Voice Over jobs

[Tomm Williams]

The wife has developed an interest in doing VO's. She has experience as a radio announcer and event MC. Where does a person find such work? This might require me to invest in more mics----------damnit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SpaceNorman]

You need to hook up with Ed Victor - the BIG Gun! Here's a link to one of his YouTube vids. There's a pantload of 'em - just search YouTube for his user name.

[Bobby1Note]

Originally Posted by Tomm Williams

The wife has developed an interest in doing VO's. She has experience as a radio announcer and event MC. Where does a person find such work? This might require me to invest in more mics----------damnit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awwwwwwwwwwwww. What a shame.

Tomm, there's probably a "broadcast" forum over at Gearslutz, Maybe someone there has an idea or two.

Aside from mics, I think you'll also be looking into isolation booths, and recording equipment. Interesting stuff.

[Mogwix]

 

Originally Posted by SpaceNorman

You need to hook up with Ed Victor - the BIG Gun!

 

James Hetfield??

[SpaceNorman]

Originally Posted by Mogwix

James Hetfield??

Naw ... Ed Victor ... he's a voice over guy that used to play drums with one of my projects. He's all over the country doing voice work - in addition to his own VO work - he has done a bunch of YouTube vids with "the BIG Gun!" byline discussing various aspects of the "Voice Over" game. Here's a link to his website: http://www.edvictorvo.com/
Helluva nice guy ... and a riot to work with!

[Bobby1Note]

Does your wife still have contacts from her radio job?

[Tomm Williams]

 

Originally Posted by Bobby1Note

Does your wife still have contacts from her radio job?

 

Yes but it was a company that didn't pay much, which I understand seems common in small-town communications. They owned stations in about 4 N.CA towns, nothing big.

[Bobby1Note]

Originally Posted by Tomm Williams

Yes but it was a company that didn't pay much, which I understand seems common in small-town communications. They owned stations in about 4 N.CA towns, nothing big.

I was just wondering if someone at the station might know where these voice-over projects are produced. I'd imagine that these companies would be in search for many types and styles of voice as well; anything from public announcements for commercial and public service institutions, to radio/TV commercials, to animated film production.

When I think of voice-overs, I generally think of folks like those mellow-voiced folks who do PBS broadcast documentaries, or radio commercials, but after thinking about it for a bit, what better example could I come up with than Mel Blanc. I believe he was the voice of something like 40 characters.

[IsildursBane]

Casting agencies. I work for a video game developer and all of ours are handled through talent agencies. You could also contact studios in your area who produce jingles and ask who they use.

And, you can check out http://www.vo-bb.com/phpBB2/index.php

I wouldn't bother investing in more microphones unless your wife's career gets going AND she wants to produce final product at home. Otherwise, demos and auditions can be done with very modest equipment. How you use your gear is more important than what you use.

-Dan.

[Randyman]

Originally Posted by Tomm Williams

The wife has developed an interest in doing VO's. She has experience as a radio announcer and event MC. Where does a person find such work? This might require me to invest in more mics----------damnit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I'm sure you'll need an extensive collection of mics you've always wanted in order to help her get started!

On a slightly more serious note- I had a small recording studio doing VOs years ago. Some of the take-aways from being on the control side of the mic was that there's no substitute for having a great voice. People with a "Golden Voice" were incredibly easy to record- it didn't matter as much which mic I used, I could get a great recording; it helped that these people were oftentimes experienced and could read with good voice inflections, expression, and rarely stumbled over the text. On the other hand, with some people I could experiment with a lot of different mics, eq, etc., and still not be satisfied.

The other thing that can help a lot, esp. for a female voice (there's a lot of rich qualities that come out with the deeper voices), is to learn mic technique. I discovered long ago that the nasal, somewhat flat quality of my speaking voice is in large part due to the way I project it. My perception is I wouldn't be heard otherwise, so I project my voice out, which has the effect of accentuating the nasal qualities and makes for a compressed, "flat" sounding voice. Whereas when I'm relaxed and not trying so hard to be heard, my voice is actually kinda nice, at least acceptable.

By putting on a set of headphones and playing with the proximity effect of the mic, she'll find it effortless to be heard and have the full expression of her voice even when she whispers- and what a revelation that can be! The proximity effect, which boosts the bass when you move within an inch or so of the mic, is different with every mic and can work wonders (used in moderation). All of which means in essence finding the full dynamic range of your voice, which starts out alot quieter and softer than most of us realize (whether you're using the proximity effect or not), 'cause we're so busy projecting our voices in order to be heard; this also helps alot with lessening any nasal qualities. Developing the whisper voice and finding the continuum all the way from that to a singsongy chant voice to a soft, delicately articulated speaking voice at least gives you access to that effortless end of the spectrum. Getting loud, edgy, raging vocals out needs a different approach! I'm sure you've heard the occaisional female radio announcer who's mastered this, and it sounds just delicious, like you're right there with her.

In terms of mics, I'd say get some good headphones and have her try out as many mics as possible using the techniques in the above paragraph until she finds one or two that she likes (it is after all a lot about personal perception, and if you sound good to yourself you're more likely to feel confident in expressing yourself; that and the female ear hears a bit differently than the male ear). That way when she goes to a studio for a session, it's something she can at least offer up and know that she'll sound good with, and having a good set of headphones never hurts; they can be very revealing and personal the way they open up sound.

No particular advice on where to find the jobs. The people that I knew made good money at it, but like a lot of freelancer work, it was rarely steady. The best I can offer up is to contact people who record and produce VOs and build up a relationship with them, and be ready to be in it for the long haul. Or search out people doing creative projects and see if there's a fit.

[Telecruiser]

 

Originally Posted by IsildursBane

Casting agencies. I work for a video game developer and all of ours are handled through talent agencies. You could also contact studios in your area who produce jingles and ask who they use.

 

^^^THIS^^^

[Telecruiser]

 

Originally Posted by Randyman

People with a "Golden Voice" were incredibly easy to record- it didn't matter as much which mic I used, I could get a great recording; it helped that these people were oftentimes experienced and could read with good voice inflections, expression, and rarely stumbled over the text. On the other hand, with some people I could experiment with a lot of different mics, eq, etc., and still not be satisfied.

 

[Randyman]

With a face like that he's best placed behind a microphone! Yeah, great voice, obviously knows his standard bylines, and seems to have a friendly voice persona.

[aj_guitarist]

post on things like odesk, elance, fiverr to get the ball rolling. it might be worth contacting big companies (like airlines) and asking if they have a tendering process or the odd VO recorded. Get the word out there and the work should start to come in!

[MarkGifford-1]

This is what I do for a living.

Check out the Neumann TLM-103. It gets dogged for music recording, but it's great for VO. A big plus for this mic is its super-hot output, which allows you to keep the gain down on less than great pres. A great deal at around $650, used.

Also, look into Sony Soundforge, as your recording platform. Not really any other competition and they just rolled out a Mac version, finally.

MG

[IsildursBane]

Originally Posted by MarkGifford-1

Also, look into Sony Soundforge, as your recording platform. Not really any other competition and they just rolled out a Mac version, finally.

Haven't used it myself, but I've heard a bunch of guys ragging on it, saying it's not as good as the PC version. :-b

-Dan.

[Consume]

Originally Posted by Randyman

I discovered long ago that the nasal, somewhat flat quality of my speaking voice is in large part due to the way I project it. My perception is I wouldn't be heard otherwise, so I project my voice out, which has the effect of accentuating the nasal qualities and makes for a compressed, "flat" sounding voice. Whereas when I'm relaxed and not trying so hard to be heard, my voice is actually kinda nice, at least acceptable.

You were misdirecting your voice. You want to aim the voice almost straight up and then forward a hair so that the sound vibrates in your nose and eye region as well as in the soft palate. (I've had 8+ years of Opera-based training.)
You can "rock" the direction of your voice back and forth and if you pay attention, you'll learn where you need to direct the sound so that you gain all the resonance - that's like getting a free amplifier, man! LOL

[Randyman]

Originally Posted by Consume

You were misdirecting your voice. You want to aim the voice almost straight up and then forward a hair so that the sound vibrates in your nose and eye region as well as in the soft palate. (I've had 8+ years of Opera-based training.)
You can "rock" the direction of your voice back and forth and if you pay attention, you'll learn where you need to direct the sound so that you gain all the resonance - that's like getting a free amplifier, man! LOL

Sign me up! I've always been envious of those guys with a naturally deep, resonant voice. When I've got a sore throat, I have a voice like that, but of course it doesn't last, and it's probably not a good idea to over do it when sick.

My understanding is that it takes quite a bit of vocal coaching to develop some of the techniques/tricks learned from opera. I can do throat singing, like Tibetan monks/didgeridoo filter sweeps/whiskeyman blues talk-singing, as well as the high eeeeee that cuts through everything- but in my normal singing voice I struggle, it seems very mysterious to me. I usually feel like my normal singing voice is pretty good when I'm in a situation where I can belt it out like an opera singer in a big room or outdoors- at that point I'm hitting my pitches, have good sustain tone.

To bring more of my "full voice" into my chest voice, for warmups I do a lot of the deep resonance with the throat singing and then try to transition to a chest voice, and then up high to cutting 'eeeeee". Some of what I know as a flute player helps as well: that too is all about sustain to warm up to getting a round, full tone. But voice or flute, I don't have the benefit of opera training. I can see classically trained vocalists doing specific things with their jaw, breathing, posture, but beyond the diaphragm support, I'm not sure what i'm seeing. My buddy who's a great soul singer is always emphasizing good diaphragm support and relaxing into it.

[Dogoth]

A couple of classic VO mics are Shure SM7 and EV RE20 but I'd agree that the mic must be fit to the source & surroundings.

Important stuff is ISOLATION & acoustics. Except for voice over music beds, isolation is a must (you can have zero background noise).

I'd agree with other posters here. Talent agencies and big ad agencies are a good place to look for gigs.

my .02

[MusicalSchizo]

Pretty much any modern DAW or 2-track recording program will work for VO. I stick with DAWs because I'm a producer as well, but if you're just recording a voiceover, Sound Forge or WaveLab or even the Windows sound recorder will work.

I work in radio production and I use REAPER (www.reaper.fm) because I find its file management to be the best (it's an important part of my job, handling the files and working quickly and no other DAW does it as good as REAPER). The program is easy to download and its demo is full-featured and uncorrupted. It just nags you to buy a license if you go past the 30-day window.

I use the Waves L-series plugins for a lot of stuff. The L2 is a particular favorite. It makes it loud without making it all distorted. Their plugins aren't cheap, but they sound incredible.

However, a great many places that want a voiceover will just want a good-sounding clean and mostly unprocessed VO...producers like to use their own effects chains to sweeten things when putting projects together. Unless you know what you're doing and/or your client wants processed VOs, you might want to stick to the basics...

I've found that as long as the microphone isn't complete {censored}, it will work. I've done tons of stuff with just an SM57 processed correctly. It's obviously a more lo-fi sound than a nice condenser, but it works, especially for heavily-processed stuff. Standard radio mics are dynamics like the EV RE20 and RE27 and the Shure SM5 (the pill mic, if you can find one) and SM7. Most VO people use condensers, though, and there's a {censored} ton of cork-sniffing behavior in finding the "perfect mic chain" from mic to mic pre to compressor, etc...it's all kind of ridiculous and fortunately sort of going away with the broad availability of great-sounding plugins.

Get a decent mic (spend at least $100 on a medium-to-large-diaphragm condenser and it should work for you, at least to start). Put it through a clean-sounding mic preamp. Some of the built-in preamps on basic audio interfaces like PreSonus' interfaces work great by themselves - I loved the results from my Firebox when I used it. At work I used the XENYX preamp on my crappy Behringer board for a long time and got great results that my clients loved. Now I just use the ART Tube MP pre for a little bit more warmth, but it's a very negligible difference that really is just for me.

VERY IMPORTANT:
The deader you make the room the better for VO. It's not like a recording studio - you don't want a room sound - EVER. That means getting the computer away from the microphone, too, and keeping the mic away from any fans or HVAC ducts. If you can afford a dedicated VO isolation booth, even better. You don't want ANY noise on your recordings at all.

As for finding work, talent agencies, ad agencies, and creative services houses are good places to start. A lot of people like to keep a library of voices on file to offer potential clients for campaigns, so just make a good demo and get it to as many people as possible. Putting up profiles on voice123.com and other voiceover sites is a smart path as well.

Radio stations are NOT good places to start, as they have no budgets anymore to pay you for your work. I have to be honest, I field at least two or three calls or emails every few weeks about this, and it's pretty annoying at this point. I've got nothing for you. I will accept free voiceovers, however, if you want to practice and get an honest critique, so PM me if you like with your contact info.

I know that was a book, but I hope it's a helpful one. Good luck!
Brian V.

[Consume]

Originally Posted by Randyman

Sign me up! I've always been envious of those guys with a naturally deep, resonant voice. When I've got a sore throat, I have a voice like that, but of course it doesn't last, and it's probably not a good idea to over do it when sick.

My understanding is that it takes quite a bit of vocal coaching to develop some of the techniques/tricks learned from opera. I can do throat singing, like Tibetan monks/didgeridoo filter sweeps/whiskeyman blues talk-singing, as well as the high eeeeee that cuts through everything- but in my normal singing voice I struggle, it seems very mysterious to me. I usually feel like my normal singing voice is pretty good when I'm in a situation where I can belt it out like an opera singer in a big room or outdoors- at that point I'm hitting my pitches, have good sustain tone.

To bring more of my "full voice" into my chest voice, for warmups I do a lot of the deep resonance with the throat singing and then try to transition to a chest voice, and then up high to cutting 'eeeeee". Some of what I know as a flute player helps as well: that too is all about sustain to warm up to getting a round, full tone. But voice or flute, I don't have the benefit of opera training. I can see classically trained vocalists doing specific things with their jaw, breathing, posture, but beyond the diaphragm support, I'm not sure what i'm seeing. My buddy who's a great soul singer is always emphasizing good diaphragm support and relaxing into it.

When you open your throat, you jaw should be somewhat like you have an overbite. (your lower jaw actually moves "backward" when you open your mouth. A lot of times people will push their lower jaw out when they hear the term "open throat" regarding singing.) you are taught to sing in what we call "dummy face" (watch some Barbara Streisand videos of her performing, she uses it. she almost looks like a porcelain doll when she sings.) like a ventriloquist's dummy.