LEADS AND READS - WEEK OF 2/11 TO 2/17

Marilyn Taylor · **Voice Talent** Joined: 30 Oct 2006 Posts: 400

Hi friends, I answered this audition, felt good about it and it got a measly 3. I would love to hear what you 'pros' think. I may not have had the type of voice they were looking for but maybe someone could tell me if there is something I could have done to make this better. It came with no specific directions. It's for a web tour. Thanks for your time.

Deby Cedars · **Voice Talent** Joined: 23 Jan 2006 Posts: 1482

Marilyn it is not bad....but it needs some pizzazz! Emphasize a phrase or two. I would have slowed down and tried to be very inviting on "Step In" or "Hand Picked like it's amazing she took the time to do that.

You also have a slight nasal sound which can be a bit nerdy....That sound with a very slight....can't really identify it...yankee accent can be a problem....but besides EQ for the nasal thing I don't think there is much you can do about it. You have to understand 3 stars is not really a bad rating. I usually get 3 stars when I audition for something I'm not really old enough for....( or rather my voice doesn't sound old enough for)

Just find something in the script to get excited about. Your doing your best and that's all you can do.

Scott Pollak · Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008, 22:51 (GMT) Post subject:

Marilyn, just a really quick reply before I head out to work in a raging thunderstorm: To me it sounded falsely sing-songy. Predictably rhythmic and not really sincere. More like you were trying to sell me something than tell me about something that you really felt strongly about. Just my 2 cents.

Robert Jadah · **Voice Talent** Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 2627

I rarely agree with the Seekers, Marilyn.
Generally speaking their judgment makes Roy Bean look wise.
But you didn't sound really convinced until "exposing....." towards the end.
To these ears, you sounded a little hesitant and tentative until then. I believe you might have helped yourself by closing your eyes and envisioning what you were describing (it wasn't much text to memorize), or leaving them open and being moderately awed in talking about a beautiful interior photo you'd pinned to the wall of your recording area.

Voice On!

Marilyn Taylor · **Voice Talent** Joined: 30 Oct 2006 Posts: 400

Thanks for the insight ..... somethings just not clicking lately....
I need to find my voice....

Diane Havens · **Voice Talent** Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 1281

While I agree with all my esteemed colleagues in their critiques, Marilyn -- I don't audition for those types of reads much -- because I find most of the time, they are looking for a younger voice, even though they claim they want middle age. More likely this is the reason for the three, even though the read did ring a bit false, and your voice a tad tight.

David Bosco · **Voice Talent** Joined: 06 Sep 2007 Posts: 281

Marilyn:

'came with no specific directions'

....might mean they are not sure how they want it to sound, but they'll know it when they hear it. To me, your delivery sounded not quite sincere enough, though acceptable for most applications. One little goof at the end, "The art of entertaining" kind of sounded like "The art Dove entertaining".

Travis . · **Voice Talent** Joined: 23 Feb 2004 Posts: 55

You got a "measly 3"?.... You got a "measly 3"?.... Geez, with the bunch of twos and ones I've gotten this month!.... (Okay, I also got a bunch of fives and fours, too... But...)

Since I've discovered I don't know what I'm doing (Not a self-put-down, see previous posts) I don't evaluate auditions - not even my own. I have observed, however, that we all already know what's wrong and right with our auditions - we just hope that nobody else hears the bad parts of our auditions, and that they do hear the good parts... But fortunately and unfortunately, they do.

The problem, here is that I don't like Jackson Pollock's art. I know several people who just love his stuff, but I just don't get it. I do appreciate some other contemporary art, but Pollocks's stuff just leaves me cold. - Here's someone who's been proclaimed one of the greatest 20th century artists, and it does nothing for me. I don't even hate it. If Jackson Pollock was a VO artist, I'd give every audition he sent me "one star".

Since I'm in Southern California, I often get to hear who got the parts I audition for. Most of the time, my response is "What were they thinking!". My favorite spec is "Not an announcer - we want a real person!". I hear the spot that got produced - totally announcer!!!! (At least by my concept of what an "announcer" sounds like.)

We can't know what those who are seeking talent are looking for.. Much of the time they don't know themselves-often, they just don't have good taste.

Diane Havens · **Voice Talent** Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 1281

Travis --
You're a wise man indeed.

It's just what I've been saying. It's impossible to get into the head of a seeker. So much affects the way things are perceived. Even with direction, but especially with no direction. A young voice is more than just the age of the speaker -- what I should instead call it is a MODERN voice, with all the inflection, pacing and pauses with which young people speak these days.

But it seems we're stuck with this rating system that obsesses us, that plays into our egos (5s) or our insecurities (anything below a 5). Using these ratings for a basis for critique is just not valid.

That is why I prefer the voices site, not only because I've done better there recently, but because I submit my auditions and truly forget them.

Getting the gig is the only thing that matters in the end.