Train No. 2013 has left the station!

It’s a bit over a week into the new year and the clean up, clear up, move up campaign continues.

You might have noticed the absence of the fluffy pink borders on this blog page. The colours matched my old website, but that one has been replaced for some time. So it’s time for the energy here to be freshened up, updated and brought into line with my current VoiceOver website. Next in line were the Testimonials and About Me pages. I hadn’t looked at them in some time. Next, it was a visit to my LinkedIn page for some tweaking. Maybe I’ve been a bit too much nose to the grindstone lately. When we make progress in our lives and careers we should mark and celebrate it!

Have you checked out your blogs, websites, and social media pages to make sure that the message that you’re sending out reflects you and your product as you are today?

What kind of tweaking and revamping have you been doing or plan to do?

Another top thing on my list is more VoiceOver training. One can never be too good, and have learned everything there is to know about the field. Things change everyday. Even watching the telly or listening to the radio is often study time for me. I’ve been watching lots of animations and narrative-type documentaries lately. And, in addition to in-person work, there’s distance learning, and there’s the Weekend Workout programme as well. I’ve fallen off the wagon on that one a bit. Time to get back on the horse!

I’m finding James Alburger’s book, The Art of Voice Acting – 4th edition, The Art of Voice Acting: The Craft and Business of Performing Voiceover to be quite an interesting piece of work. It makes a good refresher study, and I’m picking up some new ideas as well. The CD that comes with the book is handy to, because I can hear examples of what the book is covering and I’ve put a few bits on my iPod as well.

There’s Money Where Your Mouth Is by Elaine Clark, There’s Money Where Your Mouth Is: The Insider’s Guide to a Career in Voice-overs is a valuable resource as well.

That’s it for today. May you be blessed, prosperous, happy and busy in this new year. Go out and let it happen! Cheers!

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Voiceover Rambles – Happy Thanksgiving

I’ve been happily a bit busy lately with various commitments and projects…so this blog is a bit of a ramble… but I missed you all!

My colleagues James Alburger and Penny Abshire at the Voice Acting Academy in San Diego, California are holding a Voice Acting Performance Intensive Workshop running on various dates from 24 November through 30 December. There are twelve dates on offer at $597 per ticket. It’s a little too far for me to attend from England, but I have some of their teaching materials and have found them very very useful. One day, I’d like to get some coaching from them. [There are other teachers on my list as well like Pat Fraley, and Nancy W., but that's another day's blog entry!]

The description of the workshop that came my way ran thus ” This 2-1/2 day voice acting workshop will take your performing skills to an entirely new level. Whether you are an on-camera actor, stage actor, or just interested in breaking into voiceover, this workshop will give you the skills you need to work as a professional voiceover talent or improve your verbal communication skills. Taught by James Alburger and Penny Abshire of VoiceActing Academy in San Diego. ..”

Go to their website for more particulars, and the latest info on available dates (things might have changed since I received the above news) at http://www.voiceacting.com . Or, you can find them both on Facebook.

Ramble number two.  Many people look way down their noses at USB mics, but I think they do have a place in one’s voiceover toolkit.  They’re good for travel, quick auditions, and a good many actual VO gigs. If that’s what you have, work with what you’ve got and don’t worry about the opinions of others. Just do your best! There are many people with Neumanns and other super duper powerful mics, who haven’t work a VO gig in donkeys (that’s a UK expression for a very long time). But do dig in your pockets and invest in a decent mic. Tinny, weak-sounding voiceovers are not on! Ramble no. 2 done.

App of the week — Daily Affirmations –This is an Android app which I’ve just discovered. It’s very good for keeping us focused. You just write one affirmation several times a day, or for several days,  whilst it sinks into your subconscious. It’s great because you must write the entire affirmation each time. There’s no shortcut copy and paste mechanism. After a while you might find yourself avoiding old behaviour patterns because they’re no longer in harmony with the new vision that you’ve set for yourself. It’s all about persistence and repetition.

What kind of techniques do you use to keep yourself on target with your professional and personal goals and dreams? Feel free to comment and share.

All for now…Happy Thanksgiving…we are blessed…let’s be grateful for that, and for all of the good in our lives!

A lesson on Friendship from Ralph Waldo Emerson

I have been really blessed to have many supportive, lovely friends both in the voiceover community and across the internet (and in the non-internet world too). I’ve started a website centering around  Positive Affirmations (http://www.positiveaffirmationsandaudiostories.co.uk  ), and recently narrated a “Quote of the Week” on Friendship.

I’m re-broadcasting it here and dedicating it to all the wonderful online and offline friends that I now know, and have known. They’ve been with me through good times and bad.  I shall do my best to continue to be a good friend to you as well. Blessings and thanks to you all!

 

VoiceOver Tip from a Colleague – Cutting down re-takes of your recordings

This time round in my blog, I’m quoting a post which was written a while ago by my colleague Tom Dheere. At the time that I read Tom’s post, I thought that his advice could save a lot of us voiceover peeps a great deal of time, and our clients would benefit as well. So, with Tom’s permission, I’m spreading the word and reprinting his blog. Enjoy!

Retakes usually are needed for a few reasons:

Technical Issues (feedback, low gain, static, etc.)
Background Sounds
Script Errors
Me Being a Doofus (I mispronounced a word, inadvertently changed a word, inserted a word, flubbed an accent, or stressed the wrong word)

These are all common errors, many of which you can minimize.

TIP OF THE WEEK: Here’s what you can do to minimize the amount of retakes needed:

Read the script. I know that sounds obvious, but I mean REALLY read the script. I try read it three times before I record. Once to enjoy it & understand the story, once to break down the characters, and once to review spelling and grammar.

Ask questions. If I’m not sure about something, I ask the publisher. If he’s not sure, he contacts the author and gets back to me. Once in a while you may get to talk to the author directly, but I’m not always sure that’s best. Writing something and reading it aloud are two different disciplines and it’s the publisher’s job to bridge them.

Take notes. I always build a pronunciation guide. Sci-fi stories tend to have a lot a big real words and even more fake words, some of which don’t feel organic. Get the correct pronunciations and practice them. Also, I like using accents so I track how each character speaks and make sure I get the subtleties right.

Have fun! If you do your homework and enjoy the session, your acting will shine through.

Thanks Tom!

Cheers!

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Environment Equals Energy

I decided the other day that it was time to change my Voiceover working environment. Short of tearing up walls, or building an addition on to the house what else could I do? I decided to try and change the energy of my recording environment. I moved furniture around and changed the location of the mic and installed a more sound absorbing material around the perimeters of my recording space.

Then I found some inspirational pictures and hung them on the walls of my recording space. These were just small changes, but what a difference it made in the feel of my little “booth”. It felt very comfortable and cosy. Next on my wish list was “smell”. I envisioned filling the space with a fragrance that energised, but didn’t overpower. I found my special spray at a Mind, Body and Spirit festival. It’s made from herbs and essential oils which I spray in the area before every recording session. NOTE: This would be a definite faux pas in an outside studio where perfume, etc. is a no no! So don’t try this in the field kids. But at home, it’s a kind of signal to my mind that it’s time to do some very special work.

One thing I discovered after shifting everything is I have more room to move around as I record whilst still remaining on-mic. Nice! Because the space has now become fresh and new, I feel more creative and ready to work. I’m also purchasing some additional software which has different capacities than my current recording programme. So I can be more flexible in meeting a client’s requirements by being able to switch between different programmes as needed.

It’s good to keep ourselves on our toes and always moving ahead in a positive way. It’s great how change in one area of life spills over into the others. It’s good I think to keep our personal environment in a way that pleases and enriches us. If we are happy and productive then we’re in a better position to be useful and serve others.

How are you enhancing your working environment – whatever your career might be? Or maybe you’ve already done the work and are totally content and cool with where you are right now! Life is grand!

Cheers!