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Public Service

Posted May 31, 2008 by Bob

On the heels of my post a few minutes ago about my inspiring friend Liz de Nesnera, I see this post on my friend Peter O’Connell’s blog, just another example of how nice Liz is. And while you’re there, be sure to check out the other posts Peter has made about the Public Service Announcements he’s prepared to help relief efforts in Myanmar.

Category: General, People | Comments (4)
Voiceover, Caregiver

Posted by Bob

My friend Liz de Nesnera is an ongoing inspiration to me. Not only has she established a solidly successful career as a voiceover talent in the last 3 years; but for the last 13 she’s been a caregiver to her aging mother, as you can read in this newspaper article from her home area of New Jersey.

Category: General, People | Comments (0)
I Rock the Mic VO.com is one month old

Posted May 30, 2008 by Bob

In a single month, I Rock the Mic VO.com has exploded on the Web 2.0 scene with over 120,000 page views. I hope if you’re not all ready there, that you’ll join. And connect with me as a friend there.

Category: General, People | Comments (0)
Demo thoughts

Posted by Bob

If you don’t keep up with Tracy Pattin and the VoiceRegistry blog, you should. I just noticed today that about a week ago, she’s started posting a series about demos. Also, check to make sure you’re using the right server hosting provider.

Category: General, Getting started in Voiceover | Comments (0)
Bettye Zoller voiceover class coming to Nashville

Posted by Bob

With thanks to my friend Stu Gray for posting this information on his blog, Bettye Zoller Seitz will be teaching a voiceover class in Nashville on Sunday, June 29, 2008.

Category: General, Getting started in Voiceover, People | Comments (2)
The silent treatment

Posted by Bob

As a professional voice talent, I’ve been blessed with a very durable voice. This might be the reason I enjoy long-form narrations so much. But, while reading Kara Edwards’ recent blog post about her need to adopt complete silence for several days so that she could recover full use of her voice; I am reminded that I’ve had to learn a similar lesson.

The key moment when I learned my lesson took place a few years ago while I was in Pittsburgh on a business trip. I was sitting in my hotel room after a morning of meetings. I felt really tired and thought, briefly, about taking a nap. But, because there were a couple of people I really wanted to see while I was in town, I decided to skip the nap and push on. Big mistake. Within two hours, my voice was almost completely gone and by the following morning I couldn’t even croak. And it was more than 2 weeks later before I was able to get back to work.

Since then, when ever I feel that strong need for a nap, I’ve make it a policy to find a way to get some rest. And thankfully while I have had a sore throat or scratchy throat a few times, I’ve not completely lost my voice again since.

What’s the moral of this story? Take care of your instrument.

Category: General | Comments (6)
Rest in Peace, Harvey Korman

Posted May 29, 2008 by Bob

I noticed on the Cartoon Brew blog this evening that Harvey Korman died today at the age of 81. Among his many, many funny performances, Harvey was the voice for The Great Gazoo on The Flintstones.

Category: General, People | Comments (2)
There are really nice people in Texas

Posted by Bob

I had a wonderful time meeting several folks in Texas last evening. We gathered at Reel FX, where one of our number, Justin Barrett works as an animation technical director.

Justin gave us a tour of the place. Here he’s just shown us some test renders of a project the company has been working on for the last few weeks.

We stopped in the lobby of Reel FX just before we all walked down the block to dinner.

From left to right, this is Amanda and Allan Peck, Justin Barrett, Vicki and Ron Phillips, Amber Cotton and her husband J.D. Then Amanda volunteered to take a photo so I could get in the shot.

Luciano, our waiter at Daddy Jacks Wood Grill, snapped a photo of us all together.

Great food, wonderful conversation and nice people. A fabulous combination. We had a great time. My thanks, especially to Justin and Amber for helping to organize our time together.

Category: General, People | Comments (0)
Anthony Mendez shines

Posted by Bob

My friend Anthony Mendez emails with news of that he’s featured in the television ads for Diary of the Dead. Kudos to you, Anthony and terrific work.

Category: General, People | Comments (0)
Marice Tobias will be in New York City next month

Posted May 27, 2008 by Bob

In my email correspondence with Marice Tobias today she reminded me that she’s going to be in New York City for Promax and will be holding a Post Promax Promo and Trailer Intensive training weekend after it wraps up. There are only 12 places available at these weekends with Marice. I most of them are all ready filled. Kathy Payne is the lady you’ll want to contact to see if there are any left. 404.876.8629.

Category: Career Advice, General, People | Comments (0)
Pat Fraley in Hartford, CT

Posted by Bob

Pat Fraley emailed today to remind me that he is teaching a weekend voiceover seminar June 21 and 22, 2008 in Hartford, CT. If you live and voice anywhere in the East, think seriously about this opportunity for 2 days of fun and learning. Each day’s class can be done individually, but if you’re going to take both days, there’s a $100 discount off the combined price. Along with registration details, you’ll also find two free lessons from Pat here on the official web page.

As someone who has studied with Pat multiple times I can assure you that if you decide to take this class you’ll learn a ton and have a great time.

Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, People | Comments (0)
Get the answers to your Summit 2008 questions before the price goes up

Posted by Bob

Dan O’Day will hold a conference call on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 2:00 PM Eastern (also known as 11:00 AM Pacific) to answer your questions about Summit 2008 . If you’ve been thinking about attending, but having yet made up your mind, here’s your chance to get all your questions answered. And with plenty of time left to make register before the price goes up on June 1st.

If you decide to register, Dan has an affiliate program this year. So if you are attending the Summit for the first time and you put my name as your reference in the comment field of the registration form, I’ll get a commission from Dan. But, please, if you’d rather I DIDN’T get the commission, then DON’T put my name in the comment box. Your price for the Summit will be exactly the same regardless of whether you put me down as referring you or not.

I hope I get to see you in Los Angeles in August.

Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover | Comments (0)
Memorial Day 2008

Posted May 26, 2008 by Bob

My friend Frank Frederick has prepared this audio in honor of Memorial Day.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Frank posted this audio on the VO-BB earlier today and has graciously given me permission to post it here. Thank you, Frank.

Category: General | Comments (2)
Sound Absorption Panels

Posted May 25, 2008 by Bob

My friend Willie Edwards (who lives just an hour up the road from me in North Carolina) wrote some time back about a Do-It-Yourself project building Sound Absorption Panels.

Recently he’s received and replied to some correspondence about those panels on his VO Mic Test blog. I think you might find the exchange valuable and enlightening, especially if you need to tame the sound in your home studio.

Update: In case you don’t see the comments below, my friend Greg Houser mentions a site to checkout called Clearsonic.com.

Category: General, Tools | Comments (7)
Rest in Peace, Dick Martin

Posted by Bob

Well, after offering a rather outdated post recently (having neglected to note the original publication date of the article about George O’Hanlon’s passing), I’m quite sure this article in the LA Times is current, and that Dick Martin has just passed from the scene, at the age of 86.

Category: General, People | Comments (0)
Rest in Peace, George O’Hanlon

Posted May 24, 2008 by Bob

With my thanks to my friend Greg Phelps for posting a note about this on the VO-BB, I’ve just learned of the passing of George O’Hanlon, the voice of George Jetson.

Category: General, People | Comments (6)
Thinking about Summit 2008?

Posted by Bob

The Dan O’Day Summit (known officially as The 13th Annual International Radio Creative and Production Summit) takes place August 8 and 9, 2008 at the Airport Hilton in Los Angeles. I’ve posted previously about why you might want to think about being there this year, but since there’s a deadline coming in a few days, I hope you won’t mind a fresh look at some reasons to attend.

Dick Orkin, co-founder of the Summit with Dan, returns for the first time in several years. Dick’s presentation is going to be valuable if you either write or do voiceover work. Pat Fraley will speak. Pat is a very gifted teacher of voiceover techniques and concepts. Nancy Wolfson will speak. Nancy is one of the top voiceover coaches in the world. For someone working in voiceover each of these presentations will be worth the price of attendance by itself.

And if you’re involved in radio imaging, the Imaging Panel with KellyKellyKelly, Howard Hoffman, Terry Phillips, and Jamie Watson will be worth the price of attendance.

Oh and Dan O’Day is going to do something on writing, too. (Actually, if you have to write, especially if you have to write commercials or promos or anything else that comes at you with a tight deadline, Dan’s session will be worth the price of attendance. Each of his previous sessions like this certainly have been.)

Now, about that deadline. If you look at the Summit registration page, you’ll notice that the deadline for the lowest registration price is May 31, 2008. I know from attending 11 previous times, that’s a real deadline. On June 1, the price goes up by $100.00 (US). And on July 1, it rises by $100 (US) again.

As I’ve mentioned in other posts, attendance is limited to 100. That’s also a real number. Recently my friend Melissa let me know that she’s going to be there for sure. So, the number of available places is shrinking.

All of this said, if you decide to register, Dan has an affiliate program this year. So if you are attending the Summit for the first time and you put my name as your reference in the comment field of the registration form, I’ll get a commission from Dan. But, please, if you’d rather I DIDN’T get the commission, then DON’T put my name in the comment box. Your price for the Summit will be exactly the same regardless of whether you put me down as referring you or not.

I hope I get to see you in Los Angeles in August.

Category: General | Comments (2)
Get to know Some Audio Guy a bit better

Posted by Bob

My friend Tracy Pattin interviews Some Audio Guy on the VoiceRegistry blog. Thanks Juan for the email heads up. And thank you Tracy for posting another excellent interview.

Category: General, People | Comments (2)
Liz Raphael Helgesen is featured on Vox Daily

Posted May 23, 2008 by Bob

When I was in Atlanta in October of 2007 for a workshop with Marice Tobias, among the talented people with whom I got to work was Liz Raphael Helgesen. Liz is featured in a recent interview on Vox Daily, so click through and learn a bit more about this lady who is as nice as she is talented. (In other words, very nice and very talented.)

(Update: edited to fix typo)

Category: General, People | Comments (0)
The power of words

Posted by Bob

As one who talks for a living, let’s never forget the power of words. I found this on Jonathan Field’s blog. Just watch. And then pass it along.

Category: General | Comments (0)
While we’re talking about ladies named Liz

Posted by Bob

Don’t miss the excellent blog post by my friend Liz de Nesnera on one of the core parts of her voiceover business, IVR and MOH. Don’t know what those terms mean? Read Liz’s blog post.

Update, the next day: Today, May 24, 2008 marks the 3rd anniversary of Liz’s full-time voiceover career start. My very best to you, Liz. You are an inspiration to me, every day. May your career continue to grow and your life be filled with all good things.

Category: General, Getting started in Voiceover, People | Comments (2)
It’s no mystery

Posted May 22, 2008 by Bob

If you’ve ever listened to his demos or heard his work, it’s no mystery why I am such a big fan of Rowell Gormon. He’s an amazingly talented guy with whom I’ve had the delight of working a few times and with whom I’m grateful to be friends.

Rowell lives about 2 and a half hours up the highway from me near Raleigh, North Carolina; so most of our communication is virtual. But, yesterday I got the delight of spending some time with him in person, while he was in Charlotte for an acting performance at a corporate event in the city center.

The theatre troupe was here to do a Mystery/Comedy performance that involves a lot of audience interaction. Rowell, as you might be able to tell from his costume (he’s on the left, I’m on the right), plays the gumshoe in this piece.

Here Rowell is reaching for his handcuffs as he gets a little carried away with his role. Why I’m smiling is a bit of a mystery in itself. (Well, OK, he’s actually reaching for his cell phone, but I think the photo turned out funny.)

Update: Thanks to the link in Rowell’s comment below, I can now update this with a link to the troupe with which he was performing here in Charlotte.

Category: General, People | Comments (4)
The ER Improv and Critical Mic Technique Clinic

Posted May 21, 2008 by Bob

Pat Fraley is leading a day long workshop to help you get a couple of critical skills to the next level on Saturday, June 14, 2008 at Buzzy’s Recording Studio in Los Angeles. All the details are on Pat’s site including price and registration information.

Looking good there, Pat.

Category: Career Advice, General, People | Comments (4)
Happy Blogiversary to my friend Joe

Posted May 20, 2008 by Bob

I’m a month late (but better late than never?) in saying Happy Blogiversary to my friend Joe Szymanski.

Category: Blogging, General | Comments (2)
Some things never go out of style

Posted May 19, 2008 by Bob

My friend Bobbin Beam wrote a two part series of posts on her blog about this subject. Part one is here. Part two is here. I commend Bobbin for her good thoughts and insights.

Category: Career Advice, General, People | Comments (0)
Live blogging the 3 Questions teleseminar – updated with audio

Posted May 18, 2008 by Bob

9:00 PM (Eastern) Dan O’Day greets us and introduces the two special guests, Pat Fraley and Dick Orkin.

(Update: Please note that what I’ve written here are my impressions of these events. All errors and mis-characterizations are my own.)

(Further update: If you’d like to listen to this entire teleseminar, click the flash player at the bottom of this post.)

9:06 PM – The first question is to Dick Orkin. How do you keep the humor in your commercials focused on the product or client? Dick replies that the humor is never the focus, the product or service is and the humor grows out of the story about that product or service. A follow-up question asks how to keep the humor from outshining the product or service. Dick says that’s never really been a big problem because of the way they keep the focus on the story and not on the humor. It’s always about developing the story. A second follow-up question asks if there are some simple steps that a sales team can take to help make sure the commercials for their clients can be as effective as possible. How is the product or service different in a substantive way from the competition and is there anything exclusive about the product or service and use a story to illustrate those differences or exclusivities.

9:13 PM Second question is actually 3 related questions to Pat Fraley. How can I stand out on the Internet from all the other people who have web sites that say they do voiceovers too? Pat says first become really excellent. A web site is really mainly about promotion or advertising one’s services. Public relations, or building a clientÃ¨le, is how you make a career rather than just going from job to job. Building a career is a lot more than just putting up a shingle. You need to find people who are wise, who can help you keep moving to the next levels.

9:18 PM Dan fields the third question. What are the basic elements to consider when branding a radio station? Dan says that there are 3 important questions to ask: Who is your audience? What do they care about? Where does the station intersect the things listener’s lives in an important way?

9:20 PM Question for Dick Orkin. Where did the ideas for Chickenman and Tooth Fairy come from? WCFL radio’s program director gave Dick the task of coming up with some kind of a feature that could capitalize on the Batman phenomenon in the 1960s. Chickenman specifically was to find something that would be a completely opposite image of a bat, and a chicken seemed like the best answer to that challenge. The character was influenced by other television characters of the time, as well.

9:27 PM Question for Pat Fraley. Do you have a routine before you always do before a voiceover session? Pat answers that the key for him is to deal with his anxieties, because even after 34 years he still has to do that. And he does that by concentrating on what’s true and when things are especially bad, praying.

9:30 PM Another question for Pat Fraley. What is the most effective technique to be “present” in a session. Pat’s answer: “I don’t know.” Dan asks Dick to respond. He says he simply concentrates on the story on the page, and builds a back story for 10 minutes before the script begins.

9:33 PM Dan takes another question about working as a copywriter. Do you have to sell your script to the client or do they just accept what you do because of your excellent reputation. Dan begins by mentioning that he actually limits the amount of copywriting he does. Further, he makes a point to each potential writing client that his copy isn’t going to sound like pretty much any other radio advertising. He also requires each client to answer about 30 custom questions prepared for each client, in writing. Also, he doesn’t write commercials, he creates campaigns. (Sidebar: If you have a deadline of next Thursday and you finish copy on Monday, don’t turn it in until next Thursday. Don’t give your clients the idea that your work is easier than it is.) Each professional needs to have a set of standards about which they will go to the mat.

9:45 PM Question for Pat Fraley. Have you ever walked away from a spot because you were the wrong voice? He says “yes.” Related question. Have you ever declined work because of something with which you don’t feel right or comfortable? Yes, every week? Dick Orkin comments that he too has turned down work because of his personal standards.

9:50 PM Question for Dick. What is one tool I can use to write more “real” and “believable” commercials? Dick responds: Watch and listen. Pay attention to people. You need to be a people watcher. In airports. Restaurants. While getting a haircut. Everywhere. A related question asks how to writing dialog more effectively. Dick answers be careful not to make characters bigger than life, they have to be woven in to the story. Conversations unfold spontaneously in real life, they need to do the same when writing.

9:55 PM Question for Pat Fraley. How can I build a full-time voiceover career? (From someone who is working in radio now.) Pat says, first become really good. That requires hard work, and a lot of study. Find wise people and learn from them. Dick mentions: listen to other people, rather than spending time what “I” am going to say. Listen, listen, listen. And be in the moment. Quickly.

10:02 PM Question for Dick. Have you ever had trouble from a client about your writing style? Dick mentions that he (like Dan) has standards and makes those clear from the outset. Every commercial prepared by the Radio Ranch is done through a story. Dick is also asked if he’s ever turned down a client because they couldn’t agree on the copy? Yes, it has happened, but not often. He’s not willing to do a bad commercial just to get some business.

10:07 PM Question for Pat. What, about the voiceover business, keeps you awake at night? Pat says he sees it as a temptation to be anxious, not that he has to live in anxiety. But, ultimately, if he’s anxious, it’s about money. There’s always a flow of work and sometimes that flow is at low ebb. You never know that things are going to go better, for sure.

10:10 PM Dick comments that we need to realize that voiceover isn’t so much about commercials anymore. It’s about all kinds of audio. Games. Audiobooks. Internet. All kinds of opportunities. Pat adds that the techniques discussed apply to all of these kinds of audio.

All 3 of these guys are featured at the 13th Annual International Radio Creative and Production Summit in Los Angeles this August (the 8th and 9th). Dan has an affiliate program this year, so if you decide to attend the Summit for the first time and you put my name as your reference in the comment field of the registration form, I’ll get a commission from Dan. On the other hand, if you don’t want me to get the commission, don’t include my name. Your price will be exactly the same either way.

Whatever you decide, I hope I get to see you in Los Angeles in August.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(Update: Just above this note is the flash player that will let you listen to a recording of this entire teleseminar. Dan has given permission for us to share this. You can also download your own copy from this spot Dan’s site.)

(Further update: Bobbin Beam’s blog includes her observations about the conversation.)

Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, People | Comments (4)
Why drive 6 hours round trip for a 3 hour breakfast?

Posted May 17, 2008 by Bob

Because those 3 hours over breakfast were spent with two really terrific human beings, both of whom are highly talented voiceover artists. Ben Wilson and I arrived at First Watch at just about the same moment this morning. Joe Szymanski arrived just moments later. Over a really superb breakfast, we talked about voiceover experiences (of course), family, life. What can I say, it was a really nice time.

Just as we were getting ready to leave, we stopped to snap a quick photo with my phone camera.

Left to right are Joe, me and Ben.

(Update: My thanks to my friend Rowell Gormon for helping with photo enhancement of the image above.)

Category: General, People | Comments (2)
How do you eat an elephant?

Posted May 16, 2008 by Bob

I promised to post this news just as soon as I could, so it is with great delight and more than a little relief that I write the following.

A couple of hours ago the executive producer of the Bible recording project sent out an email to each of us on the team to let us know the entire project has now been mixed, mastered and delivered to Thomas Nelson Publishers. Yes, this means that, one bite at a time, the elephant has now been consumed. We started in early September 2007. Our final pick-up session was earlier this week.

At 774,000 works (approximately) to say that it has truly been a massive project is a bit of an understatement. It’s also been an amazing, stretching and humbling experience for me. In the best possible way. It’s also been tremendously encouraging, because I now know there is nothing in the voiceover world that is too difficult to accomplish. There may be things beyond my ability. (I really don’t do women’s voices well at all.) But, there’s nothing to large, complex or technical.

Category: General | Comments (7)
The early bird discount for VOICE 2008 ends tonight

Posted May 15, 2008 by Bob

If you’ve been thinking about attending VOICE 2008 in Los Angeles August 8th through the 11th, and you haven’t yet registered, then you might want do take care of that before midnight tonight Pacific Time, because that’s when the early bird registration ends.

Category: General | Comments (0)
James Clamp

Posted by Bob

James Clamp is featured in a new interview published on VoiceOverXtra today. I found it quite an interesting read.

Category: General, People | Comments (0)

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