Hi there. I’m working on becoming a narrator, medical narration, eLearning and similar-type genres. I’d like your overall impressions. Also would like to know if I sound conversational.
Hi! I am by no means an expert here, but I know in order for us to improve, we have to also “learn” to hear others’ scripts and learn to be able to give feedback, so here I am! I will go by what my coach focused in my session with her. Firstly, I think you sound very clear and concise which is awesome. Secondly, one of the things I was told to think about is, pretend you have a friend sitting across from you at the table. So read your script in the way you would speak it to that person. Another tip she had for me was to use a word that leads in to the script (you can always cut that part out of your audio, but if it helps to make us feel like it’s a conversation, then it’s helpful!). It’s hard for me to think about it, I actually have to say the “lead in” word, like “So….” I also thought there was a bit of pausing in between words, so it seemed there was some hesitation. I downloaded the TwistedWave app on my phone and I use it to record and listen to myself and re-record a ton of times, but it’s great to be able to hear myself and notice what I like and don’t like. I hope this was somewhat helpful and do personally think narration is a great category for you!
I am currently renting a studio for my auditions that has a noise floor of about -30 dB before my fx chain brings it down below -60 dB. (I think the -30 dB roomtone doesn’t sound too bad in this instance). Is it seen as unprofessional if, when I hypothetically booked a job using this studio where the job was looking to have the booking recorded at a remote studio, I then opted to rent a higher end studio with better noise floor before processing? I’m not sure if they would have vetted the first studio in the audition, then would be upset if I wanted to change to have better raw audio. Attached are samples of my VO in the studio before and after processing with roomtone at the end.
I just came here to say this Acura commercial makes me want to buy one! Alas! maybe once I make it in the Voice-over world 😀 Really enjoy your voice and think it’s powerful and just right for this commercial. I did not notice glottal stops, which I’m just learning is a thing. The only thing I noticed is the script used a lot of the word, “future”, but I suppose that is not on you. Great job!
Greetings fellow VOs. Looking for some feedback on this two-take 25-second como for Laramie Air that requested a “western read”. Thanks in advance. the pace of the read was as directed by client.
Hi Dave. Daniel in San Diego. You’ve got a great voice for this! I hear the pace was directed by the client. That may be the case, but you may want to use one of your takes to let them hear what it would sound like a little faster and with shorter pauses. It seems a bit too slowed down. Just my impression. Pace aside, I think you could still vary your second take from the first even more than you have. You use somewhat more tonal range in the second one, but less than you could maybe? I hear the 2 “character” voices, which is good, but they’re still quite similar to my ear. The depth of your natural voice already suggests a “cowboy” quality so I don’t think you even need to put the character voice on. Just having the thought in your mind will bring it out enough. Otherwise, it can sound exaggerated in parts. My two cents, of course, and I’m splitting hairs because they’re already both very good reads that show lots of possibility. Excellent!
Acura Commercial Practice – Looking for some feedback before my next coaching session! Things I was told to work on in the past include – Pacing – too fast, getting lazy with enunciation and pronunciation of multi syllable words, dreaded glottal stops.
Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Edited with Audacity – noise reduction, compressed, amplified and exported to mp3.
Silverado Commercial Practice – Looking for some feedback before my next coaching session! Things I was told to work on in the past include – Pacing – too fast, getting lazy with enunciation and pronunciation of multi syllable words, dreaded glottal stops.
Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Edited with Audacity – noise reduction, compressed, amplified and exported to mp3.
Here are three files on narration that I am currently in the process of working on. Since the desktop I used when making these recordings uses an SSD Hard Drive, I was wondering if that made a difference in the quality of the audio itself?
Hey everyone! My biggest challenge has been moving from a more “announcer” read to a more conversational tone. It is still definitely a work in progress, but let me know your thoughts. The first is an in-show narration read and the second is a more self-help style read.
I liked the Iberian read. I enjoy your sound and alot of your pauses but I just feel if you slowed it down a tad it’d be that much better. Just feels a little rushed. Put a lil more emphasis on certain words and this will be a killer.
Hello and good morning fellow VO peers. I would like feedback and critique on a recording I did based of a Telephony script, called Franklin Investments, from Edge Studio’s Free Script Library. I need to know some specific things such as:
If my pacing is too slow, fast, or just right?
Does it sound conversational and convincing?
Are you able to understand each word I say while reading the script?
You have a very pleasing voice to listen to! One thought I had during your read, was that the pace could be quickened a bit. You are clear and understandable, but I bet if you can speed up the read a bit you can still keep those points. Toward the end when reading the number prompts, it seemed a bit choppy. You may want to try and adjust the pauses in each phrase so that there is no breath break. For example, something like “if you would like to leave a message (no pause) please press two now”. Great job!