VO Weekly Workflow – The Throwaway Take

When speaking about deletions last week, the idea was not to require a “zero tolerance” approach for extra takes. There’s really no definitively correct number of takes to hang on to. Working through the challenges of an audition, five might be appropriate, four could be a good number, and three may be easy enough to manage.

The key idea is that each additional option we retain impacts our workflow much more than we might think. Those decisions stack up and become exponentially more complex with each variable. While it feels safe to keep things around, doing so simply defers those actual decisions. When deadline arrives we need to pick one and move on. Having made no choices along the way provides us with a wide range of options, putting us back at square one.

Can we ask a different question?

Why do we need any of those extra takes? Is there another assumption which might be undercutting our success? What if we limited ourselves to just one take?

Yeah…that’s kind of scary, isn’t it? But what would you change if you only had one opportunity?

Before I got involved in voiceover, talent used to show up at their agents’ offices to read. Scripts got handed out and everyone prepped and practiced for their time in the booth. That booth time was strictly limited. You might get a second take, but generally it was expected that you delivered the goods on your first read. After all, there was a line of antsy voice actors behind you awaiting their opportunity, and the auditions had to be sent out to the client by a specific time.

Those conditions put a great deal of pressure on talent to be brilliant on demand. That has a way of sharpening focus. It’s the same pressure that accompanies any live performance – musicians, dancers, comedians, and stage actors all face the challenge of timing and delivery in the moment. Those high stakes don’t typically exist in the comfort and safety of our home recording spaces. The more takes we allow ourselves, the less pressure is on us to dig deeply and find that focused moment.

What if you declared a “first take only day”? What would that change in your approach? It might be a habit to sorta ease into the booth and kinda work through a script after hitting the RECORD button, hoping for some brilliance but figuring that was the throwaway take.

Instead, after doing any prep you felt necessary, what if you committed to sending that first take?

What would that change?

Have you tested your studio’s audio quality to make sure it meets professional standards? For a free review of your vocal recordings, please use the upload tool on my Audio Review page.

Please share! please feel free to share or link to this resource using one of the buttons below. If you would like to receive these weekly posts directly to your email, you can sign up here