I am new to the industry and currently receiving a quote with Soho voices to create my voice reel. I wondered if you could recommend any other great agencies to consider from experience? I would also like advice on best starter equipment to buy to help with recording for bookings and professionalism. Thank you for your time in advance. I look forward to connecting with you all.
Hi Lisa
Regards gear, do you have a good, quiet space that you can soften up with some room treatment, soft fabrics etc to deaden the sound? That's the best place to start because without a good place to record, you are going to struggle to get a good sound. Central heating, buzzing lights, traffic, next doors dog....a good microphone will pick it all up..so try and eliminate as much as you can
I'd then see if you can try out some different microphones to see what suits your voice. You certainly don't need a Neumann U87 to get started...but I'd also avoid the false economy of a dirt cheap microphone. Rode NT1, Shure KSM32 and Neumann TLM102 are just a few suggestions of mid range price options. Booth Junkie on You Tube (who produces lots of great VO related content) is a top place to see and hear many different microphones in a VO setting, albeit with a male voice.
You'll need a laptop (or 'quiet' computer) with some software (Audacity is free), an interface (Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 is a popular choice), a mic stand, a pop filter, a good cable and some decent headphones. And of course lots of patience and luck!
Thank you so much for your detailed advice I am very grateful. I live in a big house so I don't have to use my room by the front door but I can use my basement or front room which is more isolated from outside noise. I will look into your suggestions for devices and start researching. In the meantime, I am trying to get quotes for voiceover reels and will be doing my headshot pictures next week.
I went through a lot of what you are going through in the last year and although I proved pretty poor at updating my blogs, I wrote quite a lot of it down here https://stevekingvoice.co.uk/blog - I hope you find it helpful. Please feel free to message me if I can help with anything else. I recently moved on to a Kube recording booth which I have to say was money well invested because of all Paul says about extraneous noise. It doesn't eliminate everything but when it comes to deadening and reduction it's brilliant.
On microphones, I started with a RodeNT1A but booth junky did a rave review on the TZ audio Stellar here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcUQE_NyHi4 and rated it almost as well as the Neumann U87 which for the money is stunning. I invested in one and it's great.
I'm also a newbie to the VO industry and had an absolutely wonderful masterclass and reel production with the guys (JP & Mike) over at The Showreel https://theshowreel.com/, I can't recommend them enough. I feel like I got a real knowledge of my 'voice', as well as an understanding of the VO industry, and a great starter reel too.
Feel free to reach out for anything, always nice to meet someone going through the same thing.
Hi, thought I'd add to this.
After working in radio doing some MC work and recently editing voiceover work, I thought I would try out on the other side so as to speak.
I've got my samples up and have been applying for as much as possible.
Equipment wise I've got AT2020USB and invested in NEWER pop filter shield and got some sound tiles as a hand me down from someone at the radio station I present at.
Any other tips as to how to get my name out there more - realise patience is the key!
I've actually got the AT2020USB as my microphone in my office for Dragon voice-activated dictation work and meetings-it's a terrific microphone.
However, I would be inclined to go down the XLR Condenser Microphone route as you seem to be able to get much better quality. I know it's a matter of cost as well which is harder when you are starting out and not seeing the fruit for your labour. However, with lots of activity and courage, it will happen. I use the Neumann TLM 102 Condenser Microphone, a DBX286S Microphone preamp/compressor feeding into a Focusrite 3rd generation interface and then editing with Audacity.
In terms of getting the word out there, there are plenty of platforms to look at and I've actually had a lot of work from this one but nothing to stop you from being on several. Creating a website is also quite labour-intensive but fun at the same time. Some people farm out this responsibility but I wanted to build my own because I want to be able to change and add to it very easily. www.richardwilliamsvoiceactor.com / Once you get some jobs on the about you can also start seeking an agent but that is a tough process and be prepared to be knocked back several times but again with activity, it will happen.
There are some really good communities on Facebook and I've landed some awesome work from these.
Thanks for the update Rich.
I've actually already set up my own website for media and business consultancy www.richebusiness.co.uk so what I am thinking of doing is adding another section to this for /voiceover work which will be fairly simple to add on.
The Facebook route is interesting - is there any info you could share as to those. Realise it may be something I may need to delve around in.
Your help is much appreciated and I realise the graft is needed to get anywhere - but I am determined to do this and really succeed.
This is a really nice community with some well-known faces and everyone is very accommodating and pretty good at sharing their thoughts, good and bad. There are some really nice ground rules as well and those that do not adhere of thrown off the site.
Hi, I am due to record my first professional voice-over demo reels this Saturday including 2 elearning reads, 2 corporate reads, 4 commercial reads and 10 existing character reads. I have been following the expertise and advice of my brilliant voice coach Emily Jardine as to how to approach the world of voice-over. The existing characters I can voice include 2 of which are deceased voice artists/actors where I feel I can possibly fill the void. I'd like to know the best possible routes of approach for pursuing character voice acting with these abilities, other than waiting however many years for casting directors of the relevant companies to "possibly" cast for these types of role again. It's been quite a headache on that front until now and I've no doubt it may well continue.
Thank you in advance for any feedback
2 years ago
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