Reddit Reddit reviews Voice-Over Voice Actor: What It's Like Behind the Mic

We found 8 Reddit comments about Voice-Over Voice Actor: What It's Like Behind the Mic. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Voice-Over Voice Actor: What It's Like Behind the Mic
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8 Reddit comments about Voice-Over Voice Actor: What It's Like Behind the Mic:

u/YakkoPinky · 23 pointsr/IAmA

Listen to my podcast (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/talkin-toons-rob-paulsen-weekly/id438294853?mt=2), visit Dee Bradley Baker's site about VO Info, buy Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt's book Voiceover Voice actor (http://amzn.to/1ujcjaS). Start there, take an Improv class if you can.

u/DeadDillo · 5 pointsr/VoiceActing

First, I listened to this from the mindset of a casting agent. From that perspective, I stopped after the Pet Meds spot sounded exactly like your slate.

Then I listening to this from a fellow VO, here's some suggestions:

It sounded like you did the entire thing in one sitting. This is bad. I know this is just a quick sample to show us here, and that's fine. As a general rule, each spot needs to sound like it was recorded at different times in different studios, with different mics, and engineered by different engineers. You want it to sound like the demo is made up of actual commercials playing on the air that you've cut and pasted together.

What are you shooting for with your future career? Do you want to do character-based stuff for anime and cartoons or commercial stuff? This demo was sort of a weird mashup of the two niches mixed together.

Actually that got me thinking: You COULD do a whole demo reel of character voices doing commercial spots that are ridiculously out-of-character for the copy the voices are reading: A Brooklyn accent for a Victoria's Secret spot - a snooty English accent for a Mexican restaurant, a happy, kid-friendly voice for a monster truck rally, etc. If you can pull the character voices off believably (and that is the key) then this would definitely be memorable to an agent or casting director. A little secret: if you can make em laugh, you get remembered and doing something like this would definitely be different to the person listening.

The key to doing this is to pull off solid, believable character voices. Your accents and affectations need to be spot-on exact. If you cant do a particular voice believably, dont include it.

However doing a demo like that could also backfire. The agent wouldn't know how to place you. They'd be saying, "Is he wanting to do commercial work or character stuff? I dont know."

Technically speaking, your mic needs some EQ. The sound was very harsh in the mid-range area and not much in the lower frequencies. A little EQ and compression would help.

I hear a little bit of room tone. Overall this isnt too offensive, but you should try to go for as dead of a sound as possible.

I put together a list of tips and suggestions for new voice artists on creating their demo. Some of the things I already mentioned here, but there's a lot more included.

I know you are looking for a coach right now, but do everything you can to learn as much as you can BEFORE you get a coach. If you are aiming for character stuff, read Yuri and Tara's book, "Voice-Over Voice Actor." It will give you some insight into the world of voice acting.

And a great all-around textbook (pretty much the bible for VO, really) is Jame's Alburger's "The Art of Voice Acting" which has tips, techniques, and more information than you could imagine about getting started and doing things the right way the first time.

There are a ton of resources out there that can help you.

I'd also look into Voice Over Club Its sort of a good entry-level start to professional coaching. They have a monthly fee and have several training courses laid out like e-learning modules. Its very affordable and a good way to start out. From there, you can start looking for one-on-one coaching.

Also, dont overlook classes in your area. Stage acting, improv, comedy classes, etc are all really good resources to learn the fundamentals needed for the business.

And lastly, don't forget about /r/recordthis. This is a great way to practice, get advice from peers and maybe even make a couple of bucks.

Hope this info helps you. If this is something you want to do...REALLY want to do, then jump in head first. Keep pushing yourself. Keep learning and growing. Dont give up.

u/felimimimi · 5 pointsr/VoiceActing

Hey! I'm in the same boat as you... It is definitely easy to get overwhelmed with the crazy amount of info online. I fought that by picking a few resources and making my way through them, I was able to make good headway. There are some amazing resources online that help tremendously, I like these:

https://blogs.voices.com/voxdaily/2008/01/how_do_i_get_started_in_voice_acting.html - great collection of resources
http://iwanttobeavoiceactor.com/ - such an amazing site by Dee Bradley Baker
http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/ - Crispin Freemans podcasts (more tailored to animation voice actors, but the first intro podcasts are so candid and have really invaluable advice).
This book is great: http://www.amazon.com/Voice-Over-Voice-Actor-What-Behind/dp/0984074007

Before you are ready to make a professional demo, you really need to practice your craft (even signing up for Voiceactingalliance or CastingCallClub etc just to get started practicing for example). I'm sure you've heard this, but acting classes, improv classes, singing classes etc- are part of that practice.

If you do have the experience of acting and cold reads and just want to hear demos in the market now, this site is amazing:
http://www.voicebank.net/
Youtube also has great videos of working voice actors talking about demos, just do a search of "voice acting demo" or something the like.

If you are a pro producer, that is great, but right now it is not just the skills of putting together a demo that is really important for you - it is the character that you bring to the mic that is the kicker (even in Commercial demos), so once again, practising the craft of acting itself is probably the most important thing for you at the moment.
Hope this helps even slightly, it was kinda a stream of consciousness from one new-ish VO to another. :)

u/Kaldea · 3 pointsr/IWantToLearn

Get this book. This was one of the most valuable sources of all the little things needed to get into voice acting. Be it commercials, animation, narration, check it out. If you're serious, get this book and read it cover to cover before you decide what and how you want to start. I've done mainly commercials and inter company tutorials, but it's helped me get more into character and figure out what I would need on my demo to get noticed. Good luck and happy travels in the world of VO!


http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0984074007

u/Yokuo · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

You should get a copy, then! It sounds pretty helpful. Also, that's a really cool goal.

I also have this book and I've read a fair amount of it. I think it might be helpful for you also!

u/Loki77515 · 2 pointsr/VoiceActing

If you really think you want to be a voice actor, then I would recommend you either read this:

http://www.amazon.com/Voiceovers-Everything-About-Money-Voice/dp/1932907904/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406763796&sr=8-1&keywords=terri+apple

Or this:

http://www.amazon.com/Voice-Over-Voice-Actor-What-Behind/dp/0984074007/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406763812&sr=8-1&keywords=voice+over+voice+actor

These both do a good job of explaining what it really means to be a voice actor (turning yourself into a small business).

Taking regular acting lessons is probably your best bet. There isn't really a "voice acting school" that you can go to besides something like Voice Coaches http://voicecoaches.com/ (who are actually pretty good and have a bunch of online courses for you and help you make a demo [a demo being recordings of you reading things so clients can hear what you sound like]).

Also, you need to learn how to "read conversationally," which basically means being able to read in such a way that you don't sound like you're reading off a script. I would actually say that simply being able to read conversationally is more important than being able to act, since a majority of voice work is not for movies or animated features, its for things like commercials, instructional videos, automated messages, etc.

u/thekingsdaughter · 1 pointr/Entrepreneur

Are you an actor? This is an acting thing... read Voice OVer Voice Acting by Yuri

and maybe post this where the actors live...

u/Mikeysota · 1 pointr/AlmostAHero

I have a Blue Spark XLR mic with a Line 6 UX2 interface, and this is what I record at home. When I started out, I had a Behringer C1U USB mic. I got more quality out of the former set up. My current mic has what is called a sound dampener shield, which is what I use instead of having foam panels in a room. Right now, I don't have any problems with my recording quality other than focusing on making sure I don't peak in my audio, which is simply managed by adjusting the gain knobs on my interface. I actually just bought my first pair of studio grade headphones that allow me to plug into my interface and listen to my recording feedback before I record, which helps a little. As for how where I audition for stuff, I mainly look for stuff in the Voice Acting Club, although my friends have shared casting calls for stuff not found a site like that.

So the thing about me is that I haven't done a lot of acting in my childhood, but I was always fascinated with voice acting in the cartoons I watch. It wasn't until I discovered voice acting alliance (RIP) where I can actually audition for projects and become a voice actor, so I didn't have anyone to tell me "you should be a voice actor; you have a great voice." Long story short, I didn't get many projects until I started to take acting classes online, in college, and in Minnetonka, MN. I made new friends that would post resources and auditions they found, and I discovered a little bit of acting range. I also listen to Crispin Freemans Voice Acting Mastery podcast to learn more about becoming a voice actor. I would say that it was 2016 when I finally got successful in getting stuff to do. One thing you need to know about me is that I'm currently not a full-time professional voice actor, and I'm mainly trying to get a software programming job to work on my time management skills and live on my own (I just graduated college by the way). I basically want to see how I can continue doing what I love while having an income, and go from there. My advice is to first study voice acting by listening to the podcast I mentioned earlier, find books on voice acting like this one https://www.amazon.com/Voice-Over-Voice-Actor-What-Behind/dp/0984074007, and take classes that are offered online. This site right here is something you could look into. http://www.sunnybluestudios.com/class-details
Taking a class will allow you a networking opportunity to meet with awesome people to become friends with. The more people who know in this community, the more you're likely to stumble on even more opportunities.