Voice Acting For Dummies

by David Ciccarelli

  A few other elements equipment-wise may come into play in the booth, such as headphones, music stand, stool, and the pop filter. We cover the pop filter in greater detail, but first address headphones and music stands.

  Headphones

  When you think of headphones, you may get the iconic mental picture of a voice actor standing in the booth ala Gary Owens cupping his ear with one hand and leaning into the microphone. Cupping one’s ear does give you a better appreciation for how your voice is coming across to others, but more often than not, you’re going to have a pair of “cans,” or headphones as they’re more commonly referred to, to help you hear yourself better.

  If you aren’t used to wearing headphones, this may take some getting used to. If the engineer asks you to wear them or you choose to, you’ll also go through a testing exercise to make sure that the sound is coming through on your end and that it’s balanced. The engineer controls the volume.

  Music stands

  The music stand serves as a resting place and platform for the script to sit. The stand should be at eye level and positioned in a spot where you can see it. The objective of any voice actor is to stay on script, so you need to be sure you can easily see the script from where you are in terms of the microphone so that your read isn’t compromised.

  Pop filters

  Do you remember what it sounds like when someone pops their Ps or Bs on a live microphone? Perhaps memories of school assemblies, church services, or public announcements come to mind. Whenever select consonants cause that kind of “pop,” which are called plosives, you can be almost certain that a pop filter was nowhere to be found! Nearly every photograph I’ve seen of a voice actor at the microphone during a studio session has been accompanied by a pop filter.

  A pop filter is the screen that separates you and your voice from the microphone. This little fence as it were helps to let your voice go through to the microphone without popping plosives and instead softens letters like Ps and Bs. A pop filter can also help you to cut down on sibilance (the hissing noise that can come from overly apparent S sounds). Using a pop filter cuts out issues on both the high end and the low end, making for easier editing of the recording. In our opinion, the pop filter is a beautiful thing and does have its place. Pop filters are used by voice actors and singers alike to help achieve the best possible performance.

  Tricks you can use for avoiding plosives include

  Smiling through your words

  Putting a pencil in front of your mouth

  Cutting the air in half by speaking with your face turned down a bit

  Speaking across the microphone instead of directly into it

  Some things you should never do to a microphone include

  Blowing into it

  Tapping it

  Yelling directly into it

  Spilling any fluids on it

  Interacting with the Casting Director

  A casting director, specifically a voice-over casting director, is someone who has an ear for picking the best candidate for a particular job. It’s the casting director’s responsibility to “cast” the right person in a role for a client who usually has little interest or ability, or lacks the confidence to “pick” the right voice to represent his company, project, or brand. The casting director wants to get the best possible performance out of an auditioning actor.

  The following sections take a closer look at what the casting director’s roles are, what he asks of voice actors during auditions, and what you can do to decipher a casting director’s direction, particularly when he asks you to voice match.

  Identifying the casting director’s job

  The casting director should make a voice actor feel at ease because he needs to evaluate all his options in the best light to pick the most appropriate voice for the client’s campaign or project. A casting director charges a fee to the client for his time and expertise.

  Casting directors cast for a variety of projects including commercials, movies, animated films, cartoons, and more. Although the casting director may appear intimidating, it’s in the best interest of the casting director to solicit the best possible performance from each performer who auditions for a role.

  Voice casting is an art. The casting director needs to be familiar with the project he’s casting, the audience that will be consuming the production, and also how that audience needs to be communicated to. In essence, the casting director is a voice actor’s friend, just as a voice-over coach and recording engineer are.

  A casting director has a huge responsibility placed on his shoulders not only to cast the best candidate but also to treat each person who walks in the door with the utmost respect, which helps him keep an open mind when casting for a particular role, voice-over, or shot.

  Sometimes, a casting director is responsible for casting an entire voice acting cast for cartoon series, animated films, video games, and audiobooks. These projects are especially interesting and challenging for a casting director because there’s so much to consider, including how the voices match each other, how a voice fits a role, whether the voice actors have good chemistry, and whether their voices fit the ideal that their client is looking for.

  Giving you direction

  The casting or voice director may want to know about how you interpret the script. He may or may not be interested in knowing ahead of time though, so just go ahead and give it your best shot.

  A voice director or casting director often helps to oversee the audition; he’ll more than likely give you some artistic or creative direction to play around with when giving your read. This experience can be exciting and productive or painful and stressful, depending on how you respond to what’s being required.

  When the director goes into a casting, he wants the actor to take direction, interpret the script, stay in character, and get the job done. Don’t get frustrated; ask for clarifications for anything that may not be clear. Even if bridging the gap means asking the director to give you a “line read,” don’t be afraid to request more guidance. Your read and perhaps your chances of landing the role depend heavily upon your understanding what is being asked of you as a voice actor.

  A line read is when a director demonstrates the delivery of a scripted line the way he envisions the actor to read it on stage or in the booth. Line reads, most often used with child voice actors, can also be effective tools for directors to use with grownups. Never be offended if a director gives you a line read, and don’t be afraid to ask for one if necessary.

  The director may present you with sides. A side is a description of a character and tells you about who the character is, what the character is like, how old the character is, and other bits of information that can help you to fortify your read and give a well-thought-out interpretation.

  Remember that you are in a creative space, and the people there want to see you succeed.

  Asking you to sound like someone else

  This information is particularly applicable to an auditioning situation. Typically, voice actors know these things ahead of a recording. You never know, though, when something may be thrown at you from out of left field, so being able to have a number of voices in your back pocket is helpful.

  You may receive direction during a recording that the director (or client) wants someone who sounds like a famous person. (Other times you’ll already have known this from the information you received from the client after being hired, and you’ll have plenty of time to prepare.) No matter when you receive it, rest assured that the director doesn’t really want that person or even someone who sounds like the famous person.

  What the director is often looking for is a voice actor who, when standing in front of the mic ready to record, can replicate a famous person’s speech pattern. In other words, the director is asking you to voice match. Voice matching is mimicking the speech pattern and voc
al characteristics of someone else in order to sound like him or her. The following sections provide some concrete hands-on information that you can use if you have time to prepare and a director asks you to sound like someone else. (If you don’t have the time, do what you can in the moment and ask for some direction if necessary.)

  Figuring out how to voice match: The how-to

  Even the best sound-a-like voice actors can’t consistently replicate someone’s voice and way of speaking. Everyone has a unique voiceprint, but you can certainly study the person and figure out how to deliver your lines in the style of someone else.

  Your voice, like your fingerprints, is distinct. Although every person has a voice, the human voice is very unique, and that uniqueness sets you apart from everyone else. Consider the following factors when you are trying to voice match:

  Voice type: Voice type refers to what we commonly accept as the four main voice classifications — soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Singers recognize different classifications or fachs within the four broad categories of voice type; for instance, there is a big difference between a coloratura soprano and a mezzo soprano. If you’re going to match the voice of someone, you’ll want to make sure that you have a similar vocal range (voicing comfortably) and fall under the same category regarding voice type.

  Age: When voice matching, you need to consider how old the person you’re trying to match sounds, not necessarily how old he is in terms of years. The closer your voice is in how old it sounds to how old the person you are mimicking sounds, the closer and more believable your match will be. For instance, if you’re a teenager trying to mimic another teenager whose voice age is similar to your own, you’ll be a closer match than someone whose voice sounds older trying to sound like a teen.

  Register: Register is a series of tones created in a particular range of voice. You have three vocal registers — the chest voice, middle voice, and head voice. Most voice actors speak from the mid-range, bridging chest with head voice. This middle voice is called the pharyngeal voice.

  Timber: Timber is usually what people mean when they try to describe how a voice sounds. Tone quality and color are synonyms for timber, often described as bright, dark, light, clear, and so on. Timber refers to the tone quality or resonance that distinguishes your voice from similar instruments.

  Accent: The accent refers to where a person sounds like he is from. If you’re trying to sound like someone from New York for instance, you need to study the accent and pay close attention to how he shapes his vowels, where he places emphasis on individual words, and so on.

  Intonation: You may have noticed that most people’s voices in North America rise in pitch when they’re asking a question. This is just one way that people intone. Intonation in general has to do with raising or lowering your voice in pitch. This falling or rising in pitch communicates meaning and colors how the listener receives what is being said.

  Speaking patterns: When you speak, there is a bit of a rhythm to how your voice is paced, how and where you choose to use inflection, and just how much of your vocal range you use. When trying to sound like someone else, take note of how he uses his instrument, not just how his instrument sounds. When asked to sound like a particular person, like say, James Earl Jones, you really just need to sound close enough to him in terms of how he speaks.

  Mannerisms: Depending on who you’re trying to sound like, mimicking vocal mannerisms can be something as simple as how someone breathes, how someone clears her throat, and so on. Maybe it’s adding in a word or short vocal utterance that she always says, like “huh,” “got it,” “um hmm,” “capiche?,” or “eh.”

  Placement: Placement is important because vocal placement determines how the voice sounds. If you speak out of your nose, you sound more nasal. Try speaking “through” different parts of your face to see how your sound changes. When mimicking someone, you need to know where her placement is to match the sound and tone she produces.

  Physicality: Try to copy the way the person you’re mimicking postures himself and incorporate hand gestures or facial expressions that may help you to re-create his sound. The closer you are in terms of physical appearance, voice type, and age to the person you’re mimicking, the better your impression of him may be because your instruments are similar.

  After considering these factors and the person the director wants you to sound like, you can get an even closer match, based upon more than just the quality and range of a voice. Sometimes you just need to go ahead and experiment to see if you can do the person’s voice.

  Discerning and developing an historical character with voice matching

  Trying to put a voice to someone who lived long ago is difficult, especially if no recordings are available of the person’s voice, video footage, or photographs to base an interpretation on. Even so, casting for roles like this happens all the time when epic films are made or documentaries are produced, featuring people who lived in a time before multimedia.

  When your director asks you to reconstruct an historical figure and you don’t have a voice sample to refer to, you often need to figure out on your own how to make this character. The following tips can help you voice match when you don’t have anything to reference. These tips also help you create additional layers and depth to your character’s personality.

  Study personal accounts and follow patterns in the person’s transcribed speech or writing style. Getting to know the person through his own writings or speeches can give you a greater understanding of how he spoke and provide you with good material to practice with. You can also compare and contrast those writings with what you’re being asked to read to see how close the script is to what the person would have actually said.

  Go back to the script or historical document for clues regarding his age, demeanor, physicality, and vocal timber. Some of these details may be self-evident because you know the story of that person so well. Even little tidbits of information can help you form the character and more believably perform his voice.

  Observe the person’s physical appearance as depicted in photographs or paintings. Look for details that may tell you something about his speech. For example, focus on things such as missing teeth, a clenched jaw, a broken nose, a foreign object in his mouth such as a cigar, and so on.

  Identify where the person came from and consider known speech characteristics or accents from that geographic location. If you can pinpoint where the person hailed from and are able to amass information about the language he spoke during that time, you may be able to track down voice samples of people speaking in that language in the style of the day to help you with your interpretation.

  Read accounts made by people who knew or interacted with the person in question. Doing so can reveal aspects of that person’s personality and his deeper convictions. Even if the source of the writings was a hostile one, the admission of a fact decidedly not in his favor proves the genuineness of that fact and helps you when understanding and better appreciating the person you’re re-creating.

  Collect adjectives that have been used to describe the person’s personality and temperament. What you find may surprise you! The film Lincoln, featuring actor Daniel Day-Lewis as US President Abraham Lincoln, is a great example of how the studious Day-Lewis based his Abraham Lincoln voice on first-hand historical accounts indicating that Lincoln’s voice was higher pitched and slightly shrill instead of the deep and rich Lincoln voice that culture often presents us with.

  You may be able to find that you can apply these tools when addressing artistic direction for creating voices for character roles in cartoons, audiobooks, and many other types of voice acting jobs.

  Maintaining eye contact

  You may not realize it, but the casting director or recording engineer can be your greatest ally in the booth. They’re responsible for leading you through a session and ensuring that you achieve the best performa
nce possible. When things go well, working together can be a satisfying experience for you both.

  Eye contact can convey encouragement and let you know that you’re on the right track. Sometimes eye contact is all you have because the casting director or engineer may not want to interrupt you mid-take. Using eye contact helps to build trust between you and whoever is directing you. Maintaining good eye contact is also beneficial to you for gauging how your performance is being received.

  Considering alternative roles

  How many voices do you have at the ready? In Chapter 11, we talked about how you can prepare a few different styles of read to give prospective clients and casting directors options to choose from when casting. The skills you may develop just right may come in handy for auditions where the casting director wants to see what you’ve got!

  If directors are more of the “I’ll know it when I hear it,” mindset, the extra effort you put forth to create more interpretations may truly help them “find” the voice that they were looking for. Sometimes it’s what we aren’t looking for that ends up being exactly what we never knew we needed and/or wanted. The same applies in casting for voice-overs.

  Having a few base voices that you work with also helps. If a director calls on you to try out for a character that you didn’t anticipate auditioning for, draw on similar characters that you have voiced or developed character sketches for independently.

  Even though it may be nerve-racking, you should give it a try. What’s the worst thing that can happen? It would be better to try something and allow the director to shape your attempts than to pass on an opportunity because you feel incompetent or unprepared. Some of the greatest roles have been cast to voice actors who didn’t come expecting to audition for the roles they were given.

  Having Fun While Building Relationships

  If there’s anything clients like to hear, it’s about why you want to work for them and what motivates you to make their project a success. They want to know why you love them, why you love their product, or why you love their service. Essentially, they want to know why you love them so much that you would go to the extreme of publicly representing their company and being their voice.