Lance Blair, Atlanta-based voiceover talent, needs to travel now and then and when he does he also needs to be able to keep his clients happy. As he’s posted on his voiceover blog, he’s found an excellent microphone for his travel kit, the Heil Sound PR40.
People
Equipment wants, Equipment needs
I hope you make a regular practice of visiting Kara Edwards voiceover blog. There’s much worth reading there, not only the new things she writes, but in the archives as well. Sometimes whimsical. Sometimes very practical. Always worthwhile.
Her latest post offers some very solid advice about how to manage the purchases of equipment, either first time or upgrading what you already have, for your studio. I’d only add that the same kind of thinking needs to be applied to training, seminars, conferences and demo production. It’s not possible to do everything all at once. If you try, you’ll
sink out of sight so fast no one will notice.
I’m going to put Kara’s list suggestion into practice immediately.
Deb Munro’s November Newsletter
Deb Munro, voiceover talent and coach, active both in the States and in Canada, has released her November newsletter. (link is a PDF file)
Digidesign 002 for sale (updated)
My friend Brian Haymond is selling his older Pro Tools set-up as he’s upgrading his system to a more current model. This is your opportunity to pick up a truly superb system, including the control surface mixer for a truly amazingly low price. (You’ll see what I mean when you click through to his site on the link above.)
Here’s a photo from his blog, so you can see just how clean this system truly is.
Update: Brian has sold this unit on eBay!
One small space for man…
My friend Jeffrey Kafer has documented his efforts to go paperless in his voiceover work on his blog. I hope you’ll enjoy reading his story.
Acting for Advertising
Voice acting, while it is acting, has a different palette than acting for stage or film. This is one of the key things I learned through my studies with Nancy Wolfson. Now, thanks to the site that Nancy and Anna Vocino have launched jointly called Break Into Voice Over, you can purchase MP3 audio files with much of the key information Nancy teaches in her private lessons, at a fraction of the price of just one of those private lessons.
Looking at the site this evening, I see that there’s a new teleseminar for which you can sign up that will be held on Wednesday, November 14th at 6:00 PM Pacific (9:00 PM Eastern). And the previous teleseminars are all linked for purchase right on the main page. There is a ton of solid, valuable, actionable information there. Highly recommended.
Anthony extends his cool to the NBA
Without question one of the coolest and nicest guys I know is Anthony Mendez, a brilliant voiceover talent from New York City. Recently, his voice was featured in a promo for the new NBA season on NBA TV. You can watch and listen at a special page on his site. Good stuff, Anthony. But then, that’s you all the time.
You meet the nicest people in Seattle, too
I had a wonderful conversation and dessert with my friend Jeffrey Kafer last night. The lighting isn’t so good and this fuzzy shot comes from my phone’s camera, but here we are at the table in a photo taken by our waiter.
Jeffrey and I talked a lot about voiceover. He had recently posed a new commercial demo for critique on the VO-BB, and knowing that I was going to see him that evening, I had listened to it not long before I left my hotel room in Tacoma, so I could offer him my thoughts in person. We talked about his acting background, some of my lessons learned the hard way and lots more. It’s always a delight to spend time with another voiceover talent and Jeffrey is certainly one of the good guys.
Starting in Voiceover
Here’s a wry take on how to get started in the voiceover business.
This video comes from the brilliant mind of Marc Graue, by all reports one of the nicest guys in the business.
More than Nice
One of my favorite places in the blogosphere is The Nice Blog, but it has been a while since I’ve visited. When I stopped by today, I ran across a recent post that really hit me between the eyes. It has nothing to do with voiceover work, so if that’s your only interest, you probably want to stop reading now.
The Nice Blog features a letter from Matthew T. Hunt, the founder of a non-profit organization called A Rose of Thanks. Not only is it an inspiring, wonderful, heart-warming story…but Matthew lives in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that’s where my family and I are based now, too. After reading his story, I promptly made a donation to A Rose of Thanks. You make up your own mind on that matter, of course, but I think it’s a great cause.
Seeing the dots connect
My friend Tim McLaughlin has recently been able to see the results of one of his voiceover projects in a very direct way. We don’t often get to see and hear the connection between our work and the results of our work so directly, which makes his blog post just a delight.
A receipe for cars?
My friend Bruce Miles really knows how to cook up a good deal on cars, as you can see from his performance in this auto dealer TV commercial from Arizona.
Nice work, Bruce.
We met in Atlanta
OK, we met in the Internet first, on the VO-BB…but when Tom Ackerman, Caryn Clark and I all attended some voiceover training last weekend in Atlanta, we got a chance to visit together.
Here are the 3 off us at dinner the evening between our 2 days of classes.
A chance to get behind the camera…
And the microphone, with Dave Courvoisier, as he’s featured in a new article at Voice Over Xtra. And while you’re there, if you’re not already a member, why don’t you join up? I’m very glad I did. Lots of great information.
Turkey and Voiceover
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.
Her voice sounds so familiar
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.
Picking microphones
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.
A talented talker talks
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.
Study opportunities on the West Coast
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.
Mary, Bruce and Ellis Island
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!