New here

[cjh791982]

Hi everyone, my name is Chris, I am 26 years old from Louisiana, and I have been interested in doing voice-overs for quite a while now. I have had a distinct speaking voice (mainly an authoritative sounding announcer-type voice, baritone) and I have always wanted to do something with it since it got that way. I sometimes read books or newspaper articles out loud but I just never seem to find the time to practice. In all honesty, though, I feel very unsure about what to do because of an encounter I had with someone in my area who was a VO guy, whose voice I had admired for some time. He did have some good advice, but it was probably not very useful in my situation. He recommended reading for a solid hour, which I could not do because I had had experience doing hour-long sessions when I read for the blind on radio (I could not do it because by the time the hour had passed, my vocal chords had tightened to the point of exhaustion and almost slurred speech). He also suggested to get a tape recorder, though I probably would have preferred a microphone to hook into my computer's hard drive. When I told him that I was having problems, and told of why I could not read for a full hour, he basically told me to get lost. The entire experience shook my confidence, and changed my perception of that person for the worse.

I just don't know what to do about pursuing a voice-over career, I don't know if I should build a recording booth (which I can't do because I don't have enough space in my room), or what brand of microphone to purchase, or what kind of scripts to read or anything. I don't even know about vocal exercises or what to do about that. I am just very anxious, nervous and unsure. I have confidence in my voice but I do know that it's not exactly what most people are looking for, and that there will be rejection. I am totally lost. I would really like to take this acting class at the local community college but I can't get the teacher to contact me about it, despite repeated attempts to contact him via email. I don't know what to do at all. Can anyone help? Please let me know.

[JoeActor]

Hi Chris - Welcome!

Glad you found us. There's plenty of good info on the forums already. Take a bit of time and poke around - You may find some of your questions have been answered in the past.

I for one would suggest one of the following: a VO Class to learn the basics, getting involved in local Theatre or Improv, purchasing a book on VO and the business (check the Review section for some options there).

I'd say you need to start laying a solid foundation, and discover if VO is really for you. It's a lot of work to establish yourself in this industry. Hold off on buying any equipment until you are more comfortable with the in's and out's of the business, and with your own range.

One note of caution, be wary of some VO Coaches and/or Classes. There are a lot of high priced ones that promise a "Demo" at the end - avoid them like the plague! One class or series of sessions is not enough to go from newbie to ready for a "Demo". When you know a bit more about VO, a good coach in your area can guide you, and guage when you're ready for a demo...

Hope this helps a bit,
Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com

[cjh791982]

Joe,
Thanks for the reply. I am planning on taking an acting class at my local community college within the next two weeks. I also have at least three books on voice-overs on hand, "Word Of Mouth", "Making Money In Voice-Overs" and "There's Money Where Your Mouth Is". I started reading the third one the other night, and there's a lot of good information in it so far. I'm going to stick with that one before I read the other two, unless this book appears to be the most helpful to me. One thing I'm concerned about is vocal exercises. What should I do about that? If singing is a part of it, I must say that I have just a decent voice, it's a baritone singing voice, not a soprano like I used to have, so I can't really hit the high notes. Also, I have a recording of myself reading for the blind if anyone would like to hear it. Please let me know. Thanks again.

[JoeActor]

Those are good books. I've actually taken classes with Cynthia Songe (of Word of Mouth).

I sing a little almost every day, just to keep in practice. Not a whole lot of call for singing in VO, but it's a good warm-up. Tongue twisters are good to loosen up the machinery as well.

We have a thread for auditions to be heard and reviewed (Leads and Reads -> Now Hear This) Take a look at that. When you get to the point that you have a demo, you can post that in the Hotseat section. Be forewarned: people here are very honest, and expect a certain level of ability in a demo. The auditions posting is much more forgiving...

[cjh791982]

I have now found out that there is no place in my area to get training for acting. There was no class for acting at my local college to begin with. I cannot get any training of any kind because of my family situation, so I guess I'm afraid I will have to train myself. What should I do?

[rneldable]

Hello there. I'm from the Philippines, if you think you're far away from getting training from the VO professional coaches,

think how precarious it is my case. We don't have an established industry; however, it is my burning desire to become a voice

actor that brought me a very long distance(not physically) to find the best coaches in town. I've taken tele-workshop with

Debbie Munro, who is from North America, while I was sitting back here in my little room. I even went far by taking

accent lessons from other professionals in the field of speech and communication with the same tele approach.

There are plenty of VO coaches(includingPat Fraley, Rodney Saulsberry to name a few) who offer tele-workshops

(may it be group or private one- on- one) that do not require you, of course, to be physically present where they are.

Plus there are loads of wonderful websites out there intended, especially, for us- aspiring voice over actors, to help us find our way.


My first encounter, to share my story, with the no-nonsense vault of information was thru Itunes podcast directory,

I'd just let myself get carried away on one ordinary day, and out of nowhere my search yielded 'voice over expert podcast',

produced by the wonderful people of www.voices.com. I was acquainted with the list of remarkable people who already have built monument

of their own in the arena where we want to belong, also this is where I first met my brilliant coaches.

Now, I haven't done anything that big yet, not even a simple demo, because I believe everything has its perfect moment.

We just have to take one step at a time. I also believe that we can belong to this world-the voice over industry, only if we choose to.

Welcome Chris, Rnel here from the Island of the Philippines.

[rneldable]

Just sharing the wealth of information I've come by thru the net. My very treasure podcast from Avi Melman's show is

the Holiday Episode(48mins and 30s duration). Here Pat Fraley (guest), tell his tale regarding his voice over journey. And what intrigued me most

was his advice to people like us. Go check out man, it will answer your crucial questions. You may go directly to Itunes

Store and search Avi Melman, or go to his website at Avi Melman and follow the link to download the shows

episodes. In fact all the episodes on his show are SUPER.

[Scott Pollak]

Chris.... I suggest reading the top post on this thread if you haven't already:

Random Thoughts for Newbies

Best wishes and good luck!