Auditions anybody?

Last week presented an interesting situation that I had't experienced before. Two local studios wanted me to do an audition for them for the same spot. Personally, I have no problem with providing auditions for whoever wants one. I believe that the engineers idea of what the client might want is a great place to start. If the engineer gets involved enough to give an opinion. If he doesn't, you're on your own to offer what you think the client wants.
I don't know about you but my loyalty is primarily to myself. The more places I audition with for the same job, the greater my chances of being the talent doing that job for pay. It did get a little interesting last week when I was asked whether I'd already auditioned for the spot. I guess I'll know in a couple days how things turned out. I'll keep you apprised..

Work, class, and study..

  I'm so behind on this blog! No matter, I hadn't done much exciting to tell you about until about a week ago. But now I have!

  On Wednesday of last week I did two jobs on the same day! That's a rare occurrence for sure. I didn't have either of them scheduled and suddenly I had two local studios calling for me. My first job was a promotion for the Gap Band at the Hard Rock Live in Mississippi. The client called in via phone patch to direct. Everything went smoothly and the client and engineer were happy after only my first few takes. It always feels great when a job can be done quickly. It suggests that you as a voice talent is good at what you do and performances which require less time to perfect is the best validation I can think of. Frequent practice can be given credit for that.

  The second job was a PSA piece pertaining to changing the lives of children to keep them from eventually ending up in prison. It went just about as smoothly even though the client was there in person. The number of takes were roughly the same but selection of the most appropriate background music to run with the vocals took more time than producing the vocals. 

  I was professional and helpful as usual. My class I just recently finished reminded us to ask questions before a job if there is anything we're uncertain about so I was able to implement some of what I'd just been reminded to do.

  Over the years I've done this, I've learned to ask questions. How do you want this word pronounced? What tone should the first paragraph take? Should I say this number like this or like that? There is always a little something I'm uncertain about as I take the mic so there is always a good reason to get some more clarity before I get going with the read. Doing so makes me look more professional and capable rather than less so.

  My study in Spanish is coming along well. I've created for myself a nemonic (an obvious misspelling but you know what I mean) to help me with verb endings. This help tool is only for singular verbs in the present, past and  future tenses. I'll be learning the plural endings soon. I know that this will assist me mightily when I start attempting to read materials in Spanish. I'm proud of my progress thus far and I still manage to do some studying virtually everyday.

   You know I'll keep you apprised so keep in touch.

Habla Espanol

I'm presently deep in study of Spanish. I have tons to learn and it won't be accomplished in short order but I'm determined and dedicated. My goal is to be fluent by years end.
To me fluent means being able to communicate easily with hispanics who are unable to speak English. I also expect that this new ability will also increase my marketability in the voice over industry.
Regrettably, I've not had a job in awhile but I'm still auditioning often and I'm presently taking a voiceover class. I'll share that with you after Monday, February 23rd, my last of three classes. So, until next time..

Broadening Horizons

Everything I do in this business has to do with increasing my opportunities to be successful. Well, now I've started something which I believe will give me a few new chances to survive in this business on my voice alone.
Are you bilingual? I've wanted to be for years and years. This year I plan to be. I've purchased a software and books to study Spanish. My goal is to increase the demand for my services. Whether its translation or voice I will be available by this years end to provide some of those services. So you heard it here first. I'll keep you apprised..

Certified!

I'm finally certified! So what does that mean? I can prove to prospective clients who want a voice talent who not only have Source-Connect but who can be counted on to have a reliable system. A fast enough broadband, appropriately configured network, and proficiency in the use of the Source-Connect program are all very important in performing a job with that software. My recently earned certification says I can now do that.

That is one victory but I'm already in another battle.
I have Skype and I'm able to perform recordings using Skype as my phone patch. The client can hear me as I record and thus can critique my performance. The problem arises when the client wants to hear a spot immediately after I've recorded it. I'm trying to find the best, least expensive way to accomplish this and I'm not perfectly satisfied with my proposed solutions. One way compromises the audio quality of the playback and the other imposes a delay (not outrageous but potentially several minutes) before the client can hear the spot.

I'm still working this and I'll keep you apprised of my final solution.

Certification..so close!

  Friday I spent an hour working toward the certification of my studio in the use of Source-Connect software. I tried to ask all the questions I thought would eventually be asked either by me or my client during a remote session. I'm sure the technician lost patience with me but he was very professional about any impatience he must have been feeling.

  We managed to open the ports (I'm not the most computer or internet saavy person) I'd need to use the software and a few other simple things I barely understood. Finally, though, we were ready to send a file from my studio to his to test my studios capability to competently deliver quality audio. The file was about twenty minutes long and it seemed to go fairly well. The technician said he'd email me about the results when he's finished.

  I'm waiting a little impatiently to know..

  The technician and my session seemed to go just fine. However, right after he and I finished, I called a local engineer friend to test my system and I couldn't understand why I was receiving echos when I spoke. I heard no echo of the engineer and he heard no echo of himself or of me but I kept hearing me about a second later repeat myself. So I guess I'm not there yet. Believe me I'm still working on that. In fact I'll address that tomorrow and I'll keep you 'posted'.

  I found my impersonation of greatness on Youtube by searching with the words "mark fiore national day of service martin luther king" (without the quotation marks). Go listen and tell me what you think.

Characterization!!

  You can bet that I was delighted when I won an audition last week for a characterization (impersonation) of a historic personality. Guess who? Well let me tell you--Martin Luther King! Out of approximately thirty auditions, mine was preferred by the client.

  Naturally I'm pleased. I performed the line given me and an additional one they requested. I was honored to be the talent whose voice will be representing King in the museum for some years to come I suspect.

  This blog is supposed to offer some learning opportunity with each post so what is this weeks lesson? I guess it is to keep on trying and never let up. If it is your goal to work successfully in voiceovers, you must never quit. I attribute my success, such as it is, to my persistence and my never say die perspective.

  I win very few auditions. Not because I'm appreciatively less talented than my peers but because that is the nature of this business. One must persist. Simply continue to try, plug along, don't be dissuaded by infrequency of selection. Just continue to throw your hat in the ring along with the others. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then.

  By the way, I did a very respectable impersonation of Dr King.

  I'll keep in touch and keep you abreast of my voiceover exploits. Until next time..

Almost Certified..

Once again, distractions have kept me from my weekly blog entry. Well, finally I'm back and ready once again to share what has transpired since last I wrote.
As always my notes pertain to voiceovers and , in that connection, I'm to be soon certified in the use of the studio-to-studio recording software Source-Connect. As soon as the holidays were over, I was supposed to schedule a time when the people at Source Elements could certify me. Just as the holidays ended and January 5th came around, my computer crashed! Obviously I've now had to postpone the session for certification. Bummer.
The benefit of being certified is that whenever a prospective client needs someone in this region who has source connect, they can confidently consider me because it will be listed in my profile on the Source Elements website that I'm certified in the software. This means that my bandwidth and network configuration and my proficiency in the use of the software will all insure that a great consistent connection can be attained for the project at hand. It bodes well for me to look good and professional to all prospective clients.
Fortunately the issue with my computer seems to be minor and I will be back up shortly. So stay tuned. You should soon be hearing all about my certification in the Source Connect software and you can be sure that I won't be shy when sharing. Until next time, peace.