VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[Philip Banks]

Great news! You know your MKH416 (your pipes sound SO awesome on it)? Well, here’s the thing. My friend has a way of picking out your sweet spot buy taking the circuit and a whole bunch of other stuff out of the mic and replacing it with some other stuff. Now, to be honest, the shell of your MKH416 needs a little help so my friend in LA sends the newly circuited mic to his friend in New York who replaces the shell and then returns the upgraded MKH416 to you the Voice Actor. $1600 well spent! All you have to do now is upgrade your booth, pre, compressor, sound card and recording software. Within six months you’ll be holding voice coaching sessions with Don La Fontaine and Joe Cipriano sitting in the front row, opened mouthed.

Above is the easy way to Voice Over acting success and for most it’s the way to go, for another idea, read on.

A few days ago I watched Peter Owen-Jones an ordained Anglican priest in a new series “Extreme Pilgrim”on BBC television. Peter tried to “get” Zen, tried to dig out enlightenment, tried to find out from a Shoalin temple and Buddhist monks why they did what they did. The harder he tried, the less he progressed. Peter was called to a temple, the master handed him a mop and a bucket, together they washed the floor, later he carried food and provision up a stairway – 2,000 feet from the foot of a mountain to the temple. One of the Monks taught him how to breathe properly. An elderly matriarch of the monastery allowed Peter to help tend the garden. In all this uncluttered, simple activity Peter found peace and energy. If you don’t get where this is going or are thinking “Pah! Mumbo jumbo” Stop reading.

Still with me?

If you visit my home you’ll find that it’s a place to live not a fashion statement or a declaration of opulence. Walk into my office and you’ll find a place where I spend a great deal of time. Go into my voice over booth. It’s not fully sound proofed and in many respects it is far from perfect, the mic is not the most expensive in the world, but it’s a nice place to spend time. My mic is in the best position for me; it’s in the same room and it doesn’t block my view of the stand upon which the scripts are placed. When I work all I need concentrate on is getting the best or what is needed from the text placed in front of me, sometimes a lesser performance is what’s required.

Are you Dr Great-Pipes or Sadie Smoulder? Give up. Not give up being a voice, I mean give up being YOUR voice. Allow yourself to go wherever your client wants to go. If you think you have an alternative route, make a suggestion, YOU make it; don’t let your ego get in the way. The client isn’t wrong; he’s just not you. Offer help and then let the person paying the bill decide if they want it or not. If they decline, don’t sulk you’re not 8 years old.

Zen and the art of voice acting is uncomplicated, you sit a room and do what is asked of you. Getting to the point where you can embrace this philosophy can be complicated because you have to detach yourself from a lot of the Voice Over clutter to which so many wish to remain attached. The first thing is your opinion of your great voice. Second, your view of other Voice actors “Why should he or she be doing better than I ?” Third is the technical clutter. Whilst there are standards you need to meet if you’re working from your own studio, don’t get caught up in the must have frenzy. If a client requires something better than you offer then go to a studio that meets the requirements and add it to the bill.

For most people Karma doesn’t work because those who claim to be in touch with it only know it as a way of getting something. If I stroke my neighbour’s dog I’ll get that big contract. As far as I’m able to tell Karma has a “Selfishness clause”. One of the latest fads is “The Law of attraction”. Tell the universe to make you a millionaire and it will. Sorry, that darned “Selfishness clause” will keep most people from their millions. My point? Let go of your perception of your greatness (in this case as a voice talent) or what you need to be great and just allow yourself to sit in a booth with a mic and let go; you’ll be amazed at where it will take you.

If you think what I’ve written is about, religion, spirituality or the metaphysical you’re wrong. It’s far more important than that, it’s about being a Voice Actor.

[Ed Gambill]

Brevity in action;

Spot On!
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Esse quam videri "To be rather than to seem"
www.SaVoa.org No. 07000 Member AES

[Deirdre]

I sure had to zen-ify when I had laryngitis last month.
There was a session I was attempting and failing at because my voice kept breaking. Then I got on the phone with Philip and realized I was speaking quite fluently— what the heck!!!

I discovered that my resonant placement while speaking casually was just a centimeter different from my "pro" placement. I don't force my voice into a Don LaFontaine depth (talk about funny for a girl!) but I was making a specific change when I was in front of the mic.
—A change I wasn't aware of until I had to give it up.

Life is grand.
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DBCooperVO.com

[Gp]

My biggest problem when first attempting voice work was forcing my voice and pushing my reads. It has taken me quite awhile to just relax and be me. I had a lot of great help though.....

[bobsouer]

Philip,

I can't thank you enough for posts like these.
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Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
ISDN, Source Connect, phone patch

[TheVoiceOfBob]

Always with the wise words Philip.

The whole "zen" thing reminded me of Karate. When you look up the definition of the word Karate it states "A Japanese art of self-defense in which sharp blows and kicks are administered to pressure-sensitive points on the body of an opponent."

It is that and so much more. It is a life style. It is a way of being.
One discussion I remember and hold close to me is from a friend of mine who was multiple state champion in WVa.
If you ask your instructor/Sensei how long it will take you to achieve a black belt, then Karate may not be for you. It's not about the goal at the end of the journey, it's about the journey. When you are ready, you are ready. Not a moment earlier.
The belt starts out white. It turns black from the sweat, work, blood in the journey. Who can say how long it will take for that belt to turn black from the effort you put forth in your journey? No one can say.

Colored belts were instituted for our Western culture that needs to have all these "levels" of self accomplishment.
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Try to imagine a world where there is no such thing as hypothetical situations.

The Voice of Bob

[Philip Banks]

"How good are you?"

"Better than I was yesterday and I hope I'll be able to say the same thing tomorrow"

"Mmmmmmm okay. What's the black belt for?"

"Stopping my jeans from falling down"

[Lance Blair]

One of my school teachers had a crippling stutter in the classroom when teaching Latin (of all things) and History, as well as in his daily life.

His voice was full and clear when coaching football.

I have a feeling he could only "let go" on the gridiron, and do whatever the team or situation required.

Perhaps I'm way off base here, but with voiceover I tend to think of the work at hand often as being a "voice model" not a "voice actor". I'm here to strut the client's script down the catwalk and make it look really really good as they envision it - not to create the illusion that it is really really good.

I'll put on whatever they want me to wear, and they can call the pose. That doesn't mean I'm a mannequin, just a clever-er-ish type of mannequin.
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Skype: globalvoiceover
and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!

[Hasser]

[Rob Ellis]

Wow, thanks Phillip. This one nails me to the wall, which is good because maybe that'll help me see the big picture!

[Bruce]

I've been listening to Dr. Wayne Dyer's audio book in which he gives his interpretation of the the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, the latter work being the inspiration for Taoism which shares many principles with Zen.

It's a little hard to reconcile some of those "take it easy and place your trust in the Force (the Tao, the Way)" concepts from 2,500 years ago when life was simpler, versus today's go-go must-succeed world with hundreds of options and temptations hitting us everyday, but it can be done...it absolutely can be done with very satisfying results.

Thank you for sharing, Philip.

Bruce
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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. .

[Frank F]

I just did the Tao set to some great video. It's WOW!

I will post a link to a sample shortly.

Toodles

F2
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

[Diane Maggipinto]

philip -your words regularly are zen-esque. thank you for that.

and to which i'll highlight here some of greg's reply, concomitant with banksey's

[Lizden]

[DougVox]

Philip...your wildly insightful and though-provoking post leads me to ask one simple question:

When is your book going to be published? (Not soon enough, I'm afraid.)



PS. Liz, I love your avatar...Dogmatix is definitely a superhero!
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Doug Turkel (tur-KELL)
Voiceover UNnouncer®
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