available channels to market ourself and our skills, to the end of being of service to more clients!

Cheers!