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My submission for Captain Fantastic's unnamed nemesis. My headset mic was picking up my computers fans so I switched to a hand mic, which I can't hold steady for the life of me and only records sound from about 6 milimetres away. Took a half dozen recordings to get one where my voice doesn't disappear suddenly because I had the audacity to tilt my head up. EDIT: Tindeck didn't like the first upload, replaced. SatansBestBuddy fucked around with this message at 03:41 on May 7, 2012 |
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May 7, 2012 03:29
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This is my dilemma- i simply do not know what to say. It's the equivalent of staring at a blank canvas. I want to do samples of my voice but i don't think it's appropriate for me to post my channeling my inner Bill Hicks. I'm looking for something that's accessible to everyone but isn't overly predictable. So after more than a year of having my SA account and not doing anything with it, i'm finally unlurking and asking for help. Here's the overview of my voice: Timbre: baritone/bass Style: narrative Adjective often used to describe my voice: soothing Does anyone have any suggestions for me? It feels like once i make the first step, things will come easier but for the here and now, i'm stuck- and worse, the more i think about it, the more stuck i get.
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May 7, 2012 03:51
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Soulex posted:You sound natural which is good. When you say nothing stood out, do you mean you found the speaking too monotone or boring?
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May 7, 2012 23:06
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weirdsauce posted:This is my dilemma- i simply do not know what to say. It's the equivalent of staring at a blank canvas. I want to do samples of my voice but i don't think it's appropriate for me to post my channeling my inner Bill Hicks. Go back a page or two and grab some sample texts. Here, here's one just for you. COMIC [Energetic and fast] Hello? Hello? Is this thing on? Hey ladies and germs, have I got a story to tell you. You see, there's this dame, right? And she's smoking a cigar, alright. She's smoking it and she's driving around in this really beautiful cadillac. I'm talking a real honey, a real looker. Sweet six on the floor, pristine whitewalls, chrome out the wazoo and can she go? Oh brother you better believe it! It's like, it's like if a little piece of Heaven had floated down to Earth, put on four tires and a halo made outta a leather droptop, well you'd be lookin' at this caddy, boy I tell you what. Whew! So, anyway, this dame, see, she's driving and there's like this guy on a motorcycle comin' up behind her. No, wait, I mean, there's this cop comin' up on his motorcycle behind her. And she's drivin' and smokin' and he's comin' up and tellin' her to pull over and she ain't havin' none of that so she starts to hit the gas and boy oh boy does that sweet caddy pick up its skirts and flies! It's like getting a screwloose zootjuice on a triple barrel hemiway. Whew! Mmmhmm! So she just takes off like the proverbial bat outta H-E-double-hockeysticks and this guy he's trying like crazy to catch up but he can't because c'mon, I mean just c'mon! You think some two-bit cop is gonna catch up with a American orignal like that? Anwyay, long story short, turns out she's a lousy driver on account of she's a dame and all. Thank you and have a good night.
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May 8, 2012 02:52
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Fiction D posted:When you say nothing stood out, do you mean you found the speaking too monotone or boring? Again, you sound like you are talking with someone, not at them. That is huge in broadcasting. You did good.
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May 8, 2012 05:08
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Me reading posts from GD_American in GiP.
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May 8, 2012 06:24
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Soulex posted:Stood out Negatively. Oh....well that's good! Thank you! It seems that Delaware and Philly aren't prime areas for voice talent, so it's hard for me to really gauge myself with other professionals in the area. I tried for a brief time to get involved with acting, but ended up only being booked for auditions for business safety videos. This is an amateurish question but are there agencies that specialize exclusively with voice talent? I'm not sure. Is it better to go with an agency that does it all?
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May 8, 2012 13:52
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Is it ever appropriate to ad-lib or slightly alter a script while recording? I have a video game gig, and the script seems a stiff on paper...
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May 8, 2012 23:27
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Meow Cadet posted:Is it ever appropriate to ad-lib or slightly alter a script while recording? I have a video game gig, and the script seems a stiff on paper... So long as there's a straight take for them to use, go for it.
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May 8, 2012 23:52
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Meow Cadet posted:Is it ever appropriate to ad-lib or slightly alter a script while recording? I have a video game gig, and the script seems a stiff on paper... Did the person you are doing this for give you any specifications? Ad-libbing is something I always address when talking to voice talent. Personally I ask for at least 3 good takes so I can pick and choose, and encourage improving as long as there are still those good takes to choose from (unless I REALLY trust the talent). Ideally, communication is best, so I would ask how strict they want your readings to be otherwise, by their own omissions, you may wind up displeasing them.
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May 9, 2012 00:53
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invision posted:Me reading posts from GD_American in GiP. Hahah this needs a hearty YEEE-HAW thrown in at the end because wooo doggies you done channeled some good ol' boys in this hyeah readin'. What's the banjo piece?
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May 9, 2012 01:35
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Here's a take on that nonsense I typed up above:  Read read read! Record record record! Play it for friends, play it for yourself, just keep practicing and learning and listening. Wooo!
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May 10, 2012 06:33
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The Joe Man posted:
I have heard this many times throughout the years, and v/o has been a secret desire of mine since my first Metal Gear Solid playthrough when I realized that someone paid someone else to be Solid Snake . What I would like to know is how much can vocal features mitigate lovely equipment? Can I create usable recordings when my recording space is a blanket fort and my gear consists of "software preamp and Rock Band mic with a sock over it"? I would love to provide samples for goon critique, but I worry that the sound quality of a setup like I described would belay the possibility of accurate critiquing beyond "buy better crap". As an aside, I love listening to Lou Reads. Lou, you inspire me to think about the possibility that someday I might someday record something for someone to critique in order to know whether or not I should record something. edit: I can spell titties fucked around with this message at 09:33 on May 10, 2012 |
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May 10, 2012 08:59
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"Hey, my mom says I have a great voice and should seriously think about getting into radio or voice acting! Hrmmmm..."
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There's no total replacement for adequate equipment (doesn't have to be amazing and millions of dollars, but let's say in this case actual equipment). The blanket fort? Not bad, I used one for a couple years when the room I recorded in was really echo-ey. Something else that can help is taking a mattress and putting it against the wall in front of or behind you when recording to absorb more sound. For the sock over the mic, that can cause more problems than the puffs you are trying to solve. Here's a trick that I used for a long time before buying a real puff filter, take a coat hanger, bend it over in half so you get a 6 or 7 inch ring, then stretch the leg of a pair of pantyhose over that and tie it down. Bam, ghetto puff filter. The biggest problem is finding a way to secure the thing down. In my case at the time I used a desk mic which sat there and I held the hanger in front of me. As for the mic I'm not finding any specifications easily other than it is probably a dynamic mic (no one in their right mind would include a condenser mic in a consumer product anyway). That means that you'll lose some definition in your voice. Also you'll want to make sure to back off the mic, and to try to project your voice to be as loud as you can while still keeping it natural, don't strain. Backing off will solve some problems such as picking up your "ssss" sounds too much, but could add problems with your recording space with odd reflections being more likely to be picked up. You'll have to experiment. Beyond that, just do it, if you want an opinion on your voice we can listen through the hums and hisses and give you as good an assessment as possible.
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May 10, 2012 13:10
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Best place to record (if you can) is a car if you don't have a sound booth Somewhat soundproof and non-echoey.
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May 10, 2012 18:26
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titties posted:What I would like to know is how much can vocal features mitigate lovely equipment? Can I create usable recordings when my recording space is a blanket fort and my gear consists of "software preamp and Rock Band mic with a sock over it"? I would love to provide samples for goon critique, but I worry that the sound quality of a setup like I described would belay the possibility of accurate critiquing beyond "buy better crap". The only way to find out if it sounds like crap (and you probably know the real answer already) is to record and let people hear it. There is not way around the fact that you need to invest in some recording gear to even attempt doing this. Even as a hobby. I started with the Blue Snowball and actually did paying work with that for a while. You can luck out and find them on ebay for around $50 or $60. Or you can buy cheaper ones but you really need at least something that doesn't attach to your head for recording that people are going to take seriously. I'm not sure how the Rock Band mics compare to other mics. I also have a BS recording set up at work and a worse one at home. This is my work set up.  I hung a sound blanket on a cheap wooden curtain rod. It does a good job. A family member bought me that portable sound booth as a gift after I ruined a vacation trying to gather poo poo to muffle house noises so I could record. It works alright. You can build one yourself very easily. I would kill for a Whisper Room. I recently had a chance to buy one but I have no where to put it... so sad... SO for now I have to wait until everyone is asleep and go around unplugging poo poo like the fridge so I can record as quiet as possible. NYC glamour living! quote:As an aside, I love listening to Lou Reads. Lou, you inspire me to think about the possibility that someday I might someday record something for someone to critique in order to know whether or not I should record something. Thanks. Thats very flattering. The only way to find out is to start recording. I'm loving old. People were telling me my whole life I should be doing VO. In the past 5+ years things have gotten WAY easier for outsiders to try to get into the biz. I'm barely in. The hurdles are still high but you gotta keep at it. As you may know I started doing Lou Reads as an exercise to see if I could do anything at all. And it all started in a thread here on SA where I read something from some horrible craigslist tampa sex ad for a thread not too different than this one. And I was inspired to read stuff hoping I'd get asked to contribute to one of the Shmorky Best of Weekend Web things. Anyway, thanks again for the compliment. Keep reading everyone!
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May 10, 2012 20:29
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King Lou posted:I'm not sure how the Rock Band mics compare to other mics. SatansBestBuddy posted:Not very well. You seriously have no room to move or your voice is going to disappear, and even when you're dead on perfect you'd not getting very good quality sound. Headset mics are preferable.
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May 10, 2012 21:28
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I wouldn't expect a rockband mic to better than much since its basically meant to be screamed into by people who can't sing (no offense. I'm sure some of you are awesome at Rock Band). I would think that headset mics wouldn't be good enough to do professional recording on. Are people using them?
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May 10, 2012 22:02
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SatansBestBuddy posted:Not very well. You seriously have no room to move or your voice is going to disappear, and even when you're dead on perfect you'd not getting very good quality sound. Headset mics are preferable. King Lou posted:Are people using them?
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May 10, 2012 22:58
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CuddleChunks posted:Hahah this needs a hearty YEEE-HAW thrown in at the end because wooo doggies you done channeled some good ol' boys in this hyeah readin'. I snagged it from youtube, it's called "Slow Banjo". The said part is I actually talk somewhat close to that in normal, social situations, but it really depends on if the people I'm around have an accent or not.
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May 10, 2012 23:09
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hey guys, just saw this thread. I actually do VO's for a living here in the uk. I made a little video for ya http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xwLYngw2-Y
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May 10, 2012 23:22
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The only thing I'm confused by Robersdee, cause really your voice is great, is why you have your puff filter so close to the mic? I'm hearing your breath hitting against the mic, it should have a bit of space to diffuse the exhaled consonants (ideally a couple inches but that might change to tonality too much from where it is). Might be my headphones but it also sounds like you're trying to counter as much of the puffs with a low-cut filter (under 100 hz?) somewhere in the pipeline. If you can put some space between the filter and the mic, and then yourself and the filter to mitigate that.
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May 10, 2012 23:45
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JossiRossi posted:The only thing I'm confused by Robersdee, cause really your voice is great, is why you have your puff filter so close to the mic? I'm hearing your breath hitting against the mic, it should have a bit of space to diffuse the exhaled consonants (ideally a couple inches but that might change to tonality too much from where it is). Also a really good idea is to upgrade to one of the wire mesh pop filters as opposed to the pantyhose ones. They actually deflect the air instead of just... being in the way.
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May 10, 2012 23:53
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I've personally had pretty good results with a fabric filter personally. I can't say off the top of my head, nor did a quick googling help, but the difference might be distance required? Going into a Behringer C1 (the dirt cheapest of condenser mics) I haven't needed to do any filtering to remove unwanted low end problems.
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May 11, 2012 00:00
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Speaking of pop filters I don't know where mine is, but I recorded a thing.
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May 11, 2012 00:18
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JossiRossi posted:
Thanks, guys, I really appreciate the help and advice. This was a lot more frustrating than I thought. I spent hours reading stuff from those Edge studio weekly contests and from posts in this thread, then immediately deleting everything I recorded as I cringed at hearing myself. The infamous Rock Band mic is a regular Logitech USB mic, and SatansBestBuddy is right about how difficult it is to work with. Even secured in a mic stand it’s very hard to approach the thing from a good angle. Out of everything, I managed to get one 7-second clip that wasn’t completely embarrassing. It’s a fake hulu bump in the general style of Smug Hulu Guy. I wasn’t even going to post it since it’s so short, but this is the first time I’ve ever recorded anything and I wanted to at least have something to show for all the time I wasted. 
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May 11, 2012 09:51
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titties posted:Out of everything, I managed to get one 7-second clip that wasn’t completely embarrassing. It's hard to tell in seven seconds, go record something longer. Read a children's book or an article from the Weekly World News or some other silliness. Your voice sounds interesting so go and put it to work. The other folks here will be happy to give you tips but I'm going to encourage everyone here to just practice practice practice and record more stuff and never ever stop trying. Even if you never land a job you can still have a lot of fun making goofy recordings of yourself. Best of all, if you go back and read through this thread there are a ton of tips on how to make really nice recordings. My last few have been really bad because I switched to my cheapass headset mic instead of the much nicer setup I was using before. The difference is night and day. I'm getting tired of the laziness with that setup and will move back to my better gear shortly because I want to record some more Lovecraft audiobooks. They're fun to fall asleep to and full of mouthbending archaic words and nonsense. How the hell are you supposed to pronounce R'lyeh anyway? What I want to convey is that there's a wide range of talent in this thread and what I think you'll find with everyone who is working commercially is that they have recorded themselves hundreds or thousands of times. They keep recording and listening and trying to improve. Maybe your voice doesn't immediately get you jobs but if you can put together a really clean recording, have good habits with how you record yourself you are going to sound night and day different from someone with a head full of dreams and a laptop mic.
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May 11, 2012 19:40
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Thanks for taking the time to listen and respond. I know that such a short clip isn’t a lot to work with, but there might be one question you could answer for me – do you think a pop filter would allow me to continue to work with the mic I’m using, or should I just eat the cost and buy a grown-up microphone? I am just doing it for fun / practice. I had been waffling between the sexy Blue Snowball that King Lou recommended and this MXL 990 Condenser mic. I don’t think I know enough about them to decide.  less. I do plan to get back to recording tonight once the house quiets down, hopefully I can generate something a little more telling to post. The thing I learned last night is that I have a lot less natural affinity for this than I thought. While I hadn’t expected to record stuff that I could make money off of right now (or ever), I sure did think I’d sound a hell of a lot sexier. More edits: Cuddlechunks posted:They're fun to fall asleep to and full of mouthbending archaic words and nonsense. How the hell are you supposed to pronounce R'lyeh anyway? I think it's pronounced  ruh-LEAH Robersdee posted:hey guys, just saw this thread. I actually do VO's for a living here in the uk. I enjoyed this a lot, thanks titties fucked around with this message at 21:25 on May 11, 2012 |
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May 11, 2012 20:50
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I used the MXL990 for years before moving to the Shure super 55. The biggest improvement was the pickup pattern. So, if you are going for the MXL, keep in mind that it is sensitive to the noise around and far away from it... such as your computer, or the road outside; while the super 55 has a narrow range right in front of it. Thus the super 55 is slightly better for more noisy situations...which doesn't excuse high noise, but the mxl doesn't help. If you have a great recording situation (low noise, good absorption) the mxl is a great value, and is more than capable of producing great recordings. ...don't know anything about the snowball. Also try not to become an equipment collector/snob. You'll just end up spending a bunch of money while you'll naturally get better anyway as you practice. ChaosTheory fucked around with this message at 23:07 on May 11, 2012 |
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May 11, 2012 23:03
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ChaosTheory posted:I used the MXL990 for years before moving to the Shure super 55. After reading this and shopping around a little on Amazon, I've come across a problem that I'm not sure how to solve. I can afford either a boom stand and a (super sexy) shock mount, or the materials to build a portable sound booth. Even if I could afford both, I don't think I could mount the booth on the boom, and the shock mount probably wouldn't fit. Since my recording space is pretty much the worst, I'm really not sure which way to go. I could really use the boom, because otherwise I would be forced to sit in a really awkward position and standing wouldn't even be an option. I won't know how necessary the booth would be until I start recording with the new mic, but I'm assuming that at least the fan noise from my laptop will be picked up. Aside from, you know, actually reading and recording things, what do you think my priority should be here? (I promise to stop making GBS threads up the thread after this!) titties fucked around with this message at 23:59 on May 11, 2012 |
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May 11, 2012 23:51
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Robersdee posted:hey guys, just saw this thread. I actually do VO's for a living here in the uk.  Hahahah this is wonderful. Your La Fontaine is spot on!
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May 12, 2012 00:04
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If you can get away with it, you can try to put your computer/laptop inside a closet. Test to make sure nothing overheats, and buy extension cables for your usb and monitors. After that, get the boom stand and figure out a comfortable recording position. Only good practice makes perfect after all. Then worry about a better mic after you get your technique figured out. Because you can't test the consistency of a mic unless you are consistent. If you can nail the sources of noise and improve your technique then you reduce the need for a fancy booth. ChaosTheory fucked around with this message at 00:12 on May 12, 2012 |
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May 12, 2012 00:10
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titties posted:After reading this and shopping around a little on Amazon, I've come across a problem that I'm not sure how to solve. This really depends on how loud your environment is. I'd avoid a sound booth off the bat unless you absolutely need one. I record on a Blue Yeti (sturdy & heavy as hell so don't get a Snowball if the price difference is negligible), and I turn my computer fans down to minimum when I'm recording. I'm also next to a busy street but with the Yeti's gain control and directional sound, it doesn't pick up any background noise. A nice mic should be your main expense. Anything else should be to compensate for whatever's lacking depending upon which mic you choose. There are guys in this thread that are much more familiar with actual hardware than I am so take my advice on "environment setup" as circumstantial. I would however recommend a pop filter until you get the hang of it. For the record I hate pop filters, I don't use one, I believe that people should learn how to speak without one, etc...but since you're just starting out, you should focus on getting comfortable behind the mic without worrying so much about constant pops or you're going to go absolutely ballistic trying to fix everything in post-production (and probably delete it anyways to start over for the 8,000th time). Don't worry about making GBS threads up the thread (you're not); we're here to help.
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May 12, 2012 00:10
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ChaosTheory posted:Move your stuff, work on technique Holy crap. Why didn't I think of that, thanks. That should take care of it (not being sarcastic, this will help). The Joe Man posted:Get a nice mic and pop filter I had planned on the pop filter, and I will check the prices on the Yeti but I may still have to go with the Snowball. It looks like the Yeti has its own stand, does it have a thread mount? I'll be forced to use the poop mic so there will be plenty of popping and breathing noises but I promise that my next post itt will contain a recording. It will most likely be a reading from the Jurassic Park novel in honor of ChaosTheory. And in homage to The Joe Man, well ... I guess I'll continue to smoke incessantly, drink 6 pots of coffee a day, and down a couple pints of bourbon (oh god why do I do this stuff?).
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May 12, 2012 00:35
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Realistically, you should be gating everything you record anyway, so you should look into trying to cut out background noise when youre silent with a gate. It works pretty well unless you are standing next to something that's pretty loud. Also no one comments on my work 
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May 12, 2012 01:27
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invision posted:Speaking of pop filters I don't know where mine is, but I recorded a thing. You mentioned no comments before. Since I've not done any extensive commenting here yet just let me warn you I'm blunt as hell and tend to just pick up on things I dislike. First you seem to have some clipping issues. Some of the louder bits begin to get that crackling and distortion when you hit the mic too loud or have an issue editing later. The laugh falls pretty flat, it feels very very forced but doesn't hit a humorous extreme. Also, you begin to hear the echo of the room as I am going to guess you throw back your head. It would be very helpful to learn proper breathing techniques for when you are recording. The Joe Man can probably help explain that far better than I could because he mentioned learning to not use a pop filter and good god I have no idea how he pulls that off but damned if he doesn't pull it off. For my little bit of help getting into the habit of at least turning your head to the side as you breath in can help reduce how loud it comes through. As you talk there's a droning quality in this piece. It becomes really easy for my mind to drift away from understanding the words. The tonality and character of the voice seems to remain the same, with pacing being the biggest variable. The pacing changes combined with additional emotion would help a lot. Some of your words tend to blend together and others feel a bit dulled. Enunciation could use a bit of work to make it easier to follow, this is part of the before mentioned droning problem. There feels like a lack of character and I debated even mentioning it because I'm having a hard time articulating why I feel this way. Some of it is perhaps a sense of trying too hard, and there are times where what you are saying seems to surprise you a bit as you try to move onto the next word. So for the improving shortlist, I'd do up some Enunciation and vocal practices (Round and round the rugged rocks the ragged rascals ran) so you are less likely to trip up on your own tongue. Work out some of the technical issues like if you are in fact clipping the volume somewhere. Deal with the breaths issue. Finally, vary things up a bit more. I hope that helps. If you don't hate me, you could return the favor and tell me what I could do better on the weekly newscast thing I've been doing posted on the bottom of the last page where I think it got buried.
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May 12, 2012 02:49
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JossiRossi posted:So for the improving shortlist, I'd do up some Enunciation and vocal practices (Round and round the rugged rocks the ragged rascals ran) so you are less likely to trip up on your own tongue. Could you post more of these or link to a good resource? Although I don't want to be a voice actor, I want to improve the quality of my speaking voice -- what are other types of exercises or practices that would help? Are there any tips for learning to speak with a more neutral American accent when one has a pronounced regional accent, other than just being mindful? I have a light Philadelphia accent (especially with the way I say my long "O" and long "I" sounds), and I hate it.
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May 12, 2012 03:05
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Reposting this as it got lost at the bottom of the last page, and I really would like some opinions on it as I'm recording and trying to figure out what to put on this thing right now: ----------------------------------------------------------- What's the consensus on commercial demos? Is it better for the quality of the different bits on the demo to sound different, as if they were actual spots, or for them to sound the same, so it doesn't sound like you just couldn't get a consistent sound? I've seen conflicting opinions and can't seem to find a straight answer one way or the other. I'm constructing a new commercial demo now (finally) and have a couple of real spots I'd like to use, but most of them are going to be fake--is that mismatch in quality going to work against me? Should I just record all fake spots for the sake of the demo? Additionally, what different types of reads should I be aiming to include? I have a naturally young, energetic voice, so most of what I include will reflect that--including one in character as a young girl--save for the clip of one of my recent commercials where I do the low, sexy/seductive thing. Should I be aiming for more variety (one "straight sell", one wildly enthusiastic, one "real person", one bright and perky, etc.) or just doing what will highlight what I do best? I know the answer is whatever will show clients why they would want to hire me, but is that a bunch of potential things they "would" want (i.e. all the different reads), or am I SHOWING it to them so that they'll hear it and say hey, we like this (i.e. what I think I do the very best)? And any ideas for fake businesses I should use? Right now it's a hybrid of real and fake--ideas taken from real VOs I've done, but with names changed, rerecorded, etc. if I couldn't find or for some reason couldn't otherwise use the original. I'm also working on my first narration demo, which is going to be REALLY hard to limit to just one minute, yeesh. I've got bits from an in-flight video, a tour bus audio guide, and an e-learning module I voiced (all real spots I've actually done, but rerecorded/with names and such changed, except for the e-learning thing which I'm taking straight from the recording I actually made), and I made up a children's audiobook excerpt (to show off some different voices in a childrens' story context), "real" book excerpt, and a phone message. Anything else I should be aiming to include? I'm a bit concerned about the redundancy of the in-flight video AND tour bus guide narrations, but the former is more instructional and the latter shows off my pronunciation of Korean words (I speak pretty authentic-sounding Korean for a very white girl) so I feel like they each have their own purposes, but I'm not sure. And is even a narration demo supposed to be kept down to a minute? That's REALLY rough. And thanks to everyone who replied to my last post, you really helped me get in gear with all this! I already shortened/remixed my animation demo (from 1:28 to :56, wow!) and am now working on, as I mentioned, a commercial demo and a narration demo. Hooray! I keep rearranging the animation demo, though...I keep feeling like it could be better arranged differently, but I don't know how. I know I also tend to have perfectionistic tendencies with this stuff, though, so I could be being too hard on myself again. Link here if you have any thoughts on it: https://www.listentomelanie.com/demo.mp3 I welcome any and all of your thoughts on these matters. =) Edit: Oh ffs, I just had a rousing round of "Where The F Is That Hum Coming From In My Signal Chain" and after checking every single connection, taking my external hard drive off my computer desk, switching off and on all of my external processors...it was my stupid receiver. So it looks like I'm going to have to do headphones while recording and monitors only while editing, bleeeeeeeggghhhh -------------------------------------- So here are some rough reads and stuff that I have so far for the new commercial demo: http://listentomelanie.com/comdemsess05132012.wav Of the ones I recorded tonight, I had music in mind for a few; for those, you hear the read once through naturally, and then the second time with the music I had in mind, and a bit of compression and hard limiting. It got pretty late by the time I was done with all this, though, and since these are just rough cuts, just to figure out what I do and don't want on there, I left the others the way they were (all natural, dry reads). Two are already fully-produced spots that I will be putting on there as-is (Vampire Diaries, 2nd one in, and Comcast/Sprint PCS, the last one), so there's only one version each of those. Any suggestions? I do want Vampire Diaries and Comcast on there, but I'm not particularly married to any of the others. Although I do rather like the "Milk" one. Anything I should include that I'm not yet, or shouldn't be including that I did? Is there anything glaringly missing from my reads? I can change anything in the copy, from the name of a product to the whole darn thing. A couple of my own thoughts: -I like the idea behind the iBook one, and with the right music it would sound good, but I want to use a different product. I've never heard a radio commercial for Apple and something about it just sounds really fake. What product should I change it to say instead? Keep in mind I can use any two adjectives in place of "power" and "elegance" as well (beauty and strength for some makeup thing, creativity and sophistication, whatever). -I wrote the one for Estelle's Dressy Dresses to match my young-sounding voice, but I wonder if it's not too similar to the Air Jamaica and/or Kohl's spots? I think I need more variety, but I know the "older"-sounding spots really aren't my forte and the more youthful, energetic ones are. This goes back to the question in the beginning of my post though--am I aiming to give them a wide variety of all the types of reads clients are likely to ask for, or some different reads on which I sound best? -I'm having a heck of a time figuring out what to use from that Vampire Diaries spot. There just doesn't seem to be a good place to cut this thing. Here's the full spot: http://www.listentomelanie.com/vd3.wav I can pull off making it into: "The TV show is a runaway hit...The Hunters: Moonsong, the must-read new book in the Vampire Diaries series. Get your daily bite of the Vampire Diaries at vampirediaries.com." ...or just: "The Hunters: Moonsong, the must-read new book in the Vampire Diaries series. Get your daily bite of the Vampire Diaries at vampirediaries.com" ...or even just: "Get your daily bite of the Vampire Diaries at vampirediaries.com" ...if it comes down to it. I think that second one will be best in terms of length and what it shows, but is it alright that it's clearly taken out of the context of something larger and doesn't make so much sense on its own? Edit: I actually just heard that finished spot for the first time tonight, and freaked out at the beginning of the "Stefan's Diaries" line. I'd just added some new equipment to my setup and having some issues with gating right around then, and I got this terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach; I wouldn't really let something like that go to production to be put into a nationally-airing commercial, would I??? I quickly opened the original recording to hear that line and, thankfully, it sounded fine. Sooooo I don't know what happened there, though there are a few places that sound weirdly edited now that weren't when I made it. Boy did that just about kill me though. blinkeve1826 fucked around with this message at 07:33 on May 13, 2012 |
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May 13, 2012 03:53
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Here is an excerpt from the Jurassic Park novel that was used as an Edge studio weekly contest a while back. This is my normal speaking voice. Not as rich sounding as I had hoped, and the read is not as dynamic or emotive as I might have liked. It's hard to throw yourself into it when you have to be relatively quiet because people are sleeping.  Any and all feedback is welcomed, no matter how brutal. I know my production is terrible, this is only the second time I've recorded. EDIT: oh god I just saw this banner ad and had to record it. I wish I had a better movie trailer voice! Edit 2: I was definitely trying too hard to sound awesome in this one. I hope that when my new gear gets here I can use a more natural voice. 
titties fucked around with this message at 11:04 on May 13, 2012 |
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May 13, 2012 07:51
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blinkeve1826 posted:Should I be aiming for more variety (one "straight sell", one wildly enthusiastic, one "real person", one bright and perky, etc.) or just doing what will highlight what I do best? I think that your demo should highlight the spots where you feel you sound the best. I don't work commercially so I will just say that as a spectator if you're going to show off a cut choose between the final version with a music bed or do it dry. That's because I'll hire your voice and do all the beds and mixdown myself so it doesn't help me to have you fiddle around with that stuff yourself. I just need a nice clean recording to work with. On the other hand, if you are providing full-service VO work, i.e. give me your copy and I'll turn it into a *powerhouse* of royalty-free voice and music, then having some cuts that demonstrate your dry read and final cut would be great. I don't know the protocol for demos but I'd slap a short bit on the front to introduce the next sections and stick my name in their ear. "Melanie the Marvelous, three commercial cuts. Cut 1 - Toothpaste." <run toothpaste spot> "Cut 2 - Milk." <milk spot> That way the demo can be downloaded and always has your name jammed in there as it introduces each cut. It only adds a few seconds onto the running time of the piece which I think would be helpful for making sure the demo is tied to *your* voice. Oh, and the interstitial should be your natural speaking voice for maximum dramatic effect. I'm an enthusiastic amateur so I hope my comments aren't hopelessly naive. I was a little worried with the "Stephen's Diaries" section in your prior demo but you explained what was up with that. It seemed to just vanish into the background music. titties - Listen to the mother's day piece. You put emphasis on some of the words in there. Why? By drawing attention to "her vagina" how does that change the meaning of the sentence? Then there's a pause and the rest of the sentence (with a bigass pop). Here is how I would write out what you recorded "She blasted you out of HER VAGINA... and now it's payback time. And this time it's personal." Looking at that on the screen it seems odd. If you change the emphasis so that the first sentence has roughly equal weight you might get a reading like this: "She blasted you out of her vagina' and now it's payback time. And this time... it's personal." You could also put emphasis on *blasted*. That might make for a clearer meaning. I put a little ' symbol to indicate a short breath. The period is for a full breath, same with the ellipsis only wait a little longer. Try recording another take of that and see what happens if change where you put the emphasis.
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May 13, 2012 20:24
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