Episode 11- this is Monday, so per my previous post, it’s “Commercial Copy” day. Given that we’re near the end of the month, I’ve elected to just revisit the previous stuff I did, specifically the Sears ad from Harlan Hogan’s book VO. I think I’ll have one more episode with this one, then on the first Monday in December will be switching to something new.
Thanks to all the folks listening for your feedback, it’s invaluable!
I’m ten episodes into the voice blog, and I’ve realized that I would benefit from some more structured use of the process. Basically this far has been feeling things out, and just doing whatever comes to mind; leaping in and running with it. That’s by design, of course- I wanted to be able to improve my improvisational skills, which is still something I’m working on, but I think there’s more to be done.
For lack of a better term, anyway. What I’m going to do is break my voice blog up into the days of the week and use each day to focus on a specific area. For a given month, I’ll repeat the same copy or subject each sucessive week. That way, I can track my progress on something over the course of time and then reset with something new.
For example, I’ll be doing commercial copy, like a radio or Internet ad, on Mondays. For a given month I’ll be focusing on improving my read of that copy on my Monday edition. Then on the following month, I’ll choose another piece of copy to work with. This gives me a rhythm and also lets people who are kind enough to listen and provide feedback an opportunity to hear how my delivery changes over time.
Here’s how it’s gonna be laid out:
This process will give me a range of content to practice with. I think this will be a very good addition of structure to what has been pretty wide-open thus far.
Episode 10, for your edification. I read another passage from World War Z and discuss the challenges with creating characters that are believable, but don’t get in the way of the story. I also touch on the challenges I’ve experienced trying to create accents that aren’t hackneyed.
Thanks, as always, for listening and I welcome your feedback.
Tape-Delayed in your broadcast area (I know, I’m old). I try to take some of Justin’s advice to heart in this one.
Enjoy!
I’ve recorded the next entry in my ongoing Voice Blog series, but sadly can’t post it as my podcast host is doing maintenance, preventing me from uploading it. However, I’ll be able to upload it first thing in the morning.
Sorry about that, folks!
In which I read a commercial copy piece from VO, Harlan Hogan’s book on the world of voice work.
For reference, the final read was 13.78 seconds, although I didn’t like the delivery much.
It’s been an interesting few days. With the recent power outage and 3 (!) earthquakes in my area, none of which caused any damage but were still disconcerting, I’ve been a bit… distracted? Yes, that’s a very diplomatic word.
At any rate, I’ve got another voice blog which I’ll be recording in a bit and posting later tonight. Got some friends watching TV in the next room, so I’m gonna wait until the background noise is gone.
Background noise and condenser mics- not good
So what’s new in the world? Well, a few things that I thought were worth mentioning.
First, I met an old friend for lunch today and got told that I sound “more polished” in terms of general conversation than I did the last time we spoke, which was a few years ago. That was highly gratifying, as it came on the heels of a conversation where I was discussing how much effort I had been putting into what is essentially a self-training regimen. We discussed some of the things I mentioned in my most recent voice blog, essentially the difficulty of being taken seriously. The field of voice work is littered with “wannabes”, and it’s very difficult to position oneself against that backdrop. What felt good about being told that I sound different is that it means that all the work I’ve been putting into my voice is having real-world impact on how I sound.
Read 'em and weep
Among a few book recommendations is one I found on my Nook today: VO, by Harlan Hogan. By the way, if you’re an author, make your books available in digital format. I don’t want to hear excuses, just bloody do it. I buy 10 e-books for every paper one and reference/nonfiction books are almost always better in digital format because I can carry an entire shelf with me in a package that weighs less than 6 ounces. It’s the 21st century, get with the program and make your books available electronically.
As to this book, I’m not terrifically far into it, but it’s a good read thus far. I was pleased to no end to discover that Hogan’s recommended approaches to things mirrors many of the things I’ve been trying to work on myself and have even mentioned in this blog, including stressing things like continuous improvement, focusing on small things, checking your ego at the door and learning by doing. I recommend it as a good place to begin if you’re considering working in the voice field. It does a good job of setting expectations which is important in this field, I believe.
Carrie over at Vox in Transition wrote about a class she’s attending this weekend with Pat Fraley about audiobook reading. I’m insanely jealous- the teacher of our recent VO class recommended it and I really wanted to go but scheduling and budget simply didn’t pan out. You can bet I’ll be picking her brain about how the class went, though!
Tomorrow I’m taking delivery of some 2×4 panels of acoustic foam for my studio. It’s essentially a basement room with hard plaster walls, so it’s got a lot of reflections and sounds really bright. I’m looking forward to taking the edge off of that and will be making adjustments over time to make it as good a recording environment as I can manage in the space I have.I assume that this will only be a first step, as I’m learning quite a bit about how sound actually works in a studio and how it is managed.
Ok, I recorded this 2 days ago, in the dark sitting at my kitchen counter during a windstorm that knocked out power and downed a line in front of my house. Power was restored late last night, but I didn’t have an opportunity to record another episode. Sorry for missing an episode, but barring any further weather related issues, I should be back on track.
Edit: For some reason, the player is having problems, so I’ve removed it and opened a ticket with my podcast host. In the meantime you can download or play the episode directly from here:
Hey kids. Power’s out and the transformer asploded. Oh, and the power line is down in front of my house.
I recorded a voice blog but I can’t simply upload an mp3 with my iPad. I have spent the last 3 hours trying to figure out how to accomplish the simple task of sending a file from one system to another, and have given up, mostly because my battery won’t last much long.
I will post the entry I recorded tonight as soon as I can. Sincere apologies for my failure to deliver the recording tonight.
Voice Blog Episode Six, for your edification, is presented below. I attempted to incorporate feedback I got from Justin Barrett, and so re-recorded the same ad copy as yesterday.
Funny thing is about this process, I find myself caring less and less each day about the stuff that doesn’t work or sounds awkward, even to me- my reaction is more and more, screw it, ship it! I think that alone speaks to how this process is having its intended effect of making me less self-conscious.