Lance Blair Atlanta Voiceovers

Vimeo Voiceover Group for Voice Over Artists

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

YouTube is great for sharing videos of your coworkers tripping over a chair or your cat swatting at a lazer. However, if you are a Voice Over talent and want to share something that looks and sounds professional with video and audio that isn't overcompressed like it is on YouTube, then Vimeo is the way to go. Sure, millions of people will see your work on YouTube...but they are more likely to be people that have nothing to do with professional video or audio production. So far, the comments and messages I have received via YouTube have been from under-30 audio hobbyists who do not seem to have any real profession. Vimeo is full to the brim with media producers, directors, filmmakers, and writers. You know, the people who are actually worth knowing? With this in mind, I set up the first Voiceover group on Vimeo in September 2010. I didn't actively promote it, but I still got some voice over talents that I admire like Chris Turbiville, Joe J. Thomas, Brad Venable, Andy Boyns, Paul Strikwerda, and Mary McKitrick among others to join. Even the excellent Catalan VO talent Penelope Saray is a member. In 2012, I will be actively promoting the group and trying to recruit new members. Too often we hear voiceovers without seeing how it all comes together with picture, and frankly YouTube doesn't do justice for the fine work that voice over people and media creatives do - the picture and the audio is just too compressed. Vimeo provides excellent audio and picture. Looking forward to having you be a part of our group whether you are a Voice Over Talent or have any role in media production. Visit http://vimeo.com/groups/voiceover to sign up. All the best,Lance

American Voice-Over for UK and European Markets

2012-01-04T08:17:00.000-08:00

American male (and female) voice-overs for international programs, videos, and corporate presentations/imagefilms are very much in demand. Especially for voices that are non-accented and don't have that announcery harsh tone to them. For my American voiceover clients, I try to be a relaxed, engaging, re-assuring voice that is sounds like I'm an expert on the matter but is friendly and approachable in the way I talk about it. I try to teach and inform and be upbeat and pleasant about it without having a detached self-importance. In the past month, I've done new videos for Bangkok Hospital's general international presentation video as well as surgery videos for Matsudo Hospital just outside of Tokyo. I've also been doing more videos for voice over productions from India, and that has been rewarding to work on as well. Now I'm directing my efforts to have more of a presence in the United Kingdom and Irish markets for voice over. I'm happy to now be on the rosters with the wonderful people at Piehole and BigFish Media. I've also launched a new website americanvoiceover.co.uk to attract new clients and work with current ones. I'm very happy with the design of it, (I do it myself using CoffeeCup Visual Site Designer) so I'm going to incorporate most of it into my existing American Male Voice Over website lanceblair.net.I'm American born and raised but I went to the University of St. Andrews in Scotland where I got my M.A. in English Language and Literature. I started off in voice-over doing a lot of English and Scottish accented work for American clients (and I still do a lot of work with a pan-European soft English-accent voice for international voice overs) but now I'm working internationally as an American Voice for United Kingdom, European, and Asian clients. If you need a male American voice, or one with an international accent-neutral English Voice for your voice over production, I'm your guy. Also, if you need recommendations for American female, Spanish-language, or French-language voiceovers, I can help too. Cheers,Lance

On Not Being the Voice of God

2011-12-16T07:16:00.000-08:00

Christopher Hitchens the famous atheist essayist died yesterday. I'm not here to talk about God, but rather his voice. Or, really The Voice of God (VOG) as it is called in the wacky VO biz. When I first started in voice over, I thought that's what voice over is: The Voice Over, the detached Lofty Perspective presenting the script from On High. I wanted to be a messenger of The Voice of God, or play that role. But really, the role isn't of God. It's of an arrogant jerk. It's annoying, insulting to the intelligence of the listener. It's emotionally restricted and not creative. It's monotone, gravely, and nasal, and the boominess is fake. It's sexist, as women aren't allowed to play it (how many female Movie Trailer voices do you hear)? The Voice Of God is from an era where Men Told People What to Think. It's from the age of dinosaurs. It's irrelevant. People need to cut it out. Do real voices, and hire real voices and write real scripts for real speech. You can have the voice of an Action Trailer without sounding like a haughty congested putz. It's fun to do VOG gigs, but honestly, whenever a client requests it I think it's just stupid and sloppy and lazy creative. Rant over. Have a nice day, and Keep the Faith for quality voice overs that make a meaningful connection to the audience. :)

New Voice Over for Open Span

2011-12-12T11:06:00.001-08:00

This is a new voice over I recorded with the good folks at OpenSpan. They're a great company located here in Atlanta, and well...what they do is what I tell you about in the video! They created the video all in-house, so it was great to collaborate closely with them on the project from start to finish. They really made me feel like part of the their team, and made sure to let me know how well it was received by their partners as well. I love working for clients like this!

WAZA Online Multi-Media Learning Programs

2011-10-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

I had the great pleasure of working with Boston-based sixredmarbles as the character voices of their WAZA and JUBA online multi-media learning programs. It was a huge project that required recording over 5,000 prompts for kids of various ages to interact with and learn about math and the world around them. I knew it was going to be a terrific project from the moment I started having conference calls in the development stages with their excellent creative directors, but I'm now really pleased to discover that this project has won many educational awards for 2011:

Bessie Award
Eddie Award
Tillywig Brainchild Award
The National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval
Mom’s Choice Gold Award

...and it was also a finalist at SIIA’S 2011 Ed Tech Industry Summit. To read more about the awards and the reviews of WAZA, JUBA, and CABANGA (I did the promo voice over for that) read the Digital Journal or this Press Release.

For more info about this fantastic company and their educational products, visit sixredmarbles here.

The Voice Over Studio and Pintrest

2011-09-26T08:28:00.000-07:00

I joined up on Pintrest which is kind of like a place to share your likes visually, creating (or "curating" as Pintrest puts it) pictures of the art/media or things that interest you. A lot of fun, and it's neat to see what people like. You can get all kinds of ideas about clothes, cooking, travel, etc. So far, I've put up a board of public art and architecture from here in Atlanta, and now I've added a second board of picture links of what pieces of equipment I use here in the Audio Cave at The Lance Blair House of Voice Overs. Of all the gear, the acoustic panels have meant more for my sound than microphones. This morning I compared old recordings I did with the TLM 103 without the acoustic treatment and it just wasn't focused at all. The Sennheiser MK 4 is a great mic for voice over, but it definitely attains its full potential in a good sounding room. The Focusrite ISA One Preamp is excellent in that it has four input impedance settings (600, 1.2k, 2.4k, and 6.8kohms) and a nice Swedish Lundhahl output transformer. The Fast Track Ultra has quality converters, such flexible routing that I don't need a mixer anymore (even for phone patch), and works great as a stand-alone studio in a box when travelling. I've even used it without electricity recording in the car with a laptop (muffled in the trunk). Now with Pintrest, I can just edit the board of images as the studio changes over time.

Sennheiser MK 4

2011-05-17T11:35:00.000-07:00

The new Sennheiser Mk 4 looks like a winner for voice over, and for only $299 street price. This shootout compares the Mk4, 414, TLM 103 and 193, and does so with male and female voices doing various things that really test the mics - not just dull copy The mics are 7" away, and they're from a soundonsound forum thread found here. The 193 is wonderful for a flatter sound, but I really like the MK 4, even over the 103 which seems to pick up more of the room in a bad way.

I've been looking for a mic with air and sheen that cuts through a mix but isn't scratchy/fuzzy/annoying. This should fit the bill, especially when given a bit of heft and flavour from my Focusrite ISA One Preamp.

Jeff Laurence also has a nice shootout doing promos with the MKH 415 T and the MK 4. He does tweak up the mids on the MK 4 in this test a touch, but I think it did great, and prefer it to the 415.

Link to the Sennheiser page here: Sennheiser MK 4

Acoustics for Voice Over

2011-04-26T06:41:00.000-07:00

When you are listening to someone speak one-on-one close together in person, and you are really engaged and paying attention to every word they say, you hear things differently. The sound of the outside world is irrelevant. It fades away. You could be chatting in a cafe, but the bus that just passed outside barely registers in your awareness of sound. You also have no awareness of the voice echoing around off the hard floors and ceiling, or of any annoying buzz or drone that continues throughout the conversation. The speech is intimate, and seems to go straight from the voices to your brain. The words have a potent impact.

Let's compare that to the experience of listening to a public speech at say a lecture or a convention meeting. If your hearing is good, the buzz of the public address monitors will be slightly annoying. The harsh windy break-up of plosive Ps and Bs of the person talking into their dynamic or lavalier microphone will be distracting to one's ability to follow the pattern of speech. In order to allow for the greatest volume before there is feedback from the microphone, the audio engineer will have altered sonic frequencies away from the natural tone of the voice. No matter how good the acoustics of the hall are, the sound will still bounce around and have reverb and sound like you're in a giant bathtub listening to someone far away: not in a cafe talking in person to a peer. The speech is not intimate, in fact public speakers must alter their speech to make it adapt to the environment and audience of a public gathering. There is no direct connection from the voice to the brain, even if the concepts discussed are otherwise readily adapted and have their intended effect. The words, as they arise, do not have as much potent impact as the conversation in the cafe.

All these differences between the reception of intimate and public speech are matters of acoustics, not matters of content. If you transcribe a personal conversation and then read them aloud at a meeting, even with convincing acting, it would not have the same effect.

What does this have to do with Acoustics for Voice Over? In recording your speech for voice over, you want to re-create the quality that personal engaging conversations have on your ears and brain. As voice actors, we have been trained to "speak to just one person". Our recording acoustics should facilitate that effect.

Audio should be clean and clear and free of reflections and distortions: not in the name of being Professional or Technically Superior, but in the name of Being Personal and Engaging. There should be no hum or buzz or noticeable noise floor or ambiance to the sound, and there should be no noticeable reverb or reflections of sound. With the rise of home voice over studios, often standards outside of the best studios have plummeted. We're saying more and more via voice over, but is it all having the impact that it ought to if it isn't conveyed with proper recording techniques?

For example: small voice over booths with glass windows should not be used for voice over. Did you ever try to have a conversation in one of these "Audio Coffins"? You can't hold a natural conversation in them, because your ears don't get the proper audio feedback of natural acoustics. It's tubby sounding with lots of short reflections. Most of the best voice over studios in the world are very large rooms. It allows the sound to leave the room and die out gracefully and slowly...when the reflections of the voice return to where the mircophone is, they are negligible. The voice actor in this environment may be in a giant slick studio in Los Angeles, but the captured voice on the recording is captivating, intimate, engaging, and personal. Importantly, having acoustics that enable an engaging personal sound has nothing to do with the microphone or microphone preamp. You can use competent cheap equipment in such a studio and still re-create excellent personal sounding voice overs. A cheap mic in a good room trumps a Neumann in a bad room. Of course, if you've got the good room, then save your pennies for the better microphone. First, find the good room acoustics.

In my recording environment, I use a room that is 20'x15'and over two-thirds of the walls are covered either by bookcases (rather good for acoustics, actually) or bass traps and acoustic panels by GIK. There is some acoustic foam in places, but these do not address acoustics anywhere near as well as proper acoustic panels or even bookshelves do. Also, I have a "cloud" of sound blankets on the ceiling above the microphone. I use microphones with self-noise of 14dbA or lower, high quality Mogami cables, and quiet and clean solid-state microphone preamps. There is some liveliness to the room, in so far as it doesn't sound artificially deadened: but noticeable reflections of sound are avoided. The goal has been to re-create the sensation one has when listening to someone in person. In my work I try to "speak to one person" and be personal and engaging in the delivery (unless directed otherwise). The acoustics of my voice over recordings are designed to capture the experience of listening to a personal conversation.

Catching up with the Voice Over Work

2011-04-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems that I didn't feel the need to blog for three months. That says two things. First, I don't feel the need to talk about my work, I just do it. Second, I've been happily busy doing it. I've been busy and happy with new voice over clients, not for single jobs here and there but for developing relationships with corporate production houses. Not too much commercial work, but hey, if that's what I really wanted to do, I'd be in LA shilling comfort food and plastic toys.

My eye is still on the ball - I love doing informative work whether it's educational or corporate. On the educational side of things I'm continuing to do a lot of work for a Boston based company which was recently brought into the fold of one of the largest educational publishing companies, so I've been doing a lot of their new science programs as well as continuing with the animated learning games that I started working on last year.

On the corporate side, I've got lots of different production houses I've been working for, and I feel very comfortable in that work as I started out as an audio engineer at the biggest independent production house in New England. I think of it as being part of the production process, not a talent showing up for the gig and walking away and rinsing it from their memory. I love to see the finished videos, and to hear that the clients and end users were happy.

The other nice project coming up is I'll be composing the music for WindUp a short film about kids' wind up toys. A very cool film being made by some very cool people. I'll have updates about that as it progresses.

In the meantime...go read the voice over blogs of those VOAs who can't stop talking whether they're on the mic or not. Voice over industry...blah...blah...blah. Nah, go outside for a nice walk instead. You won't miss anything. Same stuff's been re-hashed for the past five years online.

Unorthodox Voice Over Tips that The Coaches Probably Won't Tell You

2011-01-07T10:39:00.000-08:00

A pretty well known voice over coach on the online circuit really ticked me off (about the umpteenth time this character has done this) by sending me some patronizing spam to attend an online seminar on using one's P2P marketing. The spam was sent in response to my discussion on LinkedIn about how my P2P marketing for voiceover is going well and I've got my hat in many rings and my many ducks in many rows. In retribution and to vent a bit, here are some actually useful voiceover tips that your average (or above average) Voice Over coach won't tell you:

1.) Get your eyes checked. Do your performances sound like you're reading? That could be because you are straining to do so, even if it's a little bit. If your glasses/contacts prescription needs even a little tweak it could be holding you back.

2.) Upgrade your audio interface. Throw that M-Audio Fast Track or Presonus Firebox on ebay pronto! They don't have good converters and they'll never let you have that big open airy sound. New generation M-Audio gear (Fast Track Ultra and the New MBox) actually do sound good. Get an Echo soundcard, or an Apogee Duet - there are too many good sub $600 options out there. Not willing to spend $300-$600 on good AD/DA conversion? Then you're wasting your time and that nice microphone or preamp of yours will only sound "meh" at best. This is your business. Invest in it. Also, for PC users...experiment with which firewire or USB port sounds best for your signal path. You'd be surprised how the one in the front doesn't sound as good as the one in the back, for example.

3.) Massage your face, exercise your face muscles, keep your sinuses clear (use a Neti Pot!) and in general keep your body (and mind) active. Okay, a good voice coach will tell you this too: only after selling you a whole bunch of nonsense about The Laws of Attraction and Positive Thinking. Just keep in shape, be a good person, and keep your eye on the ball. Don't over-think this stuff. It's all common sense.

4.) Have problems working with headphones? You're using those Sony 7506s, aren't you? They don't provide much isolation from the outside and they bleed their sound heavily into any mic less than a foot away. You're hearing yourself and the headphone at the same time. It's subliminally distracting, and hurting your voice acting. Treat yourself to some comfy closed-back headphones that offer real isolation like the Sennheiser HD280 Pro. Same price as the Sonys, and more natural sounding. They're pretty uncomfortable for the first week, but then they fit like a glove. You'll hear yourself through those headphones the same way that you hear yourself "in your head" when you're not wearing headphones.

5.) Listen to voice overs in foreign languages. Yes, you won't understand a darn thing these nice folks that eat ethnic cuisine every day are saying, but you'll come to truly appreciate what you like in a voice over. It might give you some perspective about how audiences hear your voice and voice overs in general.

6.) A related point to the previous one: listen to your voice artificially sped up and slowed down. It reveals a lot about your accent, phrasing, and "voice song".

7.) Audition for jobs on P2P sites that you're terrible at. In general, you ought to do one thing in real life every day that takes you out of your comfort zone.

8.) Invent a pseudonym for yourself, and then try and market that person with your current voice demos: just for a sense of perspective.

9.) Try counter-intuitive voice techniques. Be threatening with a soft voice. Be sneaky with a loud voice. Ask for peace and quiet with a fast voice. Let someone know you're in a hurry with a slow voice. Again, some coaches will use this exercise, but I'm desperately trying to thing of ten things here...

10.) ...ah yes...buy some Bass Traps for your studio, would ya? Some real ones made by Real Traps or GIK. Or make some following respected techniques. Don't get those foam ones by Auralex, etc. They don't work as well. I'm tired of listening to Sennheiser MKH 416 that sound like they were suspended in a cavern. Thanks!

And there you have it. More fast food for thought in convenient blog-sized bites. And I feel much better about that whole Voice Coach malarkey. Forgot about it already. Good luck to all of you in MMXI. Except for a handful of the voice coaches.

Celebrity Voice Overs: The Triumph of Personality over Style

2010-12-23T12:37:00.000-08:00

To me at least, Voice Over is 100% Personality, 10% being able to read, 10% training and muscle memory, 10% Who You Know, 3% Turning the Microphone On, and 4% being able to think on your feet. So, you have to give 137% on every performance. Okay, fuzzy math aside, the point is that Personality is King in Ye Olde Lande of Voice Ovres. So, when you're casting for your Hugely Important International Product you want A Voice With Personality. Someone who's lived and loved like Frank Sinatra did. Some one with class, heart, guts, and sex appeal. You want a celebrity...someone from The New American Aristocracy...not Jimmy Q. Sedentary who sits in a dark box all day grinding out VO for boring scripts. The Rise of The Celebrity Voice Over didn't come as some conspiracy to wreck the Union voice-over ranks - it came as a natural choice. Natural Selection if you will. Survival of the Fittest. Survival of those with the greatest personality. This older article from Slate shows how VO has changed, in such a manner to bolster the success of Celebrities in Voice Over. This list and this one gives a nice run down on who has famously voiced which campaigns. This blog entry from Chuck Brown gives a nice evaluation and grading of the Celebrity Voice Overs that I mostly agree with.

Sometimes I love Celebrity Voice Overs (George Clooney's VO) and sometimes I think it's just lazy (James Spader for Honda); but I've made my peace with it. It is the new reality. When someone gives the direction "A Clooney read, please" I'm not going to get uptight about it. It's saying they want personality in the voice. They want a contemporary, intimate sound. I'd rather have the goal be personality, than the "More conversational, please" which is a hollow, meaningless style. Style comes from Personality, not the other way around. I'm all for the triumph of Personality over Style, and I'm striving towards bringing that out in my work. It's the Holy Grail of VO. I no longer want to be a voice over talent. I want to be a voice over personality.

Noise Floor for the Working Voice Over Talent Home Studio

2010-12-21T11:15:00.000-08:00

Do you know what your Noise Floor is in your voice over studio? Should you care? I'll answer that for you: if you're a professional voice over talent with your own studio you need to sort out your Noise Floor and your room acoustics. With these matters resolved, you can have high quality results with modest equipment, and stellar results with world-class equipment.

So let's explain Noise Floor and what can be done to make it as low as possible in a practical manner. Ever listen to an old recording with the noise of tape hiss? Or a recording with rumble from an air conditioner? That's the "noise" that concerns us in this matter. The Noise "Floor" is the level/volume that all this unwanted hiss, rumble, and buzz adds up when nobody is speaking or breathing. It's just the volume of noise you hear when the microphone is on and recording and nobody makes a sound. Not a peep.

What can we as voice over folks look to for creating this noise that adds up to the Noise Floor? Follow the signal path in your studio:

1.) Ambient sound - AC/Heat, flourescent bulbs, computer fans, speaker monitor hiss, outside traffic
2.) Microphone - Most microphones create their own "Self Noise" a hiss/distortion from the internal circuitry in the microphone. This can range from 20dB down to today's mics like the CAD e100s that is under 4dB. Most quality mics will have self noise below 14dB which shouldn't be noticeable. Remember that the wonderful vintage U87s have a self-noise up at the higher end of the scale (18db) and nobody complains. The newer U87ai has improved self-noise levels and a brighter, sharper tone.
3.) Microphone cables (XLR cables). They should be high quality balanced cables (don't have to go over board, I recommend Mogami and Canare but do not recommend the company that starts with an M and ends in an R and tries to sue anybody that happens to use their very common name). If they're not well shielded and kept away from interference and electricity you could be picking up quite a bit of noise, hiss, and buzz/humm from the cables.
4.) Microphone Preamp - There's no need to turn the gain above 40dB for condenser microphones and above 60dB for dynamics. This gain will cause a lot of noise in the signal. With great new neodynium dynamic microphones like the Sennheiser E Series, the Shure Super 55, RE27, and the Heil PR30 there's no need to have the gain above 53dB. Also, the impedance of the preamp will make things noisier (but also bigger and fuller sounding). Most impedance settings for preamps are around 1-3kOhms. This is fine. If your preamp input impedance goes above 4kOhms just take that into consideration.
5.) The Digital Domain - your USB or Firewire cables can be a source of excess noise, so can your soundcard/audio interface if it's not working well with your computer. USB 2.0 Cable runs can effectively go up to 5 metres for a single run, but it's better to keep it as short as possible: 3 metres or less. You can possibly also reduce "noise" in the digital domain by recording at a 48kHz sample rate instead of 44kHz: but some configurations just work better at 44kHz so it might not be worth it for you.

Now, how do we measure and work with our Noise Floor in the real world of being a voice over talent with his/her own studio? First, let's measure. Power up your microphone to the levels you normally work with and open your audio recording/editing software (ProTools, Audition, Cool Edit, Soundforge, Reaper, Audacity, etc...). Now be absolutely silent and watch the recording levels. They come up as "dBFS" which stands for "Decibels relative to Full Scale". If you really want the full story on this, read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DBFS

Ideally, you will want to have this "quiet time" recording level, which is your Noise Floor to be averaging out to be at least 50dbFS lower than where your voice's typical peaks average out.
So, if your voice is peaking at around -9dBFS, the Noise Floor should be at about -60dbFS maximum. -55dbFS is absolutely pushing the envelope for what is acceptable. Why? Because your clients and their engineers that master the audio will compress and process the audio: if the Noise Floor is any higher it will become distracting as the post-engineers bring the levels closer and closer to 0dbFS. Of course, you could have a higher Noise Floor if you just want to work for non-broadcast not-very-professional clients. The choice is yours. The highest quality recording spaces will have Noise Floors of -70dBFS and lower. Keep in mind too that it is okay to record with low levels (voice peaks around -18dbFS) and have a noise floor down around -70dbFS or -80dbFS and then raise them up about 10dB before sending them to your client. Many audio recording programs and digital hardware operate better when recording at lower levels. You'll also be keeping the gain down on your preamp which can help.

What you can do to keep your Noise Floor down:
1.) Choose a mic with low self-noise, signal-to-noise ratio, and that has a good output level (sensitivity). If you want to use a dynamic microphone, choose one with a neodynium magnet in it, which will require 8-12dB less gain.
2.) Use higher quality balanced mic cables, and if they have to go near power lines have them cross perpendicularly.
3.) Reduce the ambient noise of your recording area. If you need to block out sound remember that density of materials works best, and it must be air-tight.
4.) Reduce the reflective acoustics of your recording space, especially those pesky near-reflections that can come from desks. Your sound will be more focused and you won't need to turn up the gain quite as much.
5.) Use a nice clean microphone preamp and try to keep the gain as low as possible, and avoid input impedances over 4.5kOhms.
6.) Avoid tube microphone preamps. Those costing under $1000 only bring extra noise, and plenty of warmth can come from good transformer-based solid-state preamps if needed. Warmth should come from your voice in the first place.
7.) Make sure your USB or Firewire cables are in good shape and are short-runs if you use them.
8.) Make sure your soundcard/audio interface is working well
9.) Be sure that the electricity in your studio is all properly wired and grounded. Proper power-conditioning can help this concern too.
10.) Mic Placement: have your microphone in the part of your studio that contributes as little as possible to the Noise Floor, and make sure that it is in a sweet spot not too far and not too close to your mouth. Use a sturdy and heavy microphone stand, and a high-quality shockmount.
11.) Use a HPF (High Pass Filter) or Low Cut Filter. These mean the same thing. On your microphone or preamp there is usually a switch that says 80 Hz or HPF or Low Cut. As long as this switch is for a value of 80 Hz or less you will be able to drastically reduce the amount of low end rumble in your recordings, which can reduce the Noise Floor by 6 to 12 dbFS! If the switch is at 100Hz or above, that might be a bit higher than most studios would be comfortable using. If you talk close to the mic and there is much ensuing proximity effect, you may be able to get away with HPF settings of 100Hz and above. 60, 75, and 80Hz are standard settings for most pro audio equipment.

Thanks for reading through this long evaluation of what you can do to improve your voice over studio's Noise Floor. This doesn't cover all the tricks or the science of the matter, but I hope you find it is a useful working guide for the working voice-over talent who just wants to provide the best service possible for their clients without getting a jargon-induced headache. All the best to you!

Having a "Nice Voice" for Voice Over

2010-12-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

People often think that if you've got a "nice voice", then that's all you need to be a voice over person, right? A big, deep voice for a man or a sweet slightly raspy tone for a woman and you're off to the races! Wrong. Ever notice that guy on the plane with a big voice who is completely annoying? Or the woman in line at check-in at the airport who is like nails on a chalkboard? These people actually have nice voices. It's what they do with them that is annoying. They habitually misuse their voices even though they were born with a nice set of pipes. They'd never cut in the voice over world, because they're unplesant to listen to, and these are some of the mistakes they're making.

1.) Talking too loudly. We can hear you! The louder you talk, the harder it is to listen to you. Our ears get fatigued, and your voice is just bouncing off all the walls and getting muddy.

2.) Talking too quickly. Every time they push out the first phrase of a sentence as a rushed monotone, they've lost our interest. "HiIhaveareservationforthisflight" is dreadful. "Hi (smile) I have a reservation (accent on reservation) for this flight (accent on this)" is engaging and interesting. It shows a caring for the person listening to you. It shows a caring for the meaning that is being shared. It can still be said very quickly, but use your whole mind, body, and emotion when you speak: even if it's just to check in at the airport. Voice over talents need to engage this way even when they're reading technical manuals.

3.) Trying to sound important. Okay, Mr. "Big Voice"...Okay Miss "I'm Too Important to Chat". We all know you're a phony. We all can tell you're fronting. We can all sniff out that insincerity. If you want to command respect with your voice, you have to show that it is engaging and thoughtful, not a tool with which you try to dominate a conversation (or a script).

I often refer people to listen and study voicebank.net to see what works and what doesn't for one's own voice over technique. However, maybe it's also just as important to study voices you hear in your daily life. Of your friends, who has the voice you're likely to listen to the most? Who is the best storyteller that you know, and what do they sound like?

Voice Over isn't about having a "nice voice". It's about being listenable.

Realism and Getting Started in Voice Overs

2010-12-03T10:33:00.000-08:00

So you want to start a career in voice overs, or you know a friend or family member that does. My advice is to act like an athlete. No, seriously! When a kid says "I'm going to pitch for the New York Yankees" he doesn't work directly towards that goal. It's simply not attainable. They've got their pitchers lined up on the roster and on the farm team. Similarly, you can't say "I'm going to do movie trailers in LA". There are already only a handful of people (and sadly not enough women) who have earned the right to be trusted with the work from the major studios, and then a few people that are close to being the next generation of voices.

So what does the kid do to become a Yankees pitcher; and what, by analogy, would he be doing if he wanted to be a voice over talent?

First, he/she goes out and gets an nice starter glove and shoes. Something reliable and cheap, and well recommended by others. As a voice over talent, he goes out and buys a nice $100-ish microphone like an AKG Perception, Studio Projects B1, MXL 2003a, or an AT2035. Then he finds a nice field to practice, and the budding voice over talent needs to create a recording space with quality acoustics (google is your friend at this point).

Second, he studies the game and learns what works and doesn't. As a voice over talent, he would go to voicebank.net and listen for hours all the demos of established talent; and watch and listen to voice overs all the time on tv, radio, and the internet.

Third, he would train with a coach both for exercises and for in-game playing technique. The same would go for the voice over talent. No matter how lovely your voice is, it needs to be trained with vocal exercises and acting technique to be competetive on the voice-over playing field.

Fourth, he would find a local team to play for, and then work his way up the leagues. As a voice over talent, he would market himself to local businesses, media professionals, production houses, editors, television and radio, etc. Then he could work toward a higher regional league, and then the major leagues.

Finally, he would be open to trying different positions to help his career. He wants to be a Yankees pitcher, but maybe he'd be a better outfielder. Similarly, as a voice over talent you may think you're A Big Movie Trailer Voice or a Whimsical Impersonator, but what clients are most likely to pay you for is your conversational narration for reality programming. Be willing to try on different roles to find your "money voice". Let the voice find you, don't try to force the voice to come out.

Don't force anything. Pay your dues, work your way up, and focus on doing the best you can do for any job at hand, and don't worry about becoming "a voice over talent". It may all come to you if you're honest about the process and have your head in the right space. If not, you may well end up being the over 90% of union actors and voice over talents that cannot make a living at doing what they would love to do. No one ever said life was fair.

Audio Technica AT2035 and Neumann TLM 102

2010-11-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

The Audio Technica AT2035 and Neumann TLM 102 are new special sub $1000 microphones for voiceover. Remarkably, the AT2035 is a special sub $150 microphone for voiceover. Audio Technica has discontinued its "30 Series" line and replaced it with the "20 Series". The AT2020 was released last year, and has been lauded as a great cheap travel voiceover mic. It sounds good and it's only $99 new. However, the specs on the AT2020 leave a lot to be desired. High self noise (20dB) and low SNR (74dB) and dynamic range (124dB). It does quite well however in terms of handling high Sound Pressure Levels (SPL) at 144dB. The new AT2035 takes this "20 Series" mic line several steps further and adds a -10dB pad and a 80Hz HPF switch. Furthermore, these are the AT2035 stats:
Self Noise: 12dB
Signal to Noise Ratio: 82dB
Sensitivity: -33dB
Dynamic Range: 136dB
SPL: 148dB (without pad)

These stats are almost identical to the new TLM 102. The Neumann has a smoother top end and a more scooped/warmer sound; it also has a larger capsule and a smaller but (not much smaller) body. Who am I kidding? The TLM 102 is microscopic, but the AT2035 is on the small side too, which is nice for staying out of the way of script sight-lines. If the Neumann sound suits your voice and you've got an extra $500 to spend, I'd highly recommend the TLM 102 as the great new voiceover microphone (I prefer its more natural and smooth greatly over the TLM1 03). If you want to spend considerably less and get a great voiceover microphone that has more pronounced mids and sharper highs(but not too sharp - there's a bump at 14kHz, while the sibilance-inducing frequencies are flat) and you're just starting out/looking for a travel or backup microphone/or you're a cheap-skate, go for the AT2035. Both are great voice over microphones.

The AT2035 at the Audio Technica website

The TLM 102 at the Neumann website

Mafer Clamps as Shock Mounts for Voice Over Microphones

2010-10-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

Before I was a voice over artist, I cut my teeth in the production/media biz as a field audio engineer. Either as a sound mixer or as a boom-operator or Audio Assistant, my responsibilities included rigging the microphones. Sometimes it would be a standard sit down interview or a controlled mic booming situation, but often things would require creative mic mounting. Say you need short shotgun microphones mounted in a car dashboard, or hidden around a courtroom, or various "plant mics" around a kitchen drama scene. One tool I would often use is a Mafer Clamp, most preferably made by Matthews Studio Equipment All you do it just seat the clamp firmly atop your mic stand and then clamp it down on your mic in a horizontal position, and tilt your mic diaphragm towards or away from you to taste. This method fits almost all mics except for a few huge tube mics.

I never had a problem using them, nor noticed any bad reflection issues. In fact, they sounded better than in a spider shock-mount. The clamp holding the mic limits resonance in the body of the mic, and the density of the clamp limits external vibration. In the test I did between a Neumann shock mount for the TLM 103 and the Mafer Clamp, the Mafer limited rumble and lowered noise floor just a touch (about -2dbFS ) but there was noticably better, tighter response around 100-500Hz.

If you don't mind having your mic mounted horizontally, this is the way to go. Cheap ($25-$40) results that you can order online from many different vendors, and a slightly heavy but low-profile portable mic mounting solution. If you get a pin and a second mafer, you can mount your mic almost anywhere on the road. One mafer clamps onto furniture or a pole, and the second mafer clamp connected to it by the pin holds the mic. This can also allow vertical and varied-angle mic mounting too.

Discipline, Repetiton, and Insanity

2010-10-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

"Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results." - Rita Mae Brown, Sudden Death (Bantam Books, New York, 1983), p. 68

The above quotation has also been attributed in several forms to Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin (it's all about the Benjamins, apparently), Chinese folk knowledge, and to message board trolls from Toledo at 2AM who think that this is some kind of remarkably clever axiom.

It isn't clever, and it isn't correct.

Success comes from discipline. Discipline comes largely from the applied repetition of beneficial behavior. Of course repeating destructive behavior is crazy, that is a given and not a particularly keen observation.

In voice over, repetition and discipline can be just as important as creativity and imagination. Vocal exercises, body exercises, and facial exercises done as part of a regimen will lead to a disciplined command of one's voice over craft, and hopefully success. Building good technique and habits will lead to efficient muscle memory that can aid with both making the most of a "cold" unrehearsed read and engaging one's full creativity for a prepared read. It can aid with both the ability to improvise in auditions and to maintain consistency over long form voice over narrations. Hard work just makes everything easier.

I strongly recommend those seeking discipline through repetition for voice over to visit Connie Terwilliger's excellent resources on her site there are also lists of other great books on the matter there as well.

So do those tongue twisters every day. Try to touch your chin with your tongue. Massage your face. Go ahead with your yoga or yoga-like breathing each morning.

You are not insane.

A Post-Message Board World

2010-09-23T12:06:00.000-07:00

I'll admit that I've wasted too much of my leisure time during the 2000s on message boards. Wasted too much of my non-leisure time too, certainly. One could even say the timeline overlapping the Bush Administration was The Golden Age of the Message Board, and not just because of my posting! Now, this age is over - done like Joaquin Phoenix's rap career (and did it ever start?). Welcome to The Post-Message Board World.

I enjoyed Voice Over boards, sure: but also Hockey, News, Architecture, Philosophy boards...even David Foster Wallace boards (they were terrific!). Still, they all had similar qualities. Visiting a message board was like going to a mall - it didn't matter what city or country you were in, the food court and the shoe stores all feel the same. In the Message Board World, one was likely to encounter:

1.) Discussion dominated by a clique of 20 hardcore everyday posters.
2.) A "conventional wisdom" built by the ceaseless chatter of this clique, and driven by a creepy devotion to the handful of Alpha Dogs on the board.
3.) Repetition of the same ideas and statements ad nauseam.
4.) Repetition of the same newbie questions and newbie driven controversies.
5.) Lack of constructive or preventive forum moderation or conversely rash over-moderation.
6.) The clique mentality leading to meet-ups and other events.

The new Post-Message Board World of Twitter, Facebook, et al (and how they have revitalized blogging) is so much more filled with possibilities. The new model is continually designed to avoid the Message Board model, which was kind of 19th Century Society meets late 20th century technology. The Post-Message Board World is 21st Century technology for 21st century thought and speech.

Our social media experiences are no longer dominated by trolls, newbies, alpha dogs, or cliques. It is more of an accurate, flexible, and creative construct of our personalities. Our likes and re-tweets can say a lot about us if we let them. We also don't have to suffer fools as much as we used to. There are many more morons on the prowl in the Post-Message Board World - but they are part of ignorable static. That was hardly the case in the message board past. Do we need meet-ups when the new model provides amazing access and info regarding real events? We are our own moderators, and with great freedom comes great responsibility. We are on our own now. It's up to us to set our profiles and security settings wisely. It's up to us to follow the links and suggestions and make our online lives as rich as possible.

Go forth and live it, folks.

Who Are You?

2010-09-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, Mr. Voice Over Guy, who are you? Are you a Jack of All Trades? Really? Then how come all of the top VO talents aren't. They're specialists, or should I say they have cultivated a "money read" (or hopefully a handful of them) which is (are) very true to their personality. This read should thrive in the successful genres for that talent. Sure, they are still very talented voice actors capable of great range despite the specialization...but that's not what they book for work, because that's not who they are. In many cases, the "money read" will in fact say quite a lot about who a VO is in real life. That's a good thing, I should think - fakery and artifice shouldn't be unduly rewarded as a craft.

If you're a voice over talent, try this exercise (don't worry, you won't pull anything out of whack by doing it): go to Voicebank.net and pick ten agencies at random. Then listen to all the talents of your gender and pick five from each agency that sound the most like you.

Then study them inside and out, all the while asking the question "Who Are You?" More importantly, ask yourself "How can I be uniquely myself with something special and differentiating to offer and compete with these fifty people to be the best voice over artist I can be?"

Best Foot (Feet?) Forward

2010-09-02T20:07:00.000-07:00

Many in the VO circles rightfully say that not putting one's best foot forward in terms of demos (the wares that the voice over talent sells) can come back to haunt one...

...or can it? I was contacted a few weeks ago from a producer I worked with ages ago. He wrote that the client liked an attached demo I had done and wondered if I could do a certain read on it for them.

My reaction upon hearing it was at first embarrassment, and then to ask "why would they want me to do that, I stunk out the joint on it???" I re-recorded the type of read they really wanted by my current standards (that still has much room for improvement - it's a never-ending journey)and sent it to them, and they loved it and we went ahead with the project. Everybody's happy at the end of the day, but being confronted with a document of what I sounded like before developing as much as I have as a voice over "guy" really struck me.

There is always room to grow, no matter how satisfied or dissatisfied with how you are with your ability. I can hear little things in great reads by my favorite voice over artists that I wish they had done differently, or perhaps I notice missed opportunities in the delivery (of course this can all be a matter of the director's choice for the session). At the same time, if you try to nail every word, every phrase perfectly the life falls right out of the delivery. Which is better - a perfectly in sync electronic drum track or Ginger Baker or Keith Moon drumming away slipping in and out of perfect timing and phrasing? Ringo Starr is a terrible drummer technically, but the phrasing and attitude is often perfect for the song.

You can be born with a mediocre voice, but if you engage your phrasing, attitude, and imagination to grow as much as you can within who you are and the character you are asked to bring forth the possibilities will really start to open.

Focurite ISA One Preamp for Voice Over

2010-08-29T13:57:00.000-07:00

The Focusrite ISA One microphone preamp has 80db of nice clean gain. It also has four impedance settings (600, 1.4k, 2.4k, 6.8k ohms) so it can sound big and warm like say an old Neve or Trident or in your face like a Great River preamp. In the ISA default mode (1.4k ohms) it's comparable to a John Hardy in sound. I'm not going to go on about the additional feature on this preamp, check it out at the official website: Check it out here. Let's just say you can plug in your guitar in the DI or amp input and sing at the same time and monitor from your DAW on the ISA's excellent headphone monitor. I think I need to get a second one of these and run my keyboards through it too, since it sounds so good. Oh, and why does it sound so good? Well, the ISA One may be made with pride in the People's Republic of China (and it sound far, far better than the Focusrite Platinum series preamps!) but it has a Swedish Lundhal LL1538 transformer in it. The high quality transformer is what helps give it subtle warmth flattering for the spoken word (by yours truly) without the the tube preamp fuzziness(ick).It's a "focused" sound if you will - focused right.

To Sit or Not to Sit When Performing Voice Overs?

2010-07-23T12:54:00.000-07:00

I read today some snobbish bluster on a voice over message board about how one must stand when doing voice over work because it is, after all, acting. Typical stuff from this guy anyway. For some VO people, sadly their world is black and white - there's a right way and a wrong way to do things. Actually, there is only one way to do things. The way the director wants it, and it changes from job to job.

So we can't sit while doing voice over? Really? I guess all those scenes Brando did sitting in The Godfather must have stunk out the joint. I guess any film that has scenes with people sitting at tables or on buses or in cars are really not that emotionally engaging. After all, these actors are sitting, so they can't possibly convey real emotions.

Furthermore, if you tell me some upsetting news in real life, wait until I'm standing up, because I can't possibly express my sadness if I'm sitting down at the time.

I can bellow, shriek, and wail just as loudly and convincingly on a stool in a booth as I can standing at the end of a stage. I can whimper and sob just as well at a desk as I can fully vertical. I can talk with my hands while sitting down. Heck, I can even chew gum and walk at the same time. I can use my voice as an adaptable tool, and I don't need to be in any preferred position to use my voice to its fullest effect. If the director wants me to stand on my head in a meatlocker while I work, then that's fine by me. Bring on the stool, the chair, and the meatlocker.

Original Music and Sound Design for Mutlimedia in Atlanta

2010-07-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased to be now offering full original music and sound design services from my Atlanta studio. This year I've scored and recorded original music for multimedia productions for clients such as PricewaterhouseCoopers and Workscape, and in some cases I've been able to be a triple threat: voice over, music, and sound design/audio sweetening and editing for the same project. Basically one-stop shopping for your multimedia audio needs. For samples of my work, see http://lanceblair.net/atlanta_original_music.html

Atlanta ISDN Voice Over Sessions with Lance Blair

2010-03-10T13:09:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to say that I now can be booked for ISDN voice over sessions. I've spoken with two professional Atlanta recording studios that specialize in post audio and voice overs and they have offered very reasonable rates (with a half-hour minimum) and next-day and same-day booking availability. They're both no more than fifteen minutes from my home studio (where I still offer phone patch voice over service) even with rush hour traffic. If you need me for an ISDN vo session, just give me a ring and I'll set you up with all the info you need.

All New Voice Over Demos for 2010

2010-03-07T12:52:00.000-08:00

They're heeeeeeeeeere!
All new Voice Over Demos for 2010 at lanceblair.net

The biggest change I made in my process this time around was not doing what I thought I ought to do, but doing what I want to do. Being in my zone, giving my "money voice" and the variations of that with as much creativity and flow as possible. Cooler music, cooler production, and just a more lively engaging dynamic sense of who I am and what I can bring to the table for clients. I had a lot of input from colleagues I respect and a lot of time listening to the work of talents all over the world to put in perspective what works well, what works less well, what kinda stinks...and what is my place in the World of Voice Over.

I've found the whole process to be refreshing and has stripped away some of the artifice in my technique and replaced it with my real character and flow that I can bring to either a Military Industrial DVD or a Cartoon. Personality is everything in voice over - the human voice is rich and complex...or should I say only as rich and complex as the personality of the speaker. These demos are showing more of my personality, and I'm pleased with the results...and I hope you enjoy them as well.

Radio Guy Voices

2010-02-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

What are some of the tell-tale signs that a voice over guy comes from a radio background? Listen here by clicking on the title! I'm 100% not from a Radio Guy background (not that there's anything wrong with that...) but I can fake it if you need it!

Working with Smaller Budgets for Voice Over

2009-12-15T08:22:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-10T08:44:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-20T11:48:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-04T10:53:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-03T12:51:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-19T13:05:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-29T06:33:00.000-07:00

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/

The Levelator for Maximizing Files on the go.

2009-09-11T12:46:00.000-07:00

Erik Sheppard brought up a link to Kevin Delaney's Blog "The Voiceover Ninja" (http://voiceoverninja.blogspot.com/2009/08/levelator-free-program-for-making-your.html) where he gives a good write up of the Levelator audio processor. It's a stand alone program (not a plugin) which takes .wavs or .aiffs and expands/compresses/limits them in a way that is tailored for voice overs. Rather neat tool that works well - it's smooth and doesn't crush the signal to be as loud as possible, just good and full. Here's a sample of me on the Studio Projects CS5 through the Speck 5.0 preamp first being processed by Adobe Audition 3 EQ, Compander, and Hard Limiting...followed by the same clip just thrown into the Levelator.

http://www.lanceblair.net/sharing/AA3_vs_Levelator.mp3

Have a great weekend everyone!

What's Shakin' in September for Voice Overs?

2009-09-03T11:52:00.001-07:00

It's nice to see that the video game I did for Cartoon Network is going well and that they're still adding new characters every week. Battle your friends online at http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/games/cc/tko

I just started what looks to be a long-term relationship with a scientific organization for their e-learning programming to be used by top engineers in their industry globally. We got the first module out the door last week and everything went great. I really enjoy narrating long-format educational voice overs, especially for substantial technical material such as this.

Other than that, I've just ordered a Studio Projects CS5 microphone which sounds nice and warm (without tubes) and has four patterns, four high cut and four low cut settings, and variable pad settings as well. Here's a test of the cardioid only version of the mic in German up against the TLM 103 and the M930: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTOjx_Wk94A
I'm keeping my TLM 103 certainly, but I like the contrasting sound for narration voice over applications (more 200Hz and 1kHz). I've also heard this mic in a singing test, and it held up with the heavy hitters (I liked it better than some), and one manufacturer of top boutique preamps that I like had high praise for it. I'll post samples when it arrives next week.

Lance Blair Ringmaster Voice Over for Cartoon Network's "TKO" Videogame

2009-08-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

Checkout Cartoon Network's new TKO videogame here:
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/games/cc/tko/
That's my voice over as your Titanic Kungfubot Offensive videogame ringmaster.
It was a blast working on this, and I'd like to thank Chris Nicholson and all at Cartoon Network New Media...and also the guys at Upstairs Studio in Atlanta who were awesome to work with. The signal chain was U87 to Neve 1073...that Neve sound really suits my voice, especially for such an agressive read.

There's also a cool promo for the game first up on the Cartoon Network homepage.
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/

The more I think about it, the more it's admirable for them to build a flash online multiplayer fighting game with scripted voiceover. Not an easy task at all. Each week they'll release a new Cartoon Network character you can play against the nasty Kungfubots. Big Chill vs. Swampfire!!! Whooo Hoooo!!!

New E-Learning Demo at lanceblair.net

2009-08-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

My new E-Learning demo is complete and ready for downloading at lanceblair.net.
http://lanceblair.net/elearning.mp3

It contains work I've done for Nortel France, The City of Kansas City, Genzyme, Covance, and online2learn.net. Thanks to Blue Wave Marketing, MARS Productions, and Point Productions among others for the opportunity to work on these great educational programs.

Is e-learning boring? No. Reading "New Subway Personal Pizzas for a meal or a snack" is potentially more boring. It's up to the voice over talent to make it come alive. That's why we get paid the big bucks. You are going to pay us big bucks, right? Otherwise, your message is dead in the water. The point is, whether its an international commercial or an e-learning program, I like to find what's interesting in every script.

USB 2.0 Interfaces for Voice Over. See ya, Firewire!

2009-07-29T09:12:00.001-07:00

Just picked up a new M-Audio Fast Track Ultra for my home voice over studio here in Atlanta, and I’m loving it. It’s working great with Windows Vista 64. However, to avoid some nasty computer headaches (don’t ask) you must find the USB port that plays nicely with this set up, and avoid using the “High Performance” setting. The perfomance is high enough. The onboard THAT IC preamps sounds far better than most Mackie or Yamaha boards and can actually make dynamic mics sound good. I would have no reservations using the internal preamps for auditions or jobs on the road - and I can’t say that about most other interfaces in this price range (or higher). I can still go line-in and use my Speck 5.0 mic preamp for most of my voice over work. The Fast Track Ultra uses AKM Converters (AK5386 for Analog to Digital and AK4384 for Digital to Analog). The AD converter specs are within 3db for THD and Dynamic Range of the AKM AK4620B converters that RME, Echo Audio, and Mackie Onyx interfaces now use. The conversion sounds great to me, because my Echo Audiofire’s conversion always sounded like it had reduced dynamic range because the drivers never worked properly with Vista or XP and Adobe Auditon 3 (it did work okay with Vista and Reaper, though, but not great). Echo’s support for Vista is pretty poor…their “fix” for Vista 64 is not recognized by Vista. So I jumped from the sinking firewire ship (Windows and Apple seem to be sending signals that they’re not committed to firewire) to the M-Audio USB 2.0 ship. It’s plenty fast for any kind of voice over production. Firewire isn’t a magic bullet, especially if the drivers don’t work with your computer. I’ve had repeated issues with Echo Audio and Presonus firewire drivers, and I’m glad that I’m back to the more well-rounded sound that I had before I went firewire three years ago. I also have an XP computer with a TI chipset and firewire never worked right with that either. It would drive me nuts when I’d hear samples of people plugged straight into their USB interface that sounded more full and open than my clips with high end voiceover microphones, preamps, and acoustic room treatment. I suppose if I had a pricey Metric Halo firewire interface I’d be happy, but that’s not in the cards; and why should it be? Now I’m back to what works well for me. Hello USB 2.0. See ya, firewire.

Here's a clip of me on a tlm103>speck 5.0>Fast Track Ultra. Vista 64, AA3, with a virus scan operating, several docs open, and a youtube video running. Recording two tracks simultaneously with three different plugins engaged on each track and three plug ins engaged on the master track.
http://www.lanceblair.net/files/Mitosis.mp3

GIK Bass Traps and Acoustic Panels for Voice Over Recording

2009-06-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

I just put in two 2x4 triangular corner bass traps by GIK Acoustics (based in Atlanta) in my voice over recording space. They're not cheap (but they are fairly priced), but let's put it this way - they cost $250 and the sound improvement is far far more than a $250 improvement in my sound.

Consider this also - without fixing the bumps and dips in the low end response of my room, I could be throwing money away when I upgrade from my TLM 103 to say a U87 because the improvement would be masked by the effects of the room.

If you have a $250 microphone, don't buy a $500 mic next - buy a $250 set of bass traps.

Also, I had my room treated with Auralex foam which of course did nothing to rein in the low end. I replaced them with three acoustic panels from GIK which really improved the sound all across the frequency range from 80Hz to 20kHz. The Acoustic panels cost less than the giant box of Auralex that I needed to place everywhere just to get the room reasonably tamed. Three 2x4 panels were all it took to make my voice over recording space sound terrific. My wife, who can't tell the difference in sound between one mic or another immediately though the room sounded great.

This also positively affects my performance because dynamic rises and falls in my voice aren't masked by surges of boominess and pings. I can be me, and let my talking do the talking without the acoustics getting in the way.

Lance Blair's New Atlanta Voice Over Studio Upgrades

2009-06-19T15:42:00.000-07:00

I've made some nice upgrades to my voice over control room and recording area. In the control room I'm now using a much faster and more powerful Quad Processor computer which is making everything sound better, especially in terms of mixing, mastering, and using plugins. I've also purchased and installed custom made bass traps and acoustic panels from Atlanta's own GIK Acoustics in the control room and voice over recording area which makes for very smooth sounding recordings across the full range of frequencies. The results are excellent, and I'll have to re-record my demos to reflect the better service I can now offer. I'm looking forward to it!

Great Free VST Plugins for Voice Over Artists

2009-06-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

So we're the voice over artists and not the engineers. We're supposed to provide our clients with clean unprocessed files. No compression, no EQ, and please...no transformers or tubes, we're clinical here.

This can all be very true for broadcast voice over work. But what if you have a client that isn't audio savvy and they're okay with you processing things slightly for that e-learning program? What if a client wants a produced audition or demo; or what if you're engineering clips for your own demo if you're so inclined and well versed in those skills?

If this is the case, don't assume that the plugins bundled with your recording software are all that great, unless you have rather pricey software. For example, many of the Izotope Ozone plugins that come with Adobe Audition are next to useless to me. The multiband compressor does many versions of crunchy and strident, and that's about it. The hard limiter is very inflexible and again crunches the sound. The reverb is a complete resources hog, even with plenty of memory, and many of the effects are not subtle enough for voice over, even if you want an obvious sounding effect, they tend towards the cartoonish. I've had the same results with Izotope plugins that I've demoed independent of Adobe Audition as well.

So where does the voice over artist that dabbles in self-engineering turn, especially for low to no cost (as in free)? The answer is kvraudio.com. There you'll find links to hundreds of compressors, EQs, reverbs, and general effects. I've tried dozens of them, and here are the free ones that work for voice over in that they are not overbearing to either the sound or your software.

Seek these plugins at kvraudio.com, and thou shalst findeth a new kingdom of sound for your voice overs:

Buzzroom's GranComp3Mono - a multiband compressor that is smooth and warm and very programmable and user friendly.
Buzzroom's Limiter - with a smooth and a hard setting, this limiter won't crush your sound like many limiters will.
Slim Slow Slider's Multiband Compressor - again, very programmable like the GranComp, this compressor can dial in a range of character to your sound. It's not as smooth, but it's very musical - it will make it sound like you've changed your preamp!

Lance Blair Atlanta Live Announcer and VOG

2009-05-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

Atlanta voice over artist Lance Blair is experienced as the Live
Announcer/VOG and on-camera talent for the annual meetings and
award presentations of Fidelity Investments and Greenway Medical
among other clients. For samples of Lance's Live Announcer work listen to his new Live Announcer Demo at lanceblair.net Or Click Here

New Clients for New Voice Over Projects

2009-05-05T18:56:00.000-07:00

In the second half of April I provided the voice for nine videos for a major national retailer and five videos for an international capital management company. The producer for the US retailer's office is in my neighborhood; for the international company we worked via emails and phone calls to France, Germany, and Austria. With both clients I appreciated that they trusted me to work without a phone patch or ISDN session. I sent them two minute reads for their approval and then maintained that tone throughout the respective projects while working with the direction for the scripts that we discussed ahead of time.

There were challenges with the international piece in that I was reading a script for the English translation of a German video that didn't adhere to the timing of the original German script in a few places, so we had to make some last minute retakes of an amended script while I was on holiday. Fortunately, I always travel with my trusty TLM 103, Sennheiser e935, Speck 5.0, and Echo Audio 2: they all fit in a briefcase with my laptop.

Whether you're down the street or in another continent, or whether I'm at my studio or on the road: we can work together to get the voice over you want for your project.
Hey, that sounds like pretty decent copy, no?

New Look for Lance Blair Atlanta Voice Over Talent Website (lanceblair.net)

2009-03-20T11:49:00.001-07:00

Necessity is the Mother of Invention (and cliches), and a fit of needing to spruce things up online has brought me to redesign my Atlanta Voiceovers webpage at lanceblair.net . You'll find the same text content but more color and hopefully a touch more of my personality at least in so far as I incorporated my fave color: orange. The old design, while very corporate looking (and I book a lot of corporate work) was overtly corporate: clean, but a touch boring...perhaps I should say "sterile".

Too many of the male VO sites are black, blue, and red; and I've been stuck in that branding rut for a while as well. The new Lance Blair VOs are going to more fun and 3-D, less flat and announcery. There are enough guys out there with voices that are 99% the same in the "Black Blue and Red" voice over world. Good luck to them.

As of now, the old "boring" narration and commercial demos are not out for display. They will be back very shortly with dynamic, lively, and engaging material. Most of the clips are edited and ready to go, just a few more tweaks are required. This is 2009, so I'll be bringing the 2009!

Recording Levels for Voice Over: 0 db = -18 dbFS

2009-02-19T11:19:00.000-08:00

I read about more and more people trying to record at levels as close to 0 dbFS as possible. They are wrong.

O db on a analog preamp is (or should be) calibrated to -18dbFS in your digital domain. On professional video cameras, analog tone is calibrated to -20 dbFS.

Recording with consistent peaks from -24dbFS to -18dbFS is absolutely fine, and consistent peaks above -15 or -12 are just pushing the converter harder than you need to.

What needs to be addressed is the noise in a signal path, not the levels.

Once the noise is fixed, record at -18dbFS and then you can bring them up to -3dbFS or what have you in post...but that bringing up of the levels ought to be the client's/post production job. NOT the talents.

Talents shouldn't be serving up files at -3dbFS. They should be serving up clean files at -18dbFS to -9dbFS...but everybody has fallen into the trap of the loudness wars where everything needs to be near 0. If you give clients files that are already at -3dbFS there's already less they can do with compression and limiting.

Don't record it hot, but fix your noise floor so that it can be made hot in post!

Real Men of Genius: Mr. Incomprehensible Voice Over Script Writer Guy

2009-01-22T16:45:00.000-08:00

I was reading some venting and general gnashing of teeth and fretting over difficult tongue-twisting copy written by those who don't necessarily take into consideration how a sentence will sound once spoken aloud. Kinda like the sentence you just read, actually.

Inspired by such drama, I re-recorded today a piece I wrote last year but has stuck with me (and becomes more certifiably pertinent to my experience each day). It is my salute to you, "Mr. Incomprehensible Voice Over Script Writer Guy". The backing track is performed by the wonderful and talented Mr. Victor Harris.
RMOG2009.mp3

Lance Blair Voice over for "Low End of the Dial" trailer

2009-01-12T12:43:00.001-08:00

Hope everyone is enjoying 2009 so far...

My filmaking colleagues in Boston Brian Corbett and John Coyne have after a decade finished their in depth documentary looking at the state of College Radio. It's a great piece of work and I'm proud to have been able to pitch in with my voice over for the film's teaser/trailer.

See the trailer at the film's official website here.

The Latest From the Voice Over Front

2008-12-04T11:37:00.000-08:00

So what's new on the Voice Over Front?

I did a spot last week with the wonderful and talented Mary McKitrick which we recorded together via phone patch. I'm in Georgia, she's in Massachusetts, and the spot was for Virginia. What a country! Check out the spot here...Watch it!

I'm working on a large e-learning project for The American Cancer Society on Smoking Cessation. They continue to be a wonderful organization for which to work, and this new initiative for workplace support groups for quitting smoking hopefully will help many people finally break the habit. (I've been there, I know...).

Thanks to the many voiceover colleagues that gave me a heads-up about the new internet voiceover site Bodalgo.com. It's based in Germany, but they have a steady demand for American and English voice overs for global corporate and industrial presentations. I have many international and US global market-driven clients who have used my voice for American, English, and Trans-Atlantic voice overs so I look forward to earning new clients with this great new website with its excellent service.

My TLM 103 and Speck 5.0 and ART MPA Gold are still making me a very happy voice over talent.

A big thank you to Bob Souer for making a connection for me that is looking to turn out quite fruitful, but I'll write more about that when everything is finalized.

Enjoying Narration for E-Learning Voiceover

2008-09-18T09:27:00.000-07:00

I always wanted to be a teacher, largely because I was fortunate to have great teachers in the public and private schools that I attended as a kid: I knew from experience these teachers had a vital impact. Working with brilliant tutors at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland where I earned my Master's with Honours (2-1) in English Language and Literature reinforced my love of learning and of teaching. A few years before launching my career as a voiceover talent I interviewed at Simmons College in Boston and was considering following a career in teaching.

So I'm not a licensed teacher...but when I record e-learning voiceovers, that is my character. I assume the role of teacher, mentor, colleague, and friend. Sometimes I imagine that I am talking to a lecture hall, although it may seem against the rule of "speaking to one person" in voiceover. Mostly, I am speaking to a colleague who wishes to know more. I imagine my chair pulled up next to theirs, with me leaning over pointing to their laptop screens and papers...drawing out examples on my own notepad as I explain a point in further detail. For e-learning voice overs, the narrator is far more than an announcer. He or she is a mentor and a colleague: a teacher.

When I first recorded e-learning voiceovers years back part of me thought "Ugh. 10,000 words of technobabble." That impression was wrong. As an effective e-learning voice over talent, one ought to learn the content. You can't just become familiar with it, and you can't just read it cold using your bag of voiceover tricks; that would result in a painful e-learning voiceover. I've heard many strong narrators in e-learning voiceover sound perfectly bored and lifeless even though their voice is clear and strong. In e-learning voiceovers, You have to think like a teacher: "This is what I've learned, and this what I'm sharing with you."

For e-learning voice-overs, I'm given the responsibility to connect with the listener through content that really matters: content that trains future engineers or reinforces the knowledge and skills of engineers and other professionals, and content that improves the exchange of ideas and knowledge. When so much in the media is merely distraction and diversion, e-learning voice overs are a welcome opportunity to be a part of contemporary teaching.

Tweaking Your Laptop for Audio Recording

2008-09-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

I have a laptop for recording voice-overs on the road, even when on vacation. A voice talent's work is never done (cue the superhero music). Today's laptops pretty much can get the job done in a stellar fashion right out of the box, but then there are some issues with Vista...but it seems that recently A/D soundcard manufacturers are making drivers that work better with Vista. Everyone's computer will have its own hang-ups and glitches, and there are a many different tweaks one can make to improve audio recording performance, and many of them are well documented. Here are some of the more unusual ones I've stumbled across that actually can make a difference if you're at your wits' end about tweaking your laptop for optimized audio recording:

1.) Put your Temp files and Session files on different drives. Use an external drive for your Temp files. Audition recommends this, and it makes a load of sense: why make the computer work on two levels with the same drive simultaneously? I've done this tweak with an old laptop, and it made the 4200 rpm drives sound like 7200 rpm drives.

2.) Disable your CD/DVD drive temporarily. This will really get a computer that limps along back up to speed.

3.) Knock out your Startup Items via (run > msconfig > startup ...then de-select the junk). You don't need Quick Time auto-start or the Printer Updater or Advanced Monitor Configuration or various software updaters. Chuck 'em out!

4.) Use windows classic display scheme, and knock out all of the display effects, and set your color quality to lower settings. In general, do what you can to have your display and video working at the lowest level possible.

It's tough being chef, cook, and bottle-washer...good luck!

Political Voiceovers

2008-09-05T15:29:00.000-07:00

Some voice over colleagues are asking themselves about the ethical ramifications of doing voiceovers for political spots with which they don't agree. Well, I don't think I would have done a Khan for a Greater Mongolia or Cromwell - Reform We Can Trust spot back in the day, but in general I'm one of those guys who thinks whomever you vote for the government gets in. I might as well do the gig because somebody else is going to do it, and do it well enough to make the cause look good.

Or are they?

I was surprised at how bland I thought the voiceovers were at the Republican Convention. In general they were fine, but at times the narrator completely lost focus. They weren't being casual, or conversational...they slipped completely out of the moment and disengaged: as if to say "And then McCain also did x and y, yadda yadda yadda." It can happen to the best of talents - but repeatedly in the same session? For such a big gig? My suspicion is that the blame needs to be laid more at the feet of the directors and not the talents. Especially since the narrator of the Cindy McCain tribute wasn't checked when he read the word liaison as "lay-ee-zhan".

Could I have done better? Yeah. Bring it on. I also know many, many other talents that would have knocked these relatively brief narrations out of the park and kept engaged throughout.

I'll leave you with a political voiceover.

political.mp3

What are conversational voiceovers?

2008-09-04T13:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, I haven't been posting much lately...there's this thing called summer...it cuts into my Online Life.

Anyhow, today I had a great back n' forth on a voiceover messageboard where we all posted "conversational" takes of a real commercial. There were many substantially different successful versions of what a "conversational" read was: just some food for thought.

My contribution was a parody of a conversational vo session...but there's a good conversational read snuck in there as well.

check%20md.mp3

Voiceover Scripts Made Easy

2008-04-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

Hi. I didn't write what you're reading right now.
It's all a transcription of me talking into my
microphone in my recording booth.  I want to make
some points about writing scripts for voiceovers.
You'll notice, first of all, that  even though I'm
speaking very quickly for just one minute there
really aren't that many words. This goes to show
that there's only so much information a person can
say in a minute, never mind understand. The sentences
are very short, allowing for natural breathing.
Also, the verbs are largely active.

I want to drive the point home that while some say
that voiceovers are just "voice talking" or reading,
that it's somehow simple, that view is dead wrong.
It's trying to take a script, breathe life into it,
be a character even if it's the spokesman of a product,
and make a connection with just one person. That's a
difficult thing to do.

I'll leave you with this thought raised by my Professor
of English, Stephen Boyd, from the University of
St. Andrews from years back. He asked us why George Orwell
was the best selling author on the Penguin Classics
roster. Lots of people brought up his politics,
but I got the answer right. I said it's because
he's the easiest to read.

Studio Cables Matter (Now 100% Mogami)

2008-01-03T18:29:00.000-08:00

I was using ProCo Quad XLR cables with gold Neutrik connectors from my mic to my preamp (and then a short TRS 1/4" to the interface). They are very good cables, but they were a bit old and had been used (but not harshly) before I put them in my studio.

Out of curiosity, I subbed them out with an old used Audio Technica cable which are made in the Mogami factory to Mogami specs. It sounded better: as if I had a noticeable preamp upgrade. Sure enough, on the analyzer there was more low and high end as I was hearing.

So I put two and two together and purchased all new Mogami cable with gold Neutriks for my studio. I'm very happy with the results. I've dropped my noise floor by about 3db and it just plain sounds better!

Meaning and Technique

2007-12-09T19:43:00.000-08:00

I spent part of this afternoon with my family at the Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, GA. It's a children's bookstore which comes as close to fitting the description of a 'magical place' as much as a contemporary establishment of commerce can. It is an island unto itself. They have a small but well selected big-person-book section (I wouldn't call it 'Adult Fiction' since that sounds naughty) which could keep the avid reader nicely well-read for some time. I picked up Colin McGinn's Shakespeare's Philosophy: Discovering the Meaning Behind the Plays because frankly, it's so well written that it's an easy read. It has that Orwellian quality: you will breeze through it and actually learn more than you would from erudite stodge. In his examination of how The Tempest is occupied with the magical influences of language and silence, he brings up the important point which I've seen written many times yet always rings true: the meaning behind the sounds/words we speak are more important than their technical quality.

In voiceover, or any type of performance, being preoccupied with how one appears to others may be the worst thing one can do. Prepare and train physically and mentally so that you avoid bad technique, but after that preoccupations should be firmly affixed to the meaning, even if that meaning is "Come to our store this Labor Day and buy our stuff".

Lance Blair Voiceovers for The American Cancer Society

2007-11-09T16:22:00.001-08:00

I've started a new working relationship providing voiceovers for The American Cancer Society. I write "working relationship" but I actually mean to write "a labor of love". Today I went (taking MARTA, of course) to the ACS's new headquarters in the massive former INFORUM complex in downtown Atlanta across from Centennial Olympic park. They have a brand new multi-camera studio and control room with a link to Crawford for satellite feeds.

The first session was hosting a podcast interview with ACS Global VP Dan Smith, and the second session was a witty, high-energy, Dave Letterman-esque "Top Ten List of Reasons to Quit Smoking" for the upcoming Great American Smokeout. So put away those Winston Lights!

Recent E-Learning Voiceovers

2007-10-26T21:30:00.001-07:00

I've just completed the last of three e-learning voiceovers for online2learn.com from Point Productions. In the past month we've done three projects together with a combined 85 pages of script. One project was a highly technical piece on Fiber Optics, the second was a fun virtual game show about HR policies inspired by the classic To Tell the Truth, and the third was for encouraging the development of Corporate Performance Management Goals.

The Fiber Optics piece was the longest, which made it the most challenging in so far as making sure that I maintained consistent tone and energy throughout while still keeping it interesting. Dr. Sally Ride was the other voice in this program, offering expert opinion at the head of each module. While I didn't record with her (all my parts were done in my home studio) it was an honor to be giving the complementary voiceover.

To Tell the Truth was enjoyable, because I had to give it an engaging game-show voice that wasn't over-the-top as well as the hushed, monotone "golf announcer" voice when the supposed identities of the contestants were being introduced.

The Performance Management Goals may have seemed like a straightforward corporate piece, but bringing subtle characteristics to a voice can be one of the hardest tasks. I was given very good direction from Michael Henry of Point Productions to be professional and enthusiastic: to imagine that I am a co-worker mentoring others. I really envisioned while I was recording that I was in a small conference room going over policies with three colleagues, at times pointing to imaginary charts and powerpoint slides for references.

While I've done numerous longer narration voiceovers, this is the most I've done in one month (especially for the same client). Today on one of the voiceover talent message boards, a European talent I respect asked if he should accept a lower than normal per-word rate for a 7,000 word voiceover (he had never done a piece that long before). I'm normally very much against talent low-balling themselves, but the experience of completing these longer script voiceover marathons are very rewarding. It definitely makes you a better talent, and if you complete the task with open and efficient communication with your clients it makes you a better professional as well. posted by Lance Blair @ 7:20 PM 0 Comments

Welcome

2007-09-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the blog of Atlanta voiceover talent Lance Blair. Oodles of content are in the pipeline, so be sure to check back often.