VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Whit

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I found you through the famous Jonas Brother trailer dude Dan-o. I humbly ask your honest opinions here on my demo(s).

You can find them here for now...
http://voice123.com/whitneyszabo

Pull no punches, I will be strong. Thank you so much in advance to anyone who takes a minute to listen. I really appreciate it.

bobsouer · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:12 pm Post subject:

Whitney,

I listened only to your commercial demo at the top of the page ...

(Direct link here for anyone who might not wish to click more than once: http://voice123.com/mp3/demos/whitneyszabo%20-%20Whitney.mp3 )

... Wow, you are one mighty talented lady. My only suggestion would be to move the first cut to somewhere else because you have such a terrific real person sound that people who only listen for 5 seconds will think this is a character voice demo. Use the cute kid's voice to change direction on them somewhere further in, rather than leading with it.

Otherwise, I think this is killer. But, that's my opinion, which is maybe worth as much as you're paying for it. Smile

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Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
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Mike Sommer · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 1:30 am Post subject:

Ditto

Save the character voice for the character demo.
GREAT JOB!

Philip Banks · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 2:39 am Post subject:

It's fine. Get off v123 and start telling the world you're alive and well and ready to voice.

Well done for posting your demo on here. Now here's the kicker, we're Voice Overists too so whilst we'll be polite, helpful or sometimes have fun, we will do your career no good. Talk to buyers not sellers. TALK TO THEM - LOTS OF THEM - EVERY DAY. You have something to sell. Good luck.

As a general point. Quality Voice Overists need to realise, whether they are making money or not from the likes of v123 or other sites like it, that they need to get off and stay off. It'll be a bit like driving your mother-in-law off a cliff in your new car. There'll be a short-term cost but a long term gain.

Whit · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:53 am Post subject:

Thank you so much gentlemen. Bob, Mike, yeah, I think I will either move or completely lose the kid voice (to a character demo)... I always think of it as my bunny voice, because it was for a stuffed bunny. And it makes me giggle. heh.

Philip, thanks... I'm currently a bit conflicted about v123 to be honest. I appreciate you sharing your view, and please, expand on that if you feel so inclined. Is it the rate craziness there alone, or other things too?

I haven't paid yet, I'm on the two month free trial period now. I'm not sure yet if I'll join.

And yes, marketing marketing I need marketing! I'm realizing just how much I need to focus on it now. I really lack in that area. I'd love any book recommendations or advice from you experienced pros. I have so much to learn, it's been great reading around on here.

Thanks again for taking a moment on me.

Philip Banks · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 11:23 am Post subject:

The last time I looked v123 had around 2000 paying members and I'm certain that the number of leads or audition requests on any one day has never hit 3 figures. Let's be generous - Every day there are 100 audition requests 50 for male and 50 for female. Every day you have a 2.5% chance of getting a job.

How much do you need to earn every day in order to make what you want to make from Voice Over work? How much does the average job on V123 pay?

You are paying $295 for a web page buried along with 2000 others on a site that for the most part fails to deliver significant levels of work to it's customers.

If a client is looking to hire a voice for $200 they should look around for the type of voice they want, listen to demos and when they've found the right voice hire them. Auditions are for serious Voices and serious clients with serious jobs.

With the so-called pay to play sites there comes a perception that they clients will do anything to get a cheap voice and the voices will go to any lengths to get a job. This short term approach will come back and bite you in the butt sooner or later. If you're trying to build a career as a VO the short term approach is like trying to ski uphill.

Stand up. Step forward. Stand out.

In order to do that in the Voice Over market today you have to stand alone. It's great fun!

Whit · Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:01 am Post subject:

Philip, thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts. Food for thought to be sure.

Happy Monday morning all. I will happily be searching all of your websites to add to my talent pool here at my day job. Smile

Feel free to send demos to me here, or pm me and I'll send you my work email.

Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2281 Location: Atlanta

Whit, I like you! The kid voice needs to be in the middle even though it's great, and the whole commercial demo could be cut a bit tighter. It really could be a :60, and the cubicle spot goes a bit long - after seven seconds you've nailed that read and it's time to move on.

Good luck.

For P2P, just don't take it seriously. People find me for a few gigs a year and I more than make my money back with long term clients...but no way will I audition with 150 people for a $150 gig every day. That's a total time suck: it's simply inefficient. Even if you're Monsieur Primo VO Talent, you won't get by if you fall down that rabbit-hole.
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and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!

Whit · Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 6:50 am Post subject:

Hey thanks Lance. Smile

I agree with pretty much everything you said, I do need to tighten it up... maybe even leave the cubicle spot at just the first two lines, cutting it off after "time.. stands still".

I've only had this demo for a few months, produced it myself with one of my engineers here at work, and already I feel like I need something better. I guess it's like making a record. You're never really finished. I feel a little overwhelmed with all I'm seeing I have to learn now that this fire has been lit under my butt and I know for sure that this is for me.

I did land something on v123, a few weeks ago, that more than pays for a membership and is promising (we'll see, right?) two more projects in the next few months. It's my first ever narration. I think I will likely join, seeing it as but 1 marketing tool, and continuing to laugh hysterically at the jobs that pay crap. Really? $25?? Or maybe I should just take my hopefully and potentially long term client and new bff and run. I guess I'm still a little conflicted.

Whit · Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 9:19 am Post subject:

Hello all. I've been away for quite some time, because I had a baby. I've written a few new songs! There's The New Diaper Song, Harrison Loves Baby Burping Time (the screaming song) and Would You Like This Binky Now? So you see, I've been quite productive. Wink

heh. My husband Mark Szabo has been here more than I have.

ANYWAY - I'm back in the adult world now, and seriously ready to ramp my vo career up. Here are my new demos (self-produced) for anyone who would be so kind to listen and offer any constructive criticism...it is very very appreciated. I'm also including a video of my little one beginning to practice his own vocal technique. Smile

Thanks for reading! I'm looking forward to being around more.

http://voice123.com/mp3/demos/whitneyszabo%20-%20Commercial%20Demo.mp3

http://voice123.com/mp3/demos/whitneyszabo%20-%20Narration%20Demo.mp3

http://voice123.com/mp3/demos/whitneyszabo%20-%20Character%20Demo.mp3

Here's my baby Harrison.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydZrIPschp4

Diane Maggipinto · Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 9:30 am Post subject:

harrison loves mama! congratulations!! when was he born?

i skipped right to that vid so i can't help you right now with the other links Smile

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Whit · Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 9:52 am Post subject:

Feb. 26th. Thanks! It's been the most amazing thing ever.

BenWils · Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 9:14 am Post subject:

Hey there Whitney!

First off congrats on the new bundle of joy! Awesome news!

I took a listen. I really like the character your voice has. It is young, fresh and interesting. There is an honest texture there. And the teen voices are pretty authentic to my ears. Great stuff!

While I believe there are no definite rights and wrongs in VO so much as opinions, here are a few of mine. Well...observations if you will. Take them for what they're worth to you. The demos could stand as is and you would get work. These are just things I think would make the presentation of your excellent talent even better. So here it goes….

I think the cuts toward the beginning go together too slowly. Music tends to drive demos sometimes. I would hate for you to get shut off because the demo doesn't clip along in the first few spots. Something to think about with in regard to order I guess. I like the first spot as an attention getter even though it is a charactery thing...I would move out of it quickly though to get on to the next. There is no actual gap in sound…but there is going from voice to voice and that equates to dead air to some folks who listen to demos. I wouldn’t go wall to wall voice but maybe smaller gaps by moving the voice closer to the beginning of the track or something. Anywho...that is just a preference and a way to keep people hanging on when listening to your demo IMO. It is amazing how short people’s attention spans can be ☺

I think the teen thing should be moved closer to the front because it is really a legit teen performance. Some who try teen voices can trend toward “mousey”....the teen sound you presented in the commercial demo is not. Well done!

The "I can read mines" thing...I would lose it for the "I need minutes thing" teen thing. It throws off the flow to me and doesn't contribute anything from my stand point that you haven't done better in the demo elsewhere.

Also I might put the "celebrate the joys of parenting closer to the front if not second. It seems like the real you and that is more inviting than the second one you have now. I like the second one....just seems more stoic or something.

And as far as the narration thing, I heard one voice flub on the second clip at the end of the clip. It stuck out to me on the word “outcomes” at the end of the clip. And while we’re on the second one, it seems too serious or slightly robotic at times or something. I think you will have a nice balance on this demo if you go the conversational trustworthy route…as in the voice style on the “celebrate the joys of parenting” thing. Take the approach of leveling with one listener in an easy going, honest conversational way about a trust worthy bank. I know the material is that of mission statement type material…but I think it would be better when in contrast the presentational (let me show you around) nature of the first spot.

I like the third one. Good flow and pacing and not overly dramatic, which is good for industrial stuff. I like the fourth spot…but the compression EQ seems too tight on it to my ears. It is also the same on the second spot too. I like compression…but it would help you to soften those two some I think.

The character stuff….I like it a lot. Sounds like you can commit to a character extremely well. Maybe add another teen voice thing there since you can nail those reads.

Okay….way more than you probably wanted to hear. But I thought I would share some technical and performance observations.

The sound you bring to the table is hot right now…you are very talented indeed and have a bright future ahead if you are able to keep at it.
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Ben

"To be really good at voiceover, you need to improve your footwork and hip snap."

Whit · Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 8:24 pm Post subject:

Ben! Thank you so much for the thoughtful response, the congrats and the compliments. You have given me a lot to think about. I would like to give your order ideas a shot. I'll have to see about getting back in at Sonic with Randy for an hour or so. More later. I have a bad cold and am hoping the baby doesn't get sick. Need bed. Thanks again!

Whit · Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 9:36 am Post subject:

I'm back, baby is napping. Smile

A few more things Ben. You're right on with the robotic sounding second part of the narration demo... I should re-voice it. I did that as a demo for a client at my day job, and she's told me in the post that my voice is too young sounding, too niche. I was trying to sound mature, and I overdid it.

Speaking of sounding mature, thanks for the compliment on my teen sound. It's funny, the thing I always say about my voice is "I SOUND LIKE I'M 12!!!" and I've struggled with finding my 'adult' voice... I've made some headway with that, but it's definitely something I'm always aware of, and if I'm not careful I end up sounding put on, and like you said, robotic.

My husband mentioned the compression on the demos in general... he recorded the first and third spots here at home, the ones you didn't think sounded too tight.

Speaking of, just so you can maybe giggle at me... Husband is giving me lessons in recording and editing since obviously I need to be able to be self sufficient. I have this problem where this fog just comes over me when I try to talk tech... and I feel incredibly dense. It's like my brain doesn't work that way. So far I think I have my brain wrapped around compression by imagining that it's a tiny guy inside the computer pushing the knobs up and down. Is that right? And compression involves gain and peak reduction? I need to spend some time on the tech/gear forums. LET'S RIDE BIKES!!!

I'm probably wrong about compression. Embarrassed