Working with Smaller Budgets for Voice Over

Very few businesses have the budgets they once had, and there are many small "mom & pop" production companies - basically solo or two/three person teams of freelancers that have recently been downsized trying to make a buck with the skills they have.

I respect them for that, and I work with them if they're on the level: we're all in this together, and I'm not going to take a superior attitude like I've seen some voice over talents do in their online rants.

I don't do the super cheapo P2P online-audition gigs, but I do work with some small companies that are starting up for slightly less money. I won't work with large companies that are obviously dumpster-diving for their productions. I build relationships with smaller budget production companies built on understanding and respect and some of them have become successful with great clients with good new products. We all win.

In other words, not all of the people out there with small budgets are bad people, as much as some voice over talents want to blame them. Some of my smaller budget clients are the nicest people I've worked with, and many of these gigs have blossomed into sound long term professional relationships.

And heck, most of these smaller budget clients pay more promptly than my bigger clients. So they can't be all that bad, can they?

Using Paper Scripts for Voice Overs

I see a lot of talents recording straight from their desktop reading from their monitor screens with a mic attached to the desk, used especially to record VO for Pay to Play (P2P) online audition sites.

For me, I'm old school: always work how I work 90% of the time if I'm in or out of my studio: headphones on the left ear only (unless I have to hear a stereo mix), and using paper scripts for voice overs. Nobody's going to give you your own monitor in most studios, so you'd better get comfortable with working with paper and cut your e-umbilical to your computer.

Yeah, paper is costly and it takes time to print (and the ink expenses) and you have to recycle it - but then you can write on it as your client on the line or in the booth make changes. This is imperative to providing the best voice over service to the client.

Also, you're not talking into a flat hard monitor screen which creates early reflections - again, very important. If you have a nice quiet acoustically treated booth like I do for voice overs, why wouldn't you use it? Now, some talents have a well designed remote monitor screen set up in their voice over booth, but again they are creating unnecessary early reflections. My scripts are on a nice padded stand which the face is tilted away at a 45 degree angle.

It takes me thirty seconds to print an audition script and in that time I stop and think for a moment about how to work it.

There's no reason to rush anything, even in voice over. Be quick and responsive, but don't rush. A rush job is a poorly done job. The joy of a P2P audition is that you can actually take as much time as you need if you have it to get it right. You really don't have to be the first twenty that submit an audition to get a gig. Honestly, most of the online auditions I've won were ones with which I took my time and gave my best effort for the voice over client.

Little Shop of Stories wins appearance by Neil Gaiman

Here it is! A video from The Little Shop of Stories Graveyard Party for which LSOS won an appearance by author Neil Gaiman! I'm the disembodied voice of The Sleer that plays in the background in the crypt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDr7wpYC3Yc

Seems like a spledid time was had by all! I can't wait to meet Neil Gaiman! Could I possibly use more exclamation marks?!?!?!

English Voice Overs for Global - International Audiences by Lance Blair

I'm happy to offer my new Global-International Voice Over demo featuring work for my global clients, and features a Transatlantic or more European/English voice-over for global audiences. My international clients include European companies such as Nortel France, Tele Atlas, Superfund, Newmarket International, Sky, and Kingston Communications. I'm the voice of global programming for US companies such as EPRI, Ocean Spray, SpaceWorks Engineering, Serono, and Genzyme. I earned MA with Honours in English Language and Literature from The University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where I lived for five years...so that's partially from where this voice over style is cultivated.

Listen to my new Global-International Voice Over Demo here:
http://lanceblair.net/global.mp3

Lance Blair Atlanta Voice Over New in November

It seems my new MOH/IVR and Live Announcer Demos are attracting good attention, and I've earned some great new clients recently through them; especially for some nice folks from Atlanta based companies. I also recorded a corporate piece for Ocean Spray with the great people at VideoLink in Boston.

My voice over studio setup here in Atlanta is working great, and I recently did a tag for Cartoon Network to match the tone of the TKO video game I did for them earlier this year which was recorded on a vintage U87 through a 1073 preamp. I'm very pleased but not surprised with how closely I got the audio to match, that's the sound quality I'm going for at my studio. For remote voice over recording, I did some pickups for a client on the road (I travel with my gear) in late October and they came out great.

I'll end first with saying a public thank you and hello to my colleague the wonderful Maxine Dunn. Finally, I'll close by saying that many of my clients seek Spanish male and female voice over talents as well. I recommend a few talents that I know, but if anybody has any suggestions I'm all ears.

Lance Blair as Neil Gaiman's The Sleer Voice Over

Here I am as the Sleer from Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book" which will be playing at a haunted house this Halloween. Not only am I the three-headed Sleer, but I also built the soundscape behind it. Loads o' fun.

http://www.lanceblair.net/sharing/TheSleer.mp3

More Cartoon Network TKO Voice over characters available!

As promised, more characters available to play at Cartoon Network's TKO videogame: Chowder, Schnitzel and Chef Hatchet. All the ringmaster MC voice over by yours truly.
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/games/cc/tko/