New to VO - Question about engineering a demo

[SueColas]

Hello Everyone,

I am enjoying this forum, what a wonderful resource. I am new to the VO business and am looking for your advice in creating my first demo.

I have been listening to professional recordings from the William Morris website to A-B with my ever-evolving demo.

It seems as though the background music is very loud in these demos. But Joe, you seem to have background music and sounds very low. I like it better that way. The VO is showcased instead of the music/sound. But do the end-products have the loud music with the voice over nestled into the EQ?

I read that the highest level of sound should be around -6dB. But some of the demos off William Morris seem to be around -3 to 0dB with a lot of compression. Of course, you don't want your demo to be dull and low in volume if the one they listened to before you was bright and loud.

Because we have been recording, mixing, mastering music in our studio and I just got started in VO, I need to know the differences in sound engineering techniques.

What do you suggest? I appreciate your input.

Sue

PS If anyone here needs music backgrounds for their demo, let me know.

[JoeActor]

Hey Sue,

I had my demos done by a studio and an audio engineer. No substitute for a pro. I hadn't heard the "-6" rule - my demos are between -3 and 0.

Wish I could be more helpful, but there's a lot that goes into a good demo. Many ways to make your voice stand out above the background music and effects.

This might be a good question to post in Colin's area...
Joe J Thomas
Joe J. Thomas Acting Portfolio (http://www.JoeActor.com)

[SomeAudioGuy]

Also don't forget that some of those demos might be assembled from actual spots, and we all know that TV people LOVE to compress commercials to within an inch of their lives.

Normalizing to -6 is a decent "rule" that's just dying to be broken for effect. Head room is good, as you'll never know what quality of speakers you'll be played on, but why have head room if you're not going to use it?;)

A lot of the same experiences you've had with music will work here too, especially mastering the track, and making it sound good on a variety of playback setups.

Joe's right though, there are a LOT of different techniques to producing demos, and it's largely going to come down to what kind of voice you're trying to showcase.

Throw us some samples. We'll be brutal!:afro:

[jsgilbert]

Sue,
Find the studio in your area that does the most amount of commecial v.o. recording and you will probably be able to get one of their engineers to assist you for a reasonable rate. Somebody who is steeped in real world recordings will know how it should be mixed and also represents an additional relationship.

This is not to say that you shouldn't or can;t also have a voice teracher or voice coach work with you as well. (If that's what you want)

If you're thinking about producing the demo yourself, realize that very few people will tell you it's bad to your face and will simply chuck it in the trash and smile and nod their head.

[SomeAudioGuy]

Hell, I'll tell you it's bad to your face...
:cool:
LOL!

[SueColas]

Hell, I'll tell you it's bad to your face...
:cool:
LOL!

That's the spirit! :afro:

Don't worry, we have had our share of rejections with the music . . . That is the nature of the business.

Is there a place here to post mp3s or do I send a URL to our website?

[JoeActor]

Is there a place here to post mp3s or do I send a URL to our website?
URL's are always great (less time and space!).

You can also post in the Hotseat section - here's a direct link:
http://www.voice-overs.com/forum/hotseat-will-you-critique-my-demo/

Looking forward to hearing it ;-)

Cheers,
Joe J Thomas
Joe J. Thomas Acting Portfolio (http://www.JoeActor.com)

[Julie Williams]

My recommendation is not to engineer it yourself.
It's not just any audio recording. THis is your DEMO. Your primary marketing tool. You need more than just an extraordinary engineer. You need someone who knows the VO industry inside and out...and who will not only get the copy for you, but coach you through it...bringing out your best...and the "read" that people are looking for in today's market.

On top of that... you don't want to process everything the same,. You might even record some spots on a different mike than others!

What they say about the doctor who treats himself has a fool for a patient... Same is true in VO. I've had to redo MANY demos that were done by very competent studios. They cost even more than I charged to produce the whole thing! And they were high quality pieces of junk... useful only to give their mother's for Christmas.

So, Sue...
just a warning. If you produce the demo yourself...and you're new in VO...so you don't know the market... it'll stand out as unprofessional from the start. These days, everyone has a studio. Anyone can produce a piece of audio. But if it doesn't sound like a professional voiceover demo... it screams "newbie!" And no one wants to trust their clients to a newbie.

[SueColas]

Thank you, Julie. Great advice.

Sue