VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[ccpetersen]

I've removed the link for now. Comments below convinced me that perhaps I need to rethink this set of cuts before I post demo clips of my work in a public forum. I think my work's good, but the clips edited together were not technically good, as pointed out. So, it's back to the drawing board.
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Charter Member: Threadjackers Local 420

[Monk]

CC,

I got an "Internal Server Error" when I clicked on the link.


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Company, villainous company, hath been the spoil of me...

www.monksvoice.com

[Mikenj3]

Same here, CC.

"Internal Server Error."


Mike Forbes
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Mikenj3@comcast.net

[ccpetersen]

Yep, I misstyped the address. Sorry about that.

I fixed it in the original post.
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[Scott Pollak]

Listening right now and there seems to be a lot of technical issues. The starting piece, "Molly's Deli" just cuts out. The second piece cuts in and out, too. I found it so distracting that I couldn't really concentrate on the delivery. Fading in and out between tracks is old-school and really slows down the demo, too.

You may want to consider using a skilled editing pro if it's not your forte'. Beyond the editing and technical issues, there's just no consistency here. It's a little bit of this and that and nothing in particular. I can't really get a feel for who you are or what you do well. If you're asking if this works as a demo... no.
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Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com

[ccpetersen]

So, I've removed the link.

But your comments do raise a question that I've pondered for a while... what format (fade outs, butt cuts) is the "norm" in a demo? I've heard so many demos (sent to me and ones I've searched out on people's pages) and I hear a variety of presentation styles in terms of fades between pieces vs. butt cuts vs. a second of audio black between cuts. I talked to a couple of other producers and their attitude was that they didn't really have a preference -- they just wanted to hear the range of a performer's abilities. That squares with my own experience -- when I am looking for a voice actor, I don't really pay attention to the format so much as I do the voice. I've been hiring VOs on and off for nearly 20 years, and it has never come to my attention that a butt cut vs fade between cuts was important. So, since you mentioned that fades are old fashioned, what IS the concensus here about how various clips should be presented in a demo?

By the way, I didn't make it clear, but the file I posted was NOT a formal demo, it was a set of clips that I assembled fairly quickly upon request of a possible client who had heard one of my longer pieces at a museum and wanted to hear other clips. I warned them it was not a final demo by any means, but they indicated that for this purpose, they understood.

I guess my purpose was NOT to get technical commentary, but to ask people to listen to the timbre of my voice and pacing and give commentary on that. I should have been more clear. Sorry.
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[Bruce]

CC, I've heard quite a bit of your work in the astronomy realm and I think your timbre is fine. You never lumber along. Ha! I slay myself.

Anyway, I'm sure there are a number of us who would be happy to give you a kind yet honest appraisal of your material if you wanted to send it to them directly.

On the totally separate fade versus butt issue, I think it is a plus factor to be artistic transitioning from one cut to the other. The producers that care about such things will notice. Sometimes having the dry voice of a second selection coming over the fading music or SFX of a previous selection can be a nice effect (or vice versa) , or having the second selection come in right after the previous one to make some kind of humorous connection can be appealing.

B
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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. .

[ccpetersen]

hi Bruce,

I think that Scott's note was a useful wakeup call that I'd better not post ANYTHING until it's more up to snuff. That being said, I am having a tough time figuring out which cuts of many to put on a demo. I have a LOT more than what I put in the original file; as I said, it was a quick and dirty piece on demand from a specific client.

I went back and listened to more demos yesterday, from other folks, and they are all over the map. I do know that when I get the "good" demo put together, the intro will be done with a male voice, but beyond that, I'm still scratching my head to figure out what else to put on there. I've done a number of things -- some in the character realm and some in the documentary style.
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[brianforrester]

Hey CC,

I'm certainly not a producer and I very, very rarely hire talent, but I know what sounds good to me when it comes to demos and transitions between cuts...

The unnoticeable!

By that, I mean that it's the demos with track transitions that don't make me think about the transition at all that I find most appealing to the ears. I should instead be left to analyze and enjoy the performance, without being distracted with a production element such as a transition.

Keep in mind, for the purposes of this conversation I'm completely omitting the obvious quality of the v/o and the individual track production quality.

In my opinion, each track will require a different transition treatment and my goal is always to make that transition unnoticible or at least complimentary to the tracks I am marrying. The listener should notice the difference in performance, style, timbre etc... not the abrubt or cutesie transition between tracks.

What I know for sure, is that when I hear a demo that has obvious transition problems, the first thing that comes to mind is "amateur"... the second thing that comest to mind is "exit"... neither of which are thoughts we want potential clients to have when listening to our demos!

Now having said that... for demos in certain genres, cutsie and obvious transitions might be desireable. However, for my money in the narration and commercial genres, unnoticeable is the name of the game.

Just my opinions and others will likely have much more input!

Cheers,
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Brian Forrester Voice Overs
www.brianforrester.com
brian@brianforrester.com
778.668.5715

[ccpetersen]

Brian,

In listening to demos, I rarely notice anything in the transitions, but then again, I'm usually more focused on the voice. So, what you say makes sense vis-a-vis the transition style. I just listened to one yesterday that had very smooth transitions (i.e. fade outs but not quite to black) between each cut. The thing that I noticed most about that one was that the ending piece was VERY different from the opening piece. It told me that the person had quite a range of styles. Mind you, I was looking for a voice for a documentary, and that person's demo was all about the documentary style and didn't have ads, e-learning, etc.

thanks for your thoughts!
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[Mike Sommer]

[ccpetersen]

Mike,

Taking your points last to first, I agree about having a demo producer go through the material and do it. I NEVER said in my original post that I was doing the demo. Other than the file I sent upon request to a producer who understood that it was NOT a formal demo, I haven't put together my own demo and wouldn't. I want to be able to bring what I've already done to the table and pick out the "best and most representative". My error was posting my clips without making that clear. This place is casual enough that I forgot I needed to be more explicit about what I wanted...

However, as for making that demo: I want to have someone who isn't interested in making me something I'm not, and the last one I talked to wanted me to do a bunch of commercial copy that he had so he could "produce" me.

I would prefer to take the work I've been paid to do and use THAT as a sample of what I've done. Is that wrong? I don't think so.

Oddly enough, I haven't had much need of a demo in the niche I've been working in. So, I'm taking it slowly in making a demo.

As for what I look for in narrators -- I wasn't complaining about that person's demo who had such a wide range of abilities-- on the contrary, it showed a wide range of possibilities for a good narrative in a documentary -- and it widened my mind a bit, too. And, I just went back and listened again and darned if the transitions weren't crossfades!

I keep a handy roster of talents and links to agencies -- I'll certainly add DPN to that list. It's easier these days than it was when I had to specifically get demo reels from all the agencies. Now it's usually a nice point-and-click exercise.

To branch out a bit -- one of the things I MOST enjoy about doing VO work is that it's never the same thing twice unless somebody tells me that they want something "just like what I did in XXX". Even then, the words and mood are different in each piece and so no two reads are ever really alike.

Obviously the sense of person that I bring to a straight documentary about exploring Mars, for example, is going to be different from the sense that I bring to a character in an animation or other project. She could even be the Princess of Mars in a character piece, but she's not going to sound exactly the same as the "me" that tells you about Mars volcanism in the past. This is what I find so fascinating -- the exploration of possibilities.

So, in going through the voice samples I have, they're all over the place because the projects I've done have been all over the place. And I think that's great. Not all of them are "me" although I certainly do bring elements of myself into each part.

Sorry, the thread is drifting. I'd still like to know what folks think about the "transition" issue, since it was raised above.
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