VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[JKRobbins]

Hello folks,

J.K.Robbins from Nashville here and this is my maiden voyage among the SS VO-BB.

The possibility of doing voice-work for animation (or anything for that matter) has always lurked in the back of my head thanks to being raised on a steady diet of Mel Blanc as a child, Billy West as a teen and DJing my own radio show throughout college.

I tried my hand at making an animation demo a handful of years back when I had access to the campus's radio production booth, but sat on it until this past year. VO opportunities rarely popped up on regional Craigslist ads and only a couple local agencies actually showcase the fact they represent VO talent on their websites - needless to say...a bit disconcerting. Just finished a commercial demo with a studio friend of mine, and as I type this, I'm packing up the house and looking to move to a city where VO is more likely to exist (though I do know the reality that due to the concentrated mass of folks trying to do the same thing, it may as well not exist) - Los Angeles.

http://www.soundcloud.com/jkrobbins

Thanks in advance for any criticism.

Cheers from Nashville,
J.K.
_________________
"Don't make me laugh...bitterly."
www.twitter.com/JKRobbinsVO

[Darren Altman]

Hey JK,

welcome to VO-BB, nice to see you here. I hope you'll have fun and learn a lot from everyone, as I do... all the time! Just checked out your annimation reel and even though you have lots of clips, the thing that strikes me is that you essentially have 3 voices here: Your 'natural' voice (the first 2), the high-pitched, falsetto cartoon voice (used several times) and the gruff voice (the dog, "oh yeah" and smoker voice). I'm not an expert or an agent, but I would think that a broader repetoir will open you up to much more work.

I would suggest to really explore your voice and what it's capable of. Listen and observe lots of people, the physiology of their voices and how different tones and sounds are made. I have just completed a 2 day character workshop and when you really get into the nitty gritty of how the tongue lies, the mouth can be manipulted, different positions etc, you open up a whole new world of ingredients to add to your voiceover recipies!

Good luck with it all.
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https://www.darrenaltman.com/
http://twitter.com/darrenaltman

[JKRobbins]

Darren,

Thanks for the quick feedback!

You're totally right about the animation reel. When I first recorded all the bits, I had even more "gruff" voices (surfer guy, crypt keeper type, etc), but they were the same voice with different inflections or accents. I didn't know (and apparently still don't) if I should showcase the minor differences or not.

I had listened to some demos of a few successful anime VAs and a couple were dozens of clips that were almost all subtle variations of the same natural voice with an accent or two thrown in for good measure. As far as the mouth positioning goes, I have yet to get into that "nitty gritty", but I have no doubt it'll help expand what will become an ever-changing Animation reel over the next few years (hell, even weeks now that it's up for critique here)!

Cheers!
_________________
"Don't make me laugh...bitterly."
www.twitter.com/JKRobbinsVO