Voices.com Answers - Recent questions and answers in Technique

Answered: Are there any coaches you recommend in Southern Ontario

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:55:51 +0000

Thank you for reaching out to us. I would like to share with you some wonderful resources to help you research for a professional and well-respected voiceover coach.

Voice Over Coaches Directory

Introducing the Voice Coaches Network, a group of dedicated professionals who teach, train and develop voice talent and voice actors. To get a feel for the teaching style of an instructor, you can listen to a recording of their teaching for free online at Voices.com. If you'd like to learn more about a specific voice over trainer, visit their Voice Over Experts profile, or, click through the website link to visit their personal website.

Voice Over Coaches Directory
http://www.voices.com/voice-over-coaches.html

Also, Voices.com has teamed up with Edge Studio, one of America’s top voice over education providers, to help take your voice over career to the next level. Edge studio offers, acting and performance Courses, business and marketing courses and courses on technology.

Great news! Tell Edge Studio that you're a Voices.com member, and get 10% off everything! Or if you use their online form, just enter the coupon code: "voices.com" (without the quotation marks, and all in lower case).

Coaching with Edge Studio
http://www.voices.com/coaching

Hope this helps,

Voices.com Support Staff
1-888-359-3472
support@voices.com

Answered: How do I delete an audition? I sent the wrong demo to a client

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 02:09:03 +0000

You can go to your "Answered" folder and delete the audition, but contact customer support, if you still want to submit. They may be able to re-set it for you, so you can attach the correct file!

Answered: Do you need to ask music to my demo

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:49:43 +0000

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out to us. We provide samples of background music and sound effects that are available to download.

The music beds and sound effects are located under the Voices.com Resources Section here: http://www.voices.com/royalty-free-music

For more information on what kind of a role should music play in your demo, check out this article "Music in Demos? Let the Debate Begin!"
http://blogs.voices.com/voxdaily/2011/01/music_in_voice_over_demos.html

Hope this helps,

Ashley Davidson
Social Media Manager | Voices.com

Answered: When creating a demo, do you add music or do you just use your voice?

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:25:57 +0000

You should probably only add music and production if you can do so yourself. An overproduced demo that you can't replicate is false advertising.

Answered: I live in a smaller area where would I find acting/VO lessons

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 00:59:54 +0000

Try searching online for local theaters. You might find trained actors willing to guide you or offer paid training. Also, colleges and community colleges often have acting programs. I would suggest investigating that as a possibility. However, you don't always need "in person" acting lessons to get training. The Edge Studios in NYC offers single classes and entire programs for VO folks looking to develop their acting skills. You might also find videos online for free.

Answered: I'm considering headset with noise cancellation mic; anyone have inputs on gaming headsets?

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 20:14:23 +0000

Gaming headsets are generally not a high enough quality for professional grade recording.

You are likely to have a better result by using a more professional microphone than one that is designed for gaming.

Answered: When will voices.com start randomizing the order that clients recieve demos

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 19:16:59 +0000

They way talent are presented to client's currently is based on VoiceMatch score. The better you are matched to a job, the higher your audition response will be in their response list. In the past, responses were displayed soley in order submitted. If you happen to have a great match to the job and you are able to get your response in timely then you have a greater chance of appearing closer to the top of the responses list.

It is always best to follow the direction provided by the client and in the instance where a sample script is provided, a custom sample should be provided for audition purposes as many client's do just skip over the generic demos provided by talent who want to be first in line.

Answered: Plz help, how do I get started in the biz?

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 04:47:14 +0000

Kyle--
FIRST, get proper VO training via a reputable trainer or coach. SECOND, know that training is ongoing (not just a single workshop). THIRD, get a professionally produced demo (AFTER you have sufficient training). There's no shortage of entities waiting to take your money and exploit your VO dreams. Fact: You need more than just a "pretty voice." After all, what good is owning a Yamaha/Kawai/Baldwin grand piano if you can't play OR if you have poor technique? Same with your voice--which is your instrument. Also, a reputable trainer/coach will TELL you if you're wasting your time and $$$, even if it means not having easy access to your credit card. Becoming a (marketable) VO does not happen overnight; the industry is tough, competitive and full of VO wannabees and has beens struggling to reinvent themselves. Do your research (follow the VO blogs). Sorry to sound like a Grinch, but you asked ;;)) Good luck!

Answered: how do I maximize my odds of selection

Tue, 22 May 2012 18:55:23 +0000

Be quick and submit a clean audition.

Answered: any good demo script resources online? just bought my USB mike and want to start recording.

Wed, 09 May 2012 04:33:21 +0000

voices.com has a bunch of sample scripts for you to work with. You can find it elsewhere on this site.

Answered: How do I add music to my audition?

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 01:03:21 +0000

Hi Kathy...

In order to answer your question... it would be helpful to know which software you use... i.e. Audacity, Audition, Garageband, etc

Most music is laid in using "multi-track mode". You record your voice on one track... sometimes you have to record your voice in "edit" mode... and then insert that track into a muti-track session.

Then put the music on a second track... and then use an "envelope" to raise and lower the music volume at the appropriate points.

As far as using voices.com music... just download the cut you want and save it to your hard drive. Then assuming your using some kind of software host such as those I mentioned above you would use the software to open (browse to) the file, then drag it onto the second track and do the editing I referred to.

Good luck

Answered: Should recordings be normalized? Always? Why?

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:19:51 +0000

I humbly preface my answer with the sage advice (not sure where I first read it) "edit with your ears." In other words... the degree to which your normalize, compress, hard limit etc... depends a great deal on the "noise floor" of your track... and how it sounds when you're done processing... not what it looks like on the vu meter... provided of course that your tracks are not clipping.

If your signal chain is relatively quiet and your noise floor down around -80 db then you can do the above without significantly degrading the quality of your demo, audition, finished product.

The goal of having your material end up at -3db is not a bad thing because that's what most people do... and if a potential client is listening to a dozen auditions and yours comes in at -12db... it might be a red flag... i.e. the client wondering why the volume of your audition is so low... and jumping to the conclusion that you're a rookie who doesn't understand gain staging or has a rinky dink home studio.

Another point... even though my noise floor is around -80db... I still do a routine "light" noise reduction process as the first step in preparing raw tracks so that when I add something like compression it doesn't noticeably raise the noise floor.

And a final important point in all this is the order in which you process tracks. The following works pretty well for me.

1. Normalize or amplify raw track to around -6db.
2. use parametric eq to roll off the useless bass frequencies
3. Light compression... 2:1 ratio that brings the level up to -3db
4. back to parametric eq to sweeten to taste... i.e. I boost to bring up mids a little... and narrow cut for any problem frequencies that may make your track sound boomy or boxey.

Hope this helps... good luck.

Answered: When will the voicesdotcom iphone app be ready for downloading??

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:59:40 +0000

The application will be submitted at the end of March. The launch date is dependent on Apple’s approval of the App.

We'll send out an official notification of the launch date once it's approved. The app will be available for use on your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

In the meantime, you can learn more by listening to our webinar with the Voices.com iPhone App focus group.

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

Answered: If it reads that the audition is "working" does that mean its for me only or someone else?

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:40:10 +0000

If the job has been awarded to you either through the site or by direct contact, then you are "working" the job. Otherwise, it's safe to assume that someone else is "working" on it. Remember, the talent is contacted, and at first the status is "Finalizing," meaning that the talent must accept the offer before the job moves into "working" status. Once the job is recorded, the files uploaded and accepted and payment released, the job is "Completed."

Answered: Zipped files as a way to send audio?

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:00:38 +0000

Zipped files are a pretty standard way to make large files and groups of files more manageable. If you are going to send a zipped file to a client however, do make sure that they can accept them. Some clients will have locked down terminals that will make accessing zipped files impossible.