I’m always getting terrific questions from Santa Clarita Magazine readers about the voice-acting business. This is the second part of my answer regarding voice-over demos:
Q: I’ve voiced a number of commercials and think I’m ready to make a demo, but do I really need to? Do you have any suggestions as to how to go about it? –Roberta K., Santa Clarita, CA
A: There are many things to consider and remember before plunging into the project that will be your audio calling card, help you find an agent, introduce you to casting directors and producers and help get you work, providing you have achieved proficiency in voice acting. Here are a few tips to insure a successful outcome:
• Find an affordable digital studio (with a good SFX and music library) with an engineer and/or director/producer who have a good reputation for creating and directing voice-over talent and demos.
• Make sure to record only about 1.5 minutes in length and be prepared later on to whittle it down to 60 seconds. Pick material that shows your range, is nationally-branded, and is current and commercial, i.e., categories that are on the air all the time, like department stores, automotive, banking, etc. Make sure you have only commercial elements on your commercial demo—not promos, trailers, narrations or anything else that could be construed as anything other than a commercial. Use five, 10 or 15-second elements, but no longer.
• You want your performances to vary, sound-wise. Have the engineer put varied amounts of equalization (EQ) on your segments. This will make it sound like you’ve recorded different spots at different studios.
• Make sure that your demo shows off your signature voice or your money voice, so listeners can get a reference as to what you really sound like. Your demo should showcase various shades of you, not different character voices. Save those for your animation demo. I hope this information helps. I’ll have more to add regarding your question next month. Good luck!
For more information, Marc Cashman can be contacted at cashcomm@earthlink.net or through his website, www.cashmancommercials.com .