For the professional VO (voice over) artist, there have been many changes in a relatively short space of time. The biggest change has been the adaptation to digital technology. I like to think that technology has come back to us. Personally, I find this change in voice over work refreshing and an opportunity to cast a wider net to engage clients all over the world.
The web and voice sites like voice123 and voice.com have really opened up opportunities that were relatively obscure for up and coming VO talent and experienced VO talent that want to break into or advance in an invisible world that was (and in some cases still is) reserved for those 'in the know' and with contacts.
Where you once visited a studio usually by invitation by people you knew in the industry, with huge desks, an audio engineer who flew around the console with great speed and purpose, a copy writer and sometimes clients on hand to direct your read as they saw fit, now, for little capital investment in equipment, talent around the globe can produce broadcast quality production in the comfort of their home.
Record, edit, email. Done!
There are however, traps for young players and benefits for old dogs.
It will always remain that without real talent borne from discipline and skills honed from years of reading scripts and doing voice over’s with guidance and nurturing, would-be ‘talent’ will be sent to the trash bin while those with the fundamentals nailed will flourish.
Simply having a ‘good voice’ just won’t cut it!
Let’s face it, the days of cutting a read by half a second in a one take 30 sec ‘live’ read to tape are long gone. With the click of a mouse and a time adjustment, scripts are magically pulled into line and made to fit the required time.
But if a generation of voice over talent only knows the cut-and-paste of voice work, then they stand a good chance of wondering why everyone else is getting the work even though they may think they are ‘better’.
It’s about perseverance, elocution, timing, pronunciation, enunciation, inflections et al. In a word, experience. It’s about the graft and effort in perfecting and harnessing the most difficult instrument in the world to master; the human voice.
For those from the analogue days, technology simply means we don’t have to read everything over for the full length of the read. We simply cut and paste and maintain synergy in the output. You wouldn’t know we’ve even edited it.
For the digital generation of voice talent who think that superb editing skills and the dexterity and knowledge of the latest digital editing suite is the be all and end all of being a professional voice over talent will sadly come up short.
For the analogue generation voice over talent who keep abreast of changing technology, the world is our oyster.
This is a first blog by an old dog that goes to show we can be taught new tricks.
Thanks for lending me your ears©
gaj
