It’s a well-known tendency in the world of professional musicians. If you mess up a performance, you can always blame it on the instrument.
You’d be surprised how many “instrument failures” happen, especially during competitions when the stakes are high. It’s an easy excuse for people who don’t want to own up to the fact that they weren’t properly prepared.
An oboist can always blame it on the reed. A violinist forgot to bring the right bow, and the trumpet player suddenly had a stuck valve. I’m not saying these things never happen, but when they do in situations where it matters most, it is conspicuous, to say the least. It’s also unprofessional.
In the voice over world it’s quite common to blame the equipment, or inadequate soundproofing when things go wrong.
“I hate that leaf blower” colleagues cry out. “I could kill my neighbor’s dog.” “If only I had a better microphone.”
It’s not the fault of the leaf blower or the dog. Those are things you can’t control. And what you cannot control, you cannot change. What you CAN change is your recording space and the quality of the gear you buy. It’s going to cost you, but what’s the alternative?
My wife is a professional pianist and flutist. Her instrument collection is worth more than the house we live in and our car combined. Without those instruments she wouldn’t be in business. Compare her investment to what most voice overs need to set up shop, and all of a sudden it’s not so expensive anymore to be a voice actor.
Here’s what I have noticed. The people who tend to complain and blame the most, have usually failed to make a significant and sufficient investment in their career. They operate in the bargain basement of the industry making bottom dollar, which keeps them on places like Fiverr.
I have very little sympathy for their laments. You’re either an amateur or a pro. Advertising yourself as a pro means you need to live up to certain minimum expectations. You can’t deliver quality work using crap tools. Any carpenter could tell you that.
You can keep on blaming the neighbor’s dog or a leaf blower, but it’s not for the neighbor to adapt to your circumstances. It’s your job to adapt to theirs.
And please, don’t accuse me of being unreasonable. Every profession has a barrier to entry. This is yours.
My advice to you is simple:
Get a proper and quiet recording space and buy pro audio equipment. If you can’t, open a savings account! It took me five years before I could afford a soundproof booth. Before I designed and built it (on a budget), I often had to record at night when the neighborhood was sleeping. It wasn’t fun, but I had a dream that kept me awake. A dream of becoming a full-time voice over professional.
Instead of pointing fingers at the things I could not control, I took responsibility.
And…. stop blaming the instrument, especially when the instrument is YOU.
The same analogy can be made in sports. The baseball Shortstop lets a ball between his legs, but HIS GLOVE is too small. Remember “deflate gate”? The New England Patriots supposedly supplied footballs with less air in them. It only negatively affected the opponents though because Tom Brady was accustomed to the lesser inflated pigskins.
Oh and Golfers…don’t get me started. Every errant tee shot is because of a bad driver. Each miss of the green is the wrong club selection!
I coach a lot of kids in sports, and I always tell them, it’s not the equipment, it’s the player!
You’re absolutely right, Paul. Just as equipment can be blamed for failures, equipment can also be responsible for wins. Professional skiers employ entire teams to select the right skis and give them a certain waxing to deal with the ever-changing conditions on the slopes. And when the person who was predicted to win ends up in tenth place, it’s easy to blame the equipment.
Almost a rant, today, sir! But when one owns a business the buck stops with the owner. Excuses don’t help, do they?
And it’s often not understood by newbies that the cost to get “good” equipment is a small fraction of what it cost 15-20 years ago. I got my first “real” LDC in 1991 or so, an AT-4033. I believe it cost $350 at that time. Inflation would make that figure over $800 now. Compared to a new Rode NT-1 5th Gen LDC at $260 (with a shock mount and pop screen), it’s comparatively inexpensive to get great gear. That Rode mic could be a “forever” microphone.
Spend $260 on the Rode kit and another $540 on an inexpensive consult and acoustic treatment and it’s $800 in today’s dollars.
The marketing piece of the puzzle is almost no cost. Web site, yes, there are expenses. Emails to production houses – no charge. Just commitment to do it consistently.
No excuses. I love your blog!
Rob
I was talking to our contractor the other day. He just had to buy a new van and a new set of power tools. You don’t want to know how much he had to spend. But without his van and tools, he has no business. You’re right: it’s never been cheaper to get started in voice overs. That’s a good thing and a bad thing. It’s good because talented people on a budget can get a chance to break into the business. It’s bad because many not so talented people enter the market as well, making a fool of themselves using a snowball microphone and egg crates on the wall. Fire hazard, anyone?
About the “not-so-talented people” – they’ll drift away in relatively short order, I’d guess. And those who ARE talented but don’t understand how much work it is to market (i.e. “sell”) one’s self and understand the numbers involved and the rejection that comes with the numbers game, will also drift away – probably with a pretty bad taste in their mouths. What have so many said, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
I have a friend who has significant skills in podcast production/engineering but was disheartened that he got no response after fewer than a dozen emails. I told him that the number of emails/calls has to be exponentially higher to get any kind of warm response. And he has great tools…
Keep ‘em coming, sir!
Rob
I promise, Rob. Can’t stop myself.