Hello again, I’m Paul, a professional voice over person who started his career in the Netherlands when he was 17 years young, and at age 61 I am calling it quits.
I am done talking for hours on end. I am done sitting in front of my computer, editing my recordings into the wee hours of the night, bending over backwards for clients who don’t give a you-know-what; clients you have to chase before they send you a check.
They always want the finished product yesterday, and get all upset when you politely ask about payment after the agreed upon 60 days have passed. Yes, I’m the bad guy for wanting the money I earned- to be in the bank in full, on time…
MY REASON FOR GIVING UP
But that’s not the main reason I’m quitting. One of the most important factors why I am leaving the business has nothing to do with others and everything with me. It has to do with my instrument, with my voice.
Just like a pianist is nothing without a piano, a voice over is nothing without strong and healthy vocal folds. A pianist can always buy a new instrument, but a vocalist can’t trade his voice in for something different.
And when I say “HIS,” I don’t mean to exclude anyone. Please remember: this is about my experience and I happen to be male.
Are you up for an experiment?
If you want to know if a voice over career is for you, pick one of your favorite books, and start reading it out loud for let’s say five to six hours and try not to make any mistakes or weird mouth noises. If at the end of these six hours your voice sounds just as fresh as in the beginning, a voice over career may be for you. I say maybe, because it’s never only about the instrument. It’s always about how well you play it. Remember that! Owning a Steinway grand doesn’t make you a concert pianist.
The words on the page are nothing but the notes of the score. After some basic training, most people will be able to play the notes, but that doesn’t mean they’re making music that’s so amazing that people want to buy it.
VOCAL ENDURANCE
Now, tell me: how it is possible for opera singers to be on stage and sing for three hours without a microphone after a day of rehearsals? It’s not because they have a nice voice. It’s because they have a well-trained voice. They’ve conditioned it over many years. They’re like athletes who have been strengthening their muscles every single day.
By the way, let me ask you: out of all the singers who have dreamt of performing on the big stages of the world, how many actually make it to the top? How many athletes eventually compete at the highest levels and win medals at the Olympics?
A very small minority. And what these people have in common, is that they make it look very easy, like… anyone can do it. Remember: a lot of effort goes into making things look “effortless.” There’s no success without sacrifice.
You and I watch the race on TV and see the winners celebrate on the podium. We don’t see the long, hard road to victory.
GET RICH QUICK?
How many voice actors actually make a decent living being locked up in a dark and tiny triple-walled vocal booth that’s cost them ten thousand dollars?
The National Association of Voice Actors, NAVA, has asked voice overs about how much they make in a year, and many of them don’t even make minimum wage. In fact, the IRS would consider them to be hobbyists.
Even with all my experience and a long list of impressive clients, there have been months during which my wife’s income has kept our family afloat.
Here’s a secret no one will tell you: the best paid voice actors you hear in Disney movies and on the Cartoon Network, are usually not professional voice overs, but actors you see on stage or screen. Or they’re stand up comedians. They know the difference between delivering a line and reading a line. They are the celebrities that sell tickets. Not people like me.
Anyway, in the next installment I will reveal how my health has done a huge number on my career as a working voice actor.
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