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For a long time I've been wanting to break into a voice acting career. But time and budget have always made me reconsider. But I've decided that I'm going to have to risk the debt because if I make a successful career of this I'll not only be making good money, but I'll be doing something I enjoy.
My overall goal is animation. I love animation of all sorts, and I think it would be the greatest thrill to make a contribution to the process. But this being reality you have to start somewhere if you want to get noticed.

The last few weeks I've been working with Marc Graue. He's a successful voice guy who makes a living on all sides of the voice over business. He's a voice actor himself, but also produces and directs voice talent (You can recently hear his voice on the most recent Last Airbender movie trailer). He has a working studio in Burbank that has recorded all sorts of talent in it's 25+ years of existence. He's not an inexpensive fellow to go to for a voice demo, but you'll be happy with the results for certain.

I just got my Commercial Demo finished and ready to go. I'd love to get your opinions on it.

UPDATED : My newly revised animation demo is done and ready for your opinions! Fire away!

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Shawncy, that sounds excellent. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's terrible voice acting. I know this isn't what you're going for, but at least it's a step, so I'll say it: If I heard this stuff on my radio I'd either be impressed, or otherwise I just wouldn't launch into that rage I get when someone in a radio ad talks like he's reading a high school presentation off a sheet of looseleaf. And I launch into that rage quite often.

Good luck to you, for sure!

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

I think your voice is great for commericals like the Arrowhead, Columbia, and Snickers ones. The voices for Pedigree and Diddy Kong didn't really do it for me though.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Excellent!! You're well on your way!

Note.. if you're on your way to animation, maybe do some voices of character lines? Like maybe mix something up with a short story?

I'm envious.. I want to do that too, and I'm going to be in California at the end of the month!

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Rob: Thanks for the awesome vote of confidence!

Wasabi: I really like how the Arrowhead spot came out, and think that's likely what I'll probably be booked a lot for.

Matt: I'm actually going to be working on an Animation Demo next. That's where you get to really go to town with the character voices and accents. If you're serious about voice acting I highly recommend Marc Graue's class and demo production to get you started. http://www.fixinthemix.com/

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Shawnacy said:

Rob: Thanks for the awesome vote of confidence!

Wasabi: I really like how the Arrowhead spot came out, and think that's likely what I'll probably be booked a lot for.

Matt: I'm actually going to be working on an Animation Demo next. That's where you get to really go to town with the character voices and accents. If you're serious about voice acting I highly recommend Marc Graue's class and demo production to get you started. http://www.fixinthemix.com/

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heh.. I keep seeing "Marc GRUE" =D

Man I don't know where to start.. I'd need a script for one, I'm not spontaneous very much.. but I know I can do a few voices - particularly a spot on Mr Burns impersonation, as well as some passable King of the Hill voices. But definitely gonna check it out!

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

We're nerds. We all see it that way first.

Here's what's awesome about that class. It's a one day class that basically covers everything you need to know about the industry, your demo, finding an agent, and making a career of it. You also get to spend time in the booth using some copy that Marc provides. When you get your demo done with him part of the cost also covers the copy he'll provide you. Writing your own stuff can be dangerous, so it's best to just go with stuff that already exists. Another class that I have heard is awesome (yet I have not taken it) is Susan Blu's class. She covers mostly animation work.

Here's the big thing though, impersonations are great, but you'll want your own characters for the demos. No reason for a spot-on Mr. Burns impersonation if Harry Shearer is still working. Play around with those voices and find variations on them that work. Maybe add an accent, or make it more nasal, or pitch it up, etc.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Good advice, thank you!

O_O .. his next voice seminar is the day AFTER I'm supposed to be down in that area!! (I could MAYBE just barely make it if not for the cost - which I was expecting would be $3k or so) .. probably make the next one since I'm helping a friend move down there) I see the seminar is all day Saturday June 26th, and costs $325 for reserved seating.. if you don't mind me asking, how much was the demo taping?

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

He does the class every month, so if you can't make the first one you'll have time to settle in before the next. Occasionally he gets an agent to come by for part of the class and talk more in depth about agencies and then let you do some voice work while they listen. Great way to make a first impression. Doesn't change the cost of the class, so it might be worth waiting for him to advertise an agent appearance.
The Demo set me back about $1.5k. You can find cheaper if you look. Just make sure you know it's quality.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

It's very sudden to just "Boing!" and go.. but I *MIGHT* have a friend that would loan me the money and I *MIGHT* be able to convince my friend who's moving to swing into Burbank on the way to Hemet.. we'll see. If it doesn't work out, then it's not meant to be right now, and I can plan it better in the future without jumping out of the boat unprepared.. knowing some costs is VERY VERY helpful to me. Knowing where to START is also extremely helpful! I wanted to do stuff like this 20 years ago but was too afraid and didn't know where to start.

Good luck on your tape! What types of places are you sending it to?

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

That was amazing, Shawn. It sounded completely professional. I honestly wouldn't have thought most of those were you, even though us in the D&D games have heard so many of your voices.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

I like your goblin voice!

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Way, way, way better than I thought it would be!! I also thought the Arrowhead water and Columbia ones sounded great! They are better than tons of commercials I've heard. Good luck!

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

I attended a 2-day class and cut a voice demo in my area (for only about $500), and it turned out pretty good, but I ended up getting a 'real job' before landing anything in voice work (still moonlight a little, but nothing dependable). But if I were to pass on the best advice from my class, it would be this: Send your demo out to 8x-10x the number of places that you think might be interested. Carry some CDs in your car, in your wallet, everywhere you could possibly be. Shove them under the nose of everyone you can think of. Tell your friends that you're looking. Strike up random conversations at (almost) every opportunity. If you're working to market your voice, you want it to be everywhere.

And keep practicing. Don't want to get rusty.

--Patrick

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

PatrThom said:

I attended a 2-day class and cut a voice demo in my area (for only about $500), and it turned out pretty good, but I ended up getting a 'real job' before landing anything in voice work (still moonlight a little, but nothing dependable). But if I were to pass on the best advice from my class, it would be this: Send your demo out to 8x-10x the number of places that you think might be interested. Carry some CDs in your car, in your wallet, everywhere you could possibly be. Shove them under the nose of everyone you can think of. Tell your friends that you're looking. Strike up random conversations at (almost) every opportunity. If you're working to market your voice, you want it to be everywhere.

And keep practicing. Don't want to get rusty.

--Patrick

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What he said. Get some of those mini cds (not the ones "cut" to fit like a business card, they can get stuck in computers..that'd be a BAD thing!) to stick in your jacket side pockets or shirt pockets (if you wear shirts with pockets)...

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Amorous: Thankya! I didn't go too crazy with the voices this time around due to this being more commercial than animation. I've gotten some good and some bad feedback about the voices I used for the pedigree and diddykong commercials, so it sounds like I'll probably have mixed results on that. But I'm glad folks are liking the Arrowhead spot. That's my personal favorite as well.

Matt: I'm sending the demo to anyone and everywhere. I'll be doing research on a lot of agencies all over the world and I'll send it to any of them who have a valid email. To market myself I'll need agents all over so I can book for some of the local spots that smaller companies put out in a generalized area. So long as my agents are not booking me the same job, I can have as many as I can find.

Daryll, Gusto, Awkward: Thanks for the listen and feedback! Used my light Nikto voice for the Diddykong spot, though it sounds like they sped it up a bit.

Patr: Thanks for the advice. I'll need to get some CD's burned.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Definitely sounds good to me. You're at least as good as any of the voice actors I've heard in my life, so you've got what it takes.

The problem is getting your break and entering the industry, though, as you've no doubt found. Going into debt sounds like a pretty big gamble.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Can't listen at work, so I'll simply state that while voice acting is cool, never underestimate the pleasure one can take from a nice bust.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

This is great Shawn.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Finally got to listen. You have a great voice for commercials! A couple were better than others. The one with the dog was probably my least favorite. But for the most part you have GREAT energy, expression, and pronunciation. I think you're going to do very well. Good luck!

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Wait, you people don't like the cartoony voices? Those were my favorite! I was most impressed with the Donkey Kong and Pedigree ones.

But then, I'm a silly child that loves Shawn's voices.

Hey-- get at least one voice in an anime and you can come be a guest at Kami-Con. ;D

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

They're all great, but the Arrowhead Water one just sounds so right, somehow. It's like your voice is just washing over me, soothing.

Cajungal said:

You have a great voice for commercials! A couple were better than others. The one with the dog was probably my least favorite.

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I actually liked that one. I was ready to rub his belly.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Philosopher B. said:

I actually liked that one. I was ready to rub his belly.

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..... creepy. :shocked:

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

I'm sorry, you're just too convincing/persuasive.

*Rub*

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Philosopher B. said:

I'm sorry, you're just too convincing/persuasive.

*Rub*

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Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Okay. I'll live... I suppose.

Dawwwww....

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

I thought it sounded very professional. If you hadn't said you were just breaking into the business, I'd have sworn that these were all commercials I had heard before. I can't wait to hear your animation voice demo.

If I wind up going with my current idea for a thesis film, I'll be looking for a voice actor inthe fall for an animated short, if you'd be interested in that I'll definitly keep you in mind.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

checkeredhat said:

I thought it sounded very professional. If you hadn't said you were just breaking into the business, I'd have sworn that these were all commercials I had heard before. I can't wait to hear your animation voice demo.

If I wind up going with my current idea for a thesis film, I'll be looking for a voice actor inthe fall for an animated short, if you'd be interested in that I'll definitly keep you in mind.

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Totally! Would love to!

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Heard back from my first out-of-state agent today.
She asked me if I was union and if I had a full studio with ISDN access.
So uh "No and No"

Never heard back from her. Oh well. Gotta keep trying.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Sounds like she was new and hoping to latch on with someone already semi-established, but looking for new representation.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

ISDN? That's so 1999. ISDN would be a really expensive means of getting high-speed (1Mb/s or so) internet. Cable and DSL are much more affordable ways of getting broadband these days.

--Patrick

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

I'm not a gizmo guy, so I did have to look up ISDN when I was asked the question. But I had a pretty good idea what it was at the start based on the context.
Basically they were just asking if I had access to a full voice studio where I could connect with people online for direction and recording purposes. While ISDN might be a bit ancient, it's still the understanding that if I'm going to voice act for clients in other locations of the world I'll need to be able to do it from here. Typically it's more likely that the client will rent a local studio and technician for me, so all I have to do is show up on time.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Just got back from another recording session with Marc. This time we recorded some additions to my old animation demo that I had done a few years ago. He's going to take my old demo and add the new voices in where needed. He's also probably going to cut the length of some of the older voices so they don't drag on as much, add some additional sounds/music as needed, and we'll see what the final result will be by some time next week.

But I thought that for the time being I would attach the first version of my animated demo. See if you folks like any of those. And then when I post the updated version you can check out the additions and differences.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

I liked the bat bit and the 'Drat' villain. The Godfather one was a bit weak, IMO, but the rest were pretty solid.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

The weird growling voice fails. You tend to do better with the higher, nervous type voices, (not the pitch altered ones) but I'd love to see you take on type voices

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

I've done better with the growling voice. It's a tough one to do over an extended line. Marc's probably going to cut that one down in length. I'm sure he'll cut the Godfather one either down in length or completely out as well. The new stuff I recorded today seemed pretty solid. Had a british metal head, a french version of Spider-man's Trapster villain, a scientist, an army sergeant, and a character using the voice I used for the Diddy Kong commercial in my other demo.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Shawnacy said:

Just got back from another recording session with Marc. This time we recorded some additions to my old animation demo that I had done a few years ago. He's going to take my old demo and add the new voices in where needed. He's also probably going to cut the length of some of the older voices so they don't drag on as much, add some additional sounds/music as needed, and we'll see what the final result will be by some time next week.

But I thought that for the time being I would attach the first version of my animated demo. See if you folks like any of those. And then when I post the updated version you can check out the additions and differences.

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the last half sounded better than the first. You sound best when not going out of your natural vocal range. I really enjoyed the demo though, keep it up!

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Matt² said:

the last half sounded better than the first. You sound best when not going out of your natural vocal range. I really enjoyed the demo though, keep it up!

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I totally agree. I'm sure Marc will note that as well, and likely switch the order up accordingly. It's always important to start with your strongest character. For me, right now, I think it's either the "bats" voice or the "late for work" one. But we'll see what the ones I recorded today sound like.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Would you have any interest in voicing for flash cartoons? I just finished writing the script for the first episode of a potential series, and will need voice actors.

ROSS & CRAIG - Google Docs

I think your voice could fit Olrik pretty well, Shawnacy. But you're welcome to try any of the characters, if you're interested. That goes for everyone else here interested in voice acting, too.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Looks great! Would love to. Any particular way you want the voice to sound or just with my normal voice? Got a swing shift at work that's going to eat up my Sunday, but I can get you some recordings by Monday. I'll try a few tricks with my comp headset, but if I can't get good quality with that I have to invest in an MP3 recorder anyway for the voice over stuff. Just post or PM me an email that I can send the files to. Looks like a fun script.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Awesome! Thanks a whole bunch!
david@dave-terry.com

Your "Bats" bit sounded like how I could imagine Olrik talking. When I first wrote him, I imagined his voice sounding kind of like Tom Kenney as Slinkman in Camp Lazlo, if you want to try something similar to that. Feel free to try it however you want.
The other characters I'm not really sure how I picture their voices yet.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Speaking of recording, does anyone know a good quality free program that I can download for recording, editing, and MP3 conversion?

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

I use Audacity, which is free, so you can try it out and if you don't like it, you didn't lose anything.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

I'll give it a shot. Basically I'm just looking for something that allows me to record, move sections of a recording, delete sections, and join seperate recordings.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Yeah, you can do all that. There's other stuff you can do, but I've only messed with moving and deleting sections. It has a lot of options; I just haven't wanted to fuck with it.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Thanks muchly. Sounds perfect then.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Hey Shawnacy, if you're looking for something to record with, a company called Blue puts out a USB condenser mic called a Snowball that records voice fairly well. Mine came with the mic, small mic stand, and USB cable. I picked mine up for under $50 at a pawnshop, but they normally go for around $100. It has three different settings, though they all sound somewhat similar to me. If my morning allergies clear up, I'll record myself talking and post it for you. The snowball is actually what I used to record my song in the Artist's Corner...works great for acoustic guitar and vocals.

Man, I need to record more songs.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

I've heard about that microphone. A few folks have suggested it in the past. I'll have to look into that. If you post some samples I'd appreciate it.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

The Snowball is a pretty good starter mic, no matter what it looks like. Blue is known for decent sound. We use one at work as the 'I didn't bring a microphone of my own' mic all the time.

Audacity will do everything you need and even a whole lot more that you don't know you'll want until later. And the price can't be beat. Reaper is another free(ish) solution. There are quite a few paid solutions that are pretty easy to use, such as Record, GarageBand (Mac only), Cubase Essentials (Formerly CubaseLE, may be way more than you need), Pyro (formerly SonarLE), Abelton Live Intro (more geared towards DJ mixes, but might serve).

I only have personal experience with Cubase, GarageBand, and Record (sorta, I'm a longtime Reason user), so those are the only ones I know well enough to answer questions. I honestly think that Record and GarageBand are the best two to consider for 'get me some audio into the computer right now with as little learning curve as possible,' though.

--Patrick

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Found a review of the Snowflake, another mic by the same company that makes the Snowball. It's a great choice if you want something portable.

--Patrick

My old animation demo has just been revitalized and expanded. A few of the weaker voices taken out, a few hopefully better ones added in. I hope to get your opinions! I've attached it to the first post.

Very good (and very loud!) ,... still love the "Oh look, bats!" .. the army guy and panicked guy is really good. Brett sounded like it was from a movie already! Good show!

Thanks, Matt.
How's the move to LA going?

see my Crazy Cat Capers for some packing info!

AFA me.. dunno, I keep getting the "NO" vibe AFA moving my business down there. but I'll actually be DOWN there to see with my own eyes what the situation is like, (as far as finding a good, non entry level position somewhere I could enjoy) in a couple days so then I can tell ya better.

I can tell you - I'm tired of all the pollen, and the rain.

My allergies go crazy here when the seasons change (which they do surprisingly). But it's dryer here and that has helped me get over a lot of health issues I had in Colorado.

Voice Career or Bust. Looking for your opinions.

Much better demo this time around.

I like the war demo.

I'm impressed.

BTW, I was curious what people thought of the English and French accents. I mean they are over-the-top, but I still wonder what people's thoughts are regarding them.

I'll listen to this tonight

Yee! Excellent demo!

The army guy was excellent, as everyone else has been saying. All the voices were good. I'd say you have potential to get into some good stuff!

English guy: Great

French guy: A little too "I'm a doing a French accent"y as opposed to over-the-top Frenchman, if that makes sense. With some tiny tweaks it'd be great.

I like it Shawn. I really hope you get into something so I can be all I FUCKING KNOW THAT GUY!!!

start applying to Funimation.

I can't wait to see you mobbed by tween girls at cons. Haha.

I heard Nikto at the end! Awesome all along. I really enjoyed it. You got some real talent Shawn.

You do want criticism though right? If so, read my spoiler :


Other than that, awesome.

Sent this to anyone yet?

Perfectly honest? Please forgive me if I'm brutally honest, but study up on Doctor Who before attempting the British accent (don't use Eccleston's accent! mimic Tennant's) .. just didn't sound right to my ears.. BUT the French one sounded really good!

Sorry Shawn! Please don't shoot me!

I also liked the war one as well.

hey here's a thought... how bout trying to do a few lines of the Crocs from Pearls Before Swine comics? I haven't yet figured out what accent that is supposed to be?

I can't stop listening to it. You sound like 6 different people! I admit, the only one I didn't care for was the French one. But, OHMAGOD, everything else = you sound like SEX ON A STICK. *swoon*

The "6 different people" was my comment; she just stole it.

escushion said:

The "6 different people" was my comment; she just stole it.

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ZIP IT BUDDY.

Lovin the feedback.
I'm super excited about this endevor. I hope I'm able to go far with it.
I've slowly but surely been making my way through my current list of VO agents. So far not many responses, but on the plus side no outright "No. You suck." either.

In other news I just got my Blue Snowball microphone in. I'll give it a try tomorrow and start working on the copy you gave me, David.

The Microphone works great. Though it has caused other problems by being very sensitive. For instance, due to the setup of my room, I really have little choice but to kneel on the floor when I record. Can't sit in my squeaky ass chair without the mic picking that up.
I'll probably have to invest in a music stand and some sort of hook for the mic. They sell a shock stand for an additional $40.
Heh. Now I'll need to get my roommate to run the computer for me.

It's good practice for my breathing though, as I need to learn to take breaths between lines.
I've noticed that I tend to take some annoying breaths during some of Olrik's screaming rants via David's script.

Thanks, Ame!

What? No pop screen? Pop screens are great at mitigating things like breath noise and fricatives/percussives. They also have the added benefit of keeping you from spitting on/corroding your expensive mics, too.

And if you can't afford a full-fledged pop screen, there's always the coat-hanger-and-panty-hose method.

--Patrick

My favorite phrase is "Fabulous cash prizes." It contains just about every bad syllable. Sibilants, percussives, it has them all.

--Patrick

I do have a pop screen that I bought with the mic.

Agent search isn't going as well as I had hoped. I've had one call from an Agent who is out in Omaha, but they seemed convinced it would only work if I lived nearby. Damnation, Omaha, haven't you heard of the internet?

Networking seems to be yielding better results. Even through the forums our very own David gave me an opportunity to provide a voice for his next animated short. I have a friend who lives in Australia who has an uncle who works as a voice over artist, and is going to try and get him a copy of my demos. I also tried contacting animator Adam Phillips (Brackenwood shorts) regarding sending him my demo and actually got a reply.

Edit: Adam wrote back after hearing my demos. Said he absolutely loved them.

Dream Goddess said:

= you sound like SEX ON A STICK. *swoon*

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Mine came with a stand and isn't overly sensitive. There are three settings on the back. Try different ones. I think there's one with a built in -20db pad. I have to play around with it depending on what I'm recording.

Shawnacy said:

Agent search isn't going as well as I had hoped. I've had one call from an Agent who is out in Omaha, but they seemed convinced it would only work if I lived nearby. Damnation, Omaha, haven't you heard of the internet?

Networking seems to be yielding better results. Even through the forums our very own David gave me an opportunity to provide a voice for his next animated short. I have a friend who lives in Australia who has an uncle who works as a voice over artist, and is going to try and get him a copy of my demos. I also tried contacting animator Adam Phillips (Brackenwood shorts) regarding sending him my demo and actually got a reply.

Edit: Adam wrote back after hearing my demos. Said he absolutely loved them.

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sweet! Congrats man, keep it up!
I looked up some Jetblue, Hotwire and other deals, and I'm going to try to make it back down to Burbank in a few months, once I save up, and attend one of those voiceacting seminars.