Another newbie looking for advice

Lou Young · AUD ENDICOTT2006-10-14-16-39-36.MP3

What can I do to adjust or add something to my voice or my demo that will make it more professional sounding.

I have just purchased some new equipment, (small mixer, mic, headset), and I am using my MP-3 program on my computer, so the equipment should handle the job.

Your guidance would be appreciated.

Lou Young

Robert Jadah · Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006, 17:26 (GMT) Post subject: It's No Lu-Lu, Lou

Lou:
Since you asked:
Firstly, that's not a demo; rather, it's one long audition take. A demo should have several different snippets on it to reflect a range of deliveries and intonations.
Speaking of which, Lou, you have got to AR-TI-CU-LATE better. You have an intriguing tone and dialect, but you swallow some entire words ('father' a couple of times), and many, many syllables are way understressed. Mic sounds pretty good, and your system should be able to handle some imported music for background on your eventual demo mixes.
Hang in there. Voice to the grindstone and all that.
Robert Jadah

Scott Pollak · Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006, 18:25 (GMT) Post subject:

Robert was correct when he said it's not really a demo, Lou. It's just one dry snippet of you reading.

I like the tonality of your voice and it's a TERRIFIC starting point. I see you as having a very good chance at doing things like e-books. But you have a ways to do, IMHO.

It was a flat read. No real feeling or inflection. You were simply reading text relying on your rich, warm voice (which it is) to carry it, and that's not nearly enough if you want to get hire. You need to coax the copy, feel it, bring it to life and wrap the listener up in it. You say on your page you're trained by toastmasters, but I'm coming to learn that public speaking and doing professional voice work are two entirely different animals. You may want to invest in some training on how to really make a piece of copy become your own, how YOU can own it and bring it to life.

Then you'll need to work on a demo that showcases multiple pieces, done with different levels of energy, intensity and feeling... a warm, rich, fuzzy piece, a sad piece, an inspirational piece, a nostalgic piece, and so on... all professionally edited and mixed.

You have a really good voice, I truly mean that. It's a great starting point. Now it's time to call upon the training and practice that one must invest in order to get from point A to point B, B being a voice talent that is getting hired to do jobs.

Do that, and you'll do great. Hope to be hearing great things out of you.

All the best!

Lou Young · Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006, 05:18 (GMT) Post subject: THANKS

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your help. I will certainly follow up on your suggestions.

Lou

Paxton Greene · Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006, 14:45 (GMT) Post subject:

Hey Lou!

Man, what a fantastic voice you have. Watch your pacing on your reads. Sounds a little rushed, and yes put together some other spots to add to your reel. You're going to do just fine.

Pax