1. BlogRush looks real

    Posted October 31, 2007 by Bob

    Most of the promised Phase 2 update to BlogRush has been delivered tonight. I’m going to be patient and see how it goes, and if you have a blog, by all means do sign up.

    You can follow the updates and information on the Income.com blog.

    Category: Blogging, General | Comments (0)

  2. Turkey and Voiceover

    Posted October 30, 2007 by Bob

    You don’t really think of voiceover going with turkey, but my friend Caryn Clark recently had a close encounter with a turkey while in her voiceover booth. Thanks for sharing that funny story, Caryn. And it was great meeting you while we were studying in Atlanta this past weekend.

    Category: General, People | Comments (0)

  3. Her voice sounds so familiar

    Posted October 29, 2007 by Bob

    Over the weekend, I was in Atlanta for a voiceover training workshop. Among the people in attendance was Liz Raphael Helgesen, woman as talented and gracious as she is lovely. Little did I know, Liz wasn’t just someone coming by to study voiceover, she’s the voice of T-Mobile, Sprint and many other companies. So, spend a little time meeting the lady whose voice you hear just about every day of your life.

    Category: General, People | Comments (0)

  4. Thinking about microphones

    Posted by Bob

    My friend Willie Edwards has started a blog to document his experiences with voiceover microphones, and one particular microphone, as his first experiment. I look forward to reading what you have to say about this experiment, Willie.

    (edited to fix typo)

    Category: General, Tools | Comments (2)

  5. Internet Marketing Plan from Voices.com

    Posted October 28, 2007 by Bob

    One of the things I like about the folks who run Voices.com is that they are always working to raise the entire voiceover industry to a higher level. In particular, they prepare tools for folks who are relatively new to the world of voiceover (both those who wish to be voice talent as well as those looking for a voice) to offer guidance about how to move forward.

    Their latest offering is called the Internet Marketing Plan for Voice Actors and is available as a PDF file on their site. While it’s not perfect (there were a few typos, for example), this ebook will help you think more clearly about how to move forward with your own online marketing.

    Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, Tools | Comments (0)

  6. How to talk good

    Posted October 27, 2007 by Bob

    What does the director mean when he or she says “read it like you’re talking to one person”? Steve Matthews blog is an excellent source for cogent insights into the voiceover world. His recent post about Casual Familiarity is an excellent example, helping you understand the answer to this question.

    Good thoughts, Steve. Thanks for the insight.

    Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, Tools | Comments (0)

  7. Tools for imaging work

    Posted by Bob

    For the radio stations I do imaging voice work I supply only want dry voice tracks, thus I don’t need to deal with the production side of that work. However, I know there are lots of folks who produce as well as voice; and some just do the production. In that case, you might want to check out my friend Greg Littlefield’s post which includes a note about some production music and work parts that may be useful to you.

    Good stuff, Greg.

    Category: General, Tools | Comments (2)

  8. Picking microphones

    Posted October 26, 2007 by Bob

    Dave Courvoisier is doing a super job blogging about voiceover and life. I visit his blog often and always enjoy reading his posts. If you’ve been thinking about microphones lately (and what voice talent doesn’t think about microphones now and then?), you should spend a few minutes reading these excellent thoughts from Dave.

    The best part, in my view, is that Dave doesn’t tell you what microphone to buy…but he does help you make up your own mind. Good work, Dave. Thanks for the excellent thoughts.

    Category: General, People, Tools | Tags: , , | Comments (1)

  9. A talented talker talks

    Posted October 25, 2007 by Bob

    My friend Moe Egan is featured in the alumni magazine from her alma mater in the very nice article you’ll find on the right side of the page at the top. Very nice, Moe. Thanks for letting me know.

    Category: General, People | Comments (0)

  10. Good basic advice for your site

    Posted by Bob

    Take a few minutes to look at your business web site (you do have a site for your business, right?) and ask yourself how well you match up with these three simple suggestions. It will be a few minutes well spent. Then, let me know what you think. For that matter, let me know how you think I’m doing.

    Category: Blogging, General, Tools | Comments (0)

  11. A significant upgrade to Source-Connect is coming

    Posted by Bob

    Source Connect, the software available as either a Pro Tools or VST plug-in, that enables you to send studio quality audio over the Internet is about to get a very significant upgrade. According to the company’s press release from earlier this month, the major focus of this upgrade to Source-Connect 3.0 has been on making audio transfer more reliable and consistent.

    My thanks to my friend Ben Wilson for posting this link on the VO-BB.

    Category: General, Tools | Comments (0)

  12. Study opportunities on the West Coast

    Posted October 24, 2007 by Bob

    Pat Fraley is one of my favorite voiceover teachers. He knows how to pack an amazing amount of valuable information in just a few hours of instruction time over a weekend, information you can put to use right away…whatever level of professional development at which you’re operating. Pat is best known for his amazing animation and character voiceover work and on December 1 you have an opportunity to study character voice skills with Pat at Buzzy’s Recording Studio in Los Angeles. You’ll find contact details for Pat on his site. Send him an email using the link there and he’ll send you everything you need to know to sign up for this class.

    Still on the West Coast but a bit further north another gifted talent and teacher, Deb Monro, is getting ready to hold a weekend of workshops in Vancouver. The dates of November 24 and 25. Prices and specifics are in Deb’s website.

    Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, People | Comments (0)

  13. Mary, Bruce and Ellis Island

    Posted October 23, 2007 by Bob

    My friends, Mary McKitrick, Bruce Miles and Drew Hadwal were all involved as voice actors in a documentary that received it’s premiere yesterday. Travel along for the event on Mary’s blog. What a great story!

    Category: General, People | Comments (0)

  14. A different kind of love story

    Posted October 22, 2007 by Bob

    One of the brightest people I know is Holly Buchanan. We first met many years ago at a conference in Los Angeles. At the time Holly was working as Production Manager for a group of radio stations. In the years since, she’s demonstrated again and again that she’s remarkably insightful about marketing and communication.

    Which is why I hope you’ll take a few minutes to learn some lessons about how to communicate from Holly. The few minutes you’ll take to do so will be well spent because I think you’ll see the information is valuable on several levels.

    Category: General, People | Comments (0)

  15. You meet the nicest people in Texas, too

    Posted October 20, 2007 by Bob

    This evening, while my oldest son Eric and I have been in Austin, TX on a business trip we arranged to meet a couple of voiceover friends from Texas at a BBQ place called The Coupland Inn. We had a fabulous meal of all-you-can-eat-BBQ, catfish and much conversation about life experiences, radio, more life, animation, and voiceover. Dave DeHart drove over from Houston and Justin Barrett came down from Dallas. What a great joy it was to spend a good chunk of time this evening with these two talented men, gaining some insight into their lives and work. Both Eric and I had a truly delightful time.

    I’ll update this post with photos once I receive the them from Dave and Justin each of whom brought a digital camera.

    Update: My thanks to Justin and Dave for sending along these photos. Dave arrived first, so he took a shot of the outside of the restaurant as he walked up to the front door.
    TX Voiceover get-together at The Coupland Inn

    Before food arrived, Dave and Justin reached for their cameras. As you can see, Dave got the drop on Justin.
    Justin Barrett reaching for his camera during the Texas VO get-together

    After the meal we asked a member of the staff to take a couple of shots.
    Justin Barrett, Bob Souer, Eric Souer, Dave DeHart at the Texas VO get-together near Austin, TX
    Justin Barrett, Bob Souer, Eric Souer, Dave DeHart at the Texas VO get-together near Austin, TX
    And Dave took a final shot of Justin, Eric and me standing under the restaurant’s sign as we were leaving.
    Justin Barrett, Eric Souer and Bob Souer at the Coupland Inn leaving the Texas VO get-together.
    My thanks again to Dave and Justin to going to such lengths so that we could visit together. The only thing that could have been better is if we’d been able to spend more time together. But, we hope to get back to Texas again before too long and maybe spend more time while we’re there.

    Category: General, People | Comments (4)

  16. In Austin

    Posted October 19, 2007 by Bob

    For the weekend I’m in Austin, TX for a couple of very cool reasons. First, my oldest son Eric and I are going to attend the annual reunion of the Wizard Academy. It will be great to see Roy, Pennie and no doubt a bunch of other old friends Saturday all day and Sunday morning.

    And while I’m here, a few voiceover friends from around Texas are going to join Eric and me for a Texas BBQ dinner late Saturday evening. I’ll post a photo or 2 and a little who and what all took place here as soon as I can.

    Category: Career Advice, General, People, Tools | Comments (0)

  17. Voiceovers on the road

    Posted October 18, 2007 by Bob

    My friend Dave Courvoisier has really leaped into the blogosphere with enthusiasm. I’m especially delighted to see his recent post about his experiences of using the Zoom H4. I’m even more intrigued by the little brother to the Zoom H4–the Zoom H2.

    Whichever you pick, these look like really sweet units to use on the road.

    Category: Career Advice, General, People, Tools | Comments (2)

  18. Mass Effect game voiceovers

    Posted by Bob

    Here are three very talented actors, Keith David, Lance Henriksen, and Marina Sirtis offering their comments on working as voice performers for the upcoming video game Mass Effect.

    My thanks to my friend Jeffrey Kafer for posting the link on the VO-BB.

    Category: General, People | Comments (0)

  19. What is Financial Core?

    Posted by Bob

    There is a great deal of confusion about the term Financial Core. Lots of folks are under the impression it’s a special form of union membership (in the case of us in the voiceover business in the USA that would be AFTRA and SAG) that allows one to work both union and non-union. This is simply not true. Financial Core is more correctly termed dues-paying non-member. Emphasis on the “non” part of non-member.

    For a thorough explanation, I’ve never seen a better article that this one about financial core on the BizParents Foundation site. And my thanks to my friend Connie Terwilliger for posting a link to this article on the VO-BB.

    Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover | Comments (0)

  20. Putting together your home studio

    Posted October 17, 2007 by Bob

    My friend Bobbin Beam has prepared an excellent summary blog post linking to a number of valuable resources both in print and online that will help boost you along your way in putting together that home studio you want to build.

    Category: General, People, Tools | Comments (1)

  21. A new look

    Posted by Bob

    For some time now I’ve been searching for a new theme for this blog, one that is fully compatible with the latest changes and updates to WordPress while also allowing me to carry over as much as I can from my main web site. Well, at least for the moment, I think we’re very close to the mark. I have bit of tweaking here and there still to do; but all in all, I’m happy with what we have. I hope you enjoy the new look and that you’ll come by for a visit again real soon.

    Please leave your comments…good, bad or otherwise.

    (Update: This theme is called Ambient Glo. I’ve updated some of the graphic files so it matches the look I want it to have, but if you want to see how it looks originally, click here.)

    Category: Blogging, General | Comments (0)

  22. Actions speak louder than…

    Posted October 16, 2007 by Bob

    You know how that phrase ends, of course. But, do you understand how that phrase is even more true today than ever? One of my favorite writers on the subject of marketing is Tom Asacker. He’s just published a new thought piece called The Death of Supremacy. It will take a few minutes to read, but it’s so worth your time.

    (edited to fix typo)

    Category: Career Advice, General | Comments (0)

  23. When a friend is interviewed…

    Posted by Bob

    What can I say, my friend Kara Edwards is one of the most talented people I know. And, as you can tell from this interview, she’s every bit as fun as she is talented. Be sure to watch all the way to the end for the bunny impression. Most impressive, Kara!

    With thanks to my friend Joe Rodriguez for posting the link to this interview on the VO-BB.

    Category: General, People | Comments (6)

  24. Intensive study opportunity in San Diego

    Posted October 15, 2007 by Bob

    James Alburger and Penny Abshire are hosting a 3-Day Intensive Workshop produced through their website, VoiceActing.com. Full details and registration information is on their site. Here are just a few of the elements to be covered in these three days.

      Review of the Alburger & Abshire 7 Core Elements of Performance
      Single Voice Intensive Workout
      “Tell me, Don’t Sell me”! The Art of a Conversational Read
      Dialogue Intensive Workout
      Mastering Techniques for Effective Self-Direction
      Audition Tips and Tricks
      Microphone Techniques
      Intensive sessions on Creating and Developing Believable Core Characters
      Finding Unique Copy for Your Demo
      Designing Your Voiceover Career Plan
      Mastering the “cold” read
      “Down and dirty,” honest demo evaluations
      How to negotiate your fees and get the $$ you’re worth
      How to Record and Submit Auditions On-Line

    Again, you’ll find full details and registration information on their site.

    Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover | Comments (1)

  25. How to stay ordinary

    Posted October 14, 2007 by Bob

    I hope you don’t really want to stay ordinary, but just in case you’d like to know how, you’ll find a superb summary on Seth Godin’s blog. My thanks to Tom Asacker for posting the link to Seth’s article.

    Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover | Comments (0)

  26. Study with Rodney Saulsberry

    Posted October 13, 2007 by Bob

    Your last chance this year to study with Rodney Saulsberry starts next month and runs through the middle of December. Rodney is conducting a 3-week Commercial Intensive Teleclass. Details and sign-up information are on his website, with the first of the teleclasses taking place November 29th.

    (edited to fix typo)

    Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, People | Comments (0)

  27. Study opportunity in Canada

    Posted October 12, 2007 by Bob

    Debbie Munro will host a Trailer and Promo seminar with Joyce Castellonas on November 3rd and 4th in Vancouver, BC. You also have opportunity to schedule a one hour private session with Joyce Castellonas on November 2nd. For complete information and registration details are on Debbie Munro’s site.

    Category: Career Advice, General, People | Comments (0)

  28. Speak up or keep quiet?

    Posted October 11, 2007 by Bob

    As a general rule, when you’ve been hired as the voice for a project, keep your opinions to yourself. If you’ve been working in voiceover for any length of time, you probably already understand the wisdom of this advice. You see, you’ve been hired to tell the story the way you’re directed. Doing a good job following direction is key to getting hired again. Because being good at following direction will help you stick in the minds of the director and producer with whom you’re working.

    But, as my friend Mary McKitrick points out on her blog, there are times when it’s important to go ahead and speak up. Knowing when and what to say is the tricky part, of course.

    I have, at times, offered a thought or opinion while in the booth. Most often this has happened when there’s a discussion taking place about some specific bit of copy. As an example, recently I was recording a project in which a given word was used three times in a single paragraph. No one noticed the redundancy until we were in the session. While the writer and producer were talking about alternative language, I asked if it would be OK to make a suggestion for an alternative phrase. I was given permission, offered my suggestion and a variant of it was ultimately used.

    It’s vitally important to be polite in these situations. And if you wonder whether to say anything, most of the time (to quote some of my Mom’s advice) it would be better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.

    Category: Career Advice, General, People | Comments (2)

  29. Simple solutions can be the best

    Posted October 10, 2007 by Bob

    If you need to create a better space in which to record your voiceovers, here’s a simple, inexpensive and clever solution that has the added benefit of being quite portable.

    My thanks to my friend Joe Rodriguez for the link on the VO-BB.

    Category: General, Tools | Comments (0)

  30. The right words said the right way

    Posted by Bob

    Words are all you have. Right? Unless we’re looking at one another, when you want to tell me something or find out what I have to say, it’s words. I’m very intrigued by Steve Mathews’ take on the importance of words on his voiceover blog. You may enjoy it too.

    Category: General | Comments (0)

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