For this voice blog I did something that is at least an interesting experiment. I recorded myself with my iPad reading a chapter of Dzur to my son. We do a nightly storytime and Brust’s novels are currently on the menu; he’s been absolutely loving Vladimir Taltos and his reptilian friend Loiosh. Frequently I get to the end of a chapter and he asks “Can we continue? Please?!”

This recording is pretty raw; it was done with the iPad sitting on my lap as I was sitting in a rocking chair reading to him. You can also hear a question or two from Alex, some stumbles and even a sneeze from me. Very un-polished. It’s also longer than my usual fare, about 30 minutes.

The reason I’m using this as a voice blog entry is to provide an insight into how I read longer-form fiction and an opportunity for any critique of the voices, characters, etc. I would probably have used slightly different voices for one of the characters- Domm- if I had read the end of the chapter where his voice is described more clearly, but that’s a consequence of essentially reading it “cold”. I’m actually quite proud of my ability to take a book or long-form piece and read it with no practice. I am very good at cold reads which is a skill I have cultivated deliberately.

Your feedback, of course is always welcome and desired!

The somewhat-delayed Episode 17. In my four-hour commute (there was an accident in Tacoma) I had an epiphany about dreams and our goals, which I share in this voice blog.

I had the mic turned in the correct direction tonight! For tonight’s read I chose a passage from Dzur by Steven Brust. Normally Thursdays are corporate narrations, but this was more interesting and I sadly skipped audiobook day earlier in the week.

Thanks to all of you for listening, I hope you enjoy it!

First, apologies for missing the last 2 days of voice blogs. I had a lovely hacking cough that kind of kept me from doing any useful work behind a mic, and then yesterday I can only plead a combination of fatigue and a break in rhythym.

It’s very difficult to establish a routine, but once you do, be sure not to break that routine without a very good reason; it can be even harder to get back into it. Look for a new voice blog tonight!

Tonight is the final cut of the Sears ad from Harlan Hogan’s book VO. Next week will be a new commercial. If you have suggestions for some copy, send it my way!

Oh, and by the way- the recording sounds kind of odd tonight. I didn’t realize until I was done that the microphone was actually in the stand backwards! However, I’m not going to re-record it, as that would go against the philosophy of making this unscripted; I prefer to go with the first take, even if it’s not technically brilliant. 😉

Thanks again as always!

Tonight’s menu- Improv! I do a quick scene of a bunch of insecure demigods hosting a barbecue. I also provide the information on where I got the scene idea, a wonderful tool called the Random Logline Generator.

Sorry, folks- I’m too tired and too full to get anything useful out of a session behind the mic tonight.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Thanksgiving holiday! Best wishes, and I’ll be back for tomorrow’s fun.

Tonight’s menu: A character named Saladin Kader from World War Z is the character I have chosen. I am working on developing an Arabic accent, which is not easy. I believe my accent actually sounds more Russian than Arabic. Give it a listen and let me know what you think. I’ll be continuing to work on Mr. Kader’s voice and we’ll see how I improve when I do characters again next week.

Thanks as always for listening!

Tuesday is audiobooks, so for today’s piece, I chose a passage from Dzur by Steven Brust (part of a really fun series, by the way. You should read them).

Earlier tonight I was cleaning up the catboxes in the garage and practicing character voices as I did so. The more I get into the voice acting craft, the more I think I run the risk of being seen as a lunatic mumbling and gesturing to himself all the time. When I came back into the house, I was trying on a “Loiosh” voice for size. Loiosh is a character in Dzur who is a small reptile familiar to the main character. He needs to sound reptilian and sort of nasty, but in a good way- I think of him as being kind of like a character from Goodfellas or maybe The Godfather. Nasty sense of humor, reptilian, but, you know- loyal.

Anyway, I was coming back into the house saying various lines in the voice I was trying out for him, and my wife gave me The Look. If you do voice work, you’ve probably gotten it yourself once or twice. I told her “It might be a good idea to get used to me saying odd things in strange voices, because I need the practice.”

Anyway, enjoy Episode 12!

Voiceover artist Mahmoud Taji recently announced the creation of The Voiceover Wiki. It’s a wiki site dedicated to the world of voiceover and from my so-far brief perusal, has a lot of promise. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes out of it, and probably contributing some myself.

Good stuff, Mahmoud!