I could work here…

Oh my – what a wonderful city Munich is – even if it is raining. And one of the first things I saw after climbing 4 flights of stairs to my brother and sister-in-law’s apartment in the Haidhousen area of Munich, was a wooden “whisper” room.

My brother is a horn player – a world-class horn player. He is presently principal horn for the Bavarian Radio Orchestra and for 30 some years was principal horn for the Munich Philharmonic. After finding this new apartment right in the middle of a park near the Iser River, he had to convince the landlord that his 3 times a day practicing wouldn’t be obstrusive. Somehow he was able to get the potential landlord to visit someone who had a “whisper” room in their apartment so that he could hear that there was really no sound emerging.

So there it was – a 13,000 Euro wooden room […]

2010-06-17T11:38:49+00:00June 17th, 2010|Categories: Technology|Tags: , |

Audiobook Insights from VOICE 2010

“Narrating audiobooks is one of the fastest growing niche areas of voiceover!”

This is a quote from Hilary Huber’s Audiobook panel materials for her Friday, June 4th Breakout session. On hand were Scott Brick and Pat Fraley to discuss what skills you need to actually work in this area.

The biggest hurdle for many people with aspirations of recording audiobooks is the simple fact that you have to read aloud for a LONG time. Most people THINK they can do this, but when faced with 500 pages of book – with multiple characters of different genders, ages, ethnicities, etc. – the reality is that it takes much more than thinking about it.

If you have gotten to the point where you can comfortably read for several hours a day for several days, without an excessive number of stops and starts or abundant mouth noise, then perhaps you are ready to market your services.

The current trend […]

2018-02-06T06:48:39+00:00June 11th, 2010|Categories: Auditioning, Marketing|Tags: , , , , , |

Censored!

I would like to share the g-rated moments that I gleaned from Nancy Wolfson’s VOICE 2010 session on Friday, June 4. Her session was definitely pushing my comfort zone at first, but, hey, if Bob Souer can do it, then by gosh, I can try it too!

First of all some basic f*!#g tips.

  • Active hush – I may need someone to post a response explaning what this actually means, but I think it relates to the next bullet…
  • Avoid Volume and Cheerfulness – instead to add energy use vocal tension
  • Watch the smile (the Joanie Gerber “psychotic” smile may be old-school?)
  • Keep the copy higher than your eyes
  • Keep your body loose – ready to pounce

The x-rated portion of the session was all about using your natural instincts and doing three takes.

  • The Admit take – this is the gut take – no extra words
  • Then “throw down the “f” word” before the key words in the copy. […]
2010-06-09T17:15:15+00:00June 9th, 2010|Categories: Auditioning, Techniques|Tags: , , , |

More from VOICE 2010 – Maxing out the Internet

This was one of my favorite sessions at VOICE 2010, because my good friend Peter O’Connell was on the panel – well, OK, it was filled with great information from the rest of the presenters too.

John Florian kicked it off with some of the top level statistics from the first ever survey of voice talent conducted to find out how voice actors use the internet to enhance their business. Look for detailed results in upcoming columns on VoiceOverXtra.

Peter encouraged us to focus on who we want to find us – and figure out what we want to say to them – and it ISN’T how great we are! We need to identify what sets us apart and tell them what is in it for them. We should all do a SWOT on our careers: Identify our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Doug Turkel came […]

CAN * DO * WILL (Never I Can’t, I Don’t, I Won’t)

One of the best things about VOICE 2010 was finally connecting face-to-face with people who I have know for years in the virtual world. One of those was Tim Underwood from TheWebvoice.com.

I have been listed on Tim’s roster of talent for years now and was thrilled to see that he would be speaking at VOICE 2010. His topic was “How to be a Go-To Talent.”

His packet of handouts was very funny and included space to take notes and do some doodling (in case we got bored – which we didn’t of course).

A few of the top things I took away from his session – besides a lovely photo taken after the session with Tim and two other of his “go-to” talent – Charlie Glaize and Amy Taylor):

  • Always have a Can, Do, Will attitude. Skip the excuses!
  • Be ready to say Yes! And […]
2018-02-06T06:48:39+00:00June 8th, 2010|Categories: Business|Tags: , , , , , |

Comedy in Voiceover – a reflection from VOICE 2010

A priest, a minister and a rabbi walked into a bar…

Comedy – it’s all in the timing – well, timing and a few other things. Pat Fraley was the opening act – presentation – of VOICE 2010 and set the standard. He outlined “Eight Common Elements to Comedy” and then set out to challenge a few folks from the audience to be funny.

But first he called on a volunteer – specifically a male – tall – uh, say 6’7″ – oh and Jewish – and suprised the group with Brad Garrett who had positioned himself in the back of the room.

And from there the laughs grew. Pat and Brad are both naturally funny, but insist comedy can be taught – if you understand what it is all about and your role. Are you the straight man? Then don’t “wink!”

Here is the list of those 8 common elements of comedy from Pat’s presentation.

  • Pain
  • Pride
  • Deception
  • Misunderstanding
  • Contrast
  • Exaggeration
  • Parody
  • Inappropriate

So, what’s the […]

2010-06-08T08:46:02+00:00June 8th, 2010|Categories: Musings|

Back Home – What Just Happened?

There was so much going on the past few days at VOICE 2010, that I didn’t get a chance to blog and will need a day or two to digest what I got out of the sessions I attended and go through the business cards to try to remember who was there.

I did get a chance to update my Facebook page with photos and updates. If you are not on Facebook, this link may not work.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/album.php?aid=244274&id=678849697

I would say the highlight of the socializing part of the event – of which there were many – was hearing Rob Paulsen sing the Nations of the World song in his Yakko voice acappela.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONyKu9cMG7k

That and seeing June Foray, now 92, up on stage and hearing her slip into Rocket J Squirrel without a beat.

Highlights of the seminars will require a bit more thinking – there were many little bits of information in […]

2018-02-06T06:48:39+00:00June 6th, 2010|Categories: Musings, Teaching|

VOICE 2010 Update

It has been quite a day here in Los Angeles – well, Century City to be exact. A quick brisk walk around the hotel’s perimeter early during the June gloom and then indoors for the rest of the day – and a mixture of glad-handing, comedy, affirmations, introductions, re-introductions and much more. It’s about 10 PM now and I am back in my room trying to catch up on the sleep I missed last night. Hard to do when there are people to talk to at every turn.

The conference has been great so far. Pat Fraley brought his friend Brad Garrett to be part of his opening presentation on Comedy. Wonderful stuff – which I unfortunately – or perhaps fortunately – had to duck out of for a while to respond to a client who needed something recorded this morning.

I was able to snag a spot at 11 AM in […]

2018-02-06T06:48:39+00:00June 3rd, 2010|Categories: Musings|

The last few hours before leaving town

Most of you know what happens the last few hours before you are heading out of town for a long trip. The email comes flooding in with re-dos, new work, emergencies, and other assorted things that need to be handled before you can finish packing.

I’m headed to LA for VOICE 2010 around 2PM today and of course that’s the way my morning started!

  • Biotech client finally sent the changes to a project we did 3 weeks ago. Luckily we can schedule that session for next week.
  • Government agency client wondering if the end client had ever gotten back to me with a pronunciation question – and needed the new files before the end of the week. No, they hadn’t gotten back to me, but we searched YouTube to hear the word said by native speakers and made that fix.
  • Same client found one error in the last set of files I sent that needed […]
2018-02-06T06:48:40+00:00June 2nd, 2010|Categories: Musings|
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