A touch of Dutch

[paulstrikwerda]

Yes, I'm here to add a little touch of Dutch to this forum. I was born and raised in The Netherlands, but I have been living in Pennsylvania for almost ten years now. That does not make me Pennsylvania Dutch, though!

I've been doing voice-overs ever since I started working as a broadcaster, some 25 years ago. During those years, I worked for Dutch Public Radio & Television, Radio Netherlands International and the BBC. More recently, I worked for Public Radio in the United States. Right now, I combine my voice-over business with translation services.

Mike Lemon Casting and the Greer Lange Agency are representing me in the Tri-State area, although I book most of my gigs without the help of an agent these days.

Producers often label me as the "Euro-Guy", because I don't sound like your average American. In fact, some people mistake me for a Brit when they first hear me, and I don't mind. Because of that, most of my voice-over jobs are in done in English.

I wanted to keep this short and hopefully sweet, so if you'd like to get to know me even better and hear what I sound like, check out my site:

http://paulstrikwerda.at.translatorscafe.com


Have a good one, and keep those vocal chords in shape!

Paul Strikwerda
paulstrikwerda@rcn.com

[Paul Plack]

Paul, welcome! You'll find a good, quirky bunch here!

I tried listening to the audio samples on your website. You have an interesting sound, and I liked the excerpt from the piece on ghosts, but the quality was very rough. Do you have any higher qiality demos posted anywhere?

[paulstrikwerda]

Thank you so much for visiting my site, Paul. Something spooky must have been going on with my audio samples. I actually took them straight from the audible.com website where these AudioBooks can be downloaded. I do have the audio on CD, and perhaps that will give me a better quality demo. I appreciate the feedback and I will certainly experiment with the samples. At some point I will have to go into the studio and put some real demo's together. I'm sure it will pay off in the end, and I'm saving up to get it done.

[JoeActor]

Hello Paul - Welcome!

... looks like I found a new "Go-To" guy for all things Dutch ;-)

About your site samples: Love the Dutch one - very good for my accent practice.

The quality is odd tho. Almost sounds like you've got the left channel inverted, and the levels a bit low (gives it that old radio sound). I hear it mostly in number 1 and 2, not so much in 3.

Hope this helps a bit - enjoy the forums,
Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com
www.SoundsGoodToYou.com

[paulstrikwerda]

Thanks for the feedback, Joe. I've uploaded the samples again, and this time the quality should be much better.

[JoeActor]

Thanks for the feedback, Joe. I've uploaded the samples again, and this time the quality should be much better.

Ah! There's your voice!

Much better - the first one is the best of the three...
(of course, I don't speak Dutch, so it's hard to tell on the third ;-)

Joe

[paulstrikwerda]

I respectfully have to agree with you! The second sample was taken from an Audible.com download that was put on CD. I have no clue why it doesn't sound as crisp as sample number one.

Even though I have been in the States for almost ten years, my Dutch is still accent free (and I intend to keep to keep it that way...). Oddly enough, 95% of the voice-over work I do is in English.

So, if anyone happens to stumble upon some Dutch scripts, I'd be happy to put on my clogs and put my tu-lips to good use!

Paul


http://paulstrikwerda.at.translatorscafe.com