Susannah's Voice - Blog

The Ultimate Portable Voice Booth?

10/10/2016

For years I’ve been researching ways to take voice over on the road so that when I travel I can accommodate clients who might need a rush job, an audition, a pickup. Voice artists tell stories of turning their hotel rooms into sound booths with bedding strewn over upturned couches and their bodies, microphones and scripts crunched up beneath.

Then there are the “Porta-Booths” – I’ve tried a couple. No offence to their inventors, but I haven’t found them that easy to work with. When your head is stuck in a small box, how practical/comfortable is it to also read your copy?

That’s why I’m such a fan of my latest investment – the beautifully designed Kaotica Eyeball – a voice booth for your mic! I ordered mine online https://www.kaoticaeyeball.com from the States and it arrived here in New Zealand just two days later.

It comes with its own detachable pop filter and accommodates most mics. I’ve recorded tests with it and I’m impressed. Sure, if there’s a helicopter flying over it’s not going to give you perfect sound isolation, but it definitely removes room echo and boomy-ness. Plus, there’s just something so adorable about it. You wanna pet it, display it proudly on your blog, offer it a dish of milk…

Red Flags and Sean Connery

10/10/2016

You know how some voice jobs just flow from start to finish? You connect with the director, you’re on the same wavelength, the reads get better and better – love soup? This wasn’t one of them.

I was asked to voice a bank commercial. I sent through a custom demo and it was approved by most of the team. (This was one of those setups with a committee of decision makers.)

Someone in the client team wasn’t convinced I was “the one” and requested a directed audition. The colleague hiring me told me there had been 100+ emails back and forth already about the project. This might have been a red flag, but I shrugged it off and agreed to the Skype audition.

The person directing the session was Simon. We got on Skype and Simon was giggly and effusive. “Look, I’m not a voice actor…” he began, then proceeded to give me a line reading. It wasn’t good. Another red flag moment.

Simon told me the client wanted a storytelling tone (the script wasn’t a story by any stretch of the imagination.) He also told me the client wanted it conversational. We gave it a go. Simon wasn’t happy. Next, he became obsessed with the idea of inflection. He wanted more of it. Inflect up on one line, down on the next, for variety. I politely suggested it might be best to let the inflection follow the meaning of the sentences, but Simon needed his inflections the way he needed them, so I went with it.

Then Simon’s boss joined the conversation. He wanted natural, conversational – inflection flew out the window. I could do that. But he also wanted me to sound like Sean Connery. (Red flag #3.) Ten takes later the session ended with Simon still unhappy on the inflection front and his boss no doubt deeply disappointed I wasn’t Sean Connery. Later that day I heard they’d decided to go with a male voice instead – someone with a “sharp, clear voice” like Sean Connery…

An acting teacher of mine used to say, “Rejection is protection.”

Getting In the Vocal Zone...

10/7/2016

I recently accepted the challenge to step into the role of Goneril in a production of King Lear. The actress playing the part was rushed to hospital with a gall bladder emergency and there were two weeks of shows left.

After one quick rehearsal I found myself, script in hand, in front of the audience doing what Goneril does best – shouting at her father and husband and wailing over her dying lover.

As a voice artist I’m used to “projecting” my voice approximately 6 inches to my microphone. Now, here I was in a theatre with dodgy acoustics and hard-of hearing audience members. The director, as well as several cast members warned me, “You really have to project in this theatre.” With seven shows ahead I wondered how I would survive recording my voice projects during the day and “projecting forcefully” at night.

Luckily, my friend Mike (playing the king) recommended his favourite throat lozenges to me. He told me he had started to feel a gland swell up like a hedgehog in his throat one night and was afraid he’d lose his voice. Sucking on Vocalzone had restored his throat and voice in a matter of hours.

I got myself some and I have to say these things are amazing! Not sure if it’s the licorice, the myrrh or the peppermint/menthol/vegetable carbon, but these little black pastilles have a magical effect on over-worked vocal chords. Plus the packaging includes writing in braille in case your voice and eyes are both feeling strained!

The Art of Voice Acting/Finding Dory's Mother

9/30/2016

Today I had a wonderful workout with my voice coach, Marla Kirban, via Skype from New Zealand to New York. Although I’ve been voicing projects for more than 20 years and earning my living primarily as a voice artist for nearly 10, I’m always humbled by how much I still have to learn!

Marla reminds me that it’s not enough to have a beautiful voice or to just “read the script word by word.” The art of voice over, she teaches, lies in absorbing copy through your eyes, processing it through your brain, dropping it into your heart and then sharing it through your voice. You have to have a clear point of view, you have to care about what you’re saying, you have to conjure mental images that relate to the content, you have to take appropriate pauses and fill them with meaning, you have to keep the main thing the main thing – all this while sounding spontaneous and not trying too hard!

When we hear good voice acting we know it immediately. We are onboard, we feel connected with the person speaking; their words make sense, touch us - move us. Good voice actors make it seem effortless. Diane Keaton does a great job in Finding Dory. Keaton plays Dory’s mother and from the first moments her lines carry a rich sense of that fish’s world and backstory – her protective love for her memory-challenged daughter, her affection for her husband, her place in the community.

I’m so very grateful to study the art of voice acting with a master coach and to always, always be learning.

Death by Shapewear

9/26/2016

I’m not a fan of marketing products that shame women’s bodies. And hard sell/hype-y voiceovers aren’t my strong suit. Which is why I probably wasn’t a good match for the shapewear infomercial I was asked to voice a while back.

I agreed to a buyout with two rounds of changes.
Here you can hear how I was struggling at round 4…

After round 6, I humbly admitted defeat and surrendered my work at no charge.

What did I learn from the experience?

1. Phrases like “It will lift and shape your bum…” tend not to roll easily off my tongue.

2. No matter how many times I re-do the phrase “for a perkier, youthful look ” it’s not going to sound that aspirational.

3. While I can put my heart and soul behind most products – heavy lifting gear, chemical assay testing equipment, GoPros for dogs, I’m just not a shapewear infomercial kinda girl.

Losing it in the Booth...

1/20/2014

As I was updating the demos on my site just now I came across a "blooper" I HAVE to share.
As a voice artist I try my best to bring my heart - even my soul - to each job I record. Sometimes that's easier said than done.

Last year, recording a 100,000-word medical narration project on endoscopy pushed me over the edge. It was just one little word that was so apt to how I was feeling in the moment...

VO Highlights + Happy Holidays

12/17/2013

I'm so grateful for another wonderful year of voicing. I’ve enjoyed collaborating on some really cool projects...

Award for Best Film
A documentary I narrated - Propaganda - won Best Film at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival in August.

Earlier in the year I completed a vocal marathon – a 100,000-word endoscopy encyclopedia for Elsevier. I now feel qualified to diagnose every inch of the digestive tract…

Mid-Atlantic Accent Trending
Recently I’ve enjoyed recording a number of Mid-Atlantic accent projects – you know, sort of American with a British flair – like this one for Go Pro (I discovered Go Pro underwater cameras last year while swimming with humpback whales in Tonga - they're amazing!)

Your 3 Minute Invite to Unwind
Finally, if you’re feeling stressed (and who isn’t overwhelmed by their To-Do list this time of year?) here’s my chill-out audio – go on, treat yourself…
Instant Stress Buster

I look forward to more recording adventures 2014 and wish you fun-filled, relaxing holidays doing whatever you love most.

Warmly,
Susannah

7 Ways to Keep It Real … Even When the Copy is Real Dull

4/9/2012

Most of us experienced voice artists take for granted that we can produce a “conversational read.” It’s like falling off a log, right?

Well, not necessarily. In reality it’s all too easy to fall into automatic speech patterns that make us sound like text to speech apps.

I recently worked on an e-learning project with an accomplished male voice talent. He sent me his voice files so I could match mine to his. His files were flawless: perfect dynamics compression, normalization, a super quiet noise bed, no audible breaths. The only trouble was he sounded like an automaton.

While it’s true that copy can be dry and uninspiring, let’s remember that some poor person – probably squashed into a cubicle, working a soul destroying 9-5 job (can anyone relate?) has to listen to us. Surely they deserve to hear a real person, and not a robot on the other end of their e-learning program.

If you suspect you’re starting to sound like a bad GPS system, consider these tips:

1.    Listen Honestly

Rehearse and record a portion of your script, then listen back. Assess whether it feels like you’re pushing the information on to the listener or genuinely connecting with them and sharing. Does the listener have space to come towards your voice, or are you ramming it down their ears?

2.    Set the Tone

Before you start a read, set a casual tone by conjuring up a close friend to talk to and then saying: “Hey, I think this information might help make your life a little easier or better, do you wanna hear about it?”…Then begin.

3.    Ask and Answer Questions

Imagine the listener needs the information you’re sharing and asks you a question that your copy then answers. For instance: “What’s so great about the Perspectives software system? Your read then becomes their answer: “One advantage of Perspectives software is the incredible flexibility it offers…”

You can even ad lib (and later edit out) before you begin reading the copy “Well, you know…” to help keep it casual. And if you notice those automatic speech patterns start to creep in again, stop and find a new question to ask and answer.

4.    Emphasize Action Words

Instead of using that random emphasis/inflexion that old school newsreaders were taught (to supposedly keep the listener’s interest), emphasize only what really matters in each sentence. If you’re not sure what needs emphasis, a great clue is: THE VERBS (along with the product or company name, of course.)

5.    Throw it Away

DON’T EMPHASIZE EVERYTHING – it’s exhausting to listen to someone accentuating every syllable as if it’s earth shatteringly important. Throw away the unimportant stuff.

6.    Don’t Try Too Hard

One voice coach gave me feedback on an audition I did that made me laugh out loud. She described my read as “bug-eyed” with enthusiasm. Ever since, I keep a keen note of when I start to feel my eyes bulging.

7.    Center In

Finally, and this is personal, before beginning a recording I like to take a few centering breaths and relax. (Relaxation is always a good place to start, even if you’re going for a hyped read.) I then imagine aligning myself with the people who will be listening to the project, as well as the company that is being represented. I set the intention that my read will serve the highest good of all, and then dive in.

Lost in Translation...

9/6/2011

So, I'm working on a project at the moment for an Italian client and the direction he has given me is "institutional/emotional" - I would really love to know what that means, any ideas?

Recording "on the road" in NYC

8/31/2011

As the apartment door opened, a cloud of marijuana smoke greeted me. I didn't think that boded too well for our recording session, but I told myself not to be judgmental. I'd found this "home studio" in a trade paper - the rates were fair and I just needed to record a couple of projects for clients while traveling.

There didn't seem to be a booth in the one room apartment, but my host assured me it wasn't necessary. His studio had a great sound. So, I got behind the mic and we got stuck in. The buzz and hum coming from his recording equipment had me a little concerned. I asked if we could do a quick test and he assured me we should just go for a take. So, we did. And the results... were shockingly bad.

I suggested that possibly I needed a slightly more professional set up, which offended him. In his defense, he told me he'd recorded an entire album with the exact same equipment. He would play me a song from it. He was sure it was going to be big - really big.

I listened, dumbstruck, to him singing a ditty about his cat, Jake, accompanied by guitar (plus hiss and hum) Jake's picture hung in a grand frame on the wall next to us.) He was - alas - no longer living. (He'd probably suffocated in marijuana fumes or had a brain embolism from listening to his master sing.) I extricated myself from the "studio" as fast as I could and went for plan B.

As I entered the second studio on my list, I felt reassured. It was clearly a professional studio with quality equipment. My relief was short lived. I entered the reception area and found myself interrupting what seemed like a rappers' gang meeting. I wished I were wearing a medallion, or at least a baseball cap turned sideways to blend in.

After what seemed like an eternity, the engineer arrived to take me to our session. (We'd spoken on the phone, so I thought I'd try to build rapport, maybe downplay the English accent and try to sound a little hip...)

"So, Dave" I said, as he led me down a winding corridor, bopping as he went to some music only he could hear, "Basically, I just have a short e-learning script for one client and a few pickups..." He interrupted me: "It's not Dave, it's Daze - like Dazed and Confused." I wished I could counter with something like, "Actually, it's not Susannah, it's Deja Banana," but I let it slide.

I've recorded with engineers who spoke a completely different language from me, and this was no exception. I could see, with each word I spoke, that none of it made the least bit of sense to Daze. There were no rhymes, there was no rhythm. He kept waiting for me to get to the good bit, but it didn't happen. There wasn't much juice for him in the script about ocean ship navigation systems. I left the studio 45 minutes later with my project in hand and my engineer looking truly dazed and confused.