Vox Daily

How To Get an ISDN Line

2009-12-28T15:59:10Z

What's the best source to acquire ISDN service?

If you are someone who wants to get an ISDN line and are curious about how to go about it, a number of pro voice talent with ISDN equipped home studios have shared their insight with you!

Thoughts regarding Source-Connect and other technologies are also expressed.

How Do You Get an ISDN Hookup?

It all started with a question. How does one procure an ISDN line?

Many people contributed to the answering of this question, all of whom are quoted and identified below.

Here's The Conversation as it Unfolded!

"You have to call your local phone company and see if they offer ISDN in your area. They might need to be persistent... most phone company customer service folks don't even know what ISDN is."

-- Caryn Clark

"That's been the biggest challenge for me getting any information in my 'not quite rural/not the biggest city in the world' about ISDN. I've even asked a 30+ year telecommunications expert what his opinion was on it, and he didn't have a clue what I was talking about (tried to convince me I just wanted more bandwidth!). I'm not the person who asked Stephanie the question, but I'm eagerly anticipating the input, too, all the same!"

-- Dana Detrick-Clark

"Phone company is the way. One of the problems is that ISDN was originally developed as a means to transmit large amounts of data -- and that use is outdated. Now many ISDN specialists have retired."

-- Michael J. Schoen

"Call your local radio station and find out if they have one and how they got it."

-- Therisa Bennett

"Look up Digifon. They're a great resource for all things ISDN."

-- Chuck Davis

"AT&T."

-- Chris Wagner

"You won't believe this my dear friends. I have been trying for the last 15 or 20 minutes to know the price of ISDN service here in Puerto Rico and almost nobody know what ISDN is. And when I finally found somebody that knows about, the person pointed me to the wrong extension, so the call was dropped."

-- Pablo Hernandez

"If your local phone company doesn't know what ISDN is, tell them it means Integrated Services Digital Network. That way you show that you know more than they do! ;-) But the question is, is ISDN outdated or not? Before I invest in ISDN lines and an ISDN codec I would like to know if technologies like Source Connect (http://www.sourceelements.com/source-connect/) won't make the expencive ISDN obsolete within the next two years."

-- Philippe Bernaerts

"Good point Philippe. I talked to our local phone company a few months ago inquiring about ISDN and they questioned why I'd want to connect with such an old technology. Maybe I didn't talk to the right person, but I got the same from a couple tech guys."

-- Jason Ryll

"Here in NJ it's Verizon for the local lines & MCI (which Verizon bought) for long distance... And the death of ISDN has been touted for several years... I doubt that it'll be gone in 2 or even 5 years. I got it in July and have 3 new REPEAT clients since I got it."

-- Liz de Nesnera

"Since I also work for 'the phone company' ISDN has been pushed aside for DSL and Fiber Optics for data and voice transmission--Most customer service reps who have worked for phone companies in the last 10 years have not a clue. You would need to ask to speak to a specialist (probably in Small Business) and they can help. Most major phone companies have it but that service is not 'paying the bills.'"

-- Richard Willis

"I have A T and T. Have had ISDN for years. They knew what I wanted as soon as I asked about it. ISDN work is not as common as other jobs, but the fact that I have it in my studio slims the list of potential VO candidates when clients insist on using it! It has definitely paid for itself. There may be a bigger badder better way to get voice in real time from one location to another, but it's more reliable and still very much used in the industry."

-- Larry Wayne

"Something else to consider is an emerging Internet codec called Broadcast Reliable Internet Codec (BRIC). More info here: http://www.comrex.com/products/products.htm"

-- David Boyll

"Be sure to impress upon whomever you get who knows ISDN that you want DATA ONLY. I have had repeated issues with AT&T and AT&T (the old SBC) not knowing what the other company is doing."

-- Connie Terwilliger

"I hope they all mentioned Dave Immer. He just helped me with my ISDN today (it had a malfunction for a client and he was avail the second I needed him). And of course you must not forget George Whittam (tech guru) at ElDorado Recording Services."

-- Debbie Munro

Acquiring an ISDN Connection in a Nutshell

1. Call your telephone service provider.
2. Request to speak with someone in "Business" who is knowledgeable about ISDN.
3. If you can't find any help this way, contact your local radio station and see if they have ISDN and inquire as to how they got their connection.

* If you're in favour of using a newer technology instead of ISDN, look into similar products such as Source-Connect or BRIC.

Do You Have Anything to Add?

If you have thoughts pertaining to ISDN, tips on how to get it or new technologies that you'd like to recommend leave a comment and join the discussion.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Franc Podgoršek

VO-BB Video: Twas The Night Before Christmas

2009-12-23T17:14:34Z

Are your stockings hung by the chimney with care?

The professional voice actors of the VO-BB.com set the stage for St. Nicholas with a dramatic, on-camera reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

A Visit From St. Nicholas

"A Visit From St. Nicholas," also called "Twas The Night Before Christmas," is a treasured yuletide poem shared by families around the world on Christmas Eve. Although there have been a few changes to the wording of the poem over the years, for instance, "Just settled down for a long winter's nap," instead of "settling our brains..." the spirit of the tale remains the same.

First published anonymously in the Troy, New York Sentinel on December 23, 1823, the story was reprinted frequently thereafter with no name attached. Authorship was later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore (although a debate rages on) and the poem was included in an 1844 anthology of his works.

Credits

Regardless of who wrote this poem, I think the folks from DB Cooper's VO-BB did a smashing job! Participating narrators, in order of appearance, include:

Philip Banks
Bob Souer
Todd Ellis
Bobbin Beam
David Houston
Peter O'Connell
Bruce Miles
DB Cooper
Donna Postel
Michael Minetree
Mandy Nelson
Dave Courvoisier
Andrew Frame
Jeffrey Kafer
Justin Barrett
Connie Terwilliger
Pam Tierney
Tony Impieri

Do You Narrate This Story For Your Family on Christmas Eve?

Comment and let me know!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!

Warm wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Zsolt Nyulaszi

Vicki Amorose Encourages You To "Lighten Up, VO Community!"

2009-12-22T14:10:00Z

Has the bleak midwinter got you down?

Are you taking voice over too seriously?

Enjoy some laughter and holiday cheer in this contribution from voice over talent Vicki Amorose!

Winter Solstice, Time to Lighten Up!

By Vicki Amorose

During the holiday season, you'll hear how it's time to do this and time to do that. I suggest that it is time to pause and have a good laugh--at ourselves. In this dark month of December, let's lighten up.

How many voiceover talents does it take to screw in a light-bulb?

Just one. But that one talent has to audition to book the gig, negotiate the fee, understand the client's light-bulb needs, rehearse, take direction, screw it in, do re-takes, edit out imperfections, send an invoice, make sure they get paid, try to secure the client's future light-bulb screwing, blog, tweet, podcast and post about it, then make up a joke and send it to Vox Daily.

Yes, we must work hard to keep our businesses moving forward. But honestly, what we do is not all that important. We don't cure illness, clean up the environment, or prevent planes from falling out of the sky.

Of course I appreciate everyone in the VO community who seeks meaning in what we do and contributes service where they can. Offering help and seeking meaning are always worthwhile endeavors.

But must we take ourselves so seriously? I think not.

Last night I was at a party and someone told me what cool job I have and how they've thought about getting into voiceover themselves. Instead of going in my usual direction with that comment, I replied, "You mean you want to talk good like me?" Everyone laughed.

Consider the following bit of wisdom. I don't know who introduced the concept originally; I heard it from a friend and I've been thinking about it ever since:

When you laugh, you are outside of your ego.

During the time when you are genuinely laughing, you are fully in the present moment, connected to the bigger picture and divorced from your own repetitive thought process. You are not connected to your ego during that moment of joy.

Take what laughter brings. Create laughter everyday. Give your ego a rest.

This is what I wish for all of my voiceover community during the holidays--may you truly BE MERRY!

Vicki Amorose

What Do You Want Audio Recording Engineers To Know?

2009-12-21T17:14:27Z

If you had the chance to shape the future of how audio recording engineers worked with voice over professionals, would you take advantage of it?

What if you were to receive that opportunity today?

Make a difference in your future and in the futures of countless voice over professionals and audio recording engineers by commenting now!

A New Line of Communication Opening Up

I have an opportunity to speak before a class at OIART (Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology) and was wondering if you had any tips or insights you'd like to share with them via my presentation.

Part of my lecture will address working with voice over professionals in the context of a recording session.

What Does an Ideal Studio Session Look Like to You?

By sharing your thoughts as comments on this article, we'll be able to set the stage for how present and future audio engineers interact with voice over talent.

You may not realize it but the recording engineer can be your greatest ally in the booth. In the absence of a voice director the audio engineer is responsible for leading you through a session and ensuring that the best performance possible is achieved.

When things go well, working together can be a satisfying experience for both the engineer and talent.

On the flip side, sessions can be excruciating if you and the engineer do not see eye to eye or are unaware of what your expectations are of each other. We covered this a bit last month when I published some audio recording engineer pet peeves.

Opportunity Knocking!

This is your opportunity to help shape the minds of the next generation of people you'll be working with in recording studio sessions.

Do you have anything you'd like these people to know, be sensitive to (or think that they'd find useful) about working with voice talent BEFORE they start their careers?

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Wolfgang Amri

Does Recording VO For Nonprofits Mean Less Profit For You?

2009-12-18T17:01:00Z

I received a question from a voice over talent recently asking what I thought they should charge when doing work for a non-profit company.

Their assumption was that a discounted rate should be offered to companies who have not-for-profit status.

Not knowing offhand, I decided to take a poll on Facebook and received a number of replies that insisted a regular fee be levied as opposed to a discounted rate!

Hear more from professional voice actors who have experience working for non-profits in today's VOX Daily.

Opinions On Working For Non-Profits

Does working for a not-for-profit organization mean you have to charge lower rates to serve them?

According to numerous sources online, including Wikipedia.org, the main difference between nonprofit organizations and for profit organizations is that nonprofits don't pay dividends to shareholders and spend all of their revenue on activities that their organization supports, operational costs and promotional materials.

In light of the holiday season celebrated at present by many different faiths and religious groups, this topic of charging organizations set out to do charitable works regular fees may appear somewhat taboo... however what we need to remember is that work is done at all times of year and budgets are set aside well in advance of Christmas, Chanukah, Eid or Kwanzaa, be the budgets sizable or small.

I posed the question from earlier in my article to some friends yesterday on Facebook for the purposes of getting an answer for the talent who asked and also to write an article on the subject with knowledge from working voice talent, both union and non-union, regarding their views on quoting for nonprofits.

Your Feedback

The conversation as it unfolded has been detailed below regarding non-profit companies and whether or not a discounted rate is necessary or encouraged:

"I think that just because the client may be a non-profit, or not for profit, doesn't mean that you shouldn't charge scale. Working for a non-profit doesn't mean you should become non-profit yourself."

-- Chris Wagner

"I'm with Chris. You're in business to support yourself. Your time is money, whether for a profit or non-profit."

-- Scott Fortney

"Another 'race to the bottom' issue. If memory serves there is a website that tells you how effective non-profits are vis-a-vis how much of each dollar goes to their cause. If they are really frugal in their administration then I might cut them some slack. If their CEO is making half-a-million dollars a year (no matter if USD or CAD) then I would be less likely to relent."

-- Glenn Carella

"To attract top talent Non-Profits have to pay the going rate to attract qualified professionals, voice over should be no exception. Charity Manager's national survey of US Non-profit administrators puts the AVERAGE salary of a non-profit manager at $160,000. The guy who runs the Charlotte NC, YMCA makes over $400,000. (I know, I have served on the boards of a few non-profits and have approved the salary of many a manager)"

-- John Taylor

"I once worked for a PBS affiliate where the President made a 1/4 million or more, the CFO $160-grand or more, chief engineer and IT people all in the 6 figures. Non-profit?? Come on! If that's non-profit, I'm leaving the for-profit world. Charge them the same - in many cases, it should be more. Sorry, but that is my personal take."

-- Scott Fortney

"I agree with Chris as well. Indeed your time is money. Donation does not pay the bills... it's a business transaction and with that being said, dollars need to be in the equation."

-- Scott Lee Cupp

"A PSA for Broadcast Television the charge would be around $426 for one years use. That is a great deal."

-- Randy Thomas

"A not-for-profit entity is granted that status, not because they make no money, but because the nature of their work qualifies them for tax-exempt status. They have budgets and overhead just like anyone else and everyone is paid a living wage. You should charge your normal rate and do your best work."

-- Deborah Sale-Butler

What Are Your Thoughts?

From where I sit having been part of church councils, ministries and involved in choirs that were nonprofits, discounted rates or donations of time, talent and treasure do help to offset costs and allow these organizations to use limited finances in other areas to continue doing good works.

Perhaps it depends on the size of a nonprofit and how much of their revenue goes directly to the people or communities they are serving... I'd love to hear your thoughts. The majority, if not all, comments I received were from one particular point of view.

Do you treat non-profit clients any differently than your for profit clients with regard to your fees?

Join in the conversation!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Deborah Albers

Keys to the Kingdom in 3 Simple Steps

2009-12-17T04:43:53Z

How can you work toward getting an increased number of opportunities and booked voice over jobs?

I've got a few ideas for you on what seems to be working for a number of talent experiencing success at Voices.com... that, and some bonus tips and hints that may change the way you attract business for the better.

How Prepared Are You For Success?

What does it take to get work at Voices.com?

Whether you're attracting clients to your Profile or auditioning for jobs, you want to be putting your best foot forward and presenting prospective customers with your brand and how you can serve them.

Every time you audition, there are opportunities to do this is a very unique way, however, most people forget that their Profile is more often than not the source of work opportunities from clients interested in your talent specifically.

What 3 Things Should You Be Doing to Achieve Success?

You'll want to make sure that you are:

๏ Keeping all fields in your profile current and complete
๏ Making use of all the tools available for promoting your voice at Voices.com
๏ Auditioning regularly

The keys to the kingdom and your subsequent success all directly relate to how well you've optimized your profile, showcased your demos and how you approach auditions. We covered a lot of this in our teleseminar on Power Profiles.

What Are People Who Book Regularly Doing in Their Auditions?

Based upon what I've heard, these talent:

1. Were the right voice for the job
2. Quoted an amount that the client is prepared to pay
3. Customized auditions (both demos and proposals)
4. Made the client feel at ease and reassured them of their professionalism
5. Added value to the customer and had a Unique Selling Proposition
6. Were able to identify and relieve their customers' "pain"

When you get right down to it, people who book as their own agent have mastered the arts of communication and marketing and are able to meet the artistic and technical needs of their clients.

Attention to detail is another quality that can earn you someone's business.

Want proof? Check out this glowing testimonial from a client (Avalanche Multimedia Productions) that Michelle Falzon worked with at Voices.com:

http://www.voices.com/feedbacks/MichelleFalzon

If you are an annual Premium or Platinum member at Voices.com and wish to access the Power Profiles audio recording and PDF materials, email support@voices.com or contact us through this online form and let us know.

Have These Ideas Helped, Inspired and or Affirmed?

I love to hear from VOX Daily readers! What do you think it takes to book regularly as a professional voice over talent online?

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Marianna Bettini

Voice Acting: Committing to Choices

2009-12-16T03:16:31Z

Are your reads believable?

What does it take to set the stage for an inspired performance?

Find out in this article that shows you how to prepare an informed read, even if there is little to no artistic direction, here on VOX Daily.

Are Your Reads Believable?

Each script that you read, whether for an audition or a booked gig, demands that you make distinct and motivated choices in order to do proper service to the words.

The legendary late, great Don LaFontaine once said that your voice is merely a vehicle for the written word... the words take center stage and it is your responsibility to convey them in a respectful and meaningful manner. In fact, Don had even been quoted as saying that you should specifically "devote yourself to the service of the words."

This means interpreting the written word to make informed choices.

To do this, not only will you need to be sensitive to the copy but you'll also need to create a character... each job that you do as a voice over professional requires you to take on the persona of the character in the advertisement, narration, or cartoon to deliver a message as someone other than yourself.

Break the copy down by asking yourself simple questions. The answers to these questions will provide you with context for your read.

Who?

Who are you? Who are you speaking to? Who are you in relation to those people?

What?

What are you doing? What's going on in the scene? What do people expect to hear from you?

Where?

Where are you? Where are the people you are speaking to?

Why?

Why are you relaying this information specifically? Why communicate to these people? Why do they need to hear from you? Why should what you're saying matter to them?

When?

When is this scene taking place? Is there a specific date you can commit to or a time period?

How?

How many people are you speaking to? How do they want you to approach them? How do you expect your audience to respond?

Committing to Your Choices

When you've made a choice, whether it's a verbal choice heard by the audience or one that fleshes out the backstory to aid your interpretation, be sure to commit to it otherwise it won't come across with authenticity.

For people to believe you, you'll need to first believe in yourself and the choices you've made for your character.

Physically play the character in your voice and act on those choices with conviction.

Consider This Statement:

"A trained actor makes choices, an untrained actor makes guesses."
- Bob Bergen

Any Comments?

If this article resonates with you, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Comment here on the blog or reply via email to join the conversation.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Robert Simon

Does the East Coast Have a Jump on the West Coast?

2009-12-15T01:51:01Z

If you live on the west coast of the United States or Canada, you may feel like you're slightly behind when it comes to auditioning for jobs that are posted earlier in the morning on the eastern coast of North America.

The truth? You are!

Getting up may be hard to do but knowing that you may be missing opportunities is an even harder pill to swallow.

The Early Bird Gets The Worm

When a Los Angeles-based voice over talent asked me if the east coast had a jump on the west coast when it comes to auditioning, I replied that yes, the east coast does have a slight advantage over the west coast when it comes to the first round of jobs that are approved.

By virtue of the fact that Voices.com is located on the east coast and open for business at 9 a.m. EST, inevitably there will be opportunities that arrive to a west coast talent's email when they are still asleep or waking for the day.

Enter Greenwich Mean Time

If you go by Greenwich Mean Time, Voices.com, located in London, Ontario Canada, is GMT -5 (which means that we are 5 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time). You can learn more about Greenwich Mean Time here and convert time zones according to GMT if you fancy here.

To contrast, our customers in Great Britain, Northern Ireland and continental Europe get the first round of job invitations sent to them mid to late afternoon. For instance, people who live in the UK receive our first round of auditions at approximately 2 p.m. GMT.

Talent in Spain, Italy, Germany and France are GMT +1. These people are therefore 1 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.

Talent based in countries such as Greece, Finland and South Africa are GMT +2. These people receive auditions toward the end of their work day at 4 p.m. their time when the auditions are posted at 9 a.m. Voices.com time.

To give you more perspective, people in India are GMT +5.5. That's 5 hours and 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.

If you live in the Philippines, you are GMT +8. So if we post a job at 9 a.m. EST, you'd be getting it at 10 p.m. your time.

People who live in Queensland, Australia are GMT +10. So, if a job was posted at 9 a.m. EST at Voices.com, an Australian living in Queensland would be sent their invitation at midnight of the next day.

Complicated, isn't it?

There are members of our website who literally receive notifications as they sleep.

A 3-hour Time Difference Doesn't Seem All That Bad, Eh?

West coast talent: Not only can you work while the east coast talent work (should you be an early riser), the east coast wraps up business by 2 p.m. PST, leaving you with 3 more hours remaining in your work day to address west coast auditions and clientele.

While we are on the topic of timeliness, I thought I'd share the following information with you about Private Jobs and Verified Clients.

Private Jobs Are Automatically Approved

In essence of time and in response to client feedback, Private Jobs are automatically approved... that is to say if a client requests a quote from you and only you, or a select group of individuals, the job invitation is sent to you directly without going through the usual approval process that a Public Job would receive.

Verified Clients Are Automatically Approved

We are looking at a variety of different ways to accommodate for the time differences. One way is the automation of job opportunities for what we call "verified clients."

To be a verified client, the following details are known to us and are confirmed:

๏ Contact Information
๏ Billing address
๏ Billing information
๏ A history of successfully completed projects at Voices.com
๏ Other proprietary factors

My Advice To West Coast Talent?

Many people on the west coast may already be doing this but the best thing you can do to ensure you are submitting your auditions while the east coast and overseas talent are is to simply get up earlier to audition. You may need to go to bed earlier in order to keep this regime up.

How Do Audition Through Different Time Zones?

If you have found a need to be flexible with your auditioning schedule to keep up with the invitations that come from Voices.com, we'd love to hear your story and how you manage!

Add a comment here online or reply to your VOX Daily email to share your thoughts.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Yulia Popkova

Becoming More Than Just a Voice Over Talent

2009-12-14T02:47:00Z

Have you ever noticed that the growth of a goldfish is only limited by the size of its environment?

The dimensions and confines of a fishbowl greatly determine how large a goldfish can become.

Similarly, your potential to grow as a voice over artist is only limited by the boundaries and glass ceilings that you impose upon yourself.

What if you could enlarge your environment and allow for growth?

How To Avoid Being Just "Another Pretty Voice"

Many people who decide to pursue voice over are focused simply on their voice and fail to realize that what they are really getting into is a business comprising of more than just God-given vocal attributes and qualities.

Although the voice is a beautiful instrument, there is more to being a successful, thriving and well-balanced voice over artist than simply your voice. Only focusing on the voice puts limitations upon your ability to grow and hinders your ability to not only identify opportunities but also to create and capitalize on opportunities.

While there are many areas that a person can grow as a whole, and I acknowledge that not all are covered in this article, there are 3 key areas of growth for voice over talent which are:

1. Professional
2. Artistic
3. Technical

Professional

๏ Join local business groups such as a chamber of commerce or ad club
๏ Align yourself with an association directly related to the audio industry
๏ Build a support base of people around your business to help you grow
๏ Read everything you can about the industry and keep in the loop

Artistic

๏ Take workshops with voice over instructors
๏ Listen to educational podcasts to develop and refine your talent
๏ Subscribe to blogs or newsletters to keep up on the latest voice acting trends
๏ Join or start a voiceover workout group to connect with local talent and gain feedback

Technical

๏ Learn something new each day to help you in your business
๏ Build a home recording studio
๏ Develop audio engineering techniques / production and post-production skills
๏ Apply your knowledge by assisting others

What Have You Been Doing to Help Yourself Grow?

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Amanda Rohde

What's Pre-Life and Why Is It Important in Voice Acting?

2009-12-11T20:21:57Z

How can you get your character vocalizing even before they're supposed to speak?

"Pre-life" is the improvised audible utterance you might make before delivering a scripted line. You could also see it as a vocal form of preparation for what is to come.

Find out how pre-life comes into play and how you can use the technique to improvise in character while adding more context to your read.

What is Pre-Life?

When I was in Bob Bergen's Advanced Animation Voice-Over weekend workshop, Bob told us that writers give voice artists "Pre-life" cues by writing words into the script such as Er, Um, Ah, or Ouf.

These short, staccato words are the director's attempts to give you the shape of an exertion or pre-life sound without actually telling you how to vocalize the utterance verbatim.

I trust you can imagine how challenging it might be to even anticipate what your interpretation will be let alone try to write out exactly how they might expect a scream, howl, or cry to sound.

Having Artistic Direction and Improv Skills Come in Handy

Your task is to interpret what the writer is hinting at and run with it! The onus is on you to vocally create what the writer is limited in scripting.

Don't read these pre-life words as they appear, for instance, don't say "Um." Work with the copy and improvise.

Ask yourself how your character would deliver the pre-life utterance. If you get to know your character well, you can improvise anything from how they might breathe, cough, laugh, hesitate, and more.

One suggestion that I have is to give a little pre-life before an action takes place, even if the pre-life utterances don't appear in the script. This is voice acting, after all!

You can also squeeze some of that pre-life into the line that you're reading. It doesn't have to be separated by a clear glottal stop or decisive breath... it can organically flow into what you're about to say. Even the way that you inhale can be used to fuel pre-life delivery.

Have You Been Making Use of this Acting Technique?

Some people do this without even being aware that they are doing it. Perhaps it comes naturally to you!

Others need to work at this technique and might have to write out the pre-life to a degree considering its duration, motivation, and how the voice may modulate to achieve your goal.

Comment if you're a fan of this technique! I'd love to hear about how you employ this technique. Reply either by email or by commenting directly on the blog.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

I'll Know It When I Hear It

2009-12-11T02:52:13Z

Picking the right voice for the job is all about selection, not rejection.

That being the case, it makes sense that only the selected talent is given feedback ratings or reviews... doesn't it?

In this follow up posting to yesterday's article, I'd like to briefly discuss another reason as to why we do not allow clients to rate auditions at Voices.com.

Show Me The Voice Over!

When a client comes to find a voice or posts a voice over job, they don't necessarily know what they want right away... some are of a "I'll know it when I hear it" frame of mind.

This is why posting a casting call to attract a variety of applicants is so popular.

If a client posts their job and leaves the artistic direction open for interpretation, they're casting their net as widely as they can to provide an opportunity for the perfect read, or the perfect sound, to literally take them by surprise.

Riddle Me This:

Should not being chosen by an individual client reflect poorly on you and determine whether you're qualified to receive invitations for other jobs down the road?

No!

There are many talent I have auditioned over the years who were fabulous artists and great people to work with... but I didn't cast them because they didn't happen to match what I was looking for at the time for a particular project.

My appreciation to those talent was shown by adding them to my Favorites for future reference. This very act is a source of feedback that positively affects their overall ranking on the Favorites list at Voices.com.

Selection Not Rejection

Since this is a positive process of selection (and not a negative activity to do with rejection), the only way to publicly rate or review a talent at Voices.com is by hiring the selected talent and making payment through Voices.com.

Bearing that in mind, clients are not issued an opportunity to rate or review talent with whom there is no established business relationship, particularly if the talent wasn't chosen or what they were looking for regarding their specific job.

As we said earlier, you could deliver an amazing audition and still not be considered the right voice by the person doing the hiring.

Audition Wisely

You don't know what's going on in someone else's head but what you can do is give it your best shot.

Part of giving it your best shot is ensuring that you are only auditioning for work you are qualified for. Remember, you're also in a position where you can select or reject opportunities.

Each client is looking for something different, and as noted, sometimes they don't know what they want until they hear it... that, or they change their mind when they hear a voice or interpretation that grabs them unexpectedly in a favourable way.

Any Thoughts You'd Like to Add?

I'm interested to hear what you think of this article. Does it resonate with you?

Let me know and join the conversation!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

Why Doesn't Voices.com Have an Auditions Rating System?

2009-12-09T21:41:45Z

Receiving feedback (when in context) can be a wonderful thing, however, in the world of applying for work it is rarely given if at all!

Many voice talent have asked why feedback is only limited to Ratings and Reviews for work that's booked at Voices.com.

In this article, I'll explain why this is the case and also give you some perspective on how we came to make this decision.

Why Can't Clients Rate Auditions at Voices.com?

One reason why we do not allow clients to rate auditions is because we feel that the ratings should only be given by people who have actually done business with you.

Years ago we tried a star rating system that allowed clients to rate your demos and auditions but found that clients were using the stars as a way to sort talent, not give them actual feedback on their voice or performance.

As a result, the ratings were out of context and irrelevant, and for some people, turned out to be harmful and unfounded. Even if you had auditioned well, sent in clean audio and so on, if a client didn't think you were the right person for the job, they'd give you a lower ranking (I think you'll agree that this would be unfair and out of context) which would then affect your overall statistics.

Also, some talent were abusing the system and having people (friends, family, etc.) rate them to boost their rankings. This didn't bode well. There were also some concerns that other talent may have been trying to sabotage their competitors by giving their demos a lower ranking.

I trust you can appreciate why we decided that this form of giving feedback wasn't the best way to go! This is why we only allow feedback based upon a transaction at Voices.com in a rating and reviews manner.

Clients may email you at their discretion should they wish to share any personal feedback regarding your auditions. While many are too busy to do this, some do show their appreciation or positive response to your audition by adding talent to their Favorites list to reference in the future for work opportunities.

The ultimate feedback you can receive from a client is booking the job. Auditioning is prospecting, as prominent Scottish voice over talent Philip Banks would say. There is no greater affirmation of your audition in a client's eyes than being selected to record for their project.

Some parting advice?

Once you audition, forget about it! Treat each audition as an opportunity to promote your voice. Remember that it is all about selection and not rejection. Putting yourself through the ringer isn't worth the fuss and aggravation.

How do you let go of auditions?

Comment and share your strategies for moving on!

Best wishes,

Stephanie

How Well Do You Know Your Voice?

2009-12-09T04:18:06Z

Have you ever really listened to your own voice?

Do you take time to soak in the work of others in the voice over field?

I'd like to try a little experiment and hope that you'll get back to me with your findings. Take part now... instructions are in this VOX Daily!

Focusing on the Voice

Isn't it amazing how one sense can be heightened with the absence of another?

Try closing your eyes and momentarily removing the sense of sight.

When you close your eyes, listen to what you hear on TV, specifically voice over in commercials.

Try listening for the voice talent's use of:

๏ Nuance
๏ Choices
๏ Texture
๏ Tone
๏ Cadences
๏ Breathing
๏ Phrasing
๏ Comprehension
๏ Adjustments
๏ Accents
๏ Voice age

Jot down your impressions and commentary, making note of what you heard and how effective you thought the voice overs were.

Did the voice over tell a story? Did it engage you in a friendly manner? Were you moved to action?

Now, Listen to Your Own Work in the Same Way

A tough assignment, eh?

Being conscious of your voice is very important. Hearing yourself perform may take some getting used to before you can become completely comfortable and embrace your instrument.

Similarly, it's of equal importance that you are aware of your acting abilities.

Just like you did before when analyzing the work of others, write down anything that stuck out to you about your own performances. Where did you shine? Is there a spot where you may have held back?

What Did You Hear?

Listen again to hear your artistic choices. Did they sound informed, deliberate, and committed?

Were you able to identify any areas, whether technical or artistic, that you'd like to further develop or explore?

Let me know if you tried this exercise. I'm curious to learn of your findings! Comment here on the article or reply via email to share your observations and insight.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

What Not To Wear in the Recording Studio

2009-12-07T19:44:41Z

Carrying on from yesterday's post about just how sensitive microphones are in a recording studio, we're going to talk fashion for a moment and share some do's and don'ts from professional voice talent and recording engineers with regard to what you should and shouldn't wear in the booth.

There are a variety of things you should not wear when in an audio recording session, some of which we detailed yesterday... in today's article, we'll take a closer look at the kind of clothing real working talent wear when doing voice overs.

Are voice over talent fashion plates in the booth? Could they ever be?

Find out at VOX Daily!

VOs Dish on Fashion

What do professional voice actors wear when they record?

George Washington III shares, "I have made the mistake of going from an on camera appearance, complete with starched shirt, to a recording session... with same said shirt. Never again. Always soft cottons and blends, no starch for the booth!"

Liz de Nesnera advises that you should avoid polyester and opt for cotton or knitwear for best results.

Ellen Dubin says, "Nothing with buttons that clank. Zippers. Polyester has a rustling quality to it. Don't wear jewels. For shoes, I like runners or soft soles. Don't wear clicking heels! Wear soft fabrics. Don't wear long sleeves, take your coat off, wristwatch off and leave your cell phone in the car or out of the booth."

Nik Fox, a recording engineer and voice from Northern Ireland, relates, "Polyester and nylon are big no-nos! Especially the noise and static caused by nylon!! I find a nice comfy cotton rugby shirt and a nice pair of soft jeans work well :)"

Dawn Harvey's recommendation is perhaps the most attractive. She cites, "Loose cotton night shirt and fuzzy slippers!" as being her preferred getup in the booth.

So, What Are The Winning Combos in the Booth?

๏ Cottons and blends
๏ Knits
๏ Well-worn denim
๏ Soft sole shoes / sneakers / slippers

A Fashion Line For Voice Over Talent?

Now that we have a good idea of what kind of clothing is acceptable, perhaps it is time for some enterprising fashion designer to start their own line of fashionably quiet outfits and accessories for voice over and on-camera talent!

This may not be catwalk material, or clothing that Stacy London and Clinton Kelly would deck someone out in, but it could be a very practical solution that would serve an entire industry well when they are doing their best to make others sound THEIR best!

What Do You Wear When Recording?

Add your voice to the conversation by leaving a comment or replying to the VOX Daily email in your inbox.

Best wishes,

Stephanie

How Much Can a Microphone Hear?

2009-12-06T19:26:00Z

The microphone is a very sensitive piece of equipment and can pick up just about everything!

What has your microphone picked up when you've listened back to your recordings?

Be sure to comment with what was making noise and how you were able to solve the problem!

Just How Much Does a Mic Pick Up?

Microphones are very sensitive. If you've ever been part of a recording session or edited your own work, you know what I mean!

The microphone is part of the audio signal chain. Whatever is fed into the mic makes it's way into the recording.

According to Bob Bergen, "The mic can hear your hair growing."

The Microphone Also Hears:

๏ Mouth noises
๏ Breathing
๏ Coughing
๏ Audible body movements
๏ Jangling jewelery
๏ Wind-up watches
๏ Clothing ruffling
๏ Touching the music stand
๏ Rolling pencils
๏ Pages being turned
๏ Extraneous noises
๏ Room tone

While we're at it, don't wear anything that might obstruct your access to the microphone or being picked up by the microphone. If you are wearing a baseball cap, turn it backwards so that the rim doesn't hit the microphone.

What Has Your Microphone Picked Up?

Has anything prevented you from getting a good take?

What steps do you take before recording to ensure that you won't have any additional noise?

I'd love to hear your stories and also learn more about how you were able to either solve the problem or compensate.

Best wishes,

Stephanie