“Dad,” said my almost eight year old daughter…
“What does baklava taste like?”
“It’s like a slice of heaven,” I answered.
“In that case… I don’t want it,” she replied.
“Why not?” I asked. “It’s sooo good!”
My daughter answered:
“I don’t want to…
Read the rest of this story in my new book. Click on the cover to access the website and get a sneak peek. Use the buttons to buy the book.
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Phew, I think I made it through the test… Except I always say New-mann not Noy-mahn…. because I like the new! If I could EVER find a Neumann for $199 I think I would be in heaven!! Enjoy the baklava, I’m having a biscotti.
Best,
Rebecca ;0)
I knew you’d pass the test! How big is baseball in Italy?
It doesn’t exist!!!!! Both baseball and American football are alien-like in Italy… it’s soccer soccer soccer…
GOAL!!!!!!!!
Whew, well sadly I missed one or two of those even though it appears I am likely to be a newbie because of my inexpensive sound studio but even I would go to dictionary.com to find out how to pronounce a word I didn’t know how to say. LOL They EVEN have a wave file of someone saying it correctly. 🙂
Great article. Thanks for the extra info.
You’re funny! Here’s a great website if you ever need to look up the correct pronunciation of a word: http://www.forvo.com/
With more and more talents entering the market, it’s wise to distinguish yourself professionally. The more marks you hit on the above list, the better!
I find it interesting you are giving free information to a client about how to spot an amateur. But I am reminded of some things that could impact reception of my performance. Granted, good breathing is key, but I’m sure you are aware there is software that can edit out the breaths and tighten a product. A little different, yes? Knowing this must be the mark of a professional. I do not have my own studio yet, but this isn’t all I do. I worked in both radio and television and freelanced commercials and PSAs over the years. I consider myself a professional communicator, but not based on the equipment I own. I agree with the host of others who say amateurs are the professionals of tomorrow. We learn as we go unless we have the bucks to go to a school that teaches this stuff, and the money to create a perfect studio setting with the best equipment for the best sound. Of course, we have to have talent. You can teach about equipment and using it, you can equip a studio, and you can make an direct and produce the product yourself for the client to hear. I guess if you are a professional, you don’t need any help. Ultimately it is the clients who makes the decision. If they aren’t educated, they will learn after they make a bad decision, and seek out help in finding the right professional. If a client came to you, you are perceived as a professional. Good on ya! Aren’t afraid of competition, mentor an amateur and show them the ropes. I’d like to think all voices are different, but they really aren’t. Some types of voices are so similar to client, the only thing that matters is the voice and if cost determines who they choose, it’s their business. You wrote your article and are blogging because this is your business you want to protect. If you want to promote professionals as this blog suggests, I think helping amateurs develop those professional qualities you admire, enhances the ability to shape client opinions about the people they should hire. Slam those amateurs on the cusp of becoming professionals, you’ll find yourself in a price war and you better be in a class all by yourself with a ton of clients who want your voice alone and will not settle for a similar one that can do the job.
My friend I agree. I was a Vegas act for many years, on the road for 21 years and have taught stage presence, vocal techniques, radio and TV V.O. since 1965 and there is a place for every voice to be booked. I promise you. I have coached many to professional singers and V.O. talents. On equipment I remember working in Carson City, Nevada and the P/A. blew and I used a Sony stereo system to pull the show off. It’s not the equipment it’s the person’s know-how. Some of the worst Audio Technica mics I have recorded major record releases with.
I now own SRO Records, Rachel Records, Damascus Music Productions LLC and the author of “How A Singer Can Make A Living On The Road”.
That’s my take…Little Anthony
Thanks for your comments, Jack! I have noticed that my blog isn’t only read by voice-over artists, but also by videographers, producers, talent agents and others who are interested in the voice-over business. As I said in the beginning of the article, some things that might seem obvious to us, might not be so apparent to others, and that’s why I decided to do a “top ten of amateur mistakes”.
Ultimately, I’m all for raising professional standards, and I sincerely hope that my small contribution helps to raise that bar a bit. Some professionals have even contacted me privately, because this short list served as a reminder that it’s always good to practice the basics. Without a strong foundation, any house, -no matter how beautiful- might fall apart.
You made a few assumptions as to why I am writing this blog. I encourage you to read the “About and Contact” section of Double Dutch, and it will tell you more about why I enjoy publishing this blog so much. One of the reasons being that I get to connect with people from all over the world such as yourself. As you probably know, it can get quite lonely in a dark sound booth and blogging is a perfect way to get out of there and share some of my stories with the rest of the world.
I enjoyed reading this post and may share it in the future with those newbie clients who don’t yet fully understand the value of a pro.
The one thing you mentioned above that I want to work on is the silent breath– that would save me lots of time editing in PT what my Neumann TLM 103 is “hearing” when I’m recording! 🙂
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Debbie
Excellent question, Debbie. Loud breathing is always a story of cause and effect. Editing them out or lowering the volume is time-consuming, and you’re working on the effect. It’s more efficient to look at the root cause and deal with it. Audible breaths can be caused by:
1. Shallow breathing
2. Forceful breathing
3. Taking in too much air
4. Tension and stress
5. Allergies and asthma
All change begins with awareness. Take notice of how much noise you make when you draw your breath, and not only when you’re in front of the mic. To counter shallow breathing, you have to learn how to breathe from your diaphragm by expanding your lower abdomen when taking in your breath. Voice- and singing coach Shelley Kristen has an excellent demo and exercise:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0HWQBkDook
Narrators often over estimate how much air it takes to read a sentence or two.
I recommend marking your script at natural breathing spots. That way, you’ll never have to gasp for air.
Noisy breathing can also be the result of a constricted throat which in turn can be caused by stress. If there’s too much tension in your system, it’s hard to relax your muscles, including those you use for breathing and speaking.
Here’s the good news: breathing exercises tend to be quite relaxing, and there are many CD’s on the market based on “Pranayana” or Yoga breathing.
As a singer, I always recommend singing lessons for voice-over talents. A good vocal coach will help you strengthen your vocal chords and expand your range, and will also help you with warm-ups, your posture, your diction and your breathing.
Of course there’s an ongoing discussion in the voice-over world whether or not to cut out breaths. Some breaths can add a distinct dramatic effect to your read, and if you’d cut out each and every breath, you’d sound unnatural. But most of us would agree that very audible breaths can get pretty annoying for the listener.
Good article Paul but I need to make a comment about the difference between technical skill and performance. A lot of the “bush league” points you make pertain to technical skill. There are professionals like Jeff Bridges, Gene Hackman, Stockard Channing etc.. who don’t know anything about gain or editing. The business may have evolved to where performers have become engineers but that does not mean the “best performers” necessarily get the jobs.
Good point, Phil! That’s why some call it “voice-acting”! Of course there’s a huge difference between doing ‘straight narration’ and creating Aladdin’s Genie. Unfortunately, most of us will not reach that level of artistry, or maybe our ambitions are more modest. Nevertheless, a good technical foundation is a solid basis for any performance. And isn’t that the case in any art form? Once we’ve mastered the basics, we can transcend it and take our skill to a whole new level.
Brilliant! Glad Dave Courvoisier linked to your blog today!
Thanks Amy! Dave’s a great guy and I’m glad he spread the news. By the way: I highly recommend his blog, his twitter updates and facebook page! Or you could fly to Vegas and see him in action…
Hi Paul, thanks so much for this article. I really love it! Why? Because I learned how (not to do) some things in the VO businnes. It is always good to know what errors I must avoid in order to succeed in this competitive industry. These 10 points make perfect sense to me. There is something else I think make a beginner fall short on this points: Many people don’t do a resposible research on how this industry work, the basics of VO technique, technical skills and so on. For example, before doing my first serious recording I did a 6-months long research in which I read as many VO blogs I could read and listened as many podcasts as I could. Did I get something from that research? YES! A real image of the voice-over industry! That is only one of many details that make a person a VO professional. Although I specialize in Spanish voice-overs, your points actually applies to any language. Again Paul, thanks so much for this great article. Greetings from Puerto Rico!
By the way, greetings to everybody who comment on this blog.
You’re very welcome, Pablo. I’m glad my article was helpful. I wish more aspiring voice-over artists would take your approach. Unfortunately, we live in a time of instant gratification and quick fixes: “Learn how to play the piano like a pro in five easy lessons.” Or: “Conversational Spanish in eight weeks… while you’re driving…” Everything has to be fast and faster, and heaven forbid it should take any effort.
People who have mastered a skill or an art form, make what they do seem so easy. But it’s an illusion. We don’t witness the many hours of hard work; the sweat and the tears and the many years of countless auditions and frustration before that big break finally came.
A journalist once asked a famous sitar player how long it had taken him to master the instrument. The sitar player answered: “Several lifetimes.”
Wow – while funny, I suppose, to the insular world of those who have found the door to the world of being a successful voice over artist, kind of a slap in the face to those of us who have spent thousands in training and production and p2p hopefulness, only to find ourselves in debt and running out of time on a career choice that was a dream.
While I may not have the perfect sound booth, I do have dedicated self built space. I did spend around $10,000 on initial training – over a years worth – and demo production, stamping, printing, logo and website set up – and am still watching as my credit card balance increases on a monthly basis with very little return despite my mailings, auditioning and training. While I may not be aware of all the lingo, it’s only lack of experience – and believe me, it’s not for trying.
I’m not afraid to say I’m a little offended at this broad brush painting of those of us who haven’t had the opportunities or luck that those of you who got into the business before the influx of all these internet amateurs, have had. Of course you have the absolute right to say whatever you feel, this is the kind of thing that completely demotivates me and makes me feel like an outcast in my own “community.” Of course, it’s your right to say it.
Thanks for speaking your mind, Dorothy. Who knows how many people silently agree with you… Not everybody wants to stick their neck out and I thank you for being so frank.
If you’ve taken a few moments to read a few other articles on this blog (or even just my response to the comments above) you’ve probably noticed that I like to stir the pot a little. I prefer to call it: “tickling my readers,” and I am fully aware that some readers will be more tickled than others. Not everyone was amused to find out that my “Mic Warmer” story turned out to be an April Fools’ joke.
I do think it’s a cheap tactic to provoke and not provide any insights or offer any resources and tips. That’s why I was glad that quite a few colleagues and aspiring voice-over talents saw my top ten as a wake-up call instead of as a slap in the face.
As a fellow-professional, I hope you’ll agree that this list offered nothing new to the insider. If you wish to play the game at a certain level, these are very basic minimum requirements.
People can’t buy themselves into the business by investing in equipment or marketing campaigns. Practically no one gets to the top without putting in the time. But just because someone isn’t that experienced yet, doesn’t make him or her an “outcast”. All of us had to start somewhere.
If I’ve learned anything in the past couple of years, it’s that this voice-over community is very supportive of beginners. Join the discussion on one of the many social and professional voice-over sites, and you’ll find top talents who selfishly and eagerly share what they have learned in great detail! As one of my readers, you can ask me anything about the field, and if I can’t answer your question, I’ll find someone who can.
There’s one thing you won’t be able to buy as a pre-packaged program, teleclass or audio book. You won’t find it on LinkedIn voice-over groups either. It’s called experience. You can speed up your learning curve by training with the best, but at some point they’ll kick you out of the nest.
And when you take that plunge, we’ll be there to cheer you on and give you some pointers along the way. But we’re not going to hold your hand. Otherwise you’d never learn how to fly. So… spread your wings and enjoy the journey. Who knows where it will take you!
Great post! And I love how it’s stirred up so much emotion in the comments. I was actually a producer before I was a voice artist. I’d had some background in acting and improv, but my main love was audio and production, so I preferred to stay on the technical side. That gave me an advantage one I melded the two, but they’re definitely two different skill sets. I wanted to stress that only because I see a lot of people struggling with their voice over careers because the production side is not natural to them, or not something they’re excelling at (or even interested in!). The bad edits or lower quality you refer to doesn’t have to be the mark of an amateur if they take the other option, which is working with a producer who can focus on that aspect of the work. This leaves the VO artist free to focus on all of those other elements that help them stand out, instead of struggling with cleanup and compression and all of the stuff we gear geeks like. 😉
And it’s not something that has to be an in-house partnership. If you’ve got a good setup to create raw files, shooting them to a virtual production partner for them to finish can be win-win (plus, some can give you a little direction, too. An unbiased ear can really help).
That’s my take on it. Plus, a marketing plan (if you’re managing yourself) or an agency! All of the training in the world won’t help if you if the prospects aren’t there. Just putting in auditions via lead sites isn’t enough. Even if you got half of the jobs any given site posts, there just aren’t enough of them to sustain a successful career. Research the companies you want to work for, or find someone who will get you in front of them. There’s no luck, it’s just a LOT of hustle!
I just want to add here that I am so grateful, first of all to you, Paul, for the well-thought-out and well-written article, and also to all the lively and thoughtful comments from all of you. I only recently joined your group, and I am impressed. The discussions here are intelligent and honest.
I’m still pretty new to this business, and I learned so much from the article and the comments. Thanks for all your sharing.
You’re too kind, Caroline. Did you join a couple of LinkedIn voice-over groups yet? You’ll notice that we’re a pretty outspoken bunch of people. Not a word of double dutch there!
Well, Paul…I’ll stick my neck out here and say you should back off a bit..Everyone has to start somewhere, and every true artist has had periods where they have sucked out loud. I find your thesis highly judgemental and thinly veiled as a prospectus for talent seekers on “how not to hire voice talent”
You never know…one day the finger could be turned back at you…what is considered “professional” is extremely subjective..sure, there are standards, but there is also a lot of grey area
Finally, you made one statment that had my jaw dropped..
“A professional is flexible and appreciates and incorporates feedback fast without fussing.”
I don’t know what circles you travel in, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. I know many so called “professionals” who are spoiled brats, and are completely inflexible and closed to any criticism and feedback.
Thanks for sticking your neck out, Lee. I warmly welcome all kinds of comments and I often find that I learn more from people who don’t always agree with me, than from those who do. Did you by any chance read my response to Dorothy’s comments? I think I covered some of the things that you brought up in your feedback.
Secondly: no, I won’t back off. To put it bluntly: my blog is my domain and if I feel like whacking the hornet’s nest a little, that’s what I’ll do. Double Dutch is my on-line opinion page and as I said to Dorothy, I call my style: “tickling my readers,” and I am fully aware that some readers will be more tickled than others.
It took me a few years to figure out that no matter what I say, not everyone is going to agree with me and I can live with that. If all of us would be on the same page on everything, this book we call our life would be very thin and uninspiring.
I’m by no means a social media expert, but I do know one thing: if a writer wishes to elicit responses from readers, he or she needs to put some thought-provoking spices into the dish. Otherwise people get bored and the food (for thought) will be ignored.
To be honest with you, I am a bit surprised that a list of very basic standards has lead to some pretty strong reactions. Things like the quality of a recording, appropriate technique and correct pronunciation can be easily measured, and I don’t believe that they are “extremely subjective” at all.
On the other hand, something like script interpretation is highly subjective, and it should be. That’s where a voice-actor leaves his or her personal mark. That’s where your “grey area” becomes colorful and exciting.
It is true that all of us have to start somewhere. But I have no sympathy for beginners who put themselves out there as voice-over professionals, attempting to play on the same field as the pros. Have you ever seen a budding fiddler amidst the New York Philharmonic? Did you ever pay $150 for a ticket to a Broadway show, only to watch a group of amateur, ill-prepared performers? They wouldn’t get a foot in the door thanks to an almost forgotten concept called Quality Control.
We live in a time of immediate gratification and dreams of instant fame. Too many wish to reap the rewards without putting in the work. I don’t deny anyone a dream. However, it takes talent, training, time and experience to get to a certain level in this business. That’s life. Get used to it.
Should anyone feel in any way feel threatened by my list of top ten voice-over mistakes, they really should examine the reasons behind those feelings. If you’re a true pro, you don’t have anything to worry about. If you’re not there yet, you can use this list as a road map for things to work on before you tell the world that you’re a “voice-over professional”.
And finally, to me, Diva-like behavior is utterly unprofessional. Over the years I have had the pleasure of working with many great talents who were modest, open and willing to try out new things. Because they had already reached the top, they no longer had anything to prove.
In my experience, the people with the Diva-attitude usually haven’t quite made it yet, and they are trying to hide their insecurities by being a royal pain in the tush. Or they might have grown up in a home where nobody thought that manners were actually important. Go to any playground and see how many times you can hear the words “Please” and “Thank you”. Good luck!
As far as your professional standards being subjective, Paul, there are some that might be of the opinion that no real professional would waste time blogging about voiceover, they are too busy working.
I personally don’t feel that way, but there could be many and probably are many that would be of that opinion.
Here’s the deal…it’s a whole new ballgame….the internet and the ease of setting up a home recording rig has brought all the wanna be’s out of the woodwork. I think we all get that. It’s been talked about ad nauseum. I’m sure it really pisses off the veterans to no end because they’re not used to this large of a playing field.
I think everybody needs to relax. The playing field levels itself out naturally. In the real world, a budding fiddler is not gonna score a gig with the Philharmonic, it’s just not gonna happen. Just like a budding voiceover artist is all of sudden gonna start booking
all the big time spots. It’s just not gonna happen.
Back in the 60’s, when the Beatles became big, every kid around the world was inspired to pickup a guitar or a bass or a set of drum sticks and form a band. Did it bother the Who? or Jimi Hendrix? or Janis Joplin? or Eric Claptono? or any of the other successful artists or bands? I guarantee they could give a rat’s rump about all the wanna be’s cause they were busy doing their own thing and becoming famous.
I’m not really sure what the topic of subjective professional voice-over standards has to do with ‘wasting time on blogging’. The alleged opinion of the anonymous masses that “no real professional would waste time blogging about voiceover, they are too busy working,” is really something that does not concern me at all.
If you and I would lead our lives by what we assume to be the opinion of the anonymous masses, we’d probably be paralyzed by indecision, because one can always claim that there’s a silent minority or majority that is not going to approve of what we’re about to do, no matter what it is.
The fact is, one cannot argue with a something that cannot be proven, or dialogue with linguistically vague constructs such as ‘people’ or ‘many’. I believe that if you have something to say, just say it and back it up with material that illustrates your point of view. What’s the purpose of bringing up invisible entities, especially if you say you do not even share their ideas?
To those ‘invisibles’ I’d like to say the following:
Have you seen the long list of voice-over bloggers on Bob Souer’s blog: http://bobsouer.com/blog/? You can find some of these blogging colleagues on my blog roll too. As far as I can tell, these bloggers are among the hardest working people in the business, and yet they find the time to write about their passion, and people like Mary McKitrick (http://www.marymckitrick.com/blog/) do it eloquently and generously.
I completely understand that blogging might not be for everybody. Some people prefer to tweet or they enjoy connecting on facebook. Others are producing podcasts (http://voicetalentproductions.com/blog, the Eric and Amber show) or share their love for this business by mentoring young talent or by taking part in on-line forums. People like Dave Courvoisier (http://www.courvo.com/) seem to do it all!
Does that mean that these folks are ‘no real professionals’ because they are ‘wasting their time’ doing things other than making money reading words into a microphone? This begs the more fundamental question: What does it mean to be a VO-pro?
Voice-over colleagues like Terry Daniel would argue that, being a professional voice-over in 2010, is in part about engagement through social media. Together with Dave Courvoisier, he dedicated a website to it: http://www.socialmediavo.com/ I highly recommend you check it out!
If you take a few moments to read my last post: “The one word that saved my freelance career,” (https://www.nethervoice.com/nethervoice/2010/06/07/word-saved-freelance-career/) you’ll find out that I feel I owe part of my “success” to being a contributor. Based on some of the comments readers like Caroline Corser leave on this blog, I have noticed that they think that there’s something of value in what I have to say.
By the way, I’m not one of those ‘pissed off veterans’ you bring up in your response. I am -however- someone who is interested in furthering the field and who is dedicated to increasing professionalism in this business; not out of fear but out of love for my craft.
As you will remember, this particular blog post started out by me trying to help a videographer who was lost after receiving eighty plus voice-over auditions. Since then, I have received emails from e-learning specialists, web designers, authors and aspiring voice-over talent, who told me that my list was helpful. Just read a few of the comments on this page.
Armed with this information, I hope that some of my readers will have an easier time separating the chaff from the wheat, and that VO-newbies will use these tips to hone their craft. It’s my modest contribution to making the playing field a bit more professional.
I respect your right to say whatever you want Paul, but I’m sorry, your “top 10 list” rubbed me the wrong way, basically for the simple reason that it would seem to take an awful lot of hubris to take it upon oneself to decide what is professional and what is not.
As for your contention that blogging and being cyber-social equates with professionalism, all I can say to that is…its a given fact that VO talent vastly outnumber actual VO gigs, so its quite possible there are an awful lot of people with an awful lot of time on their hands.
If in fact your “list” is an effort to educate the uneducated masses, I applaud your efforts. However, its very difficult for me to believe that is your intention based upon the tone and demeanor of your thesis.
When your first red flag is “cheap rates”, I begin to read between the lines, and what I come up with is you making an attempt to raise the alert level of potential voiceover buyers as to the risk of hiring an “amateur”.
So Paul, if you are trying to help make the playing a bit more professional, kudos to you. If you are trying to ace out the newbie by discrediting the “amateur” and thus put a doubt in the mind of the talent buyer who is considering going bargain basement, just say so..
You started off by saying that you find my thesis “highly judgmental” and my standards “extremely subjective”. Then you quoted anonymous masses who supposedly believe that “no real professional would waste time blogging about voiceover, they are too busy working.”
Now you’re saying that it would seem to take extreme haughtiness or arrogance “to decide what is professional or not” and that I rubbed you the wrong way. You also claim that I contend that “blogging and being cyber-social equates with professionalism”. It all sounds so disparaging…
Forgive me Lee, but you seem to be reading a lot between the lines, and assumptions usually have everything to do with the interpretor and very little with the source. Ancient wisdom teaches us: The world we see is a mirror of who we are.
The Society of accredited Voice Over Artists (Savoa) has developed a set of accreditation criteria (http://savoa.org/accreditation-criteria/) for vocal delivery and technical delivery. Here are some of the criteria from the last category:
– Audio level (finished work ideally delivered at or under -6dBFS)
– Noise level (absence of ambient noise. During recorded “silence,” a cumulative noise floor of -40 dBFS or less is deemed sufficient for broadcast standards)
– Room decay (reverberation, echo or ring should be below .07 sec with a decay of 85% from first test impact to a sound level at .07 sec.)
– No distortion from poor mic placement or other reason
– No apparent over-processing
– No indication of overdriving the mic
– No digital clipping
– No obvious pickups
– No indication of poor or absent pop filtering
I don’t know about you, but I find these criteria anything but extremely subjective or arrogant, and you could actually find a few paralels in my top ten.
Labeling standards like these (or my list for that matter) with phrases such as “it would seem to take an awful lot of hubris…” takes this issue to a very personal level, almost assuming that whoever came up with these criteria must think of him or herself as a superior being with a hidden agenda. I prefer a discussion about issues, based on facts. Can we agree to leave the personal insinuations and assumptions out of it, please?
In my second response to you, I asked the question: “What does it mean to be a VO-pro?” I followed that up by pointing to someone like Terry Daniel and his thoughts on the use of social media. At no point did I state “that blogging and being cyber-social equates with professionalism”. I also mentioned mentoring and I can name many more things that we can do to be an engaged professional.
I’m sure that -in your words “its quite possible there are an awful lot of people with an awful lot of time on their hands.” So what? What does that actually prove?
I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my blog, but I’m not making assumptions as to why you seem to have the time to do that. It’s up to each and every individual to prioritize the number of things that they wish to accomplish on any given day.
And what’s wrong about “an attempt to raise the alert level of potential voiceover buyers as to the risk of hiring an “amateur”? After all, the title of this article is “10 ways to spot a voice-over amateur”.
Consumer watchdogs are educating the public all the time. Better Bussiness Bureaus warn us about scams and con artists. A site like Charity Navigator evaluates how different causes spend their money.
I am not on a mission to discredit anyone. People discredit themselves by delivering substandard products and services. People have a right to sell themselves short by working for extremely low rates. Regular readers of my blog know that my opinion on these matters is absolutely no secret.
Not everyone might like what I have to say and that’s okay. I’m not asking my readers to agree with me. At best, I hope to get people talking and thinking about certain things in this business. It’s a bit like planting seeds. Some come up and others don’t.
I cannot make people do things they don’t want to do, and I cannot make them feel things they don’t want to feel. Believe me, if I had those super-human powers, I would probably be a very rich man!
thanks for the lengthy reply, Paul..unfortunately I couldn’t get through the entire response because my eyes started to glaze over. Kudos to you though, for having the time to write these opuses and construct detailed lists, yet still maintain a busy 24/7 VO career.
As a philosopher once wrote to a friend: “I apologize for this lengthy answer. I didn’t have time to write a shorter one.” Or in other words: If you want to get something done, ask a busy person.”
In my experience, all of us get our “musts” done, but not necessarily our “like to’s”. My readers are important to me, and that’s why I have no problem taking the time to respond to them as best as I can.
I recently bought myself a pair of orange colored reading glasses, especially made for those of us who stare at a computer screen all day long. These glasses take away the glare and are soothing to the eyes. No more glazing… I do look like a sixties rock star, though.
Thanks for contributing to a lively exchange, Lee!
Paul – I’d like to throw my two cents in and say I am very grateful for your follow up with Lee. I am impressed with the calm and objective way you have responded to his “professional remarks”. Lee calls himself a Voice Over Coach (see VO U) and then complains about another taking time to write blogs – thus building a VO biz, while spending his own time writing repetitive disdainful comments – sounds like some sort of sour grapes. Too bad he got “glazed over” as he was overwhelmed with your insightful and detailed but professional replies. Since Lee was getting glazed over like a holiday ham, perhaps an appropriate saying might be, “If you can’t cook, get out of the kitchen” as an additional comment for Lee Kanne to consider.
Unfortunately Rebecca, you can’t seem to recognize a spirited debate when it’s right it front of your face. Maybe you’re the one who should “get out of the kitchen”.
Lastly, I’d be happy to refer you to the many I have helped during the development of their VO careers (many au gratis, by the way).
Thanks for bringing your tasteful remarks to the table, Rebecca! Staying with your kitchen metaphor… it’s impossible to cook something up that will be liked by everybody, and I’m glad Lee gave me the opportunity to add some nuances to my meal. All of us come from a different place, and with a little bit of sunshine even sour grapes can turn sweet.
Contrary to Lee’s belief, I don’t “maintain a 24/7 VO career,” because that would not be healthy. I ‘m a big believer in balance, although I did recently admit that I’m a bit of a workaholic. Here’s the thing: my voice-over career doesn’t really feel like work to me.
Tomorrow I’ll slip into my other role as wedding officiant. I’ll be marrying a young couple in an art gallery near Philadelphia. La vita è bella!
Standards – in all industries – are established to determine and maintain a consistent level of quality. Professionals support those standards because they believe a consistent level of quality benefits everyone. If we did not have people supporting standards, there would be no need for standards. And, whether it is fast food or gourmet food, for example, it all is expected to meet certain minimum standards of quality. But if someone wants to trap, kill, prepare and consume their own provisions – and not subject them to the accepted standards of quality, they should feel absolutely free to do so. But they will get what they get.
(The statement above was intended only to illustrate why standards are important; nothing more.)
Long live standards of quality and those who support them.
I just don’t get the point. The standard of amateur vs professional has always been measured in the performing arts as who works vs who doesn’t work. If you’re sitting around waiting for the phone to ring and haven’t had a gig in two years, and you still would like to consider yourself a voiceover artist, you will be forced to up your game. It’s that simple.
And of course, there’s this thing called talent. You could be considered a “pro” according to Paul’s list, but still not be able to really grasp how to make cold hard words come to life, because that’s something that is not easily measurable. It either is or isn’t.
Thanks for revisiting my blog, Lee. Living in a black-and-white world would certainly make things easier. I think that your universal truth “The standard of amateur vs professional has always been measured in the performing arts as who works vs who doesn’t work,” is too much of a generalization. Whom are you quoting or what are you basing this on?
Your opinion falls into the same category as one of your earlier quotes: “there are some that might be of the opinion that no real professional would waste time blogging about voiceover, they are too busy working.”
As one of my teachers used to say:
“Every generalization is a lie, including this one.”
In this recession, there are plenty of people who have lost their jobs or who are underemployed. Does that mean that they’re not professional? My wife has multiple sclerosis and can’t work as much anymore. Does that make her less of a professional?
I’ll be the first to admit that my list is by no means extensive. I never meant it to be that way. Talent (or lack thereof) can be in part judged by number seven and eight: delivery and script interpretation.
Are your eyes glazed over yet?
“Every generalization is a lie, including this one.”
You inadvertently proved my point
It’s odd that you would refer to this quote, because your “list” is the epitome of generalization. According to you, if you fit the criteria you’ve mentioned your an “amateur”, if you don’t your a “pro”. Pretty general, wouldn’t you say?
As far as your recession analogy, that’s completely beside the point and irrelevant..Voiceover, Acting is unique is so many aspects and different in so many ways that the rules of other more standard professions rarely apply.
In order to try to eliminate any more “glazing”, allow me to return to my original point and response to your “list”:
A “list” that attempts to determine who is or isn’t up to snuff in the world of VO is fine for the sake of discussion per se, but since it’s such a relative and subjective area what seems professional to some might seem amateur, and vice versa, to others
I have to say Paul, that you’ve been a gentleman and a good sport throughout this debate, so kudos to you.
We seem to be running around in circles, Lee. I’ve mentioned that I believe that most of my criteria are quite specific and objective (and in line with SAVOA accreditation criteria). Other criteria such as text interpretation are more subjective, but in my opinion, they also provide valuable information about someone’s level of professionalism. You don’t have to agree with me.
I also noticed that you don’t really address my response to your generalizations, other than by adding another generalization to the mix:
“Voiceover, Acting is unique is so many aspects and different in so many ways that the rules of other more standard professions rarely apply.” Again I ask: based on what?
Let’s look at your measure of professionalism for a moment. You state point blank that “The standard of amateur vs professional has always been measured in the performing arts as who works vs who doesn’t work”.
How much help is that to a voice-seeker, and how much truth is in that statement?
There are many professionals who would like to work, but they might have lost their job or they might be underemployed, due to the economy. Unfortunately, for too many people that’s only too relevant.
Being out of a job doesn’t make someone less of a professional. Believing that, just adds insult to injury. You probably don’t mean it that way, but it could come across as quite harsh and insensitive.
Thanks for your contributions, Lee. I look forward to hearing some other views on this topic.
Thanks for this blog!
I’m afraid I didn’t do too well on the equipment portion of the test. My setup is so basic, my apartment so tiny, that the best I can do is the rudimentary thing. I guess one has to buy a house and build a booth to get the work really flowing these days.
Sigh.
Hey, all of us had to start somewhere! My rule of thumb is to invest a part of the money I make in growing of my business. It’s a nice reward for all the hard work and an incentive to keep on going.
As long as you’re not doing multi-track recording, a simple set-up might just be what you need. I use an MXL VO: 1-A “Harlan Hogan” microphone ($249) and a CEntrance MicPort Pro (selling at some places for $119.99).
Some colleagues record in their closet and get very decent sound quality surrounded by clothing and shoes…
No closet. Just a laptop and a snowball mike. Sometimes I’ll put a blanket on the floor to absorb some sound, but it’s basic, I tells ya. Basic. I’m not a beginner, either. But I am probably quitting. I’ve had enough.
This business is not as simple as it seems, precisely because it is a business. Doing the work is relatively easy. Getting the work is not. Sometimes, enough’s enough. Whatever you may decide to do in 2011, I wish you nothing but the best, personally and professionally!
Thanks. You, too. Hard work is one thing, but stupidly hard work is quite another.
I think one of the things that finally snapped the tether was an agent advertising a workshop led by a famous US voice casting director–$800 for a 5-hour class. I’ve gone to these so-called workshops, hoping to learn something and meet people, but they’re mostly just expensive. The CD for this class casts mainly celebrities, and was teaching for the first time in a long time.
The flyer emphasized how special this class was, but everyone tacitly knows that anyone taking such a class would be paying the better part of a month’s rent just to get face time with the CD.
What people don’t realize is while they’re busy telling actors how they come off to others, those people are coming off a certain way to actors, too. That advertisement on the surface seemed like a great opportunity. But it also seemed like another scam, even though the CD is a prominent one. Charging $800 just because he/she can…only so much I can take.
When you realize that the business is structured in such a way to make you feel squandered and used, you just back off. Yes, you can have your own enterprise and rely minimally on agents and cd’s. But you still have to build relationships with industry people. Doing so takes years, because of building trust, and also because many of them want to charge people money for the scant opportunity to spend years trying to build relationships.
Well, here we are back at the scene of the crime.
After all is said and done, let’s try to keep in mind that it’s not always about the gear and the setup. If you do enough research online and sift thru enough VO message boards, you can, in a relatively short time, figure out how to put together a personal studio that can get “good enough” results, and when I say “good enough” I mean a setup that can deliver a clean, noise free audition, and if hired, a track that can be taken and processed and used for broadcast or whatever. Hell, there is video posted online of talent recording gigs in their cars with a MicPort and an Netbook.
I think its much more difficult to acquire the actual chops to be a true voiceover actor, to be able to take the cold hard text and make it your own, breath life into it. So while you can’t have one without the other, I would rather err on the side of too little technical for the sake of interpretation, as opposed to too little intrepretation and too much technical.
As they say: it often takes years to become an overnight success. I just put a short presentation together entitled “The Troublesome Truth about a Voice-Over Career”.
https://www.nethervoice.com/nethervoice/2010/12/29/troublesome-truth-voiceover-career/
It deals with 16 common misconceptions about making it in this profession.
Reporting live from the scene of the crime, Paul Strikwerda, Nethervoice News.
Daddy, you are awesome! I love you. (my daughter wanted me to add this).
Hi again Paul
Words of wisdom….. interesting to see some of the responses – some people take things so personally!
My thoughts for what they’re worth…
No one starts out as ‘experienced’ you have to work at that.
Being able to read aloud does not make you a voice over actor.
Having the best equipment in the world won’t make a mediocre voice over sound like a good voice over; but the wrong equipment can make a good vo actor sound mediocre.
Cheers
I couldn’t agree more, Helen. Owning a Steinway does not make a person a pianist, let alone a professional musician.
You might have seen my post “The troublesome truth about voice-overs” https://www.nethervoice.com/nethervoice/2010/12/29/troublesome-truth-voiceover-career/
It aims to demystify some of the misconceptions people have about our business.
Someone once said: “The price of success is paid in advance”. Too many newcomers to this field don’t seem to be willing to pay that price, or they lack the patience to hone their skills.
Paul, thanks for a great post! I was eager to read it when I saw the title because I’m interested in increasing my professionalism and I knew the list would show me where some of my strengths and weaknesses are.
I want to ask about one part that puzzled me. I know what gain is and how I set mine but the ‘inside or outside the box’ part threw me. I set the gain on my preamp and leave it alone in my recording software. I’m guessing ‘The Box’ means the computer so that means I set mine outside the box. Is that the right way to do it?
And thanks for sharing the Sova criteria. I’m saving that to be sure I match up to it.
Hey John, thanks for your question. Do you own a copy of the “Voice Actor’s Guide to Recording at Home and on the Road“? If so, go to Chapter 8 and you’ll see that Harlan Hogan and Jeffery P. Fischer discuss setting levels inside and outside the box. You’re absolutely right by the way. The Box refers to the computer. You can set the input levels on your preamp (outside) and on your desk- or laptop (inside).
If you like Baklava, we look forward to seeing you in Istanbul! So many different types to choose from!
In the days I still lived in the Netherlands, one of my Turkish friends had jus returned from Istanbul. That morning he had bought some baklava, and in the afternoon we were enjoying it with some strong Turkish coffee. Perfect!