VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Ed Fisher · Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:00 am Post subject: The "Lost" Voice

I recently had something happen to me that makes me wonder if it's a unique experience. Or, if it's ever happened to anyone else.

A potential client had requested a read that was "Very Serious and Dramatic."

Well..I did it.

What played back through my speakers...it not only didn't SOUND like "me"...but was (in my opinion) BETTER than me. Now, that client has contacted me about doing the spot and loves the voice. NOW...if ONLY I can duplicate it.

Which...surprisingly....seems VERY DIFFICULT to do.

Have YOU ever recorded something...then later...you found that you simply COULDN'T REPEAT IT?

This is one of those random questions. that probably has no practical benefit, other than to quench my own curiosity.

Thanks.
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Bish · Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:06 am Post subject:

Oh, how I feel for that! Yes, it has happened... it must have been a mixture of the right time of day, the right amount of caffeine and the planets being in alignment or something. I have two distinct chains for regular and book work... usually I can do pick-ups quite seamlessly... but I just could not drop-in on this one job. I tried for an hour... then opted to do the fifteen minute re-read of the whole thing.
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melissa eX · Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:10 am Post subject:

Well, you've obviously accessed part of yourself that you didn't know was there. Make no mistake - even though you don't think it sounds like you - if you did it it was you.
You can't try to replicate it from the outside in. Try to remember what frame of mind you were in when you recorded it, what references you used, what experiences you may have accessed. Don't look for the "sound". Look for the intention.

I don't know if that makes sense, written that way - but a similar thing happened to me years ago, though not with a client, and I trusted the person who encouraged me to go deeper with it - and find that part of my personality. It - and she - and the encouragement of some here on the board - changed everything about the way I worked and the type of work I looked for and that was the beginning of understanding my brand. Everything is so much easier now, and each year has brought me better - and more lucrative work. But that place you have to find is not a sound - it's in you.

ConnieTerwilliger · Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:16 am Post subject:

Great stuff Mel...
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Bish · Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:24 am Post subject:

I behooves us all to look deeper than just the "performance" aspect of what we do... tap into the source.

Thanks Mel... a point well made.
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I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

Bob Stevens · Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:48 am Post subject:

I can sympathize. There is one voice I manage to get about once every few weeks. And only before noon. lol

Aye Chihuahua! Ernie Anderson always has the same posture and does his aye chihuahua warm up to find that voice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnYFhT8ywhI

Bob
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Ed Fisher · Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 1:41 pm Post subject:

Bob Bergen · CM Joined: 22 Apr 2008 Posts: 979

Gang, it's called acting. The voice is the instrument or transmitter. But the intent or purpose behind the performance is the acting.

I believe you are born an actor. Just like a singer is born a singer, a sculpter is born a sculpter, a dancer is born a dancer. You are born with talent. But to reproduce talent consistently at will takes technique. Which is why no matter what kind of acting is your thing, be it theater, film, or VoiceOver, studying acting and improv is essential. If you concentrate on the sound of a performance, you miss the intent or purpose of the performance.

A trained actor makes a choice. A non trained actor makes a guess. Two years into vo classes I began a 2 year program at an acting conservatory. As well as 3 years of improv. I then went back to vo classes to apply my acting technique to my vo skills. It was night and day. It was like the scene in The Wizard of Oz where color was introduced. I'd spent 2 years trying to reproduce the sound. But with the training and acting technique, I was able to reproduce the emotions and acting. The sound organically came into play. And, I then spent another 2 years in vo classes applying and obsorbing all the skills.

Natural raw talent I can spot at the mic in less than 10 seconds. But raw talent doesn't mean you can reproduce your skills consistently. This is why I cringe when I get the "everyone tells me what a great voice I have." There's no such thing as a great voice. Just like there's no such thing as a bad voice. There are only good actors and bad actors.

Bob Stevens · Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 3:12 pm Post subject:

Well said Bob.

We are learning an art. Musicians spend years taking lessons to learn to play an instrument. Just because you can speak doesn't make you an artist.

I made practice exercise pages with several sentences each of different emotive statements. ie.. Solemn, harsh, silly, serious, carefree, luscious, angry etc. Reading through it and changing style (consistently) on the fly is a workout. I rarely get through it without a flub.

Bob
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Lee Gordon · Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 4:27 pm Post subject:

If people starting out in voiceover read just this thread and nothing else, they would be miles ahead of where they might be after at least half the seminars, webinars, classes, and such that they might pay cash money to attend. There's some gold here!

If there's anything close to a "secret" to doing this, Melissa has just revealed it to you. You say you "'channeled' a voice that belonged to someone else and that guy was good." Clearly, the voice emanated from your own pipes, so it was your voice, but it sounds like what you channeled wasn't the voice; it was the character. Finding it again may be a challenge, but you did it once before, so you you have to believe you can do it again.
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heyguido · Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 7:39 pm Post subject:

Mel rox.

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melissa eX · Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 7:53 pm Post subject:

Thanks - so do you all! And Bob and Lee managed to articulate a lot of what I was fumbling around trying to say.

Jason Huggins · Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 8:01 pm Post subject:

This is a thread I will be printing and revisiting. Great great advice for all. Thanks!

Bob Bergen · CM Joined: 22 Apr 2008 Posts: 979

Lee Gordon · Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 12:57 am Post subject: