What if we avoid the stem to stern refit? Often a few small changes will create a more significant benefit. Efficiencies are found through refinement. After all, we should have a deeper working knowledge of those tasks we repeat. Omitting a needless step which occurs numerous times per day can clear a lot of cruft out of the process. Putting robust and understandable tools together is a powerful place to work.
For the past few years, project specs have begun encouraging us not to "sound like a voice actor..." That request points to another listener perception which has grown over the years. Just as the "announcery" moniker is the generic version of a radio voice, maybe we can think of "sounding like a voice actor" as the generic approach to what we do. The challenge to us, then, is to be more specific....
Three ideas, which for one reason or another have popped up repeatedly in the last month or so while working in my home voiceover studio. Since that's kind of the universe's way of trying to make a point, I thought I'd share them here.
We have a lot of good choices in terms of audio gear snd software these days. It's helpful to keep in mind that a "good" choice is seldom the "only" choice.
Anything which contains circuitry can degrade and fail over time. Circuit boards flex and crack. Solder joints become brittle. Components age out. We typically experience that through weird sounds or increased noise in the signal. It's always very instructive to see how companies handle these types of failure issues after the sale.
Voiceover is inherently isolating as is running your own freelance services business. While much of what we do demands direct connection with our creative intent, there are those tasks which might be better outsourced. This leaves us with more attention to focus on those things which only we can do.
How long has it been? An actual in-person workshop? A voice over session dialog session with your scene partner in the same room? I gotta say, it was a whole lot of fun!
Our computers can slowly become the proverbial "Junk Drawer" where everything gets thrown in and nudged around just enough so the drawer can be closed. Needing to find something, we dig in just far enough to discover it, then quickly push things closed and head on to other projects. This can lead to some issues later on...
When we start sending audio to different apps inside our computer, things can get a little confusing. Focusrite's Control 2 update adds some interesting features.
© JustAskJimVO.studio / Jim Edgar
For my VO Services: JimEdgarVoices.com
