Double Dutch

Do you get hoarse after a long recording session? Does your throat hurt? Have you ever lost your voice?

Voice-over coaches often advise their students to take acting classes. That’s an excellent suggestion, but I can’t tell you how much I have benefited from singing lessons.

VOCAL WORKOUT
Just as every sportsman (or woman) has to train each day to keep those muscles strong and flexible, we as voice-over artists are vocal athletes. We have to do everything we can to keep our voice in great shape. For me, singing is the preferred exercise routine that gets me ready for that marathon recording session.

SACRED SOUNDS
For many years I was a member of a choir specializing in the ancient art of plainchant. Gregorian chant is just about the oldest western classical music known to mankind. The fragile, meandering unison melodic lines of certain songs can seem deceptively simplistic. Most of the vocal techniques I use today date back from my time as a member of this choir. We sounded like this:

This is what we sounded like…

Here are just a few things I learned from being in a choir:

* effective warm-ups

* the right posture

* voice projection

* diction

* word coloring

* supportive breathing

* text interpretation

* taking directions

ADDED BONUS
In our profession it’s so easy to become a recording recluse. In the old days, we had to go to a studio to do our work. We’d actually see the people we were working with and really connect. Nowadays, we’re often home alone, locked up in a dark whisper room, glued to our computer screens and we text, twitter and blog till we’re blue in the face. Rumor has it that some of us have even started “talking to the hand”. In this case that hand looks very much like a microphone…

Here’s a suggestion: get out there and join a choir! It’s not only a fun-filled feast for your vocal chords; it’s the perfect excuse to get out of the house. You’ll meet lots of interesting people and you’ll even get a chance to perform in front of an audience. Most of us rarely get a chance to observe how people respond to the fruits of our labor. I’m telling you, it’s a thrill to see audience members magically moved by marvelous music. And it’s an amazing experience to fill a void with the sound of many voices blending together in (hopefully) perfect harmony.

RESOURCES
The National Center for Voice & Speech has a terrific site called “Voice Academy”. Although it’s mainly geared toward teachers, many of the tips apply to voice-over talents as well.

If you love to twist your tongue, I have the ultimate site for you. It has 2790 entries in 109 languages.

And for those of you who are already a member of a vocal group of some sorts, I hope you’ll forgive me that I’ve been preaching to the choir…

Paul Strikwerda © 2009

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“It’s the best thing I ever did”

“A total waste of money”

Are you new to voice-overs? When you ask fellow vo-pros what they think of voice-over casting websites, you better be ready for a heated debate! Especially when you’re getting started in the business, you’re probably trying to figure out how to spend your money wisely.

Are these sites an easy ticket to success, or a waste of time, energy and cash? Here’s my take on it.

EXPECTATIONS
1. People tend to get disappointed because of unrealistic expectations and not necessarily because “the sites don’t work”. However -as we have seen with Facebook- dissatisfied members can join forces and demand certain changes. We all know that some voice-over sites are more open to feedback than others. Ultimately, sites that don’t listen to what their members are asking for, will pay the price.

LEADS
2. Never fully rely on vo-websites for leads. These voice search engines should just be one tool in an overall marketing and lead-generating strategy. Nothing less, but certainly nothing more.

Personally, I make sure to have various streams of income. That’s why I spend part of my time as a Dutch/German translator, and part of my time recording voice-overs. Sometimes I combine both when reading copy I just translated!

RESOURCE
3. For me, the value of these vo-sites is not only determined by the number of jobs they generate. Voices-com, for example, offers an amazing wealth of information, from podcasts to blogs to rate info. It helps beginners to hone their craft, and it gives established talents the opportunity to generously share what they have learned.

Here’s the good news: you don’t need to be a full-paying member to benefit from this cornucopia of resources.

These voice-over superstores also give us a chance to scope out the competition. In a world that’s getting smaller and smaller, it’s good to know what colleagues are up to.

There’s so much great talent out there, and it’s not getting any easier to carve out a niche. Being able to listen to what others do, has given me a better sense of how to position myself in this overcrowded market.

MONEY
4. Much of this discussion about these sites has been focused on the cost of membership. Especially in this economy, is it really a worthwhile investment? One of the questions we should also ask ourselves is this: how much money and time could we potentially save by joining these sites?

If you’re like me, you probably didn’t get into this business because you’re a marketing genius. How much hard-earned cash would we have to spend individually, to get even close to reaching the client base these sites tap into each and every day? Most of us would rather spend time in front of a microphone, than drumming up new business.

In part thanks to these sites, we can focus on what we do best! Let them make the connections, do the legwork and promote our skills. And at the end of the day, they can even make sure we get paid. What’s that worth to you?

QUESTIONS
5. Now, don’t think for a moment that I believe these sites are perfect. Far from it. I worry about “artificial intelligence” matching voices to certain projects, excluding others.

I’m very concerned about the bidding war by talents who are played off against one another, deflating our rates from within. And I’m skeptical about sending in a demo when I see that 100 other hopefuls have just done the same thing.

But at the end of the day, it all comes back to the person who stares at me when I look into the mirror. Instead of blaming outside factors for my success or lack thereof, I ask myself what I can do to stand out from the crowd.

Here’s the thing: that’s something no site can or will ever be able to give you!

Paul Strikwerda © 2009

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