voiceover

The Hard Truths of Voice Acting

March 5, 2024 by Tyler Hyrchuk

Voice Acting is one of the BEST jobs you can have. It’s fun, unique and when you book, it (usually) pays well. You can do a lot of it on your own time or at your own pace and there are a TON of free and paid resources all over the place.

But let’s take the rose coloured glasses off for a second.

This post is about some of the hard truths of the industry. If you can accept these then carry on with your VO journey! Keep trucking and the successes will come.

(Note: There ARE exceptions to some of these, but for the vast majority of voice actors, this is the reality of the voiceover industry)

If anything on this list seems insurmountable to you, maybe you need to pivot. Maybe you need to take more time to prepare yourself mentally for voiceover and voice acting. It is not for the faint of heart (ooooohhhhh spooky).

You’ll probably lose money your first year.

Starting in voiceover is not cheap. You may get lucky with a great place to record in like a good sized closet in a quiet corner, but gear like a microphone, interface and then training and coaching is not cheap.

People also often make the mistake of skipping coaching and training and just dive right into auditioning. But think of it this way: If you’ve got a license, would you buy a racecar and start entering races? No, you’d take classes, maybe buy a cheaper beater to practice on and learn how to race!

You’ll need a LOT of flexibility to find success.

Quick turnaround auditions, clients in different time zones, the other people in your household, the construction down the street, the helicopters overhead etc. So many factors come into making VO a career.

Not to mention colds, the flu, strep throat and internet outages!

People also make the mistake of buying a mic, quitting their day job and then praying for success.

Consistently making enough is a challenge. Not to mention once you do book, it can still take months to get paid so you need to be flexible with your bank account and savings.

Also…

DO NOT QUIT YOUR DAY JOB IN THE FIRST YEAR OF VOICE ACTING*

*Unless you’re consistently making enough from VO/VA to be able to afford to quit and have 3-6 months of rent and expenses saved up.

You probably won’t hear back after sending that audition.

Sending an audition is very satisfying. Booking a gig is even MORE satisfying. But guess how often one leads to the other? For the vast majority of voice actors, it’s less than 1%. That means for every 100 auditions you send you MIGHT get one booking.

That’s right, you will audition a TON and will book OCCASIONALLY*.

And guess what? You usually only hear back when you book a job. Sometimes casting will send out a bulk email to those who weren’t cast and occasionally you’ll get a personalized one mentioning you impressed them but weren’t the right fit. But more often than not, it’s radio silence.

This is especially important because it means if you start auditioning before you’re ready, you’re sending out BAD auditions and you don’t even know they’re bad… That’s why practicing with other voice actors, a coach or in workshops is so important. You want to get to a point where you feel confident that your auditions are consistently good.

*this is regarding paid work as unpaid work has a much lower barrier for entry and people make the mistake of thinking their booking ratio will stay the same or improve when they jump from unpaid to paid work.

Voice acting probably won’t pay your bills.

Roughly 10 percent of voice actors do it full time. The vast majority make less than $10,000 USD a year. That’s not enough to live on. And the amount of time and effort that goes into even getting to that 10k mark is tough. If you’re looking for extra spending money or a “side hustle”, this is not the job for you unfortunately.

I’ll be fully transparent in saying that 2 specific clients of mine make up close to 25% of my yearly income. Which means you bet I’m hanging on to them for dear life.

You are a small business owner

It might sound weird but in order to find true success, you need to treat VO as a business. You are your own employee. You need to juggle social media, your online persona, your offline persona, auditions, emails, marketing, bookkeeping, filing taxes, scheduling and more.

I get it. You didn’t sign up to be a business owner. You’re an artsy and creative free spirit right??

Well… ya gotta figure out how to do both if you want to make it!

You need to be a self starter

No one is going to MAKE you audition or practice or invoice or market. You need to do most of these things on your own otherwise you won’t get very far. That means you don’t need motivation, you need determination. Motivation is fleeting. It comes and goes. You need to be determined to have success in this industry.

So what does all this mean?

It means I’ve been in this industry long enough to achieve jaded status.

But seriously, all of what you just read about needs to be taken into account when you’re starting in this industry.

Voice Acting and Voiceover is very competitive. It requires a lot of drive and determination and honestly some luck. You need to know the right people and learn the right things and make the right choices to succeed. And even after all that, you can still “fail”.

Like Patrick Stewart famously said as Jean Luc-Picard in Star Trek TNG:

“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.”

You know what I say? Make mistakes. Make a LOT of mistakes. Learn from them. Grow. Make more mistakes. Learn from THEM.

And then go out there and kill that next audition.

Break a lung!

(And of course, thank you to the incredible Ed Selvey for giving this blog a second set of eyes before I posted it! Check him out if you have a second)

When Are Homemade Demos Okay?

January 1, 2024 by Tyler Hyrchuk

Demos.

They can be a touchy, divisive and expensive topic.

When should I get mine done? Should I pay to have it done professionally? Should I do it on my own? How long should it be? How many spots? What should I include in it?

Let’s start with professionally produced demos.

They can be expensive (like thousands of dollars expensive). But if you can afford it, going the professionally made demo route is almost always the best decision for your career. Assuming you go with a renowned, trusted demo producer like J Michael Collins or Eric Romanowski. I personally have not worked with either, but their accolades speak for themselves.

When you’re working with this caliber of producer, they have their “ears” on the pulse of the industry. You’ll get a high quality product, unique and custom scripts, insight into what’s hot and booking and live direction (among other things).

With a homemade demo you get pretty much none of that. Again, some of these pro demos are pricey, but there’s a level of prestige working with these producers and they take pride in their work and will likely even share your finished demo with their network.

But there are a number of other demo producers that are great that you DON’T have to shell out massive amounts of cash for. I’ve worked with Erik Solarski on a few of my demos that turned out really well and I know there are other producers that churn out great demos for a mid-tier price.

You should be wary of producers that promise demos “at the end of a 4 hour workshop” or “after 3 classes with me!” These demos are usually just slapped together and there likely isn’t very much quality control. You’ve just been introduced to the copy the same day, the copy PROBABLY has been used for someone else’s demo too AND in some extreme cases, some of these producers will put THEIR AUDIO WATERMARK ON YOUR DEMO.

Yeah, you read that right. There are producers out there that will use the first 5 seconds of YOUR demo to market themselves. “Bob Bobberson, demos that make your head bob!” or something stupid like that.

Okay so I’m 350+ words into this thing and still haven’t explained when home-made demos are okay. I’m getting there!

Demos have a few different purposes, but mainly give potential clients a snapshot of what you can do. Most of the jobs that you will end up doing (outside of the odd low paying/indie jobs) won’t require you to add music or edit too much, but a demo is expected to be pretty polished, almost like “if I did a commercial for McDonalds it would sound like this if you heard it on the radio”. Basically as if that spot in your demo was lifted from a commercial or game or tv show.

Here’s the juicy part that you’ve been waiting for… When I think homemade demos are fine (this may not be the industry wide opinion, just my own):

When you are NOT submitting to an agency.

That’s pretty much it honestly. Agent’s have sharp ears and will likely be able to spot the difference between homemade and professionally made. Agents want to know you’ve invested in yourself, that you’re willing to spend money to make money and that you will make THEM money. That’s why you have to put your best foot forward with them.

Plus, if you send an agent a BAD demo, they might temporarily blacklist you and just assume that you’re not ready for representation for another year or two.

There is another important factor here: your editing skills/background.

I went to school for Radio Broadcasting and worked as a producer/copywriter for a few years so I can edit and produce reasonably well. And I have produced a handful of my own demos myself. But even still, my commercial and animation demos were done professionally by others, with one of my coaches directing me live during the session.

So if you ARE going the homemade demo route (you want a demo that you are NOT sending to an agent but may just post on your Soundcloud/Online VO profiles/Website), follow this checklist:

1- Research the type of demo you want to do (commercial, animation, video game or others)

2- Write/source unique copy that has not appeared in other people’s demos

3- Get a friend/colleague/coach to listen in on your recording session to provide feedback (you can always just send the recorded audio AFTER the fact, but having someone listen live saves you time)

4- Have a decent handle on editing/sound design in order to produce your demo

Alternatively, this is a much shorter checklist:

1- Be a seasoned veteran of voiceover/audio production and understand demo production AND have the skills to write/edit/produce your own demo.

But that checklist isn’t exactly as accessible for most voiceover artists and voice actors…

There is also the possibility of doing SOME of the work but not ALL of the work in producing a demo. You can write/source the scripts and record in your own space and then send the audio off to be mastered and mixed with sfx. Producers like Erik at Soles Sounds (as mentioned earlier) can do the post production for you, no matter where you are in the world.

Recap

I’ll keep the recap simple this time.

Homemade demos are okay to showcase your skills/versatility/home recording setup to possible clients.

They are discouraged when you’re submitting to a new agent.

Take steps to ensure your scripts are unique and play to your strengths.

Have fun doing your demo! The more fun you have, the better it’ll turn out.

To find at how to go about making your own demo, check out this post

Please keep in mind, this is my personal opinion drawn from nearly a decade of experience in the industry. Always question people’s opinions and take them with a grain of salt because that’s only one point of view.

What to Expect in a Remote Live Directed Session

October 25, 2023 by Tyler Hyrchuk

You just booked your first remote live directed session, congratulations!

It’s weird, isn’t it? You’ve spent so much time recording by yourself in your closet or booth and now someone will be directing you LIVE while you’re doing it? It’s exciting! And nerve wracking.

Having done a ton of remote live directed sessions from my home studio(s) over the years, I’ve compiled a few things to help ease your mind and prepare you for your remote live direct.

Be Prepared (cue Scar singing)

Whether you’re throwing your king brother to the wildebeests or voicing a new commercial or character, be prepared!

That means warming up your voice, practicing, marking up the script and doing whatever else you need for your call time. The first read or two on a live direct is almost always a “warm up” read and is thrown out, but if you nail it the director and engineer will be especially impressed. Plus your preparedness will probably cut down the length of the session which will make EVERYONE happy.

My quickest ever session was 8 minutes. Was it a short script? Yes. Was I prepared? Also yes.

Also, think about what you can do if disaster strikes. What if you have a power outage during the session? Or your internet cuts out?

Some may consider it over-kill, but having a back up generator or ideally a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) will protect you if your power suddenly goes out during a session.

Knowing how to turn your phone into a hot spot for your laptop or desktop may save you if your internet cuts out as well.

Understanding Industry Terminology

Here are a few terms I think are especially important to know for a remote live direct.

Slate: Though often used at the beginning of an audition (slating your name, sometimes agency or character you’re auditioning for), slating in a session typically occurs when you’re recording on your end and the client wants you to identify each take before performing. So for example, “Take 2” before starting your second take.

Lead in: Can refer to something you say or do prior to a take OR (more likely) when you or the engineer plays part of a take to prepare you for your next take. “I’m going to lead you in with take 2. You’ll hear take 2 and then we’ll be in record.”

DAW: Digital Audio Workstation (AKA the software you’re using to record the session)

Adjusting your gain: Turning the knob on your interface (or via your interface’s software on your computer) to raise or lower your audio levels.

ABC / 3 wild / 3 in the air / 3 on a stick: Doing three DIFFERENT takes of a line one after the other, outside of the context of the script.

Levels: The volume level of your audio. You may be asked “what are your levels?” if the director/engineer can’t see your DAW. Level expectations differ depending on the type of record so ask before you start recording what they would like the levels to average at and if there’s a top and bottom end ie: averaging between -10dB and -20dB with peaks at -6dB.

Processed: When effects are added to the audio to improve the sound quality. Clients who are just dropping your audio into their projects without doing much mixing/mastering will likely prefer you do some processing on your end.

Raw: No effects added at all. Clients typically prefer receiving files raw if they have their own engineer or plan on processing/mastering themselves.

Clip/Clipping: When your level is too high/hot and you “clip” the audio, so it is so loud it becomes unusable.

Pick Ups: Sometimes used interchangeably with “revisions”, a pick up is typically when you’ve made a mistake that wasn’t caught, there’s a technical glitch with the audio or any other instance that means something needs to be recorded again (excluding script changes).

Revisions: Typically refers to a script change or direction change. Something that was initiated by the client or producer and usually isn’t a result of something you’ve done.

There are a lot more industry terms to familiarize yourself with, but these ones I feel are some of the more important ones!

Understanding Your Gear

Understanding your gear seems like a no brainer, but there’s an immediacy to a remote live directed sessions.

If the client/director asks you to “raise your gain”, you need to know how to do that quickly. Having your interface/preamp in your booth or easily accessible to do so is important!

If they say “you’re popping your p’s and b’s” you need to know how to rectify that behaviour.

If they simply say “you’re coming in too quiet” you need to know how to fix that.

Get super familiar with your microphone, DAW, interface and any other accessories you use so you can smash the session!

What to Ask/Mention Before a Session

It’s always important to communicate with your clients so everyone is on the same page when a session takes place. Here are a few things you may want to communicate beforehand.

1: Are they recording the session on their end or are you recording it on your end? The worst thing is when you nail a session only to find that WHOOPS nobody recorded it.

2: What file format do they want? WAV? MP3? FLAC?

3: How do they want the audio? Stereo or Mono? Processed or Raw? What Sample Rate?

4: Are you expecting any interruptions like a delivery? Is there the possibility of unexpected interruptions like a crying baby or barking dog?

5: Do you have a hard out (a time when you need to be done the session)? For example, if the session starts at 2 PM and you have to leave to pick up your kids at 4 PM tell the client! If at 3:55 you say “Oh, I have to leave in five minutes” that is a TERRIBLE look. Knowing your hard out, the client can plan accordingly.

Remember, you are providing a service. You’re basically a sentient instrument! How would you want to be treated if you were in the client’s shoes?

Understanding How a Session Works

There’s no EXACT science to how a session works (and it depends on the genre of sessions ie: commercial, animation, ADR), but most have the same rough blueprint.

Log on AT LEAST FIVE MINUTES EARLY to the software being used for the session. Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex, Riverside.FM, Source Connect Standard (you don’t need to spring for Pro!) or Source Connect Now seem to be the most common. With both Source Connects and Riverside.FM, you can rest easy as the software allows the engineer on the other end to monitor and record your audio for you during the call. Source Connect Standard seems to be the most popular in my experience, but it also comes with a one time licensing fee or a monthly subscription cost. Last I checked, paying monthly for 2 years will effectively pay for the full out right license so if you mean business and you’re seeing auditions and booking sessions that require Source Connect Standard, just bite the bullet and pay for the outright license.

Once you’ve connected with everyone, you’ve entered the THUNDERDOME.

No but seriously, once the session is live, you should be on your best, most customer servicey behaviour. Ask questions early and frequently if you think they will help the session flow smoothly. Take direction well. At the end of the session, confirm again what their expectations are from you after everyone hangs up. Are you sending them the audio you recorded? An invoice? Asking if they need pick ups? Make sure you know what comes next!

(Also, with anything voiceover there is usually no expectation that you appear on webcam but some clients may prefer to see you perform or need your camera on for other reasons. Know ahead of time if they want you on camera!)

Working with the Engineer

(This section was requested by my very talented VO friend Ed Selvey)

Ed brought up the point of working with the engineer (in situations where you’re connected via Source Connect or other software that let’s the Engineer on the other end edit on the fly).

In these situations, you have the great opportunity to ask the engineer to play things back for you. That means if the client likes take 3 and wants you to do “another take like that” you can ask the engineer “Hey, do you mind leading me in with Take 3 please?”

Some engineers may give you a bit of gruff because you’re asking them to do a bit of work, but this method of recording almost always leads to a better result so all engineers should be open to doing this for you!

Engineers may also slate the takes for you, so be aware of that as well. “Okay, this is take 7 aaaaaand we’re recording”. If they don’t slate the recording on their end, it doesn’t hurt to ask if they’re recording or if you’re good to do your read.

Responsibilities and Recap

You’re responsible for being easy to work with, providing a great product and troubleshooting any issues that may arise in your space or on your end of the call. If you did everything I’ve mentioned, you’ll be in a great spot!

Live Directed Sessions are not a walk in the park, so don’t be afraid to be afraid. Something may happen that’s out of your control. Something may happen that you weren’t prepared for. That’s why it’s best to know the script, know your gear and be prepared for as much as you possibly can.

VO Etiquette and First Impressions

June 3, 2023 by Tyler Hyrchuk

Impressions are important in VO.

No, not those impressions… FIRST impressions.

Hypothetical: an office job is hiring for a position and the only way to be considered is to walk up to a ballot box where the hiring person is standing and drop your resume/CV in the box.

If I’m that hiring person, ten bonus points to whoever acknowledges my existence. Hell, you can even just say “here’s my resume” and I’ll throw you a couple bonus points.

That’s how we submit for jobs in the voiceover industry. In some cases we’re in direct communication with the person doing the hiring, in other cases, there’s a middle person ie: agent, production house, casting director. And that’s if we’ve even got to the submission process!

Making First Impressions

There are a few different “first impressions” you can make in the industry.

The most common is making an impression on a casting director/client when submitting for a role you found on your own or through a casting site. You may not have the chance to add a note of any kind to the audition, but if you do, THANK THEM FOR LISTENING. It’s a super small gesture but it goes a long way.

Another way you can make an impression through just submitting an audition is through a slate. Slates have been getting less and less popular over the years, but I LOVE a slate. I’ll do different voices, crack little jokes, play with the emPHAsis of the letters of my agency or my name. But don’t make slates longer than they need to be! If you’re slate is longer than five seconds then you’re likely to piss off the listener.

A lot of what your first impression does is it helps you stand out. Apart from appearing polite, friendly and a person that people want to work with, you need to stand out!

Back in 2019 I submitted to be a volunteer narrator for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. The first step of their audition process was to call into their office during off hours and leave a message introducing yourself then reading a couple paragraphs from a book.

I read from 50 Shades of Grey. I prefaced my reading by saying “the book I’m reading from prompted google user James27 to say ‘this is hot garbage’”.

When I was brought in for an in person audition, they told me how much they loved my audition. It made them laugh. It was memorable. After two more rounds of auditions, they brought me on as a narrator and I’ve been narrating for them ever since!

Making a SECOND First Impression

There are also some cases where you can make a first impression TWICE. I know that sounds confusing, but bear with me.

You’ve sent in an audition, reading from the provided script. It’s potentially gone through a casting director and a client/several clients. They’ve likely all heard your audition and have selected you based on your performance in it. Your sound quality was great, your diction was awesome, you didn’t have any flubs and you nailed the spec that they had provided. You’re the right voice for the gig!

That’s your first impression.

Now, they’ve requested a live directed remote session/in-studio session.

When you hop on that call or enter that studio, they’re meeting you as a voiceover artist, as a fully formed human being.

This is the SECOND first impression.

Now you’re not just a recording. This is the first time they’re interacting with you in real time. They’ll probably chat with you, make small talk, ask you questions.

This can be where people falter. They can get too crass with their answers or perhaps too political (left or right, it doesn’t matter!), unknowingly insult someone or even just come off as an asshole (through no fault of their own!).

I’ve heard many stories of people getting jobs then showing up for the job and actually being fired or not hired by that client again because of their lack of manners or lack of etiquette or even just bad technical performance skills.

Etiquette and Technical Skills

Now etiquette, showing up on time, being friendly and polite are all things that I would argue are pretty easy to be “good” at. If you aren’t inherently good at these things, then work on them!

But having good technical skills takes time and experience. You can work on an audition for 45 minutes, nail it and be hired for the job. But when it comes to the live session, you can crumble because you don’t know how your gear works or you don’t understand the terminology that a director is using.

Being able to hand in a strong self tape does NOT mean you’re ready for a live directed session. Keep that in mind.

There are a lot of things that people can do wrong in this industry. And there are a lot of things that people can do RIGHT in this industry. I would argue that a lot of the things you can do “wrong” are somewhat obvious (at least to me). Other’s need to be learned through experience in sessions or workshops and webinars. Same for the things that you can do “right”.

If you maximize the number of things that you do “right” and minimize the number of things you do “wrong”, you’ll be just fine.