Archive | Articles

Approaching Auditions Differently Than Work

Hey, there!

In everything we do as storytellers and performers, it seems the same principles apply whether it’s on-camera or on-mic.

And if you read carefully, almost every article in magazines like Backstage, that point out best practices in stage or on-camera acting, all have similar applications to voice over talent.

A recent article by Anthony Meindl is a great example: it’s about what to pay attention to when auditioning. And although the words point to what to do when auditioning on stage or on-camera, here’s how you can use what Anthony says when you find yourself in front of a mic for a VO audition. Continue Reading →

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Lost SOSA Episodes…Found!

Hey, there!

I’ve told the story often about how one bit of training I got made a huge difference in my acting career.

(And although what I’m about to share with you has the words “screen acting” in it, it also applies perfectly to VO.)

And that one bit of training, the Secrets of Screen Acting podcast, just got a fair bit more interesting and helpful.

Why?

Because 22 previously lost episodes were recently found. And you can have them at no extra charge. Continue Reading →

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4 More Secrets of VO

Hey, there!

I used to write for Backstage about VO (no time any more to do that).

You’ve honored me with a bunch of their Readers’ Choice Awards (plenty of time to do more of that).

So I get a warm feeling when I see an article about VO in Backstage.

And the one I just read, and want to share with you, is a short and sweet one. Continue Reading →

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Headphone Recommendations

Hey, there!

My lovely remote client, Denise Fleener, wrote:

Along the lines of headphones…can you recommend a few choices of headphone for the home studio VO artist?
Thanks, as always, for all the info!
Denise

Absolutely, including one which I’ve been using for over 2 decades, and the other I use more and more frequently. Continue Reading →

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An Extremely Dangerous Article About Noise Reduction In Audacity

Hey there!

This one’s going to be long-ish, with a lot of warnings and bolded and capital letters.

I have some trepidation in even writing this article, because the subject matter, noise reduction, is rife with controversial aspects.

Why?

You can completely destroy a high-quality (but, perhaps a bit noisy) voice work session by applying noise reduction in a heavy-handed or incorrect way.

Having said that, noise reduction can be an effective final option for making your audio sound amazingly pristine, and is especially useful in audiobook work that you might be producing for your ACX projects. Here’s how. Continue Reading →

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