VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Tom Test]

Before I get to my favorites, I have a few things to say. IMO, this script definitely needs acting skills applied in order to be most effective. For example, I want to hear how you feel about “diving right in.” And aren't these images in the video emotionally moving?

What was your approach to reading this script? What was your strategy, how did you prepare?
The way I prepared was to put the entire script in my own words - out loud (a Marice Tobias technique). So with the line "There are moments that change everything," boy as a father, there are so many real-life moments where I can apply meaning and emotion to that statement. With “When belief ignites...” I talked about my daughter bringing home a lesson she learned from school about social responsibility, and incorporating that into our family life, thereby “creating a bold, new trajectory.” (Now, based on her urgings we recycle, so she really did change our behavior!). If I do this sort of thing for every line, then I find actual meaning in these words, written by somebody else. And believe me, communicating with meaning sounds much better than merely focusing on technique.

What did you think of the script? Any problem areas?
I find “trajectory” hard to say! And the “when belief ignites..” line seemed to give a lot of people trouble. Just what does it mean to you when you’re saying it? I want to hear that (see above). And, how do you feel about "diving right in?" Again, that "acting" thing I mentioned earlier...

Also up for discussion – what have you learned about being on the other end of the audition process?
There were many submissions that had substandard audio, and this will really hurt the talent when it comes to making a casting decision, IMHO. The most common problem was that the recording levels were too low. All things being equal, louder sounds better as long as it’s not clipping. I purposely did not equalize the audio levels among the various takes so you can hear the difference it makes. Also, some auditions had a very muddy sound that had all the life squeezed out of them; fan noise; thin sound due to poor mic and/or preamp and/or sound card. Or maybe cheap cabling.

My opinion is that there are so many really good people who are in this business that we compete against that you need every possible advantage to succeed. I really doubt that if a producer asks for 50 auditions, that there will be one talent who is so brilliant and head-and-shoulders above the rest that having poor audio quality won’t matter. There will probably be at least 3 or 4 out of 50 that are brilliant, and if you’re one of them but the other simply sound much better than you do because of their studio setup and knowledge, I doubt you’ll get the gig. The distance between one talent getting the gig over another can be so small that any issue – like not following instructions, poor audio quality, giving a goofy slate that is off-putting, etc. – can easily make the difference. This is IMHO.

I'll chime in with my favorites later.
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Best regards,
Tom Test
"The Voice You Trust"
www.tomtest.com

[ccpetersen]

Haven't finished listening to them all yet, but want to chime in and say that "trajectory" is NOT my favorite word. It keeps coming out "CHRAJRECTREE" and if you say it slow, you should like you're talking to small children.

Okay.. back to our listening... more later.
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[David J]

'nother vote for 14--that was, er, "genius." I salute you, if you know what I mean... Very nice.

Also loved 25 take 1; Nancy Wolfson and Marice Tobias, anyone? (I kid because I know who this one is, know he's studied with them, and can hear their influence). Nicely done...
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[Diane Maggipinto]

I know this is of no help to your queries, Tom, but ... first, thanks for doing this! Great joy to hear how different interpretations can be. Same goes for chains. And loveliest to listen to familiar voices and learn from just one run through.
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sitting at #8, though not as present as I'd like to be. Hello!

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[Bill Campbell]

Many good reads.

As a producer, I would hire #3 take 2. It was a good read and the talent sounded like he might actually work for the company, making it more believable. He also sounds like Martin Sheen.

Best technical sound goes to #24 and #25..

My .02
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[TC]

This is a great exercise, Tom. Thanks for doing it. I've always tried to imagine what it's like to be the person who has to sit down and listen to 50 or 100 auditions and make the right choice. It ain't easy. I think there were a lot of good candidates in this group.

I listened to the whole thing twice and took notes on each read. In the real world I might not have this luxury, but in this fake world, I'd do a callback so that I could give some direction.

I'd choose 1, 3, 4, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 19, 22, 25, 28, and 32, and I'd tell everyone except 1 and 32 to try adding a little more joy and energy -- not a lot, but more. For all those I called back, I really liked either their interpretation or the quality of the voice (or both), but overall the feel of the reads was a little too morose. I'd want something that conveyed a strong sense of positive, forward-looking hope.

If I had to choose one, though, I'd have chosen 14. A great combination of an interesting voice and a well-acted interpretation of the script.

I didn't participate in this one, but I'm looking forward to taking a crack at the next one.

[roger]

What a Herculean task, Tom. How many real gigs did you lose in this labor of love?
The best I could whittle the list down was: 1 (tk1), 4, 13 (tk 1), 14, 16,
25 (tk 2),and 29. An overwhelming task. Glad I'm not a voice seeker.
-roger
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[Tom Greenlee]

I think Tom did an incredible job and has undertaken a huge task. I just saw the thread today and decided to try and get in on it. I sent him my audition, but I know it's kind of late for that. All I can say is, I listened to the whole thing several times and you all did phenomenally. I don't think there was any I didn't enjoy listening to. Great job everyone.
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TG2

"Communication without intelligence is noise; Intelligence without communication is irrelevant."

Gen. Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
Former Commandant of the Marine Corps

[ballenberg]

Nice job, Tom---Lot of variety to listen to.

One thought, and I don't know how hard this would be, but as a listener, I would be much happier having each person's read be a separate file. It would be much easier to compare and to go back and re-listen after making an initial round of selections.

[Bruce]

Here are my thoughts on some of this:

What did you think of the script? Very traditional opening piece for a convention. Any problem areas? None.

What was your approach to reading this script? The finished video will likely have big bold images and big bold music so I would read it in a big bold style. What was your strategy, how did you prepare? I've been to a lot of conventions over the years so I've got a fair idea of what's normally done.

What’s it like to listen to 34 auditions. Usually each audition is separate, so you can listen to the first few seconds a then move on if the person doesn't fit what you're looking for. What unexpected things colored, positively or negatively, your opinions? As a long time producer it's rare to hear anything unexpected. Positives for me were readers who "believed" their material and gave it a proper amount of emotion, and those who worked well with their audio equipment including not getting too close to the mic. The negatives were those who didn't do the things I just mentioned. Is there a way to improve this process if I do this again? As mentioned before, separate audio files, and don't shorten the reads which won't be necessary if they are separate.


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My thoughts:

I occasionally wish my comments could be anonymous, but they can't be, so if I say something negative about your demo it's only meant to help your efforts in reading material like this in the future from my perspective.
I'm sorry we lost a lot of audio quality in the process, so any comments I make in that regard may be taken with a grain of salt.

When I say "too fast", the script was written in totally separate lines with visual descriptions between each, which means to me pace it and give each line its due weight. I know Tom tightened these up, so that may have thrown my judgment off in a few cases.

Positive note for everyone...diction and pronunciation were very good for all.

1 - Good read. Just a dash too soft a read for the drama
2 - too muddy a recording
3 - Good, but a little creaky...needs more air/projection for this read
4 - Too personal in style, too close to the mic?
5 - Also too personal a read for something that needs to be bold
6 - Too fast a read, not as heartfelt as it should be, muddy audio
7- Fine
8- Too soft and personal
9- Good, but too fast
10- A bit announcery instead of dramatic, 2nd take much better, audio distorted
11- Good, but a bit soft
12- Good, mature sound, especially 1st take
13- Good drama but just a dash announcery, 1st take best
14- Good drama and speed
15- Too conversational for this purpose
16- Good read, good drama, strong choice
17- Sorry, but the young girl sound may not fly for this purpose
18- Nice sound, but not as believable as it could be, 1st take best
19- A bit too bright and light, but a good read
20- Good voice, 1st take unbelievable, 2nd take better
21- Audio too thin, need different mic or settings
22- Way too fast, also distorted
23- Good read, period.
24- Good read, could be stronger. Too close to the mic?
25- Great voice, but I didn't believe any of it. Too close to the mic?
26- Good read, audio a little thin?
27- Good read, especially 1st, 2nd was too "happy" a read for the serious nature
28- Best of the bunch, a bit too whispery but that would be modified in session
29- Nice voice, but too soft a read and too fast
30- Good raspy voice, good drama, just a bit too whispery at times for the purpose
31- OK. A bit rushed
32- Very good. Strong contender. Too fast and a bit too sweet at times, but that could be modified in session.
33- Too slow a read, for a change, and I certainly wouldn't do a character voice as in the 2nd take

12, 16, 28, 32 would be among those I'd present to the client.

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[KaraEdwards]

This was fun to listen to! Thanks Tom!

What did you think of the script? Any problem areas? This isn't a script I typically read for, so it was fun to give it a go!

What was your approach to reading this script? What was your strategy, how did you prepare? In the past when I've been asked to voice a script somewhat like this, the client wants a young Cisco-type voice. So- that's what I did.

Also up for discussion – what have you learned about being on the other end of the audition process? It was cool to hear so many different reads, but very hard to choose a favorite. I did think on more than one occasion while listening that if I was the client I would be THRILLED to hear so many great reads!

Some of my favorites: #3, #12- take 1, #14, #20, #23, #24, #25, #28- it seems I liked the big bold read best with this script. I actually liked the character read on #33- it was something completely different!

I agree with everyone that having separate files would be wonderful, but I wouldn't want to add any more work to what Tom has already done- great job!
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Kara Edwards
http://www.karaedwards.com
kara@karaedwards.com

[Tom Test]

Bruce, THANK YOU for your honest and comprehensive comments! I hope you've helped open the door for more feedback like yours.

I've been a VO talent for 20 years, and until I started a family, I used to have a nice sideline coaching and producing demos (one former student is the voice of the Noggin children's TV network). I've worked with Marice Tobias (the best VO coach out there IMHO) and was her rep in the Midwest for several years. That said, this is so very subjective and I don't claim that my opinions should be taken as gospel by anyone. This disclaimer out of the way, here goes...

(To be as objective as we can be with feedback, if you intend to chime in, please form your own opinions before you read anyone else's...)


The script called for “bold, driving” music, and many of these reads were too subtle for that type of music - which I think have drowned out a softer, more intimate read. BUT, and this is a big but, if the client went in another direction – say, used softer, more plaintive music like a Hallmark commercial – this approach might work very well indeed.

So going by what works best behind “bold, driving” music, I think these are the best takes: 10, 13, 14A, 23

If the client ended up going with a softer, more intimate, warmer approach, I think these takes are the best: 1A, 11, 14B, 20B, 25A, 28, and 34

For the vision I have in my head of how I think this might have ended up being produced, there aren’t any auditions that leap out at me as “that’s the one!” If I were casting this, I would invite those talents listed above to a callback and offer more direction. (And personally, I like the thought of a softer approach for this project).

In general, many of the reads were lacking in two areas: meaning and emotion. Oftentimes the words sounded just like words, as if the meaning of the words had no impact on the speaker. You’ve got to have emotions and opinions about the ideas/thoughts/images in this script. I need to hear these things in order for it to engage me as a listener. Proper phrasing, for example, should sound “right” naturally if I have an understanding of what these words actually mean and how they affect me when I’m saying them.

There are some great voices here that IMHO needed more coaching, direction and acting skill (emotion, drama, point-of-view, etc) in order to really compete. Also, perhaps 40% or more of these submission had record levels that were way too low, and unless the folks listening to these bothered to normalize it all (and I doubt they would), these folks are really handicapping themselves. They simply don’t sound as impressive as those auditions with a proper level and maybe some light compression.

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1 – The intimate, positive, warm approach on take A worked better than the attempt at drama on take B. Maybe just not the right vocal type for that sort of read.

2 – Very muddy sound. Pacing and phrasing were off. Needs more acting.

3 – nice read (I liked A better), but levels too low, other auditions jump out of the speakers much more since you’re too quiet. (When I normalized the file, the sound was much better – but I could hear some high-pitched background noise, the kinda thing that I think would be a problem for broadcast)

4 – I like your voice and read, but there’s something funky with your audio – too muddy, kind of echo-y. Also, I want to hear in your read: how do you feel about “diving right in?

5 - Levels too low, some of the phrasing and pacing was a bit off. Needs more acting. A strong, smart-sounding voice that needs some direction for a more competitive audition.

6 – A is rushed, B better, but still needs more acting.

7 – too radio, news-y – little emotion behind it, B is too goofy sounding; I could hear some high-pitched background noise, the kinda thing that I think would be a problem for broadcast.

8 – Levels too low. I like the approachable neighbor next door style, might work well with a softer approach. Some articulation issues: “when” sounded swallowed, trajectory was a bit sloppy (I had trouble with this too), and “our” sounded more like “are”

9 – Nice drama in read. Audio issues: noise gate cutting off breaths, lots of mouth noises, a plosive or two. Also, both takes too much alike

10 – I liked B. A sounded forced, like your voice wasn’t comfortable going there

11 – Might work well if the music were different (think soft Hallmark music rather than “bold” and “driving”). Minor quibbles: there was a noise gate cutting off breath (or inprecise editing) before “when we forgo...” line, and line after. Articulation on “trajectory” was a slightly off (I had trouble with this too).

12 – Too low. I liked A, the meaning, the emotion and drama. B fell a little flat for me, except for the ending. Audio quality keeps you back – it’s a little muffled and flat.

13 – Too low. I like his voice for this piece, interp needs some direction. Has drama, but a bit lacking in meaning, sloppy editing with breaths, mouth noises

14 – Great reads, but the “whens” are driving me crazy. Either the talent is pronouncing it “hwen”, which personally I don’t like, or he’s using some sort of a noise gate or limiter which is cutting off the beginnings of the words. I liked take B much better than take A. My number one so far.

15 – Nice approachable sound, very real, but needed more meaning and emotion. Felt rushed. I want to hear in your read: how do you feel about “diving right in?

16 – Rushed. Great voice, but needed more acting. This doesn’t seem like good news.

17 – Perhaps not the right voice for a dramatic read with “bold, driving” music, maybe too young sounding to be the voice of wisdom. But could possibly work well with softer, more Hallmark-type music.

18 – I liked A better than B. Issues with fan noise, some sort of distortion in your sound, like it’s a low bit-rate MP3. Nice voice, but needed acting direction

19 – Needs more warmth, acting.

20 – Good! But, needs acting – more drama and emotion. Also, both reads too similar.

21 – Good phrasing and pacing on A. Thin sound, needs more emotion, “creating” word got swallowed on A. B too rushed.

22 – Surprisingly nice sound from a modest signal chain, needs more emotion and drama, too rushed. It did sound like good news!

23 – Good! Nice balance of drama and warmth. Good audio quality. I wanted a little more emotion though, real emotion from your heart. The right words were emphasized, but it felt more like technique than something that happened naturally. More heart could make this a winner.

24 –Good audio quality and voice, but needed more emotion and drama.

25 –Nice vocal approach overall, but needed a bit more emotion and a little slower pace. This talent knows the power of a big voice spoken like he’s standing right next to you (another Tobias technique). This might work very well if the background music was softer, like a Hallmark spot, rather than bold and driving, which I think would overwhelm a subtle read like this. B felt rushed and the levels were too low (while take A was just a bit too hot a signal IMO).

26 – thin sound, mouth and background noises. I would have liked to have heard this talent with better audio quality, might’ve been a contender! As in 25, read might be too subtle for music as directed, but might work great if the client decided to go with softer more plaintive music.

27 – background noise, needed real emotional connection. Pacing needed a better rhythm.

28 – One of my favorites. Audio issues hold him back – there’s some echo in background, levels too low, etc.

29 – Fat sound, but almost too big and deep – it seemed artificial. Needs more emotion. Would love to hear this voice with further direction.

30 – Nice pacing and phrasing, but too tough sounding. Needs more warmth IMO – this is good news!! Also, both takes were too much alike. Some sibilance issues.

31 – Levels too low, some of the pacing was off, some words were hit too hard “everything,” “reality” . A good voice for this piece, but needs more acting (drama and real emotion)

32 – Rushed, needs more acting (drama and real emotion) and warmth.

33 – Odd phrasing, sound was muffled, record levels a bit low. B was more like a circus barker than a serious read.

34 – Nice approach, similar to other softer reads that might not work well with the music as described, but would work well with a softer approach. I wanted to hear “our” emphasized more in the last line, and more emotion overall.
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Best regards,
Tom Test
"The Voice You Trust"
www.tomtest.com

[Rob Ellis]

Lots of excellent efforts here!

My favs=1,3(cut1) 10, (cut 2), 13(cut 1), 14, (cut 2), 20, 24, 25, 28

I tend to prefer the breathy movie trailer read so there ya go.

Signal chain notes:
#2=to my ear, very muffled sounding
#4=to my ear, sounded very compressed/processed

Not a jab at either, just an observation

[Lance Blair]

Like Bruce, I would present 12, 16, and 28 but 20 instead of 32. I'd also throw in 24, 8, and 10...and definitely 14.

On the technical side, the TLM 103s sound wildly different depending on the preamps, while the 416s and U87s can't shake their characteristics. One thing of note: AKG is greatly underrated for VO mics, and I'm not going to "go negative" but my biases against some well known gear were proven correct again (and I don't mean the RE20 - all the dynamics sounded fine, and a lot better than some of the pricier chains).

Thanks again to Tom and thanks to everyone who contributed. I learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses for this read.
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[ccpetersen]

My faves?

Number 1, cut 1
Number 3, cut 1

Number 11 number 1
number 13 -- both cuts actually
Number 14, cut 2 (agree with others that this one really was good)
Number 20, cut 1
Number 22, both actually
Number 25, cut 1
Number 28 and Number 30, both cuts.

These sounded the best-prepared, to me, and had the right mix of emotion and intensity. But truthfully, there wasn't a stinker in the bunch (except mine, maybe). There's a lot of talent hanging out here!

It was tough to listen to all of them at once, so I broke my listening down into a couple of sessions and made notes. I can only imagine how a seeker might feel -- heck, I AM a seeker sometimes. And, I usually have individual web pages to go through and listen to.

The copy itself was not difficult -- when I was doing MY reading, I found the word "trajectory" difficult to get through, which is a hoot considering I do space and astronomy VO and that word shows up a lot.

My own entry sounds tired, and I almost didn't send it because I recorded it when my voice was still pretty stressed from this weeks-long cold we've been battling at our place. But, I wanted to participate. It's been a learning experience, and the take-away lesson I have is that I have no business competing with the likes of all of you on this board. Many of you just rock my socks... you're that good.

Tom, thanks for doing this exercise...
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