A Career In Voice Acting?

[LennonAid]

Hey guys, I know this is like the umpteenth thread I've created and this would probably be hard for anyone to give me advice from but I'd appreciate it. It's really strange. Just like a few things about myself, I hated my voice. So because of that, I would always try to mask it by creating new voices so to speak when I was younger. Then of course awkward puberty came and all of that good stuff and I found my voice to be nasally. Even at the age of 20-21 I didn't think too well of it. That is until I got really sick. I had terrible strep throat that spread to my ear, nose, eye, and throat. Among losing hearing and my sight, I lost my voice. When my voice came back, it seemed to have come back better than ever. Girls would tell me how sexy I sound now and I'd never gotten reactions like that. But even guys would tell me how awesome my voice is and some would think I wasn't speaking in my normal tone. I'd always wanted to become a voice actor and now I feel like it's a better time than any to do something like that. But I seriously don't know what I would have to do to get myself out there. Any creative ideas?

 

link removed just for kicks, this isn't a serious demo by any means. If I were to demo, I'd take more than 10 seconds and actually have a preparation.

[abitbroken]

I can't hear it? I don't want to download anything - do you have it hosted online anywhere. Anyhow, if you are serious, I would go to a broadcasting school. Even if you can "do" different voices, you need to know how to handle a microphone and also, there are different speech habits that we all have. I took a voice class (not singing, but stage voice) in school and it helped me immensely. Everyone might have something like weak plosives, a slight nasal town, an ever slight regional accent that they need to be able to switch out of and not realize they have etc. It is not always just about tone. You have to be crystal clear and understandable too, and the way one speaks is sometimes different when recoridng.

[LennonAid]

I can't hear it? I don't want to download anything - do you have it hosted online anywhere. Anyhow, if you are serious, I would go to a broadcasting school. Even if you can "do" different voices, you need to know how to handle a microphone and also, there are different speech habits that we all have. I took a voice class (not singing, but stage voice) in school and it helped me immensely. Everyone might have something like weak plosives, a slight nasal town, an ever slight regional accent that they need to be able to switch out of and not realize they have etc. It is not always just about tone. You have to be crystal clear and understandable too, and the way one speaks is sometimes different when recoridng.

 

Yeah it should stream automatically after clicking but it doesn't matter. Your answer is fine, because I was thinking of stuff like that. I wanted to go back to school anyway and I'll keep all of this in mind. Thanks.

[Jeremy21]

I just started working in a place that records audio books (for the vision impaired); that could be an avenue you could look into. I know that some of the recorders even do different "voices" for characters when they record fiction novels.

 

Other than that, as far as recording for cartoons and whatnot, it's a fairly competitive business as far as I know, but maybe not impossible. It's getting trickier and trickier now because so many cartoons (especially movies) are using "celebrity" voices rather than actual skilled voice artists (which ticks me off, by the way), but there might still be other avenues. Like the other poster said, try taking some classes on it or something and see if you can develop it.

[LennonAid]

I just started working in a place that records audio books (for the vision impaired); that could be an avenue you could look into. I know that some of the recorders even do different "voices" for characters when they record fiction novels.

 

Other than that, as far as recording for cartoons and whatnot, it's a fairly competitive business as far as I know, but maybe not impossible. It's getting trickier and trickier now because so many cartoons (especially movies) are using "celebrity" voices rather than actual skilled voice artists (which ticks me off, by the way), but there might still be other avenues. Like the other poster said, try taking some classes on it or something and see if you can develop it.

 

Thanks for your suggestion. Yeah, what is with that? Do they really need celebrities to do voice overs too? I know it's very competitive and all, but eh I guess nabbing a good job like that would be! Thanks again!

[shes2smart]

I have been doing freelance voiceover work for about 3 years now. Prior to that I was a radio DJ for 25 years....and that was my "training" to do VO work.

 

For what you want to do, you'll probably want to look into acting classes...and learning how to operate recording equipment and do Stupid Audio Production Tricks wouldn't hurt, either.

 

Finally, however difficult or competitive you may think the business is, triple that and you may be close to approaching the reality of it.

[LennonAid]

I have been doing freelance voiceover work for about 3 years now. Prior to that I was a radio DJ for 25 years....and that was my "training" to do VO work.

 

For what you want to do, you'll probably want to look into acting classes...and learning how to operate recording equipment and do Stupid Audio Production Tricks wouldn't hurt, either.

 

Finally, however difficult or competitive you may think the business is, triple that and you may be close to approaching the reality of it.

 

Thanks for the motivation?

[shes2smart]

Thanks for the motivation?

 

Ok, would you rather I tell you it's stupid-easy and you'll be paid huge money with very little effort....and then you can curse me later when you run smack into reality?

 

If you're looking for someone to blow sunshine up your skirt about the VO business, you won't have to look very hard. There are PLENTY of self-proclaimed VO gurus out there who'll gladly sell you their books/classes/coaching to help you get into the "exciting and lucrative world of voiceover work."

 

When I was in radio, I'd encounter lots of starry-eyed, hopeful younger folk who thought they wanted to do what I was doing for a living. I was always straightforward about that business (6 day weeks, no holidays off, crappy pay, weird hours, no job stability, etc.). Did I burst a few bubbles? Probably. But the way I look at it is this: If you're not prepared to deal with the things you are likely to run into, you're hopping into a high-speed train that's hurtling toward the brick wall of the cold, hard world.

 

Are you prepared to audition for 100 different projects and not get ANY of them? Are you prepared to hear things like, "You sound too salesy/announcery/excited/fake/unpolished/flat/etc., etc." when you did your best? Are you prepared to read the same piece of copy a dozen different ways and have a client go, "No...that's still not it...."?

 

That's my day-to-day reality these last 3 years. It's the day-to-day reality of every other VO person I know.