Let’s get this out of the way first and foremost: This article is about making the most of your auditions. If you have NO IDEA how to audition for voice acting jobs then you PROBABLY AREN’T READY TO BE AUDITIONING FOR VOICE ACTING JOBS.
I know that sounds harsh, but it’s true. Auditions are a privilege and a first impression. If you aren’t in a position to make a good first impression, you’re going to look unprepared and unskilled.
That being said, let’s go ahead and assume that you DO have the skills in place to audition and are simply trying to best prepare yourself to start submitting.
Awesome! This article will break down some audition basics and things that you should know when you’re cracking that mic and sending off that audition. It’ll cover “Understanding the Specs”, “What to Record”, “What to Edit Out”, “Making Choices” and more.
Let’s start with…
Understanding the Specs
Most auditions should come with specs (a brief written explanation of the audition) that can include background info on the project (tone, audience, genre etc) as well as submission requirements.
In these submission requirements, they may give you lots of great info! Or they may leave you asking questions.
Here’s an example of GOOD Submission Requirements:
Audition Due: Monday, 5/27/2024 9:00 AM ET / 6:00 AM PT
Title mp3 files as shown: FirstLast_CharacterName
Please record lines as ABC ABC if submitting multiple takes.
Email your audition to tyler@tylerhyrchuk.ca with the subject line: Project Francis Audition – Your Name
So what does all that mean?
You know you need to submit before Monday, 5/27/2024 9:00 AM ET / 6:00 AM PT. The sooner the better! Do your best to submit early because sometimes the client will start listening to the auditions before the deadline!
You know how to name your mp3 file. But PAY ATTENTION TO SPACING. FirstLast_CharacterName and First Last_Character Name are TWO DIFFERENT NAMING FORMATS.
FirstLast_CharacterName = TylerHyrchuk_FrancisDragonborne
First Last_Character Name = Tyler Hyrchuk_Francis Dragonborne
It may not seem like a big difference, but casting directors frequently say that if you don’t follow naming formats, they may not even bother listening to your audition! Because if you can’t follow instructions, you may not be the best choice for their project.
ABC ABC is arguably the more common auditioning format.
A: Stop, thief!
B: I wanted to thank you.C: This isn’t over.
If you were reading those three lines for an audition and were recording two takes (which I highly recommend unless you’re told otherwise by the specs), you would read the lines like so:
Take 1: Stop, thief! | I wanted to thank you. | This isn’t over.
1-2 Second Pause.
Take 2: Stop, thief! | I wanted to thank you. | This isn’t over.
This may seem intuitive enough, but some people and projects may ask you to do AABBCC which would look like this:
Take 1: Stop, thief! | Take 2: Stop, thief! | Take 1: I wanted to thank you. | Take 2: I wanted to thank you. | Take 1: This isn’t over. | Take 2: This isn’t over.
Finally, the specs told you how to fill out the subject line of your email and who to submit your email to.
So what’s missing?
Well, the specs didn’t tell you what to say in your email. Many people will follow those instructions and put nothing in the body of the email which I would not recommend. The body of the email is another chance for you to sell yourself! Thank them for the opportunity, share your socials or website, tell them about your gear and setup.
Great, so understanding the specs are out of the way, on to…
What to Record
First, there’s a slate.
Slates can be divisive. Some people don’t like them because they feel slates “waste their time”.
Others love them.
Regardless of your opinion on slates, ALWAYS slate if the audition specs call for it and pay very close attention to the instructions. Some slating instructions will ask you to list your gear or say “I have a home studio”. This is another opportunity to show you can follow instructions.
From a practicality sense I personally would include some sort of slate just because if your file is accidentally renamed then they still know who’s audition they’re listening to because you slated!
The minimum for a slate is your first and last name or your stage name. You can also include the character you’re reading for and if possible the agency you’re represented by.
There’s also the less utilized “Tail Slate” or “End Slate” where you place the slate at the very end of your file. Chances are that most people won’t hear this, but it’s a nice little surprise for those who listen to the very end.
You can also say “Take 1” before your first take, “Take 2” before your second or “X number of Takes” at the beginning of your file.
Speaking of multiple takes…
If you’re doing two takes (which I recommend) MAKE THEM DIFFERENT.
Make different choices emotionally, vocally, tonally, switch up your pace, emphasize different words, change your volume. Doing two takes that are too similar may hinder you in the long run, while doing JUST one take may not show enough of your versatility.
What to Edit Out
Slate, Take 1, Take 2. Easy enough right?
Well, you want your first impression to sound like you belong in the CD’s project; whether that’s on TV, in a movie, on the radio.
If the first thing a casting director hears is mouth noise, too long of a pause or a big breath, chances are you aren’t getting hired.
If the CD has to listen through a long silence or hear excessive mouth noise, clicks and breaths throughout your audition, chances are you aren’t getting hired.
If the CD has to ride their volume knob, turning it up and down throughout your audition, chances are you aren’t getting hired.
Your audition needs to contain everything the CD wants to hear and nothing they don’t want to hear. So editing out extraneous noise, hums, unnecessary breaths (some breaths are okay if they’re not distracting and are part of the performance!) and keeping the silence between takes and lines to a minimum is ideal. Not no spaces in between, just nothing longer than 1-1.5 seconds.
Editing out flubs and errors is important too. If you mess up a line or do a take you didn’t like, re-record the flubbed line and remove the take you didn’t like!
PRO TIP: Listen to your audition back LOUDER than you normally would, to hear for anything you should take out. Looking at a waveform can also be deceiving if there’s an errant noise that you can hear but it’s imperceptibly small on the waveform that you can’t see it.
Making Choices
My mom always said “make good choices”. She still says it, but she used to too.
The difference between the vast majority of auditions are the choices each voice actor makes.
Perform this line out loud:
“I can’t believe you came back after all these years.”
A lot of VAs will read it just like that. Straight ahead with a period at the end of the sentence. The difference lies in the ones who will not just “read it”.
Now perform this line out loud:
“I… I can’t believe you came back… after all these years…”
Did that line sound sadder? Betrayed? Excited?
Now perform this line out loud:
“I can’t believe YOU came back after all these years!”
Did that emphasis make you sound angry? Did you say the line faster that time? Louder?
Perform this line out loud 3 times in a row:
“I found it sir.”
Did all three takes sound different? Was one louder than the others? Faster than the others? More proud than the others?
So many VAs make the mistake of NOT making choices when they audition. They do the bare minimum, getting the lines out and then throwing on an accent or an affect and reading the lines again almost the same way for take 2 and calling it a day. Make choices and stick to them!
Now, what if there are very minimal directions for the performance?
“Soldier” is a very broad descriptor compared to “Battle hardened 25 year veteran who is retiring after this mission.”
But here’s the thing… “Soldier” can be “Battle hardened 25 year veteran who is retiring after this mission.” But “Soldier” can also be “Shell shocked 18 year old on their first deployment” or “Hot head and trigger happy ammunitions expert who loves war”.
Now you might be thinking “What if I chose wrong? What if I picked the Hot Head when the CD wanted the Shell Shocked Teen?”
The casting call specs would have told you if they wanted a Shell Shocked Teen. They didn’t. They just said “Soldier.”
So making a strong choice and performing the lines as a Hot Head (even though possibly the wrong choice) will almost always make a better impression than performing the lines like 90% of the other auditioners did.
Imagine you’re a Casting Director and you had to spend an entire day listening to a hundred people say the same three sentences exactly the same way. Now imagine how much a read would stand out if a few people sounded different from the other 97 (even if they weren’t different in exactly the way you were looking for).
Make strong choices. Take risks.
You already don’t have the job.
And More
Wrapping this up with a few general audition notes for those of you that stuck around.
> Send your audio as an MP3. It’s a relatively compact file format and works in most instances UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED BY THE CASTING CALL.
> Some processing and editing is okay so you make your audio sound as good as you can without OVERPROCESSING. You’re not showing the CD that you are an audio engineer so your editing skills aren’t on showcase. But if your edits (or lack of them) are distracting from your performance, it can only work against you.
> Aim to have your audio peak at -3dB to -1dB. Most VAs will probably lean towards -3dB but here’s the thing… Some people actually equate how loud something is with how good it is and may even think “louder is better”. So, dealer’s choice at the end of the day.
> Don’t just normalize everything and call it a day because you’re also normalizing any hum and background noise. Make sure normalizing or volume adjustments happen AFTER noise removal in your Fx chain.
> Auditions are about finding the right person but they’re ALSO about eliminating the wrong people. That’s why some auditions add hurdles, to eliminate people that don’t jump over them. CD’s have ZERO obligation to listen to your whole audition, so if they find a reason to throw it out in the first five seconds, they will.
Now go out there, find an audition and book that job!
Thank you as always to my wonderful and talented Voice Actor friend Ed Selvey for always giving me notes on my blogs before they’re posted.