Voice Over Actor
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Bilingual Voiceover

Changing seasons, changing voice!

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I live in the Northeast. It’s lovely to see the seasons change. We get vibrant fall colors, white winters, green springs and lush summer vegetation. But I noticed years ago that from mid-October to April, my voice changes.  If I listened to something I recorded in June and compared it to something I recorded in November, they were drastically different.  This was no good for my career. My Automotive clients in particular will often use donut recordings. In other words, they would keep the intro and outro that I recorded in the summer, for example, and redo the middle of the spot in December with their new car models and sales info. So my voice had to be consistent.  I was careful to use the same mic, same booth and same settings, but what could I do about my voice sounding the same?

Here are a few tricks I’ve learned over the years that help my voice sound the same year round.

  1. I got a humidifier. This helps me breathe better, especially at night.
  2. I limit dairy during the winter months. Almond milk replaces milk. It helps me feel less stuffy.
  3. I bought a Neti Pot. This apparatus is relatively inexpensive and works wonders by cleaning out the nasal passages.
  4. I drink honey mixed with apple cider vinegar. Bragg’s is my personal favorite. This is especially helpful if I have a long narration session or hundreds of IVR prompts to do.
  5. Hydrate!!! This is important to do year round, but especially in the fall and winter. My goal is to drink 64 ounces of water daily. It is so important for us voiceover folks to stay hydrated.

Since implementing these few changes, I haven’t had any complaints that my voice sounds different from season to season.  I can enjoy the changing New England scenery and my clients get a consistent sounding Amy.

Voiceover Auditions

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This week in the world of voiceover auditions I was asked to be a small wheel of cheese, a zebra and an eight ball. I don’t know what any of those things would sound like personified, but that’s half the fun of my job. I get to imagine how the character sounds. Delving even deeper into it, I imagine how the character feels, thinks, laughs, cries, sighs, etc. Having a connection to the copy and to the character is key to booking a job.

A few years back I booked a promo for a Dora The Explorer DVD. I remember they were looking for an older abuela or grandmother-type read. I channeled my inner “abuela” and thought about how her kitchen smells, how proudly she displays photos of her grandkids, etc. and I recorded the script, sent in my mp3 and waited. The result? I landed the job! When I got to the studio they said, “We chose you because there was a connection there. Most of the auditions we got were “cartoony” and yours sounded like a real person.”

That’s not to say that sometimes a cartoony read isn’t warranted. For the Dora spot, I took a chance and it worked out. Auditions always involve taking a risk. Sometimes those risks work out and sometimes they don’t. There will always be another audition around the corner, so I try not to get too hung up over them.

One Voice Conference USA 2021 Report by 2X Nominee Bilingual Voice Talent – Amy

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US English/Latin American Spanish Voice Talent, Amy, guest blogs about attending the One Voice Conference in Dallas Texas, August 26-29, 2021

One Voice Conference was a welcome change of pace for us voice actors who are usually isolated in our padded rooms. It was a vibrant gathering spot for fellow voice talents, coaches, demo producers, agents and casting directors. It was particularly special for me because I brought my 18 year old who also does voiceovers with me.

There was a LATAM component to this conference, which was beneficial to me because I’m bilingual. I spread my time between the English and Spanish sessions offered. Highlights of the conference were meeting Bill Farmer (voice of Disney’s Goofy) who gave a session with Mario Filio (Spanish voice of Goofy.)

I decided to try some new things at One Voice and stretch as an actor. I went to a dubbing class. Dubbing is an area of voiceover that I’ve never dabbled in and I found it fascinating. I attended a session with a panel of casting directors and agents, some of whom I work with daily by way of auditions, but whom I’d never seen or heard before. There were several take-aways from that session, including the importance of slating or not slating, how many takes they expect, and how they want their MP3s labeled.

One Voice Conference USA 2021 was the first conference I’ve attended since the pandemic. I was impressed with the preventive protocols, including a mask policy, at the elegant Hyatt Regency DFW Hotel. The conference floor was peppered with hand sanitizer stations, and socially distanced tables were in all of the breakout rooms. Organizers took every safety precaution, and I felt safe going into each session.

The event was organized by J. Michael Collins as well as Gravy for the Brain founders, Hugh Edwards and Peter Dickson. Kudos to them for forging ahead with the conference amidst all the obstacles that I would imagine Covid-19 hurled onto their path.

I applaud the production crew for making this first-of-its-kind hybrid conference a nearly seamless event. This monumental task consisted of hybrid sessions, where some panelists were in person on stage, while others were virtual, on a big screen above them. There were a lot of mics to pot up and down and many on screen participants. There were people walking around with mics during the Q&A portions of the sessions, so that those watching the session on-line could hear the questions. It was well thought out for both in-person and on-line attendees. The technical team deserves many props for their efforts.

I’m glad I attended. I’m looking forward to attending future conferences. Hopefully, the state of the world will have improved for the next one so the conference can become even better!

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