Lemme Have It

[alexrain]

Hey Guy and Gals,
I just updated my commercial demo and would love to hear comments/suggestions etc. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Thanks!

Alex
Rain Voiceovers at Alex Rain Dot Com (http://www.alexrain.com)

[bigbry]

Nice clear voice and read...great energy.
Bry

[Emorgan_Voiceovers]

Alex, that is very nice and clean. The voice is bright and clear. Very nice. I will say that while there is a ton of improvement from the first time I heard your stuff until now, there still seems to be a bit of announcer there. I also wonder: Why didn't you put your "Pre-Pass" song on your demo? That was a stellar piece of work in my opinion and it shows diversity. It would also put a chuckle in there for the person listening. A great way to end a demo is to put a smile on someones face. Just my 1/2 cent. I really like the electronics spot and the empty wallet thing.

[shenecke]

Emorgan, thought you might like to know that your commercial demo on your wesite plays your station imaging audio.

[Robert Jadah]

I found the opening bit too long, Alex, and would cut it off at about the :09 or :10 mark. I'd move the Eyes Glaze Over snippet up to the Number Two slot, as it sort of shows a different and more playful you and provides a nice, jarring change of pace to keep the listener engaged. Then I'd totally lose the last two spots, since they are quite similar to the rest, add nothing, and therefore kind'a scream out, "Hey; this is all I do!"
All this would also leave the demo at a sturdy :55 or so.

But, of course, the definitive demo has yet to be laid down, so what do I know?

Good, clear articulation. Good energy. Nice stuff. Me like.

Constructively Yours,

[alexrain]

Been a while since I've been to the board (I just finished my first audiobook - whew! Lotta work...) Thanks Robert, Eric, Bry... great suggestions... thanks for the compliments, too. I appreciate the help!

Best,
Alex
Rain Voiceovers at Alex Rain Dot Com (http://www.alexrain.com)

[jsgilbert]

It doesn't build. Most of it sounds the same and there's no real sense that you have a connection to the words you're saying, in particular the products or services. It sounds like you "got through it", which is how the vast majority of demos sound and why they get listened to for 10 seconds and get chucked in the wastebasket.

There is no discovery of you, who you are, how you feel, etc.

Where are you? Why would you be saying what your saying? Who would you say it to? (a real person that you know) What is your goal? What came first? What comes after you're done talking? Are you sitting or standing? Do you have a ham sandwhich in your hand that you are waving around?

Build the scen for yourself and supply all the setails of the complete story including how you feel. Here's an excercise. Readthe newspaper out loud. Take a bunch of strips of paper and write down "Happy, sad, miserable, angry, whimsical, high brow, apologetic, etc." as you read the newspaper, pull out a paper strip and change and start reading in that emotion for another paragraph or so, then pull out another strip and so on. Record yourself doing this and you will get a sense as to how tyo apply this when given commercial copy. Sometimes emotions, energy and intent can change 4 times in one sentence.

Otherwise, if you want to go with what you know, if you are looking for very minor market and low pay work, you could probably land some, here it's more important to be willing to do a radio spot for $50 and have good elocution. For the better work, I wuld recommend you immerse yourself in improv training - forget voice classes, do improv it is cheaper and more fun and it will get you to the point where you want to be with these reads. Just realize that improv acting doesn't start to seep in until you have that first catharctic experience that al;lows you to be perceived as foolish or silly.

Othersies, I might look into things like voice mail or corporate narration which can pay well and would allow you to use your existing skills.

[Emorgan_Voiceovers]

Emorgan, thought you might like to know that your commercial demo on your wesite plays your station imaging audio.

Hmmmm, I just went and checked and it played the right thing.:S Wonder what's up. I have tried it with both Internet Explorer and Firefox and it worked right. What browser are you using?

[shenecke]

IE. Maybe it was my boxes problem! Hmm. I'll visit your site and try it again and let you know. Nope. Using a different computer and the first two demos both start with Ozzie, "All aboard"

[Emorgan_Voiceovers]

IE. Maybe it was my boxes problem! Hmm. I'll visit your site and try it again and let you know. Nope. Using a different computer and the first two demos both start with Ozzie, "All aboard"

Yep, I just got it to do it on a different computer using IE. Time to email my web guy. Thank you very much for the heads up. Kind of weird, if you click the text that says "Commercial Demo" it opens media player and plays right. If you click the play button on the little player pictured on the site, it plays wrong. Good thing I got a web guy, that kind of stuff would drive me nuts.