VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Pfmccabe64]

Howdy, I am Patrick and I am certainly a complete newb when it comes to VO and voice acting. My experience is basically 3 years of H.S. drama club, 2 semesters of college level acting, and quite a few years at a Big Box retailer where answering phones and using a PA system is part of my daily activities! Many folks say I have a "radio" voice, and to that my usual reponse is "aw, shucks! Thank you!" Now, however, I have decided to give it a shot and see if I can somehow "Live the Dream", (or at least make a few extra bucks!). So, I got A Samson USB mike from BestBuy, downloaded Audacity, cut a few clips, and posted them for free on Voice123. So, honest and straightforward critiques are certainly appreciated as well as any advice or tips you can toss my way!!

Thanks!

http://voice123.com/patrickmccabe

[Shock]

Welcome Patrick! You've lucked out and located THE best spot on the web to learn more about what you want to do, and to interact with many of the talented VO artists who are DOING - every day - what you want to do!

People say you have a *radio* voice, eh? That can be good - and it can be bad. Take it from a guy who did radio from a young age and at that time was a yukking deejay shouting everything but *speaking* very little.

From your samples, it does not sound like you've been too badly infected with "Yukkus GaBorning-itis", so that's a positive!

I'd suggest, to start, just a lot of practice. READ everything you can get your hands on - check out some of the sites on the web for free practice/sample scripts, and just go to town.

Find an established VO artist, or several, whom you admire, and try to emulate them - and never be afraid to ask for a critique from the many very talented and highly experienced VO pros right here at VO-BB.

Keep in mind (or learn) that there's a big difference between radio and voice-acting/narration/voiceover (in general).

The man who mentored me thirty years ago (Stan Watt) was an actor of the *old school* who crossed over into voiceover later, and he ripped me a new one when I thought I could do (when I was eighteen) what HE did (Exxon, US Army, AT&T, dozens of Nat'l Geographic specials etc.), LOL.

I think it's good that you have drama experience as opposed to radio experience, and I think that shows in your samples - do radio if you have to, but never get into that whole *yukking* thing - that can cause lasting damage.

It's going to be a slow start for you, and you must realize that you cannot start making big money overnight - your voice is a fine instrument that you must learn how to use in ways that are both very creative and profitable; and like learning to play any instrument, it takes dedication and practice, practice, practice.

You're off to a good start: I like the way you're enunciating things, you just sound inexperienced at the moment. That will pass, and you will begin to sound stronger and more in *control* of your instrument as time goes on.

Don't give up! Make more demos and post them here and we'll critique them. We may be hard on you, but just remember that we're all hard on ourselves and on each other, as well, when necessary.
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~Shock
Voice Actor/Narration/Radio
*Who Did That Media*
www.whodidthatmedia.com

[Mike Sommer]

Hey Patrick

What I hear isn your reads is that you are talking at me and not to me.
All the reads were pretty much the same in terms of delivery. The Bryant spot was over colored, i.e. too much emphases was given to the words. Therefore is sounded insincere.

Remember everything we do is a conversation- it maybe only one side of a conversation, but it is still a conversation non the less.

Here are the standard rules:
Know who your character is ( it is my belief that you can not play yourself, because the words on the page are not your words. Therefor you must always be another character). This character must be as real as any person you know.

Know who your character is talking to. This character too, must be as real as any person you know. Visualize this person.

Know where the conversation is taking place. Every location brings it's own dynamic to the scene.

Once you have made all these choices, along with understanding and internalizing the script, now you can take all those choices, visualize them, and play within the scene.

Continue taking acting and improve, and seek a good VO coach.

Good luck
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The Blog:
http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.