How to prep yourself to record your demo

Lance Blair · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008, 04:18 (GMT) Post subject:

Scott! Don't give Craig advice, the guy is good and he's going to take away slices of our Atlanta market pie. Wink

Plus, he's a really nice guy too! Enough people will help him out without our encouragement.

Best of luck to you Craig, I know you'll do well and PM me about your demos anytime.

Craig Crumpton · **Voice Talent** Joined: 10 Mar 2008 Posts: 57

J. C. Bailey · **Voice Talent** Joined: 28 Jan 2008 Posts: 6

[quote="Connie Terwilliger"]Your "voice" can be rich with nuances - some subtle, some not so subtle. It can be warm or hard, fast or slow, intimate or distant, young or old, happy or sad, hip or nerdy. Shades of your voice.[quote]

Again, thanks for the advice from both of you. I would never have gotten pro advice on my own, thanks Craig for the link.

Generally, I at least have head knowledge about what you both have said. And apparently, I'm on the right track about how to go about it... that said, there are four clips of "just me" in what I used to call my commercial demo, so (as I've said) I think I had the right idea... just didn't impliment it very well.

Connie, you mention vocal nuances, but that sort of goes back to my question about characters: how do I display those nuances without getting into a character? Where is the distinguishing line between my own voice with a twist of nerd and a nerdy character? Maybe I'm asking the question with the wrong words. It's not difficult to discern why I'm in the NEWBIES section. Laughing

I get the warm or hard, fast or slow, intimate or distant part, but after that, it seems as though the rest would either BE character voices or be SEEN that way by a prospective client. And doesn't tempo mean "a certain speed;" so even though I may have been thinking technically, "fast or slow" would still fall into that category, wouldn't it?

I'm a 2nd tenor/barritone, so I try to stay within my range and what I meant by "tricks" was exactly what you were describing about warm or hard, fast or slow, intimate or distant. I wouldn't think being soft-spoken for a commercial about retirement would qualify as a character voice or the same for a faster read for the list of ailments you may receive as the direct result for a prescription commercial. Like I said, right concept/bad implementation. But at least I've got my mind thinking in the right frame. Thank you both so much for all the great advice! And yes, Bob, I've been listening to your, Jim Cummings', Rob Paulsens', Tim Currey's, Pat Fraley's and MANY MANY others' demos for MANY years now. I'm a bigger fan of Peter Cullen and Don Lafontaine, no offense to the Bob"ster"! But your awesome too.

J. C. Bailey · **Voice Talent** Joined: 28 Jan 2008 Posts: 6

Bob Bergen · **Voice Talent** Joined: 18 Jan 2005 Posts: 224

Hey bud!

Several of the questions you ask, such as ,"you mention vocal nuances, but that sort of goes back to my question about characters: how do I display those nuances without getting into a character? Where is the distinguishing line between my own voice with a twist of nerd and a nerdy character?," show you are coming from a vocal technical standpoint, when you need to approach this from an acting standpoint.

Remember, we are talking about your commercial demo here, not your character demo. The vocal nuances are really attitudes, moods, nuances in your personality....not in character.

My advice to you for right now is get thee to an acting and improv class. You need acting technique. You absolutely have the vocal skills. But you have no idea how to interpret the words and make them come to life. Reading commercial copy well is much more than having a good voice or being able to get through the script without stopping. Those who work consistently have the ability to make the words come to life in a believable, conversational manner.

Most folks pursuing VO don't come from an acting background. Most dive into the VO workshops with no acting technique or skills. This doesn't mean they aren't talented. But they have no idea how to apply their talent.

The difference between a trained actor and a non trained actor is, a trained actor makes choices and a non trained actor makes guesses.

All of this will make sense with technique.

It's oh so clear to me when I have a student who comes into my class as a trained actor. They've never worked with animation copy, but they have a solid technique under their belt so they can take my direction/adjustments and go running with it.

Then there are those who try add nuances or variety to their read without any purpose or intent. It's a technical approach of raising and lowering pitch, changing pace, etc., with no structure. And it doesn't work.

I can't tell you how many people take years of VO workshops, THEN study acting technique, THEN go back to the VO workshops so they can apply what they've learned as an actor to VO.

Sounds like a lot of work and a long process.

It is.

If it were easy, everyone would have killer demos, great agents, and would be working daily.

Just doesn't work that way.

SO-I say study acting. Become a great actor. You will be amazed how your commercial reads, and even your character work, will improve.

And I agree! I always thought that when my voice changed I'd have pipes like Don. (sigh) Damn those genetics!

J. C. Bailey · **Voice Talent** Joined: 28 Jan 2008 Posts: 6