Posted September 30, 2008 by Bob
The creative folks at Auralex have come up with something new to treat the walls of your recording space. SonicPrint. It’s not just sound treatment, but beautiful (and customizable) at the same time.
My thanks to my Sweetwater rep, Paul Rowan for sending me this link today.
Category: General, Tools | Comments (0)
Posted by Bob
At VoxDaily, Stephanie and the Voices.com Team provide a survey of the changes that are coming to their site soon.
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Posted September 29, 2008 by Bob
Nancy Wolfson and Anna Vocino have scheduled their next teleseminar for November 12, 2008. It’s the next installment in the on-going survey of Nancy’s core voice acting curriculum, part 7 in this case. I’ve taken part in each one of these teleseminars as they’ve come along and every one has been worth far more than the price of admission.
Recordings of the previous teleseminars are all available at their joint website BreakIntoVoiceOver.com. Sign up for their e-newsletter while you’re on the site and you’ll be among the first to know when registration opens for this next teleseminar in November.
My thanks to my friend Stephanie Cicarrelli for posting this info on VoxDaily.
Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, People | Comments (0)
Posted September 28, 2008 by Bob
The new voice of Yoda in Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated feature film and Cartoon Network series is Tom Kane. Tom is featured in this very interesting interview.
My thanks to my friend Dan Nachtrab for posting the link to this interview on the VO-BB.
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Posted September 27, 2008 by Bob
Gabrielle Nistico, from VoiceHunter, lead a fabulous workshop today on radio imaging here at Charles Hollomon Productions studios in Charlotte. Lots of practical, actionable ideas on how to both find and do radio imaging. It was loads of fun and we had plenty of time on mic. She’s a superb director and I learned a ton just from the direction she gave me and the other participants.
I’ll update this post tomorrow with some photos, but I just had to take a moment to let you know what a terrific workshop this was today. If you can convince Gabby to come to your city and put this same workshop on for you, do it.
Update: Here is the promised photo of our group.
We had a great time, learned a ton and won’t forget this day any time soon.
Category: Career Advice, General, People | Comments (0)
Posted September 26, 2008 by Bob
My friend John Florian wrote me the other day asking if he could publish some of what I’d written here on his VoiceOverXtra site. I was of course happy to say “yes.”
If you’re not a subscriber at VoiceOverXtra, and you are serious about pursing voiceover work, think about it seriously. The price is certainly right. (It’s free!) And there’s loads of good information.
Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover | Comments (0)
Posted by Bob
James Alburger and Penny Abshire will present a 3 day Voiceover Masters Class October 10 – 12, 2008 in Hartford, CT. Full details and registration information is available here, at my friend Anthony Piselli’s site.
Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover, People | Comments (0)
Posted by Bob
Pat Fraley presents The Ultimate Game Voice Over Event in Los Angeles. You have two days for which you can register. Either Saturday, October 11, 2008 or Sunday, October 12, 2008. Actually, one of those days may all ready be sold out, but if there are a few places left, you’ll be sure to gain a ton of valuable and practical information that will help you move forward in your efforts to get cast in the fast growing business of video games.
Category: Career Advice, General, People | Comments (0)
Posted September 25, 2008 by Bob
You’ll find a very well written, performed and produced audio tribute to Don about half way down the main page at the SunSpots Productions web site. And SunSpots president Thomas Rohe posted a wonderful tribute to Don on his blog, which I somehow missed previously.
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Posted by Bob
Stephani Shelton offers a penetrating analysis in her blog post called Are Unions Still Relevant. Given Stephani’s background as a journalist, I’m not surprised that her post is so thoughtful and well-written. I just wish I’d paid more attention to how her name is spelled before I posted my comment over there.
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Posted by Bob
Joe Cipriano provides this very interesting look behind the scenes in the voice booth at the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.
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Posted September 24, 2008 by Bob
Joe Cipriano‘s latest Ask Joe video is a tribute to the late, great, Don LaFontaine.
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Posted September 23, 2008 by Bob
My friend Juan, better known in the blogosphere as Some Audio Guy, has just posted a very interesting comparison of a couple of microphones and pre-amps. It’s not a fair fight, as Juan notes, but quite interesting.
Category: General, Tools | Comments (0)
Posted by Bob
I had no idea, but my friend and mentor Philip Banks has a voiceover blog. I ran across the link to it today on Erik’s blog. Added to the blogroll, it is. Today.
Category: General, People | Comments (0)
Posted by Bob
Voice actor Gregg Berger is featured in this two part interview from TFCon 2008.
My thanks to my friend Craig Crumpton for posting the link on his Voice Actor Appreciation Yahoo group.
Category: General, People | Comments (2)
Posted by Bob
B&H’s latest electronic newsletter includes an introduction to a career in audio that has some points of value to anyone needing to understand how to record and edit audio.
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Posted September 22, 2008 by Bob
My friend Mary Morgan is featured in a delightful video as the voice of Lance, a video called Bowlopolis.
Good for you, Mary. Wonderful work.
(Update: I’ve removed the video link at the request of some of those involved.)
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Posted by Bob
My friend Dave Courvoisier lives and works in Las Vegas, which is relevant to this post mainly because his location puts him in line to visit lots and lots of conventions and expositions when they come through town. Blog World and New Media Expo has just been there and along with several more topical posts, Dave has also prepared a wonderful post listing loads of resources, even providing a downloadable list of even more.
Category: Blogging, General | Comments (0)
Posted September 21, 2008 by Bob
My friend and mentor Philip Banks has posted a photographic summary of the Secret to Success in your voiceover work on the VO-BB. Take a moment to click through. I think you’ll be glad you did.
Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover | Comments (0)
Posted September 20, 2008 by Bob
I’m in Charleston, South Carolina on a business trip and as long as I was going to be here, I posted on the VO-BB asking if anyone might be in the area who’d like to visit. As it turned out, I had two delightful visits today. The first was this morning with my friend Roger Tremaine, who actually lives in Kentucky. But, Roger is here in Charleston to visit his daughter and her husband and the grandchildren. So, he came by the hotel where I’m staying and we had a wonderful time catching with what’s been going on in our respective lives and careers.
Before Roger had to head back to his family we snapped a quick photo together.
A couple of hours after Roger was on his way, my friend Carl Hedgepeth came by for a visit as well. We again talked about a whole range of subjects including Carl’s professional background and of course plenty about our mutual interest in voiceover work. Again it was truly a delightful visit and then Carl had to get to a video shoot nearby where he was serving as a production assistant.
A nice lady walking through the lobby of the hotel was nice enough to snap a photo of Carl and me with my phone camera.
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Posted by Bob
My friend Dave Courvoisier has posted a superb interview on his blog with Dan Lenard on the subject of home studios, voice booths and all things audio. Excellent information that will help you a bunch no matter where you are in your journey into voice acting.
Category: General, People, Tools | Comments (2)
Posted September 19, 2008 by Bob
Bob Bergen, who is going to be in Atlanta for a two day animation voiceover workshop October 18 and 19, 2008, is featured in a very nice article in the neighborhood newspaper for North Dekalb (GA) county.
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Posted September 18, 2008 by Bob
George Whittam has posted a long interview Joan Baker recorded with Don LaFontaine on the front page of his web site. Thank you, George. Great stuff. And thanks for posting the link on the VO-BB, so I could find this.
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Posted by Bob
Rodney Saulsberry’s next Commercial Intensive tele-class runs 3 Thursday evenings starting October 16, 2008. Details are available on his web site (click the Commercials tab) and you can also register for the class while you’re there.
Category: Career Advice, General, People | Comments (0)
Posted by Bob
Joystiq has a terrific article about my friend DB Cooper’s presentation at the Austin Game Developers Conference. Good for you, Deirdre and for your friend Maryanne Krawczyk.
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Posted September 17, 2008 by Bob
You might want to check out Michael Minetree’s podcast called How to Be a Better Voice Over Student.
Category: General, Getting started in Voiceover | Comments (0)
Posted by Bob
My friend John Florian has a very interesting article on his VoiceOverXtra site about the explosive growth in audiobooks. I love narrating audiobooks, especially non-fiction. It takes longer, but there’s something deeply satisfying about telling a great story over a long period of time.
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Posted September 16, 2008 by Bob
I don’t know how long it will be available on the front page of Voiceover Universe, but take a few minutes right now to stop over there and listen to the audio that’s in the player at the top center of the front page. If you have a soft heart, like I do, keep some tissues near while you do.
Category: General, People | Comments (6)
Posted by Bob
Following up on my post yesterday about patience, and with thanks to the thoughts sparked by my friend Dave Courvoisier in the comment he left to that post, let’s think for a minute today about another vitally important character trait for the voiceover professional. Persistence.
President Coolidge’s famous quote about this subject is a good place to start. (hat tip to Sling Words for the quote.)
“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
Being patient, as I mentioned yesterday, is vital. But you have to endure in that patience. This is where persistence comes in to play. I was asked during an interview a few weeks ago what’s the secret to being successful in voiceover work? My two word answer: “Don’t quit.” You must persist in your efforts at preparing, planting, cultivating and harvesting if you’re going to make a go of your voiceover career in the long run.
However, I need to sound a note of caution here, as well. There is a significant difference between patient persistence and selfish stupidity. If your children are going hungry, or your marriage is starting to fall apart, because you continue to persistently pursue a dream of being a successful voice actor … it’s time to make some changes. Do not destroy the lives of people around you while you are pursuing your dream. Do what you have to so that your family is cared for. This doesn’t mean you have to abandon your dream. It means you have to weigh the costs and pursue that dream prudently, not foolishly. The cost to your soul isn’t worth whatever fleeting wealth or fame you might achieve.
So, as President Coolidge said, “Press on” to your goals and dreams. Don’t quit. Patiently, carefully, generously prepare, sow, cultivate and then see what a remarkable harvest you’ll gather.
Category: Career Advice, General, Getting started in Voiceover | Comments (11)
Posted by Bob
My friend DB Cooper is one of the featured speakers at this year’s Game Developers Conference in Austin, Texas. Gamasutra has a very nice write-up about her presentation, which was done with God Of War 3 writer Marianne Krawczyk.
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