CREATIVOICES

Having the real feel with ‘Ama’

2012-01-29T02:28:00.001+08:00

Being hands on is the key. Since the world of voice acting, most particularly dubbing, is what really intrigues and piques the curiosity of people, it is indeed a great chance for anyone to have a glimpse of what dubbers do in real life. And how about trying to feel it?

Just last January 28, VoiceWorx 19 attendees were able not just to take a peek but also to have the feel of what it is like to dub a material under the supervision of the one and only Mr. Danny ‘Ama’ Mandia, a reputable and well-experienced dubbing director for ABS-CBN.

Since Ama wanted to make the session more of ‘hands on’ instead of just being theoretical, he decided to let them try what it is like to be in the business by undergoing the same processes people in the industry undergo in reality from the preparation of the script to the dubbing proper.

In the process, it was apparent that many students were both nervous and excited. They were also able to feel some kind of stress and adrenaline but nevertheless, conquered everything with a sense of fulfillment.

Déjà vu at The Rizal Shrine

2012-01-27T18:29:00.001+08:00

Before his successful talk on “Personal Branding” in Colegio San Juan de Letran- Calamba City, the VoiceMaster decided to pay a visit to the birth place and home of his idol and the National Hero of the Philippines Jose Rizal.

With the team, he visited the place where Rizal was born and he was raised and there he felt some kind of déjà vu, which he described as “being in a place for the first time but having the feeling as it you have been there before.” He also said that it he has always felt a strong connection to this idol.

The VoiceMaster inspires Letran Calamba students

2012-01-27T00:24:00.000+08:00

In connection with the celebration of Colegio San Juan de Letran – Calamba City’s School of Education, Arts, and Sciences (SEAS) week, Pocholo “The VoiceMaster” Gonzales was invited as a keynote speaker during their seminar on “Personal Branding” held at the Fra. Angelico Hall, January 26.
In this talk, the VoiceMaster was able to move many students coming from different courses, proving that “Branding” is not just about business and marketing but is also applicable in every individual and is necessary in promoting one’s self through creating the right trademark.
No surprise, the students who listened to the VoiceMaster’s talk were really inspired after the seminar. They even cherished the chance to have photo opportunities with the VoiceMaster.

It was just one of the many schools that were already visited by the VoiceMaster for his talks on Voice Acting, Guerilla Marketing, Personal Branding, and Youth Leadership. It was also his first speaking engagement in this year and he is expected to visit many schools again to share his knowledge in different fields and inspire people.

Character Voice and Life Lessons from the VoiceMaster

2012-01-21T17:41:00.000+08:00

Like what CreatiVoices claims, VoiceWorx is not just a mere basic voice acting ang dubbing workshop. It does not just teach individuals what they should learn in the art of voice acting but also allows them to get more inspiration and life lessons to help them not just in their careers or chosen fields but also in daily life.Which is why, on the workshop's third session with the VoiceMaster Pocholo Gonzales last January 21, the workshop attendees had their dose of motivational and life lessons--things that could inspire them as individuals.It was very natural for the VoiceMaster himself is a well-known motivational speaker. As such, he has already moved thousands of people around the world and he believe that as a mentor, it would also be a great passion to share these inspiring stories to the ones who want to improve as voice artists.

This makes VoiceWorx a kind of personality development program at the same time. It does not just aim to teach the students things that they should know in the art of voice acting but also touches on simple daily life lessons which might sound too ordinary but were too helpful in every person's life.

Aside from the striking words of wisdom from the VoiceMaster himself, all these were made even easier through the help of some activities that were done inside the class--some activities which, at first, seem so simple yet definitely helpful in one's development. During the workshop, every participant was encouraged to be active, participate well, and relate to his/her co-attendees well.

But of course, apart from the hands-on activities, VoiceWorx also teaches its students how to be a good listener which, in reality, is a very important communication skill.

It is because we believe that apart from learning the basics, it also important for every voice artist or every aspiring one to improve as a person who communicates to his fellow as he goes on with his life.So, it was no surprise that the students learned a lot of things during this day. They not just learned about how to create different voices through the powerful techniques taught to them. They were also able to get some inspiring things that they could carry anywhere they wander.

Taking care of the voice and other important lessons on the second day of VoiceWorx 19.

2012-01-16T14:52:00.003+08:00

Since voice is every voice artist’s weapon, it is also important for every voice artist and aspiring voice artists to learn how to take care of his own voice. This is for one to make sure that he is not abusing what he is using in his craft and to ensure that it is properly cared for. This is one of the focuses of the second session of the VoiceWorx, January 14.

The session was facilitated by Mr. Brian Ligsay. He imparted some lessons on how to take care of the voice to the attendees as well as some lessons on the technicalities of voice acting. For instance, he also discussed how the microphone works and how different types of it should be used.

There were also other important things that were discussed during the session so it was no surprise that everyone was really able to learn a lot of things and enjoyed at the same time.

VoiceWorx 19 begins today!

2012-01-08T15:16:00.000+08:00

January 7, 2012 - Individuals coming from different fields and having different circumstances convene and begin a journey together--the journey towards fulfilling their dreams of becoming voice artists through the country's only one and most comprehensive voice acting and dubbing workshop, the VoiceWorx. The workshop will last for two months (eight consecutive Saturdays).

: An attendee while introducing herself

: During the lecture/discussion

: A workshop participant during the primary recording

: An activity was done to let the attendees know more about each other.

The VoiceMaster rocks 2011

2011-12-28T09:02:00.000+08:00

The year 2011 is really packed with happenings and achievement not just for CreatiVoices but also for the VoiceMaster himself, Pocholo Gonzales. Now, here are what were in store for him for the year.

January

3 – New Logo and Introduction of CreatiVoices Productions

7 – DZRJ 809 AM Radio Guesting and GNN with Marides Fernando

16 – “ICT Road Show” at SM Mega Mall Event Center

18 – Feature on “Kapuso mo, Jessica Soho” and talk on Voice Acting at the Holy Rosary Academy of Las Pinas

19 – Sakto kay Paolo Bediones Radyo 5 Guesting

21 – 4th Student Ad Congress at the Rockwell Tent

26 – Recoding for another SEGA game February

8 – Talk on Voice Acting at the Miriam College

11 – Talk at the De La Salle University – Taft

15 – Talk at the STI Global City

18 – Talks in Cagayan de Oro and Marawi

25 – EDSA Revolution @25 Coverage with Blogwatch March

3 – TerraWars Invasion of New York (game) recording with Vicky Morales and Mike Enriquez

27 – STI Cubao talk

29 – Launching of the Philippine Marketing Association National Marketing Conference

April

3 – CreatiVisions Logo and Introduction launching

7 – Final Version of Aquabest “Make that Shift” promo AVP release

21 – Talk during the 50th Commencement Exercise of Antotio G. Llamas Elementary School (AGLES)

29 – SSEAYP International General Assembly in Singapore

May

5 – Meeting in Malaysia

20 – Livestreaming with PCSO Chairperson Marjorie Juico

31 – JCI Asia Pacific Conference

June

7 – Reel time (Voice over by the VoiceMaster)

24 – “Gintong Tinig” (ABS-CBN Documentary) taping with Julius Babao

30 – “Youth Empowerment” talk in Lipa City, Batangas

July

VOICEMASTER ON GINTONG TINIG from POCHOLOGY GONZALES on Vimeo.2 – “Gintong Tinig” air date

7 – San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corporation talk

22 – Talk on “Personal Branding” at the St. Mary’s College, Tagum City

24 – “Personal Branding” talk at the 10th Filipino Franchise Show 2011 at the World Trade Center

August

23 – “The Art of Barangay Branding” with Mayor Marides Fernando, Al Ian Barcelona, and PJ
Lanot in Puerto Princesa, Palawan

26 – Trip to Hongkong with the family

September

17 – Blogapalooza

20 – Youth 4 IT at the UP Diliman, Quezon City

23 – GoNegosyo Young Entrpreneurs Summit

25 – Motivational talk with the Philippine delegation to SSEAYP 2011

26 – Audio Bible launch

October

6 – JCI Philippines National Convention in Zamboanga

14 – Gma NewsTV’s “Best Men” interview/ taping

19 – GMA NewsTV’s “Hecklines” interview

25 – Gma NewsTV’s “Best Men” air date and Kris TV interview

26 – PMA Election, elected as a Board Member

29 – Philippine SME and Franchise Expo and “Hecklines” air date

November

12 – SSEAYP Homestay Program

17 – Release of the article on freelancing on “Students Digest”

20 – “Personal Branding Talk” at the University of San Carlos, Cebu City

December

7 – Awarding Ceremony, Ten Outstanding Young Men by the JCI Pilipinas

9 – “Voice acting for games” talk for the Philippine Game Development Festival at the De la Salle-College of St. Benilde

15 – Recording for the Prestone Brake Fluid radio ad

22 – Release of the Video voiced by international voice over artists to encourage people help Sendong victims

CreatiVoices Cooperates with an international voice artists’ community in helping Sendong Victims

2011-12-23T11:11:00.001+08:00

CreatiVoices Productions is one with a community of voice artists coming from different places in the world in producing a video that will encourage people from all around the world to help the victims of the tropical storm Sendong .The project was started through the “Let’s talk about Philippines,” a Facebook group formed to help the affected individuals by the typhoon Sendong.A script was drafted first and was improved later on through the help of the volunteer voice artists until it was marked as the final. Soon, it was recorded and through the internet, recordings were sent to CreatiVoices Productions. When voice files were already available, it was synced with a video that was also prepared earlier.As of now, the video which uses the first batches of the voices has been released and is already circulating online. The international voice artists’ community is glad to help in their own way which is through lending their golden voices.The first batch of voices includes voices of Andy Boyns, Arthur Maxx, Robert Churchfield Jr., Maike Tanner, Jenn Wong, Sanjo Ogunseye, Rick Lance, Herb Merriweather, Seth Niimi, Scott “Scooter” Fortney, Dave DeAndrea, and Mehmet Onur.

The VoiceMaster Create your Voices Challenge is extended

2011-12-22T12:12:00.003+08:00

Due to lack of participants, we are extending ‘TheVoiceMaster Create your Voices Challenge’ until May 7, 2012.
Participants who already have their entries uploaded onYoutube and linked them on the VoiceMaster’s page (www.faceboook.com/TheVoiceMasterOnline)can still continue earning points through likes.
In the mean time, individuals who want to participate maystill come up with their entries. Entries should be in video form showing themmaking different voices (as many as they can in one video). Only one entry perparticipant is allowed. Each entry should be uploaded on Youtube and its linkshould be posted on the VoiceMaster’s page so people could vote through liking.The most number of likes on May 7, 2012 12:00am will be the winner.

The winner will receive a VoiceWorx Voice Acting and BasicDubbing Workshop scholarship.

For more information, you may send your inquiries toroemina@creativoices.com

The VoiceMaster voices for GMA News TV’s ‘Reel Time’ again

2011-12-19T20:16:00.000+08:00

The VoiceMaster, once again, voiced for GMA News TV’s ‘Reel Time’ for their documentary entitled “Siksik Liglig” which was aired last Sunday, December 18.

The documentary talks about the increase of population in the urban areas due to factors such as migration and rampant birth rate among families in which parents do not practice family planning.

So far, this is the second time that the VoiceMaster was asked to do the voice for the said show. In fact, just July this year, the VoiceMaster also did the voice for the documentary which talked about the elderlies that are left in home for the aged.

The VoiceMaster is now the voice of Prestone Break Fluid

2011-12-15T17:02:00.001+08:00

Addition to the names of products which used the voice of The VoiceMaster, Preston Brake Fluid now belongs to the long list. This is after the VoiceMaster himself did the recording for the latest radio advertisement of the said product which is now being aired on different radio stations.Preston Brake Fluid is just one of the many products which trust the VoiceMaster and the power of his voice. The VoiceMaster himself has been voicing commercials along with other voice over applications for more that 15 years.

The VoiceMaster Attends the JCI TOYM Awarding Ceremony

2011-12-09T22:38:00.001+08:00

Pocholo “The VoiceMaster” Gonzales attended the awarding ceremony for this year’s search for the Ten Most Outstanding Young Men at the Rizal Hall, Malacanang Palace, December 7.

The VoiceMaster himself witnessed the awarding of the winners which included Injap Sia II, Mayor Gatchallian of Valenzuela, and Gerald Salonga.

Ten most outstanding Young Men is by Junior Chamber International (JCI) Pilipinas.

‘Voice Acting for Games’ is the next talk of the VoiceMaster

2011-12-09T22:32:00.001+08:00

Pocholo “The VoiceMaster”Gonzales is invited to talk about voice acting for games during the Philippine Game Development Festival to be held at the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde. His talk will be on December 10 (Saturday) while the game fest will run from December 9-11.The VoiceMaster himself is considered as the pioneer in the country when it comes to voicing games for having done voices for several internationally acclaimed games more particularly the ones produced by SEGA. Apart from him, he also involves his own company CreatiVoices Productions in these history-making making projects as well as the new voice artists he organizes. In fact, Operation GHOST, the latest game for which they made voices is now out.

Big and still growing through VoiceWorx

2011-11-26T14:04:00.000+08:00

Another batch of VoiceWorx attendees who survived the workshop had their graduation, November 26 at the Redbox Greenbelt 3.

This new set of individuals who accepted the challenge and managed to complete the eight sessions of voice acting and basic dubbing workshop will be an addition to the big and still growing family of CreatiVoices composed of talented people who aim to change the landscape the industry of voice acting through professionalizing it as an art form.

In fact, The VoiceMaster himself emphasized during his speech in the graduation that it is, indeed, a part of his vision to create a change in the field of voice acting through giving opportunities to the new artists. The VoiceMaster believes we need to hear new voices for we deserve more than the very same voices we've been hearing in different stations.

VoiceWorx graduates are in-demand!

2011-11-26T12:32:00.001+08:00

It used to be just a dream and now, it is coming true--the industry, truly, is now being penetrated by new faces and thus, new voices.

At the end of every episode of each Tagalog dubbed Koreanovelas most especially in ABS-CBN rolls the credits including the names of the voices artists who dubbed the characters as well as the translators who make sure that we understand every line of the series. And yes, we are proud to say that most of those names who appear there are actually the names of some graduates of the VoiceWorx. One good example is "Helena's Promise," the latest Koreanovela of ABS-CBN for which a number of VoiceWorx Alumni work. Certainly, it is a proof that products of the workshop are making it to the industry.
In fact, it is not just in the Koreanovelas that these alumni are exposed to. They are also in demand in all other things needing voices like radio and televison commercials, radio stations, AVPs, and other productions.

The VoiceMaster talks about Freelancing in Student's Digest

2011-11-19T12:24:00.001+08:00

The article of Pocholo "The VoiceMaster" Gonzales, CEO of CreatiVoices Productions talking about freelancing was published in the September-October Issue of the Student's Digest.

In his article, the VoiceMaster emphasized how freelancing enables individuals to do what they love to do and at the same time, handle projects simultaneously. Also, he gave an advice to freelancers not just to focus on freelancing and instead, consider entrepreneurship as well to open more opportunities.
The Student's Digest is approved by DepEd.

Here, we don’t just ask you to make coffee…

2011-11-17T00:23:00.002+08:00

We’ve been hearing a lot of stories of students who complain about their tasks when they are having their internship. Some of them say that they do not really learn for instead of being involved in the business, they are just asked to make coffee, act like a messenger, and even operate the photocopying machine.

Here are CreatiVoices Productions, we make sure that you have a real-time experience during your OJT days. Because we believe that involving you in the real business would help you to learn more about how the real world works, we want to give you the chance to feel how it is to be a part of our team and work with us like a professional. Not just that, we also like you to experience working with well-known people not just in the world of voice acting but in different fields. Also, we make sure that you learn not just the things you have to learn about your field but also things that you can use in your everyday life.

If you are majoring in Mass Communication (or other equivalent courses) and looking for a complany in which you can have your internship, it is your chance to have the ultimate CreatiVoices Productions experience. Just email your resume to roemina@creativoices.com.

Start your 2012 right, be a part of VoiceWorx 19!

2011-11-17T00:22:00.002+08:00

Many lives have already changed and many dreams have been realized through the country’s most comprehensive voice acting workshop—VoiceWorx! As another year starts in January, another run of VoiceWorx begins and now, CreatiVoice Productions is already accepting enrollees for this new batch.
Interested individuals may now reserve their slots through paying the Php1,000 non-refundable reservation fee (it will be deducted from the Php8,000 workshop cost). Payments are accepted at CreatiVoices Productions at 3/F 1745 Light Blue Bldg., Dian St., Palanan, Makati City or may be deposited to the following account:

Acct Name : CreatiVoices Productions
Bank : Bank of the Philippine Islands ( BPI)
Branch : Buendia-Dian
Acct. No. : 3716-8607-58

After which, a scanned bank statement with the payee’s contact details (name,address, mobile, email) with the choice of class schedule (morning or afternoon) should be sent to info@creativoices.com.
Payment for the workshop should be completed two weeks before January 7, 2012 which is the first day of the workshop.

For other information, here are some Frequently Asked Questions:

Can I make 50% down payment?
Yes.

What are the schedules of the classes?
r1 Class A:
Sessions 1 & 2 9:00am – 12:00nn
Sessions 3 8:00am – 12:00nn
Sessions 4-8 9:00am – 12:00nn
r2 Class B:
Sessions 1 & 2 2:00pm – 5:00pm
Sessions 3 2:00pm – 6:00pm
Sessions 4-8 2:00pm – 5:00pm

Will I get a job immediately after the workshop?
We do not promise to give you a job but if you are going to show exceptional talent and if you are passionate enough, it is not impossible for you to be given some projects after the workshop. Also, we help our graduates by informing them whenever there are auditions.

Who are going to teach in the workshop?
In VoiceWorx, we make sure that you learn only from reputable voice artists and directors in the country. Our teachers include Pocholo “The VoiceMaster” Gonzales, Danny “Ama” Mandia, Alexx “Supremo” Agcaoli, Neil “Papa” Tolentino, and Brian “Big Brian” Ligsay.

This is a chance of a lifetime. Join VoiceWorx and have a happy new year!

VoiceMaster on TV

2011-11-16T23:58:00.001+08:00

As the country's VoiceMaster, it is but inevitable for Pocholo Gonzales to be really in demand in all networks in the Philippines. At the age of 32, still quite young for most people, the VoiceMaster has already appeared in more than 50 television shows nationwide, a true manifestation of how distinguished he is in the world of Voice Acting.

For the VoiceMaster himself, this is but a dream come true. When he was younger, apart from dreaming of his voice being heard on the radio, he also wanted to appear on television. In fact, he still recalls a story from the past when he was interviewed for a particular television show but then, when he watched it, he found out that the part when he appeared was cut. According to him, it was when he told himself that someday, he would appear on TV.

Now, he can already be considered as the voice artist with the most number of TV appearances. Considering that it all started with a dream, it just shows then that dreams do come true. However, of course, it happens with ample amount of hard work--just like what the VoiceMaster himself did.

SSEAYP Homestay Program

2011-11-16T23:28:00.000+08:00

Day 1, November 11 (Friday)

: After the Matching at the GSIS Gymnasium

: Alya (Left) and Onny (Right) at the Sea Side of the SM Mall of Asia

It was the day devoted for the matching. Sir Choy, Pete and I went to the GSIS Gym to meet the two Participating Youths (PYs). Since Sir Choy was busy talking to a lot of people most especially the people from the National Youth Commission Program, he asked me to look for the PYs. Our number was D07 so I went to the area where I should meet the two delegates. I was expecting two females since it was indicated in the information card that the PYs that we would be meeting were two females, one from Lao PDR and Brunei Darussalam.

But when I went to the area where I should meet them, I was surprised for I saw two guys. Later on, I found out that there was something wrong with the numbering. According to the master list a staff was holding, the name of Sir Choy was under the number D05.

Finally, I went to D05 and there, I met Norizan binti Mohd Yacob, Alya for short. She was from Brunei Darussalam. Right then and there, we started talking and I immediately learned a lot of things about her. Alya is already 30. She teaches English to kids aging 6-7 years old. After a while, the second PY arrived. It was Phouthamaly Sengphaathith, Onny for short. She was from LAO PDR. Onny is an Environmental Science Graduate. She just graduated last August. She is 22 years old. After the matching, the two PYs also met Pete and of course, Sir Choy, their foster father for three days.
From GSIS, we went to our office in Makati and we introduced our new friends to the entire Creative Team. Alya and Onny just had a rest for a while and we took them to the Mall of Asia after. We were with Sir Choy, Pete, Jela, and Aarond.

At the Mall of Asia, we watched the sun set at the Bay Side. After that, we ate French Fries from Potato Corner and we also had Scramble. Right after having our snacks, we went inside the mall and we strolled. It was already 7pm when we went out and exactly on our way to the parking lot, there was a fireworks show outside and we watched it.

Then we went back to the Creative Center again, the last stop for the day, before Onny and Alya went to the house of Sir Choy where they would be staying for two nights.

Day 2, November 12 (Saturday)

: Jumpshot at the Ayala Triangle

Sir Choy and his family took Onny and Alya to the Enchanted Kingdom in the morning until the afternoon. After the ultimate EK experience, they went to the Creative Center where we saw them again. We were asked to tour them in the Makati CBD and Bonifacio Global City since Sir Choy was going to Pier 13 for an on board alumni reunion.

After we finished our office works, we left the office with Alya and Onny. We took a jeep to Crispa and we started walking along the Ayala Avenue. When we saw The Philippine Stock Exchange Building and Ayala Triangle, we decided to stay there for a while to take some photographs. We were so amazed because of the hanging lights on the trees.

Malling was our next activity that night. We went to Greenbelt first then we went to Landmark and Glorietta where we had our dinner. We ate at Jollibee. During the dinner, we talked about a lot of things including what they have in their own countries. Also, it was a great chance for me to talk to Alya about the education system in Brunei and in the Philippines.

After the dinner, we went to SM. After we had enough, we crossed EDSA through the MRT Ayala Station. At the MRT station, we saw some stalls. In fact, Alya bought two pairs of shoes there.
After crossing EDSA, we went to the terminal of the shuttles to the Global City. The line in the terminal was long and since it was already past 10pm, there were limited shuttles. That is why, when a shuttle arrived, we were advised to just ride on them even if we would need to stand. According to the driver, it would take long for another shuttle to come.

So, as advised, we get on the shuttle even if it was crowded. We stood during our travel to Taguig but even though it was a bit haggard, we had fun.

When we reached Global City, we went to different shops and we even had some photos taken at the beautiful spots there. We also went to Fully Booked where we spent more time to look at the books and other items.

At past 11, Sir Choy arrived to pick up Alya and Onny while we took a cab back to our office.

Day 3, November 13 (Sunday)

: On board

: Alya and Onny with their Foster Father

: The Creative Team with Alya and Onny

It was the last day of the Homestay program. Pete, Bob, and I waited for Sir Choy who was with Alya and Onny at our office in Makati. When they arrived past 11am, we drove to MMDA Workers’ Inn in Manila, the meeting place for the send off and open ship.

Since there was still an extra space at the back of Sir Choy’s Car, we were able to accommodate one more delegate since we were already going to the Pier 13. Boso, also from Lao PDR and a friend of Onny occupied the space.

At the Pier 13, we saw Fuji Maru, the Ship of the Southeast Asian Youth. After taking photos, the delegates were asked to get on board so they could all leave their things there.

It was almost 2pm when we got on board for the open ship. Through this, we were able to find out how beautiful Fuji Maru is even inside. We were able to see its different facilities.

After the open ship was the closing program of the SSEAYP in the Philippines for this year. Each delegation was presented to the public.

However, unfortunately, we were no longer able to finish the program. Yet in some ways, I think it is still for the good. Surely, if we stayed until the Fuji Maru left, surely, we could have cried.

In fact, even before the program began, I have already seen a lot of people crying most especially the PYs as they said goodbye to their foster families. Most especially, it was never impossible for anyone to be attached to the PYs despite the shortness of the time given for them to stay here.

Of course, saying goodbye to Onny and Alya was not easy at all. We only stayed with them for three days but it was very easy for us to be attached to them. In truth, even up to now, we cannot still move on with the entire experience.

VoiceMaster on TV

2011-11-11T10:51:00.005+08:00

VoiceMaster on TV

2011-11-11T10:51:00.004+08:00

The VoiceMaster is now a Board Member of the PMA

2011-10-30T00:27:00.000+08:00

Pocholo “The VoiceMaster” Gonzales, a proud member of the Philippine Marketing Association (PMA) has just been elected as one of its board members during the election held last October 26.
After the election at the Hard Rock Café in Makati City, The VoiceMaster got the 5th highest number of votes, making him the youngest board member of the association.

As a new board member, The VoiceMaster aims to promote activeness not just of officers but also of the members, believing that it would contribute to a more dynamic association. Also, he wants to involve the youth most especially the marketing majors to its activities which, in a way, would help them be prepared in becoming the marketers of the next generation.

The VoiceMaster Rocks Y4IT 2011

2011-09-25T10:48:00.000+08:00

Nothing is too early for the VoiceMaster for he does not choose time to move and inspire people through his voice and thoughts that are really moving. This was what he proved during his talk during the first day of Y4IT at the University of the Philippines Film Institute, September 20.
A perfect opener and mood-setter, the VoiceMaster shared his knowledge in voice acting and its relevance in the world of information technology. He even emphasized how voice acting makes information technology applications make the world colorful and more inspiring.

Apart from his talk, he also challenged the participants to create voices. Among the ones who accepted the challenge, it was Johan Laurence Rivera of Lyceum of the Philippines Cavite who won. Johan will be given a voice acting and basic dubbing scholarship.

The VoiceMaster Goes to Young Entrepreneur Summit

2011-09-25T10:38:00.000+08:00

Pocholo “The VoiceMaster” Gonzales invaded this year’s Young Entrepreneur Summit held at the World Trade Center, Pasay City, September 23.

Being an award-winning entrepreneur, the VoiceMaster supported the said event in which he met people who have the same advocacies which is centered on the youth’s involvement in entrepreneurship. The VoiceMaster met people like Phil and James Younghusband, Sam Conception, Gab Valenciano, Injap Sila (owner of Mang Inasal), Johnlu Kua (owner of French Baker), and a lot more.

The VoiceMaster Participates in Blogapalooza

2011-09-25T09:36:00.003+08:00

Together with the other influencial bloggers in the Philippines, Pocholo “The VoiceMaster” Gonzales participated in Blogapalooza at Fullybooked Bonifacio High Street, September 17.
Blogapalooza is an event where selected Filipino Bloggers interact with the business community who promote their products and services through blogging.
The VoiceMaster, being a blogger and an entrepreneur at same time, promoted CreatiVoices Productions.

VoiceWorx! Voice Acting and Dubbing Workshop

2011-09-06T01:36:00.001+08:00

It is the most comprehensive workshop on Voice Acting and Dubbing for Telenovelas and Anime. Composed of eight sessions which are held every Saturdays (two hours minimum per session) and facilitated by the country’s best voice artists, dubbers and writer/translators, Voiceworx is truly a workshop to look forward to.

But don’t get it wrong. VOICEWORX is not just a mere Voice Acting and Basic Dubbing Workshop but also a personality development training which aims to help individuals become more confident as they are trained to go out of their comfort zones and explore themselves more. Through its lectures and hands on trainings which open the eyes of each participant not just to the world of voice acting but also to the real worId, it changes individuals and make each one of them realize that this is, indeed, a chance of a lifetime. ln fact, it has been changing lives for years and as well, contributing to the advocacy–Voice Acting as an Art.

Many lives have already changed through it. Now, listen to what people are saying about it:

“I have never found anything close to what CreatiVoices has offered, thanks to VoiceWorx! I feel more confident in speaking up and performing behind the microphone..” – Jeff Marty Dimaano, 1st batch VoiceWorx!, now also a regular du bber and President of SYVAP

“This has definitely opened up new ideas on what I can do with my voices!..” – Gabrielle Tiongson, barely 18 years old when she took the seminar, now a regular voice talent at ABS-CBN.

“I’m proud of what I have accomplished with my voice, and with the help of CreatiVoices..” – Jo Carol Fernandez, 1st place winner of H3 Dubbing Compe tition and now lead role dubber: “NANA” in the animated series “BOKURA GA ITA”

“I landed the job of Official Voiceover at Manny Pacquiao’s Show, Pinoy Records!..” – Heinie Hartendorp, former Radio jock, turned professional voice actor.

“Thanks to you guys, I’m one of the cast of the English dubbed Version of Maging Sino Ka Man..” – Pia Serrapio
, doing several voice gigs since she last attended VoiceWorx!

“Definitely more than what you bargained for.. much, much more..!” -
_user_stilissimmo [at] yahoo [dot] com”>Zaphael N. Berenguer, doing live VO gigs, Telenovela translations and actual dubbing sessions.

Now, experience something new. Get out of the box and join Voiceworx!

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost?
It costs Php. 8,000.00

How can I join?
Just make a P1000 reservation fee (non-refundable) to guarantee your slot. You can drop by at our office and pay in partial or full. The P1000 reservation fee will be deducted from your Seminar fee of P8000.00.

What if I cannot drop by your office?
You can now pay bank to bank. Please make the reservation fee or downpayment to the following account:

Acct Name : CreatiVoices Productions
Bank : Bank of the Philippine Islands ( BPI)
Branch : Buendia-Dian
Acct. No. : 3716-8607-58
After which kindly fax us a bank statement with your contact details (name,address, mobile, email) at 729-7274 depositing the said amount. Also please indicate your choice of class schedule, R1 or R2. You can also email us a copy of the scanned statement at info@creativoices.com

Can I make 50% down payment?
Yes.

When should I pay the rest of the fees?
You should pay the whole tuition fee 2 weeks before the first session to secure your slot because there are always others in the waiting lists.

What are the schedules of the classes?
r1 Class A:
Sessions 1 & 2 9:00am – 12:00nn
Sessions 3:00am – 12:00nn
Sessions 4-8 9:00am – 12:00nn

r2 Class B:
Sessions 1 & 2, 2:00pm – 5:00pm
Session 3 2:00pm – 6:00pm
Sessions 4-8 2:00pm – 5:00pm

Note: Classes may extend depending on the teacher and lesson.

When will be the next workshop?

Our next batch starts on January 2, 2012. Now, you may want to look at the following list of next batches:

Schedules for the Next Batches

Batch 20
April 14, 2012 – June 2, 2012
Graduation: June 9, 2012

Batch 21
July 7, 2012 – August 25, 2012
Graduation: September 1, 2012

Batch 22
October 6, 2012 – November 24, 2012
Graduation: December 1, 2012

Who Wants to be a Voice Artist? OFFICIAL FORM

2011-09-06T01:32:00.003+08:00

Download the official form, complete it and send it to roemina@creativoices.com on or before Sept. 17, 2011.

Who Wants to Be a Voice Artist – Form

Dreaming of Becoming a Voice Artist? This Could be Your Chance

2011-09-06T01:31:00.004+08:00

Who wants to be a voice artist?

As we all know, being a voice artist is the dream of so many anime fans. Now, the BEST OF ANIME together with CreatiVoices Productions will be giving Best of Anime attendees the chance to fulfill this dream!

Hosted by CreatiVoices Productions founder Pocholo Gonzales AKA The VoiceMaster, Who Wants To Be A Voice Artist? will give aspiring voice artists a chance to win a 10k worth of voice acting workshop scholarship and a chance to get a role in an upcoming paid project of CreatiVoices Productions!

Who Wants To Be A Voice Artist? will take place at 4:00 PM on Sunday, September 18 at the Function Room 4 and 5, 3rd level, SMX Conventon Center Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City.

The VoiceMaster will put attendees through a series of contests, testing their vocal skills and range, narrowing the voice actor hopefuls down until only one remains. The contest will consist of three rounds: Prepared Material, Versatility, and Automatic Dialogue Replacement.

Round 1 – Prepared Material
Contestants will perform a monologue or scene no longer than one minute in duration. The material can be taken from any source (film, theater, anime, original works, etc.). Contestants must provide their own material for this round.

Round 2 – Versatility Challenge
For the delight of the audience and the embarrassment of the contestants, those remaining in the game will be provided with a passage and a specific character-type to use when reading their text. This wild and wacky event is all about speed, poise, and having a good sense of humor as our contestants will have to instantly conjure up characters from every corner of the imagination.

Round 3 – ADR – DUBBING
ADR is short for Automatic Dialogue Replacement or Dubbing, and it’s what voice acting is all about. This is where the final group of contestants must lend their voices to an actual anime character. No prep, no rehearsal, no sweat… right?

The winner, to be determined by a panel of voice actor and voice director judges, will receive 10k worth of voice acting workshop scholarship and a chance to get a role in an upcoming paid event of CreatiVoices Productions!

The Official Entry form can be downloaded from the official website of CreatiVoices Productions (http://creativoices.net/voices/?p=1234). Forms must be completed and sent to roemina@creativoices.com on or before September 17, 2011. Only registered participants will be prioritized on the contest day. Those who will fail to send their forms on the deadline will only be entertained if there is still time remaining.

Who Wants to be a Voice Artist?

2011-09-06T01:30:00.000+08:00

CreatiVoices Productions is going to rock this year’s Best of Anime. Even more, we are going to give away voice acting scholarship. So, if you are an aspiring voice artist, this could be your chance! Watch out for more details regarding the competition.

Another Beginning for VoiceWorx 17

2011-09-02T01:33:00.001+08:00

Tomorrow is the graduation day of VoiceWorx 17. To some, this might signal an end; something to be sad about. Yet this is more of a new beginning. Like what is always said about the graduation, it is usually the marker of something new for it is when doors of opportunities open for some.

During the course of two months, VoiceWorx Batch 17 has undergone a lot of challenges which not only helped them learned things about the voice acting but also some things that would help them as persons.

More Fun and Challenges with The Supremo

2011-08-06T01:25:00.001+08:00

“Embe dodo/ moja pesa/ Ukienda Shamba/ Bili Kwa Pesa”

Don’t get it wrong. It is not a witchcraft chant. Instead, these phrases are the lyrics of the round song which Mr. Alexx “The Supremo” Agcaoili asked the VoiceWorx participants to sing as the opening activity for the 6th session of VoiceWorx.

This day, devoted to acting, was surely something worth all the excitement.

Packed with lots of acting activities, this sessioan was a perfect way to help the participants fully let go of their own selves and be more confident in performing. It was also a way for them to also realize more that voice acting, as an art, works best with proper acting and is not just about the quality of the voice.

VoiceWorx! Voice Acting and Dubbing Workshop

2011-08-05T01:23:00.003+08:00

It is the most comprehensive workshop on Voice Acting and Dubbing for Telenovelas and Anime. Composed of eight sessions which are held every Saturdays (two hours minimum per session) and facilitated by the country’s best voice artists, dubbers and writer/translators, Voiceworx is truly a workshop to look forward to.

But don’t get it wrong. VOICEWORX is not just a mere Voice Acting and Basic Dubbing Workshop but also a personality development training which aims to help individuals become more confident as they are trained to go out of their comfort zones and explore themselves more. Through its lectures and hands on trainings which open the eyes of each participant not just to the world of voice acting but also to the real worId, it changes individuals and make each one of them realize that this is, indeed, a chance of a lifetime. ln fact, it has been changing lives for years and as well, contributing to the advocacy–Voice Acting as an Art.

Many lives have already changed through it. Now, listen to what people are saying about it:

“I have never found anything close to what CreatiVoices has offered, thanks to VoiceWorx! I feel more confident in speaking up and performing behind the microphone..” – Jeff Marty Dimaano, 1st batch VoiceWorx!, now also a regular du bber and President of SYVAP

“This has definitely opened up new ideas on what I can do with my voices!..” – Gabrielle Tiongson, barely 18 years old when she took the seminar, now a regular voice talent at ABS-CBN.

“I’m proud of what I have accomplished with my voice, and with the help of CreatiVoices..” – Jo Carol Fernandez, 1st place winner of H3 Dubbing Compe tition and now lead role dubber: “NANA” in the animated series “BOKURA GA ITA”

“I landed the job of Official Voiceover at Manny Pacquiao’s Show, Pinoy Records!..” – Heinie Hartendorp, former Radio jock, turned professional voice actor.

“Thanks to you guys, I’m one of the cast of the English dubbed Version of Maging Sino Ka Man..” – Pia Serrapio
, doing several voice gigs since she last attended VoiceWorx!

“Definitely more than what you bargained for.. much, much more..!” -
_user_stilissimmo [at] yahoo [dot] com”>Zaphael N. Berenguer, doing live VO gigs, Telenovela translations and actual dubbing sessions.

Now, experience something new. Get out of the box and join Voiceworx!

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost?
It costs Php. 8,000.00

How can I join?
Just make a P1000 reservation fee (non-refundable) to guarantee your slot. You can drop by at our office and pay in partial or full. The P1000 reservation fee will be deducted from your Seminar fee of P8000.00.

What if I cannot drop by your office?
You can now pay bank to bank. Please make the reservation fee or downpayment to the following account:

Acct Name : CreatiVoices Productions
Bank : Bank of the Philippine Islands ( BPI)
Branch : Buendia-Dian
Acct. No. : 3716-8607-58
After which kindly fax us a bank statement with your contact details (name,address, mobile, email) at 729-7274 depositing the said amount. Also please indicate your choice of class schedule, R1 or R2. You can also email us a copy of the scanned statement at info@creativoices.com

Can I make 50% down payment?
Yes.

When should I pay the rest of the fees?
You should pay the whole tuition fee 1 week before the first session to secure your slot because there are always others in the waiting lists.

What are the schedules of the classes?
r1 Class A:
Sessions 1,2,3 10:00am – 12:00nn
Sessions 4,5,6 9:00am – 12:00nn
Sessions 7 & 8 10:00am – 12:00nn

r2 Class B:
Sessions 1,2,3 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Sessions 4,5,6 2:00pm – 5:00pm
Sessions 7 & 8 2:00pm – 4:00pm

Note: Classes may extend depending on the teacher and lesson.

When will be the next workshop?

Our next batch starts on Oct. 1, 2011. Now, you may want to look at the following list of next batches:

Schedules for the Next Batches
Batch 18
October 1, 2011 – November 19, 2011
Graduation: November 26, 2011

Batch 19
January 7, 2012 – February 25, 2012
Graduation: March 3, 2012

Batch 20
April 14, 2012 – June 2, 2012
Graduation: June 9, 2012

Batch 21
July 7, 2012 – August 25, 2012
Graduation: September 1, 2012

Batch 22
October 6, 2012 – November 24, 2012
Graduation: December 1, 2012

A bright start for a challenging session with Papa Neil Tolentino

2011-07-30T13:51:00.003+08:00

The silence was immediately broken as he entered the workshop room, as if carrying the sun with him. The next thing we knew, everything was just so bright.

It was his never-changing wits, perhaps. Unsurprisingly, it was never short to awaken the mind of the participants who were there for the fifth session of Voiceworx which is devoted to scriptwriting and translating.

Actually, this was a blessing in disguise. The lesson for the day was not easy, after all as the real thing is not easy in fact. Papa Neil even emphasized the importance of the writer s’ role in the industry of dubbing for according to him, these writers are the minds behind the lines every dubber throws. So, it was just a perfect match—a bright morning, warm up for a challenging session.

Pochology: Inspiring 4000+ youth in one day

2011-07-25T15:22:00.001+08:00

It is epidemic. Now, there is no other way than to accept the fact that it continues spreading even more. It is the power of Pochology, the Psychology of Pocholo “The Voicemaster” Gonzales.

The Voicemaster, in fact, has already inspired millions of youths after having spoken in so many schools around the world. Yet, he never gets tired. So, currently, he still continues inspiring more young people. Even more, he is taking it to the next level.

Davao City

Tagum City

10th Filipino Franchise Show, World Trade Center,

In these three talks, the Voicemaster talked more of Personal Branding and Creative Management.

'Ama' has a new style

2011-07-23T19:48:00.000+08:00

Mr. Danny Mandia, known as the “Ama” or the Father of dubbing, has a new approach in facilitating Voiceworx. Being the one who takes care of the introduction to dubbing part, he now wants more and earlier engagement of the participants in hands on dubbing.

This is unlike the past batches where there were no hands on dubbing exercises and just more of introduction to the dubbing itself plus some other exercises. Now, the participants are already given a chance to experience the real thing through mock dubbing.

This just shows that the instructors in Voiceworx do not stop in looking for ways to make the workshop even better and t make the participants more prepared. Voiceworx, in spite of its already long existence, is continuing to improve.

Voiceworx Day 3: Getting closer to the new self

2011-07-19T07:36:00.001+08:00

Shyness is but a usual enemy of Voiceworx participants most especially during the first session and this, in fact, is also one of the most important concerns that the workshop is addressing. At the end of the workshop, each participant is expected to develop his or her self confidence on and off stage.

This is made possible through a lot of appropriate activities which make sure that at the end of the day, each workshopper would no longer mind proceeding in front of the class to perform or present something. This also ensures that they will have ample amount of confidence even when it comes to their daily interactions with people around.

Packed with activities like these, the third day of the workshop lasy July 16 never failed to make every participant absorb this point even more. Facilitated by the Voicemaster and CreatiVoices Productions CEO Mr. Pocholo Gonzales, the third day was made sure to have included a couple of exercises that would allow each one to go in front and perform.

Apparently, there were already positive results. In fact, even the shyest of the shyests among the participants during the first meeting was already able to perform. Also, workshoppers also learn to volunteer themselves, very far from their habit of pinpointing who the first to present would be. In addition, since day was devoted to character voicing, they also learned how to be less concious whenever the artform requires some kind of performances that are really out of the box.

Three down, five more to go. Surely, there are more things to look forward to. And yes, the next five days would be steps closer to their new selves.

'The Voice is in the Ears of the Beholder.'

2011-07-16T16:01:00.001+08:00

"If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then the voice is in the ears of the beholder as well," said the Voicemaster Pocholo Gonzales during the third day of Voiceworx! Basic Voice Acting and Dubbing Workshop, July 16.

This is in relation to his point that voice acting is not just about possessing a good-sounding voice. In fact, he even emphasized that even "goodness" in terms of the sound is something that is really crucial since it is very subjective and like beauty, what is pleasant for one may not work for another.

Also, he pointed out that besides the quality of the voice in terms of its goodness, something that is more important is a voice artist's ability to deliver the message he or she needs to deliver and the effectiveness of this particular manner of delivery. This means that how one uses his or her voice is something that really matters.

The Art of Voice Acting

2011-07-16T11:08:00.000+08:00

Like any other art form, voice acting is something that should be taken seriously. And that means devoting ample amount of time, energy, and effort in order to improve and attain a particular level before being able to really get involved in the field. So, along with this fact goes the availability of different means of learning and mastering the art. One of these is through books.

When it comes to voice acting, James Alburger's The Art of Voice Acting is almost a bible. From the title itself, this book is about everything an aspiring voice artist should know before he dives into the sea of voice acting. It essentials from facts about the voice over industry up to the most specific tips and teachnical bits of information for aspiring voice artists.

Truly, this book is a must-read for erveryone who wants to learn more about the art form. However, reading alone should not be enough. To fully learn things about it, it is still better to also seek help from the experts in form of wrokshops. This way, a voice acting enthusiast does not only learn the theoretical aspects of it but also and most of all, its actuality which is the real thing.

Voiceworx Day Two: More learning, fresh from the experts

2011-07-09T10:58:00.000+08:00

The second day of Voiceworx opened with so much learning. Mr. Pocholo Gonzales, the Voicemaster opened the session of the Morning Class by imparting some words of wisdom which both can inspire and equip the participants in the journey they are currently in. Spontaneously, the Voicemaster was able to make them realize some things which are, in fact, not just important in terms of voice acting but also in real life.

The Workshop proper, on the other hand, was facilitated by Mr. Brian Ligsay who discussed more things about voice over. There were also giving of some pieces of advice and tips that are needed in the field.

CreatiVoices Congratulates Eloisa Cruz Canlas

2011-07-08T10:49:00.001+08:00

CreatiVoices Productions congratulates Eloisa Cruz Canlas also known as Lola Sela Bungangera for being the 2011 UP Gawad Plaridel Awardee. She used to be one of the facilitators for CreatiVoices Productions’ Voiceworx!

Click here for the complete story.

The Voice Over of Narnia’s Trailer Joins CreatiVoices

2011-07-07T10:43:00.003+08:00

Duke Morgan the voice behind Narnia Trailers joined CreatiVoices Productions VO pool.

Duke Morgan - CreatiVoices American Movie Trailers by creativoices

Breaking Into and Succeeding as a Voice Over Actor Starting a Voice Over Studio Working as a Voice Over Actor at Home

2011-07-06T10:34:00.000+08:00

Voice Over Actor

Breaking Into and Succeeding as a Voice Over Actor
Starting a Voice Over Studio
Working as a Voice Over Actor at Home

One of the biggest misconceptions about voice over acting is what we like to call the myth of the Golden Voice. Do you have to sound hugely resonant and deep like James Earl Jones, or authoritative like Don LaFontaine to make money in voice over acting? As a matter of fact, you do not.

There are many facets of the voice over acting career where, for example, a person with a distinctive voice can create a career, or where someone who finds it a snap to sound as if they are in a casual conversation when reading a script can carve a recurring market for their voice.

A “golden voice” is absolutely not essential when pursuing your future in voice over acting. Another common fallacy associated with a career in voice over acting is that a lack of a background in professional acting can harm your chances for a future. Not true! While some acting ability is a helpful and marketable talent to have, it is absolutely not a deal breaker.

Acting experience is something you can pursue over time to enhance your current ability to read a script, be expressive with your voice, and make your success as a voice over actor soar.

What if you have never worked in radio or television – does that prevent your future in voice over acting from happening? Absolutely not! Every voice over actor has to start somewhere.

Those voice over actors with names you recognize started out with no experience, the same as you are. Experience is something you have to go out and create for yourself; it is not an insurmountable obstacle. It is a simple hurdle that every aspiring voice over actor must jump at some point to get their career off the ground.

Do you live in a small town or a rural area? Are you afraid that voice over acting will require you to relocate to a larger city, or to a major entertainment hub city such as Los Angles or New York? That is patently untrue because voice over acting is a career you can build right from your own home, wherever that may be.

A rural or small town location can be easily overcome with the advent of modern technology, allowing you to set up a home studio, record your voice and market your self, all without having to leave the comfort of your own backyard.

So, what's voice over work (or acting)?

Any time you hear a person’s voice without seeing the actor, you are witnessing voice over work. Not all voice over work is considered voice over acting, however although your market as a professional (especially when you are first establishing your name as a viable voice over actor) will certainly include some basic voice over work.

To be what is typically considered a voice over actor you need to be able to create a character for your project or product that you can sustain with your voice alone for the entire time you have your listeners’ attention. As a voice over actor, you can choose to use your own home studio, rent one or work at your client's premises, such as:

Production houses (videos, commercials and films)
Corporations (training videos or audios)
Book publishers (audiobooks and info products)
Radio stations (announcers, commercials and radio shows)
Educational institutions (teaching new talents)
Software companies (video game effects)

As a voice actor, you don't need to educated at an Ivy League school, not even at a community college, which is the beauty of this career. You can also work from home by using portable equipments and can easily set up a home studio. All you need is some vocal coaching and, perhaps, attending some vocal acting workshops. Reliable equipments would help as well.

The key is choosing the right "specialization" for your particular voice and acting talent (if you choose the "acting" path).

Today, breaking into as a voice over actor is easier than before. With sufficient preparation on what you're going to encounter, you should be able to break into and succeed in this growing field with confidence.

StyleCareer.com Breaking Into and Succeeding as a Voice Over Actor contains most, if not all, the information needed to secure your first gig. It also prepares you to begin your own home studio, which allows you to take orders from all over the world.

As a voice over actor, your typical gigs include:

Commercials
Announcements
Audiobook readings
Video trainings
Audio trainings
Web-cast announcements
Web-cast trainings
Cartoon characters
Movie characters
Translated movie characters
Special effects
Video game characters

This eGuide provides insightful information, advices and tips for anyone who is contemplating to become a voice over actor. Numerous hard-to-find resources are included to help you locate pertinent information.

Do You Know?

U.S. Department of Labor Statistics:

The median earnings for Announcers in the year 2002 were between $7.13 and $15.10 per hour. Those announcers with more experience and education earned as much as $24.92 in 2002 in some markets.
The Actors, Producers and Directors category had broader, less specific numbers. They implied that a voice over actor or producer who was working at union scale could earn in the range of $683 per day
Based on our forecast, in 2006, an entry-level voice over “announcer” can expect to earn anywhere from $15 to $20 per hour. In the second category, a voice actor who is a member of a union can expect to earn $600+ to $750+ per day.

VOICEWORX: BASIC VOICE ACTING AND DUBBING WORKSHOP

2011-07-06T08:45:00.001+08:00

SABADOKYU: Gintong Tinig Video

2011-07-05T10:31:00.003+08:00

Aired at ABS CBN Channel 2 last July 2, 2011.
Featuring: The Best Filipino Voice Over Artists.

Gintong Tinig: Golden Voices from creativoices on Vimeo.

Giving the voices ‘faces’

2011-07-05T10:26:00.001+08:00

Walking along a particular street in Makati, wearing shades which compliment their total packaging, Pocholo “The Voicemaster” Gonzales and voice artists Brian Ligsay, Lily Nichols, and Liesl Bumatoc remain unrecognized by the bystanders who are there until they start throwing their ever-famous lines in different voice over projects they have already done. And that is the only time when people, exposed to different media and advertisements of different sorts, realize to whom they are talking to.

This may seem weird—being known as a voice and not as a person with a face. Yet, in a voice artist’s point of view, it is something that is not to be worried about. Besides, whenever moments of revelation like this come, there is always surprise. The crowd, after recognizing the voices and finally realizing that who they are talking to is the real person behind each voice, is always mesmerized. It is one of the things explored in the July 2 episode of ABS-CBN’s SabaDocu. The documentary exposed the real people behind these voices. On the other hand, the fact that people only recognized them after they spoke and delivered some of their well-known lines already implies a general truth with regards the nature of their professions.

So, to give them faces, today’s episode of ABS-CBN’s SABADocu focused on fleshing them out and informing the general public of who they are as persons as they talked about their personal stories which are involved about their personal lives and circumstances, professional life, and even the stories behind some stories which inspired them to go on and fight for what they do now. Through these, they are given faces.

This was done to the persons who were behind voice overs applications in different media and forms of communication from radio, television, mobile phones, computer games, and even voice over applications in different places like the MRT.

This episode might have been a road to their exposure—visually—and helped them to be known to the consumers and their fans that, after all these years, might not have any idea who they are. At the end of the day, however, there is still this tendency that people who were able to watch this lose in their memories the faces of these artists and go back to the state of being remembered as voices.

Yet, this is never a bad thing. As these voice over artists put it, one of the many things to love about being a voice artist is anonymity. Unlike celebrities, they are not mobbed and stalked. Even better, they would never go out of the limelight because they never get really famous, in the first place.

The Voicemaster gives a talk to out of school youths of Lipa

2011-07-04T11:22:00.002+08:00

Pocholo “The Voicemaster” Gonzales gave a talk to some out of school youth in Lipa City, Batangas during the emPower Youth Seminar last June 30.
Being a youth advocate himself, inspiring people most especially the young ones is also one of his passions, making him a very effective motivational speaker. Yet, being cool at the same time, he gives twists to his talks.

In fact, he opened his talk with an activity which, at first, seemed to be just a joke yet was very relevant. He asked everyone to find a partner to who he or she would say good and inspiring things in and about life.

The Voicemaster shared a lot of things and covered a wide range of topics that were really inspiring for the audience. He shared his insights on things like being young. He told his listeners that being young is a blessing that would soon be taken back from people. Apart from this, he also discussed about poverty.

According to him, poverty is not something that is always to be blamed to the government. Instead, why people die poor is they simply did not work for their future.

The Voice master also talked about Rizal and how the hero’s desire to be someone different inspired him to be extraordinary. According to him, it is through this desire that one can start having a specific goal to strive for something better. In fact, he even likened this to some of his personal circumstance which just shows that even in the modern days, someone can be great as long has he has a goal or a dream and he chooses to realize this in his own great ways.

Apart from this, he also talked about poverty and reminded the audience that when it comes to poverty, more than the government or any other party, the one to be blamed is simply one’s self. According to him, when a person dies poor, it means that he did not seize every opportunity that came on his way.

And this is where the idea that youthfulness is a gift which enables people to function well and seize each moment. However, this gift is something that would be taken away soon: people grow up. So, the bottom line is, since it is impermanent, yes. But if it will be used and spent wisely, this stage can be used as a milestone for more great things in the future.
Like his every talk, this one is another great opportunity for the Voicemaster to share his insights and knowledge in different things that really inspire people. Plus, apart from inspiring them, the Voicemaster was also able to entertain them through his talent. In the end, another group of young people were inspired by his talk.

Voiceworx 17 starts today

2011-07-02T08:05:00.000+08:00

Another group of individuals coming from different fields responded to the question:
“Do you want to be a voice actor?”

So, here they are now in CreatiVoices Productions’ Voiceworx! Basic Voice Acting and Dubbing Workshop.

Beyond Voices

2011-07-01T22:16:00.000+08:00

Voice acting stuns as we all know. Voice artists, whenever heard, simply amaze other people. However, voice acting is not just possessing pleasant voices. Instead, it is something that is beyond good-sounding voices. Which is why, not because one continuously receives compliments for having a good-sounding voice does it automatically mean that he or she is already prepared to enter the world of voice acting.
The truth is, there are a lot more things to be considered before really delving to the field. Voice acting involves, in fact, things like acting, translations, and a lot more. So, it is better to seek proper training first and when we say training, consult only the experts.

In CreatiVoices Productions’ Voiceworx, you learn voice acting’s basics only from the Philippine’s finest voice artists. Made rich with many years of experience in their field, they can share the best learning every aspiring voice artist deserves.

Bob: Now in Ayala Cinemas Nationwide

2011-06-28T21:11:00.002+08:00

Bob Quilapio, a product of Voiceworx Batch 15 is now the voice behind Ayala Cinemas’ safety guidelines.

He was a DJ at a local radio station in Lucena and went abroad to work there for years. It was during his stay there that he heard about CreatiVoices Productions and set his mind that when he goes back to the Philippines, he would look for it and start pursuing his dream. Eventually, he did it. He enrolled in Voiceworx until he started doing voice overs for different events and companies. In fact, apart from the Ayala Cinemas project, he was also the voice behind Aquabest’s “Shift Happens” Teaser Video.

Extraodinary Lives behind the Voices

2011-06-27T20:59:00.001+08:00

When you hear the voices, you immediately recall them. You may even memorize the exact lines delivered and the product it is trying to sell or the programs they are from. At one point of your life, surely, you have even tried mimicking them. Yet, have you ever wondered what the people they are coming from are like?

Don’t get them wrong. Like us, they are also real people. They are voice actors and they are real people behind the voices we have always known and loved. They are the ones responsible for giving life to different things we consume like animes, radio and television commercials, message on-holds, and a lot more?

Unlike the common misconception, what they are doing is not just about having a nice voice (let us say, big voices for men) and being able to imitate voices of different famous personalities nor is it about possessing a program which enables you to switch from one voice to another when it is needed. In fact, what they are doing is an art and like any other art form, even though talent is something that is an advantage, it is still something that has to be studied in order to master.

This is made possible by workshops like CreatiVoices Productions’ Voiceworx! Basic Voice Acting and Dubbing Workshop, a workshop that trains aspiring voice artists for them to learn the basics in their desired field. Packed with the country’s finest and most reputable voice artists as the instructors, Voiceworx is a great way to start anyone’s journey in the world of voice acting, a key to the dreams of many individuals who want to pursue their passion in the said art form.

One good example is Carla Mejia, a graduate of Voiceworx 3. Wanting of doing voice overs since before, she found this workshop really helpful since she has also known to herself that voice acting is never an instant so she really wanted to learn things about it before being involved in the art. Then, she enrolled and finished said workshop from which she learned a lot most especially about translation. She focused in translating and even before her graduation in the workshop, she already started translating fro telenovelas and animes for ABS-CBN which she is still involved in up until now. Zorro, Las Tontas”, and “Blow to the Heart” were just some of her projects. Apart from these, she has already done other projects like audiobooks and manuals.

Like Carla, Kyle Nofuente is also a product of Voiceworx. He found out about CreatiVoices Productions and Voiceworx in Go Negosyo Magazine and he was so inspired by what he read. So, after graduating from UP Diliman, he enrolled in the said workshop where he also learned a lot of things like, believe it or not, being “sexy.” By this, he did not mean teaching you how to dress up but how to be confident with yourself. Now, Kyle is a radio DJ on Mellow 94.7.

They are just two of the many personalities created through Voiceworx and are living proofs that through proper coaching and workshop, some innate talents concerning the art form, as well as the desire to be involved in the field, are good beginnings in the pursuit of the passion in voice acting.

And at the end of the day, they may still be ordinary humans, physically. Yet what their voices have reached and become make them extraordinary lives behind what others can hear.

Voiceworx16

2011-06-25T20:07:00.006+08:00

Voiceworx16 Testimonials

Julius Babao visits CreatiVoices

2011-06-24T20:04:00.000+08:00

Julius Babao went to CreatiVoices Productions to interview the Voicemaster Pocholo Gonzales and other voice actors for an episode of ABS-CBN’s SabaDocu, June 24.

Babao, apart from asking a couple of questions with regards the art of voice acting including the basics and the most piercing insights of the interviewees, also tried doing some voice overs in order to fully understand that voice acting is not simple.

The program’s episode which is all about voice acting and voice over will be aired on July 2, Saturday at 4pm.

Enroll in VOICEWORX now and expect a new you!

2011-06-24T19:58:00.000+08:00

Want to experience something new? Still waiting for a life-changing experience? Go out of the box, test your limits and join VOICEWORX!
VOICEWORX is not just a mere Voice Acting and Basic Dubbing Workshop but also a personality development training which aims to help individuals become more confident as they are trained to go out of their comfort zones and explore themselves more. Through its lectures and hands on trainings which open the eyes of each participant not just to the world of voice acting but also to the real worId, it changes individuals and make each one of them realize that this is, indeed, a chance of a lifetime. ln fact, it has been changing lives for years and as well, contributing to the advocacy–Voice Acting as an Art.

Be part of it, enroll now!

Or, want sample? Watch Voiceworx16 Testimonials and know how this workshop changed their lives.

More words of wisdom and inspiring anecdotes from the Voicemaster

2011-06-24T19:47:00.000+08:00

Pocholo Gonzales, The Voicemaster, indeed, is an icon in the field of voice acting. With his wide range of experiences in his field and art form (for voice acting is an art) and his long list of credentials, it is no longer a surprise that a lot of people most especially the ones who have passion for voice acting are very curious about him and are longing for more words of wisdon and inspiring stories about the Voicemaster. So, given this, we are now bringing you Pochology 102. Here, you can get to know more about the Voicemaster and even know what’s on his mind.

'Graduation is not the end.'

2011-06-11T19:41:00.004+08:00

“This is not the end. In fact, this is just the beginning,” Mr. Pocholo Gonzales, the CEO of CreatiVoices Productions said during the graduation of VoiceWorx16, June 11 at the Red Box Greenbelt 5.

After two months of intensive yet fun-filled training under reputable and well-known voice over artists in the country which started on April 9, the nineteen individuals who uplifted their passions for the art form finished the VoiceWorx! Basic Dubbing and Voice Acting Workshop.

Like what Mr. Gonzales said, this graduation might seem to be and end since it marked the end of the workshop but this, in fact, was more of a new beginning. He even testified that it is after this mark that doors would start opening for the graduates for whatever the world of voice acting saves for them.

This was also assured by Ms. Gabrielle Tiongson, a graduate of VoiceWorx1 and the special guest in the event. Ms. Tiongson, one of the most in-demand dubbers of ABS-CBN stressed in her speech that it was after graduation that opportunities really start coming which means that graduation, therefore, is really a start.

Apart from the awarding of certificates led by Mr. Gonzales and Voicewox Director Brian Ligsay, the graduates also prepared some presentations which showcased their learning in the said workshop. The Morning class presented a skit about making voices while the Afternoon class mimicked different TV commercials and connected them in order to create an entire story.

The graduates, inspite of being aware that there really are a lot of things to miss about the workshop were still smiling at the end of the day for like what they were able to hear from their speakers, it is not the end. Instead, they are all hopeful that it is just the beginning of their journey in the world of voice acting, an art form where their fully-baked passions already are in.

VOICEOVER

2011-02-25T08:10:00.000+08:00

6 Ways To Get Over Those Voice Over Practice Walls

2010-08-11T16:41:00.001+08:00

6 Ways To Get Over Those
Voice Over Practice Walls

We all find reasons to procrastinate. And practice is very easy to put off.

Here are six practical ways to get over the stumbling blocks that may keep you from practicing every day.

1. "I can't find a quiet place to practice."

Who cares!

For practice, background noise is okay. (It's just not okay for auditions and real jobs.

So if it's too loud where you live:

* practice in a room at a local community center,
* ask your health club if you can use their sales office,
* work in a classroom after school has let out . . .
* even practice VO in the shower instead of singing!

At Edge Studio, people have told us they practice in their car or minivan (quiet, sound absorbent, comfortable). Some in their closets.

One guy even told us, "I stand in my bedroom and speak into my wife's pants, as that prevents echo."

Does practicing with others around make you feel self-conscious? It shouldn't.

You're a professional, doing what a professional does. Others respect that, even if they don't fully understand.

And if you're still self-conscious, consider the guy with the pants.

2. "I'm new at this and not sure how or what to practice."

Practice at least 15 minutes a day, every day, reading not just the kind of VO material you specialize in, but also other copy to prevent monotony and help break you out of bad habits.

Even read your junk mail - there's a steady supply, it's a daily cue, and if you can make it sound real, you're doing well.

Very important: record yourself and listen back with a critical ear.

For practice, almost any mic and recorder will do. But if your recorder's not handy, get your daily practice in anyway.

3. "I'm not a beginner anymore. I don't need to practice."

Granted, Mel Torme and Elvis didn't sing in the shower or hum to pass the time (so it's said). But they sang virtually every day, no doubt.

A-Rod didn't hit all those homers without ongoing practice, either.

You, too, should perform every day.

Obviously, an actual gig is not the time to warm up, flex your pipes, and spot ruts and bad habits you may have developed.

Every pro, no matter how experienced, benefits by keeping in shape and improving or broadening their capabilities. Regardless of your experience level, you need to practice.

4. "I don't have time to practice."

Oh? How do you find time to perform?

Make practice time a routine part of your business day, because that's what your VO career is - a business.

Time of day doesn't matter, but you might take a cue from novelists and other creative writers. Many of them get up relatively early and write for an hour before the day "really" begins.

Or they write from 9 till noon then call it a day.

The good news is, your practice doesn't need to require three hours, nor even one hour. Even a few minutes a day can have a dramatic effect if you're consistent.

5. "I'm just not the consistent, regimented type."

That's not unusual. Okay, practice when you can. But don't put it off.

Here's a trick: you undoubtedly have several "what should I do next" moments in your day. Make VO practice your standard answer.

Then, just do it.

Finding some sort of "trigger" is the way to overcome procrastination, lethargy, or laziness. Like physical exercise, once you get in the good habit of practicing daily, you'll find it much, much easier to remember it and do it. And you'll enjoy it more.

6. "Sorry, there always seems something more interesting or more important to do."

Ain't it the truth. It might be a day job, kids, unforeseen circumstances, anything.

But it's either a daily occurrence that you can schedule around, or a temporary situation you will come back from.

If fitting practice into your schedule is still difficult, make a list. Write your schedule down.

Think of yourself as a business. Running a business involves certain responsibilities, not all of them fun.

The good news? Voice over practice is a LOT more fun than many of the professional responsibilities most other people have! And if you ever doubt its importance, listen to some of your old practice recordings.

I guarantee, if you've applied yourself in regular daily practice, you'll sound better today.

Have you found a practice technique that might help others? Let us know!

12 Top Voice Over Skills

2010-08-04T09:53:00.001+08:00

12 Top Voice Over Skills

What can you do to improve your voice over performances?

Voice over instructor and performer Marc Cashman identifies and describes 12 voice over skill sets that will help you to refine your current skills and develop new ones!

From clarity to consistency to cold reading and more, you'll find new ways that you can leverage your talent and make it shine brightly for all to hear.

Learn more about what successful voice over artists master and the skills that matter in today's VOX Daily.
A Dozen VO Skill Sets

Submitted by Marc Cashman

If a buck dropped out of the sky every time someone asked me what it takes to make it in the world of voiceover, I could retire! So now, finally, I'm going to sum up a dozen top skills that are fundamental to a successful career in voice acting. And amazingly, they all start with the letter "C"!
1) Clarity

A voice actor's articulation has got to be impeccable. Each word needs to be distinctly understood, not swallowed, mumbled or garbled. An actor needs to make sure that they're balancing their enunciation between over-articulation and under-articulation. We don't want to over- enunciate, or we won't sound conversational--we'll sound like pompous asses. We certainly don't want to under-enunciate, or we'll sound stupid or lazy or both. We always need to perform in the "Goldilocks" area of vocal clarity. Employers are always listening for narrators who can speak clearly, without overdoing it or underdoing it. It has to be just right.
2) Cleanliness

This only partly means you have to shower before a session. Cleanliness refers to mouth noise, and if you have a lot of it, you may have a difficult time getting work in voiceover. Some people are blessed with minimal mouth noise--they've just inherited a genetic gift that makes saliva a non-issue. But most narrators have some level of mouth noise: those glottal stops, clicks and smacking sounds -- that they mitigate a number of ways: hydrating (otherwise known as drinking a lot of water); using throat sprays, mouthwashes or herbal teas; munching tiny pieces of green apple (in between narration excerpts), chewing gum or sucking on a lozenge. The less time an editor needs to clean up your V-O tracks, the more chance you'll be called back to do another session. Soon.
3) Consistency

In voiceover, consistency is a highly valued skill. If you're consistent in your volume, energy, pacing, articulation, characterization and your eye-brain-mouth coordination, you'll be every director's dream, because you'll be a voice actor they can rely on to deliver what they want every time.
4) Connected

Being connected to what you're reading is vital to your performance and the believability of your interpretation. A professional narrator always sounds like they're intrinsically interested in what they're talking about, regardless of whether they are. I always pose the question: if you're not enthusiastic about what you're talking about, why should the listener be interested in what you have to say? Being connected also means literally being physically connected to the page, with your eyes scanning ahead to make sure you're moving through the copy or text without tripping or stumbling. Voice actors use a numbers of different techniques to stay connected: using their hands to make points or gestures; inflecting when and where appropriate; making facial expressions to convey emotion and using their body to physically interpret action into their voice.
5) Conversational

Being conversational in voiceover isn't as easy as it sounds. It takes an innate ability to lift words off the page effortlessly, as if you're speaking extemporaneously (because you're an expert, right?). It means reading (and speaking) at conversational speed--the typical pace that we speak in everyday conversations. This skill is the result of not over- or under-articulating, and is key to engaging the listener and maintaining their attention.
6) Cold Reading

This skill is a must-have for long-form narration, particularly in the areas of e-Learning modules, instructional CD-Rom narration, and non-fiction audiobooks. If you're a busy voice actor, you don't have time to pre-read dozens or hundreds of pages of text before you take on a project. The ability to cold read text will save you a lot of time in the studio, not to mention a lot of editing time. The ability to scan ahead, to make sense of run-on sentences, and to navigate incorrect punctuation is a skill that comes in very handy. Solid cold reading is the manifestation of excellent eye-brain-mouth coordination, and can be strengthened every day by constant practice. Reading aloud (to your kids, significant other, parent, dog, cat, bird or bunny) will help you become a great cold reader.
7) Chop Chop

Okay, this was my lame "C" phrase for being quick (I could have written "Cwick", but that would've been much lamer). Speaking fast is, in many situations, as essential skill in V-O. It becomes readily apparent in a commercial, where sometimes you're supposed to squeeze 40- seconds of copy into a 30-second time frame (I call this "shoe-horning"). The ability to get through copy rapidly, but not at the expense of clarity, is a crucial skill that, if you haven't mastered, you need to develop.
8) Coordination

I referred to this under consistency and cold reading, and this is the mental muscle memory that develops when your eyes take in the words on the page, make the connections in your brain and come out of your mouth. I call it "eye-brain-mouth coordination," and it's a skill that voice actors develop after voicing thousands of pages of copy or text over a number of years. Some people are better at it than others, sometimes reading thousands of words in multiple pages of copy before making a mistake. Developing strong E-B-M coordination is possible by cold reading copy every day. It's like a musician who practices their scales every day-- they strengthen their muscle memory; or it's like going to the gym every day to build up your muscles and your stamina. Great E-B-M coordination is the hallmark of a professional voice actor.
9) Characterization

Any kind of voice acting that requires characterization requires acting, and actors understand what goes into giving a solid performance. Many of the skills I mentioned--consistency, conversationality, being connected--in addition to the acting skills of believability, authenticity, emotionality and interpretation--are immensely important in telling a compelling story. The ability to perform solid characters is another arrow in your quiver of voice acting skills.
10) Convincing

I've heard it said, "Always sound like you know what you're talking about, even if you don't." This could be the mantra for narration. No matter what subject you're talking about, the ability to sound convincing encompasses skills of coherent explanation, a measured, neutral (or sometimes friendly) tone, an appropriate amount of conversationality and energy, and an authoritativeness that's believable and approachable. The most convincing narrators are those who, in Penny Abshire's term, "tell, don't sell."
11) Control

Successful voice actors are always in control--of their voice, that is. They can control their pitch, their volume and their breath. They control their pitch by understanding intonation--realizing that there are many musical applications to the spoken word. They control their volume by understanding that volume, for the most part, has to be consistent--it's their intensity that varies throughout a read. And they maintain excellent breath control by constantly replenishing the amount of air they need in order to get through words and phrases competently. And they put all of these skills to use when they need to do any pickup phrases or insertions, so they can match what they've recorded before.
12) Confidence

The best thing you can bring to any V-O session is confidence--true confidence, not a false sense of bravado. Confidence comes from being prepared; understanding the subject, and anticipating the dynamics of the studio session between the actor, director and engineer (and many times, the presence of the client, either in person or on the phone); You can hear confidence in an actor's voice--in their phrasing, presence, and overall performance. Confidence gives you stamina and believability, and makes it easier to work with a director, who may sometimes be giving you a lot of conflicting direction. Confidence also gives you patience, which can really come in handy in many a recording session. I can add three additional "C's" under the heading of confidence: being calm, cool and collected.

There are so many more skills that we bring to a session that makes for a successful performance, and so many more attributes that you need to make it in the world of voiceover. But if we can infuse these skills into every V-O session, then you'll be well on your way to a satisfying and lucrative career. And fun!

Comic books a great tool for character actor scripts!

2010-07-16T23:59:00.000+08:00

Comic books a great tool for character actor scripts!

When I was a kid, I loved book-and-records; especially those Power Records releases that included a comic book, with a fully produced drama. Music, sound effects, and voice actors told the stories of Spiderman, Superman, and other childhood heroes.

My favorite of these was an adaptation of Planet of the Apes. I had the whole thing memorized.

My dad loves to tell the story of our long car rides and how I would keep myself entertained in the back-seat by re-enacting the entire Planet of the Apes script-sound effects and all! This was pre-in car DVD, pre-iPod. We kids had to have a little more ingenuity in those days! Looking back, this was my first experience as a voice-actor.

I still enjoy reading comic books, and it was brought to my attention by one of my coaches, Bob Bergen, that comics are a great source of scripts for voice-actors to practice developing characters with. Everything you need is right there on the multi-panel, 4 color page: Heroes! Villains! Action! Drama! Plenty of dialogue, and lots of illustrations to show you what the characters look like, and how they’re behaving.

In fact, when I’m voicing Hammy from Over the Hedge-or Dilbert and his Boss-I’m reading my lines directly from the comic-strips. What’s the point in transcribing a script when you’ve got these beautiful, informative storyboards to work from?

If you want to give it a try, but you don’t know where to begin, I’ve taken the liberty of including some FREE comic book resources in this article. How cool is that? You don’t even have to leave the house or buy anything to get started!

Fans of daily newspaper comic-strips can find plenty of favorites here:
http://comics.com/

A couple of years ago DC comics published a weekly series starring just about everybody in their fictional universe, but especially the lesser known ‘fringe’ characters. It was called “52” and you can sample pages of that epic storyline here: http://www.ugo.com/channels/comics/features/52pickup/default.asp

Not into capes? How about the gentle humor of Archie Andrews and the gang from Riverdale High School? Archie Digital is a paid subscription site, but they offer a few free preview issues.
http://www.archiedigital.com/sign-up/

Fancy yourself a Vampire Slayer? Check out free issues of Buffy. http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/buffy/ecomics/

Vertigo is an adult comic book…er, sorry…”graphic novel” brand. Great stuff! But definitely not appropriate for all audiences. A few free pages of several titles can be downloaded as .pdf’s here: http://www.dccomics.com/vertigo/graphic_novels/ Again, not kid stuff!

You can find many more resources by Googling ‘free comic book pdf.’

Practice accents with the characters. Age them. Play them over-the-top! Play them real. And if you are a producer as well, record the dialogue and add music and sound effects. Maybe you'll create something you can use on your demo! I'm no lawyer (check with one if you're concerned), but I believe using the material in this way is okay. You’re not selling anything (but your talent); and it’s purely for demonstration purposes. That said, I would change the names of familiar characters because people already know what characters like Batman and the Joker sound like, and if you don’t nail it-you could lose out on a similar gig. Best to use these magazines to create your own unique heroes and villains.

Have fun!

What Makes A Great Voiceover Talent - Not Just A Great Voice

2010-07-16T23:54:00.001+08:00

What Makes A Great Voiceover Talent - Not Just A Great Voice
"Saying a great voice talent need only a great voice is like saying a great batter need only a great bat".

I've often heard it said that to be a great voiceover artist, one needs only a terrific voice. While having a great voice is certainly important, taken in isolation it is completely meaningless. Saying a great voiceover artist needs only a great voice is like saying a great batter need only a great bat. Of course it takes far more than a great bat to knock balls out of the park. It takes awesome power, timing, control, breathing, and eye-hand coordination among other attributes. Voiceover is not much different. First and foremost, according to Los Angeles-based voice coach Rodney Saulsberry, it takes a great ability to intrepret copy along with excellent ear-voice coordination - an ability to listen to direction from outside the booth and then make changes, often subtle, in inflection, pauses, speed, microphone orientation, stance, and more. A great voiceover talent has a great voice but also can nail just the right interpretation of the copy to satisfy the client. A great voice talent becomes a "human mixing station" in the studio, according to Nancy Wolfson, a Los Angeles-based voice coach and former Playboy casting director. Someone who can belt out the most melifluously-pleasing words is of no value if he cannot take direction and quickly respond with desired stylistic adjustments. A great voiceover artist must be able to listen intently to those outside the booth for navigation and then set the vocal compass for the client's desired destination. Not to minimize the value of having a great voice. It's certainly a plus as voice acting goes, but a great voiceover artist must have a great ear for listening and the flexibility and range to adjust.

Improve Social Marketing With Custom Audio and Voice Overs

2010-06-20T01:05:00.000+08:00

So you’ve got a visual presence, are on all of the social networking sites and send messages like crazy but you’re finding that the human element, although seemingly everywhere you look, is oddly… missing.

How is it that you can have a photo, an about me paragraph, and hundreds of virtual friends but still miss the boat?

One thing probably nobody has told you about social marketing and social networking (that is, up until now) is that you can’t just have a visual presence online and expect to be the beneficiary of overwhelming success because of some strategically placed keywords and an enviable list of hobbies.

What you do need, however, is a way to talk to people naturally to give them a taste of who you are and what you sound like. People enjoy hearing the voices of other people, particularly if that person is of interest to them or has something to of value to offer.

Sounds good, you say, but how can you get down with the crowd when marketing to them without sounding salesy?

Custom Audio & Social Marketing

One way is to record an audio message of yourself talking, perhaps even go as far as making a podcast, and post it on your social networking sites. Places like Facebook and MySpace give you the opportunity to share audio on your profile for others in your circle of acquaintance to listen to.

Listening to someone talk can be very reassuring, and for those being listened to, has the potential to be very profitable.

This marketing technique, when blended with public relations, can be extremely effective. Using an audio recording as part of your approach to deliver a genuine message to spur on your company, product or service opens the door to a greater sense of community and shows that you’re reaching out and want to be part of the action.

What better way is there to build trust, virtually connect with others and develop a following online than to make yourself accessible using your voice, the most powerful tool in your arsenal?

You don’t have worry about too much in the technology department to provide an authentic sample of your personality when recording. You can easily make a no-frills MP3 recording on your own using free audio recording software, but if you want to kick it up a notch, I suggest spicing it up a bit with some music, sound effects and even the help of a professional voice actor.

Voice Overs & Social Marketing

To really give them a treat, you might consider working with an internet voice talent on the recordings, perhaps even using their voice to brand your company.

Now, if you are intimidated by audio recording, production or editing (maybe all of the above), it’s a no-brainer to go with someone who can look after all of it for you while adding significant value and letting you shine.

Your voice is a very important aspect of who you are, and when you’re in the trenches of online marketing and staking your ground in the vast landscape of social networking, it may be one of the only things that sets you apart from competitors in the same field.

This is of particular importance if you happen to be the voice or personality at your company that is known to your customers and the public.

How Is Voice Talent Applied To Business?

2009-12-26T23:32:00.000+08:00

ArticleFame.com | How Is Voice Talent Applied To Business?

How Is Voice Talent Applied To Business?

By: Ravok Corporation

There are lots and lots of voice overs that we all hear each and every day. They are saturate the media with the messages that make our modern world turn.

A voice-over artist is an actor or actress who lends his or her voice in order to give personality to an animated character or to be utilized in an advertisement to name a few. The voice over can be presented live and in person or by a specialist voice actor someone who the crowd will not see. There are many different ways to use a voice over. These can be used in building character, creative influences in TV, education, or in advertising and marketing.

One of the most common ways to use vocalization is in TV and movies. For instance, cartoon characters (like the kids from the show ‘South Park’) are animated. They require voice talent in order to give them personalities and to make the show work. There are times where well known actors are used as the voice artists, such as Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz, who played key rolls in the ‘Shrek’ movies, or, it is a specialized voice actor, not a screen-actor who portrays the characters. Obviously, using an actor’s voice is critical to building the animated character and making them seem believeable.

In other instances, there are no cartoon characters, but the need for off screen narration is still there. A voice-over can be used to create an ironic counterpoint, or to make a statement in the movie. This is the creative device. It can be a member of the cast narrating, or miss-matched voices narrating and the speaking does not match the characters on screen. This creates a sense of imbalance and lends to the films’ inventiveness, such as the film ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’, wherein this technique is applied.

Moving away from film usage, voice-overs can also be used for educational or descriptive purposes. Our television news is broadcast with video clips and commentary by the reporters, who are describing and explaining the significance of the
clips being shown. Sports broadcasts also have spoken observations, especially when cast over the radio. There are also narrations that are used as a critique by a historian or critic, possibly even directors about when a new movie or DVD will be released.

Sometimes, instead of just commentary or news programs, voices are also used for advertising and marketing applications. We do not see the artist that is narrating the advertisement, but we hear it on televison, radio, in stores and the mall, to name a few places. Voice-overs were primarily used on radio, but since the development of the TV, this practice has crossed over into television as well.

Some well known and iconic voice-over artists are Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Hal Douglas, & James Earl Jones. These artists and the utilization of their articulation talents are very useful in many different facets of our daily lives. It is not just for show business. It can be used creatively and commercially, and almost all people come into contact with it daily.

Author Resource:-> Terry Daniel Provides High-Quality Voice Over Talent for Every Kind of Media. Visit His Website for a Demonstration of His Voice Over

Services at: http://AmazingVoiceTalent.com

Article From ArticleFame.com

Bentley College - Personal Branding Keynote

2009-11-07T18:34:00.001+08:00

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Bentley College - Personal Branding Keynote

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Personal Branding 101 - You Inc

2009-11-07T18:01:00.001+08:00

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Personal Branding 101 - You Inc

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I am a personal brand

2009-11-07T17:58:00.001+08:00

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I am a personal brand

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Can You Do Something Unique With Your Voice? Get Paid For Voice Over Gigs!

2009-11-04T13:26:00.001+08:00

Voices over artists aren’t simply those actors who have great-sounding voices; many of them also have unique abilities. What does this mean for you? Namely, if you can pull off some amazing talent (such as being able to convincingly cluck like a chicken or bark like a dog) you could get paid for voice over gigs!It’s no joke. There are thousands of voices over artists all over the world who make their livings vocalizing for cash. And they aren’t necessarily saying words, either. Some voice over artists gets paid to sing; others get paid to sound like chimps; many get paid to make odd sounds that can’t be easily defined!The secret is to recognize and hone your particular ability, not to mention get yourself noticed. But first things first – you have to name your voice over talent. Maybe you can warble like birds… if that’s the case, and then you could position yourself as a voice over artist who can recreate the sounds of nature. (That sounds like a better description than “guy who whistles like a canary”. ) Or perhaps you can imitate those crazy sounds that are made by a computer. If that’s the case, you could easily portray yourself as a voice over artist with a techno-touch. (Again, this is a much better sales pitch for your voice over prowess than saying you “beep” like the backspace on a laptop!)It’s all a matter of being creative and acknowledging that you have a talent – albeit an usual one – that could be useful to clients who hire voice over artists. Next, you have to get better at your craft before you can fully begin to market yourself to voice over agents and agencies. This will likely involve hours and hours of comprehensive practice – be prepared to really challenge yourself. Think of it this way… a dancer may have an innate ability to move to rhythms, but if he or she doesn’t practice over and over and over again, he or she will never become anything other than mediocre. You may even want to hire a vocal coach who specializes in unique voice over talent (and that’s a true niche market!) to assist you in becoming the best you can be. Whatever you do, don’t simply assume that you’re “the greatest”; always strive to be better. Once you’ve rehearsed and sharpened your voice over skills, it’s time to get a voice over agent interested in you. Not surprisingly, there’s a plethora of voice over agencies out there, especially in the LA and New York areas. Some are reliable, others are questionable. You’ll need to do your homework in order to avoid the not-so-good ones. Ask for references and follow up on any you receive. Also, check the Better Business Bureau to eliminate any worries that a voice over agency may not be what it seems (that’s always a smart practice no matter what industry you’re in. )When you find a voice over agent who is willing to represent you, don’t stop practicing or taking care of yourself! Even if you only do a few voice over gigs a year, you’ll need to stay in tiptop shape. Keep those chords strong and good luck!For more information, visit VoiceOverLA.

Increase Sales And Emotion With A Professional Voice Over Talent

2009-11-04T13:25:00.001+08:00

Most TV commercials you see, radio commercials you hear, training films, and more use the voice of a professional announcer. In the media industry, these much sought after voice pros are called Voice Over Talent.
A fine voice over talent can give you a warm, friendly read that not only entices prospects to take an interest in you, but effectively urges them to buy. A good voice can accentuate just the right words, stress the right phrases, and literally create an emotion in the listener.
In the past, many producers both large and small avoided working with top voice over talents because (1) they were hard to contact, (2) took weeks to finish the job, and (3) were very expensive. The usual method was to contact an advertising or talent agency who set up a session with the voice over talent. Not only could this take days, weeks, or even months for some top talents — the fee could range from several hundred to thousands of dollars and more.
Today the old system in still in place, but other top voice over artists are making the experience MUCH easier, quicker, and affordable. As a busy voice over talent, I offer voice services from my web site and often have the client’s job finished in as little as one hour. Fees are low enough for even the solo web site owner to afford a professional voice for their site’s greeting or flash presentation.
Here are a few things to look for in a voice over talent:
(1) The voice should be friendly and personable. A warm, friendly voice immediately creates a warm feeling for most people. That warm feeling can quickly translate into sales, sign-ups, and higher customer satisfaction.
(2) You don’t need a “voice of god. ” That’s the term a lot of people in the media industry use for those super deep voiced announcers you hear at the movies and sometimes on the radio. Studies show customers and prospects are more likely to connect with a voice that sounds more like a regular person.
(3) But unlike an everyday person, professional voices know how to accentuate a word, stress a phrase, and create a mental image for the listener. This ability is probably the number one thing you should look for. Listen closely how the talent reads a script. Is the reading flat or are they bringing the script to life?
(4) Don’t blow your budget on an overly expensive voice over talent. Getting the agency’s top voice may be impressive to your friends, but saving the money and using a high quality but affordable voice over artist will give you as good or better results. You can use the money you save to enhance other aspects of your project, giving you a better shot at success.
Finally, keep in mind most people act on their feelings, not necessarily their logic. Nothing stimulates emotions like a good voice. Using a professional voice over talent makes a lot of sense.

Auditions for voice actors in the new era – the best way to ensure more bookings.

2009-11-04T13:24:00.000+08:00

If you follow the trends, we can say that the Voice Over Casting business is moving from online sources. At least it is becoming an inexpensive way for new talent to enter the market and listened to. Many of these talents have the courage to market home-made everything, demos, packaging, websites, commercial copy, study settings, and the list goes on. They send home-made CD's that have done their study at home, reading the entries in the country of origin and contribute to their sites homemade. Do not frown on this, because that is how almost everyone starts. The problem is now. . . Everyone wants to be a type of voice or a child, which means that the pool of talent, or a little 'of stagnant water, that the matter has gone to the very muddy demo after demo after demo is a market for talent, after talent after talent. . For me, I think.

Many of these boys and girls are filtered through the costs of doing business, and many attempts to discourage the hiring of a few, and even stay on the sidelines. What is a good thing for all of us who choose to stay in the game every day and continue to deal with rejection and other headaches that come with business. What we leave behind is the chaff that have moved from greener pastures. The producer still lined with shelves of demos and CDs.

I have been a lot of agencies and it is almost ridiculous what some people send agents to try to attract businesses. All we have to do is watch the new season of American Idol to see how people spent half of my heart to reach the main companies of alloys. This time, we are all guilty of it. I noticed some time ago that I myself had been "a bit 'lazy' is the experimental process. 10 years, you tend to develop a routine where you have all the same. I came back and took a good look at how I was physically located at the time of the test line. I was there for the mixing console in the studio, I usually use a microphone in front of coaching, Talk Back, ISDN, and Booth, the recording sessions. Mic stand, when the show was set at the bottom, I collapsed in my chair, leaning a bit 'on the right, and do nothing but grumble my way through the test. Then a little concern ', I have some basic things to change the file and send it on. I no longer had time to set the right amount of effort for the test. I was still doing a good job. The question is: should I have done a good job I could. The answer is no. I could certainly do much better. I started to reorganize the MIC so I had to resist using it. No longer sit here and shoot off like it does not matter. I stand by all the other productions that I do, why not put as much effort to test? It is quite easy to answer. . . Hearing is a laborious and tedious. The only thing that makes it tolerable is thought that perhaps something a lot of ground. And your spirit will always be more to do.

Hearing is also one of the things we need to do to get a job, so then, when it comes to remove the garbage. If we do that no one – and until you are watching, we are able to submit the post for a while '. What happens when it is sitting there again? It starts to smell. In much the same way as they do the test, when we begin to see that it works, or something, "which is below us, as we have done this long enough, and we know what we're doing.

What a bad attitude. Each test is a new opportunity to go back. We get up, sit straight, (or in my case, standing) and go after new jobs some of the major real taste. I had some experience in the studio last month, if one can say that the talent not only care, or the idea of work is beneath them for some reason. So why even bother to apply? If you're not going to give your all, because even the time? Hearings were mixed with some of these young talents, who are trying too hard to sound cool.

You can hear every aspect of audio to be sent. Straining and pushing it sound like God knows what. First of all, they sound like no one is working, but himself. But compared with the experienced talent that "plays" their bed, two demos sound strikingly familiar to each other. How do you ask? They were not just right. Observations I have about 100, almost half of them hit the round file (trash), because the sound quality alone. If you send Spam that in trying to get that concert, I would have nightmares about what the deal, if I had the sound they produce in their study? The other 60% or thereabouts, some nail it. Plain old nail it. They have been read, have made their voice, and they got the interpretation. Made it difficult to decide who to ask.

Then it was Shatners is the stack – it is a self-deprecating Shatner'm talking about. They just pushed too hard, or tried to do something that was completely out of their range and experience. Hearings will never be "experimental." This time it was just a little thing that can go unnoticed if no one else can choose, but in this case did not have other talents that have hit the nail on the head. At times, it was surprising that some of the best talent has decided to set their own words of the script, because I do not like the way it is written, then there was the English professor, who took it upon themselves to correct us as we had to sign copy. Not that he really had the time to read, beginning to say, "Oh, and how the ______ does not actually use the word" or "this part of the script really needs some 'work." ; Absolute no-nos. I do not care who you are. . Words on the page with the words you want to hear. You never, ever taken, if you plan to go out of contempt for the people who wrote the screenplay. At least we have a tendency to take you. This does not mean that if someone was up to dial the phone and starts with "I'm worried about the copy." He walked away from us never to hear again.

At least if the producer or the customer may be willing to listen. Sometimes the talent comes out really good stuff, and get thanked for that. But not those who think they can stay on top of a mountain as a kind of Shakespeare and the authority to dictate to customers and producers of what is and is properly Got Another Thing Coming. Hopefully, by the way in which people there are too many. . Needless to say, the demo ended with a round file.

Then there are those who made you laugh. Again, think of American Idol. . . Auditions after Mom in the kitchen of his laptop computer microphone $ 5, and little Johnny to ride his Big Wheel across the linoleum floor and little Jenny is Johnny crying in the background. In the midst of his reading, the mother turns around and shoosh her children, "Can you all calm, the mother is trying to do something .." I'm not kidding, he actually left that part of the experiment.

This would be a chaff "" I mentioned earlier. Only those who have no business even trying, but I am still trying, though. There have been some of these tests. Have been remarkable! And 'the only time I've been a customer of material around the tears in my studio floor, and if you have been in the studio, you know, it is not enough space to roll. (A quick note to all those who made their own demos and Studio last month: This article was not someone who works in the background. It refers to nothing to do with the demos submitted by people actually listen to the work we have done. I just wanted to say thank you .. you know)

I try to make the point is this: There are a lot of competition in voice work there. Some of the best talents of the world subjected to the work for the rest of us. And to make the worst. We must find a way to ensure that there are like them, while we are trying to become the best you can be. Old and new talents are guilty of not putting its best foot for the future in context. E 'in these cases, a good VO bad sound, and in turn makes the VO Bad sound better, or at least not as bad as the worst. Only then can we combat the natural tendency to grow is pleased to move up, how we do things.

Also understand that the only people who survive in this area are those willing to scratch and claw their way up. I'm really hungry, who refuse to accept any answer, are the ones who are going much longer than the denial. The rejection is only part of the game. Voice over quality. And 'what works for themselves. The only difference is in the market today is very rarely the target group a vocal talent. When you had to go into the studio all the time working in the business world has always been a kind of audience. Although it was only a producer and engineer. New York City, almost every test procedure is the audience. This is a trend of beauty that I mentioned at the beginning, slowly but surely, the need to give the house a test is death. I doubt it never disappears completely. Large companies are not known for leaving the natural talent to manage their own projects studies for large advertisers. Again, if the study is quite good, and your reputation is such that the producer has to rely on a product that is intended to offer, you will notice a nice little 'Do it yourself "type productions are possible.

So I can not emphasize enough the need to CRAM for your skills test, and make sure that the product you are sending to customers is the best.

Take a look around, if there are ways to improve our products. You spent a lot of time sitting the test? Well, then get up. You made a series of rapid change, you go up? Then start to spend some 'time to them, or try to read the manuscript three times each, and choose the best platform. Maybe you do not know what is best. . Drop Study note, say the difference.

The family can be a big problem. Except that they are noisy, but you can feel comfortable reading aloud with their earshot. A lot of times the family can be a real murderess. If you do not fully understand the exercise, which are susceptible to bug on it, or give you a hard to make fun of you or ridicule, or to read the tone you were trying to do. They do not realize about you. It 'the same diet. If you start to lose some weight 'and go for the operation of the family in the same breath of the family used to congratulate you on achieving, they say, the words "This is a piece of cake." Or, " ; Anyone for pizza? I heard some people compare to a family member is unconsciously jealous of you, and do things to derail or sabotage your work. Without this change in Dr. Phil episode, I turn to you or a family, just know this:

Why, family members or people at home must be used in a vacuum, or decide to re-tile the kitchen after 2 minutes to sit and read. I'm just going to do it and do it again and again. Until understand. You need to sit down and talk with them. You get your point across, though, that you try to do one of the most difficult, most of the United Nations natural things in the world, and you try to live it. You need to understand how these interruptions, or indifference to what you're trying to make it impossible for you to do so. Once understood, with a little 'practice and a few reminders, most of the family members begin to get a little' more understanding, and even become your biggest supporters.

If you still obstructionists when you tried to talk to them, so I think that gives something to the interest of all jealousy. If you find that having the family of the house makes it difficult to really what you're doing, you're not alone. What disturbs me. Therefore, most private place you can find the best. If there is no privacy, and we are afraid that someone might hear, just to get over it. This is an artistic performance, and the actor has never really known for his acting shower. You have to learn this stuff off the belt, although some might be time to listen.

Although we are a theme of family: Have you started reading the scripts, and Johnny and Jenny to pretend to be a WWF cage match in the background? If so, use the demons of the book to read, providing them with the other side of the house, or something like that. Oh. . One more thing. . Please turn off the baby monitor if you maintain a "Studio". We had a couple of these too. Do not believe some of the stuff people send. . . American Idol again.

Take a look at your environment in the studio. Something that makes noise is a sensitive place your ears when you send it. People who are listening to your work in general session of less than four meters from the dollar $ 1000 monitors (speakers to all of you American Idol and WWF fans) and you can hear the nails grow. Sound insulation is a good hobby to study, or at least get some information, if you want to extract more work.

Seriously review the audio chain. What is (or not) the signal path? Have the more modest and still life, or have any known device man linked to the microphone. The equipment rack towers burning behind his study and postpone ton of heat and noise. Locate them in another room, or better yet remove and put them on eBay. Most of the time, producers are looking for a good voice, clean and dry. No effect, no processing, no nothing. Now I know, "Of Radio ', it is clear that, and you have a valid point. Many producers are looking for images for rent sounds produced entirely in sound, and you have what it takes to do your job. Many of the talents to produce their own sound, which in turn will not make them good providers. Production capacities are learned, either the pilot or the hard way (to try to obtain directly from them).

Beware the views of fans and the world. Although they have many advantages when it comes to true fidelity of the music, which apply to commercial display, a lot of sound that produces the settings for $ 20,000 U.S. dollars is driven by a $ 2 Chinese speakers did. Knowing the difference is the real trick. Which brings me to one of the ways you can polish the product. Know the half, he left. If you are employed and produces voice to read the pages, there is not much in creating a better fit Masterwork THX and Skywalker Sound. The file does not play the movie theater, someone will come out from computer speakers at work. I saw people healthy Rumble pathetic little speakers off the desktop first. . Not need it.

I met a couple of SP who want to think for himself (and the right amount of time) because of "audiophile". Some of them are not so far in the past. They were people of great talent in the production of very good ears. Unfortunately, only the shadow of their own powers, arrogance, what might be considered a good "sound-voice". Many of them paint a little 'esoteric corners of production only if they are doing is a Boss Jock has a litter of AM and FM dial. Sure, it's a good job, though never enough. But it makes you a voice talent? Maybe. . But what a voice talent? That is a trick pony, and almost any good? More than likely.

I'm sorry the news to you, not the voice imaging radio. E 'part of it. But it is a bargain. E 'on the radio. The possibility of saying 'Hit Music all the best of Barbados "is not the same thing as a 2-drive now, with the narration and The History Channel, the U. S. Army, A & E or Discovery. Producers who work with those companies who focus is clear that "Radio" or "voice" announcer and the last time I checked, imaging costs about $ 150 dollars a sheet, even though the narration and the talents Top commercial shelf can make $ 750 $ 1500 10 seconds of their entry. Or you want to grow up to be? Auditions posted daily for direction, not as "Please not present" and "seeking Guy radio, but a real person."

This shows that many people do not like the "Guys Radio" real people. If you have already worked in radio, which I did for four years, we know that in many cases it is the truth. Many will remember the radio than any other people. Perhaps some part of the body of a person, but not people. OK, I'll stop Editorial. Wait a minute, that's my opinion. I do not own it. That's why I do what I like. How are the views, such as the Radio Boys Everybody's got one.

The trick is landing more gigs in your ability to satisfy the masses. Let the weaker companies in the world to get a similar experiment, the guys are great. They provide not only a lame duck because that guy has a small customer. Give him the same product you try to give Pepsi or McDonald's and leave the bad experience of poor people in PA. We try our best that there is every chance you get. If you need advice or do not know if you make a right. I am always ready to discuss.

Look at the time of the day the hearings and see if there is something capable of doing so in the past. You can test first thing in the morning, four hours to get up. It is high time that the head is clear, your voice is most rested and very little else in the world over. If you work at night, or just for a test during the night, try a nice hot tea, you sit (or stand) to read. Do not do it as a strong black tea, try something a little 'lighter, such as green tea. If you only test at mid-day, be sure to remove all the remaining Big Mac explanations of his throat, drink hot green tea, and try not to demand payment of the first days of your voice. If anyone's list right elixir and throat, please share here. I'll post to my site.

When I was on the radio, I'm working on a change of Split, which was the door at 3:30 and not return until 10:30. Then I had to turn around and leave at 1:30 and not return home until 8:30 at night. I was always tired, I had a test, and overall I felt like I was losing touch with VO biz. . Solution: Leave the radio. . This is what I did. I never looked back.

The radio is not what it is. I do not think ever the same, because the spoliation and Janet Jackson. Howard Stern is no longer, no more freedom to rattle off the mouth for as long as you are not a curse. These are all dying, only a small part of what it was before. I have also been encouraged to abandon ship when I received a letter in their own companies (large-scale corporate Big), said that Congress and / or Congress Jr. (FCC) had passed "Emergency Bill", which actually said that if I were a little 'ol' me, as much as anything deemed inappropriate given that I could be fined $ 14,000, or some insane amount of money. The company I worked for made it clear that the letter would soon launch a line in front of me, if such a situation occurred. That's all I needed. I do not even clean my pod, I'm just sharing. I left on the wall posters and pictures of my family console. . I was away. . I do not need it so bad, and the radio was not what he came for the radio. I had the radio to get the job longer free.

I set a big mistake, because there was a lot of benefit from the work of moving air for some time. Get in touch with a lot of different techniques and you can spend a lot of time learning the MIC and it is really beautiful. After a while ', should be a friend, you can conserve, protect and speak. . . . Ok. . This is starting to weird. . What I'm trying to say that there was nothing wrong with experience. It 'just that, very rarely has the experience to apply to work freelance radio voice when it comes to getting something. Yes, you will have the opportunity to express their material to the local dealer or the hairdresser arrives. These opportunities are only because post. Leave the station and see if any of these customers will call you when they are no longer linked to it.

These are kids who were in the station in my town for over twenty years, and I think I heard them, maybe 20 points each. And that is generous. I am sure there are many people are gearing up to enforce their days in radio career started SP. Allow me to save a minute. . Save. Keep it for you. The last thing I or anyone else will benefit from is someone to come, which should be dusty and their stories of success. If you are a work of talent and you think you owe it to the radio, good for you. . Your anecdotes are welcome, if it is obvious that someone may benefit.

So you can say, "Hey Mike, you have quite a difficult radio guys do not ya?" Well, yes. . . I am. Just as your parents were told not to touch the stove or play in matches was dangerous, I tried to keep thinking every SP that radio is a quest to become a boy name. Since it is not. Let me clear delineation. If you want to be a radio, going to send to school. Praise of Connecticut schools of broadcasting, as it is when I did, and when I graduated, I sent 2 emails and had to rent 45 minutes to send them away. If you want to be a voice in the boy or girl, do not go on the radio. Do not sign to send to school, and another thing. . . No radio. . These are two different entities and should be treated as such. If you do not log on to send to school, you can spend as much as you try to enter the voice over. In this case, both are the same thing. That point forward, each of them take the streets completely different.

So you might say, "Hey, Mike, (if you do not already called me a few things now), do not think you are alienating people who are in radio, and reduces the incentive to learn more about voice over?" ; I had to get this.

If you have a radio, and you think you want to get SP as a freelance, do not despair just for me. I'm sure that at some point someone said, 'Hey, you have a beautiful voice, you have the radio. 'What did you say, when slid closer to the little lady and ordered a drink, "Why yes, I would .. and I .. "This case is a boy radio. Voice over talent would have said "Thanks, I'm glad you noticed. I made a sound business four years. "You may have heard of me, Betty Flower Shop commercial that ran last month, cable channel 26. "(It is expected that 10,000 years.) to which he nods" Yes "and then proceeds to tell him about every other job he has done, he nods Uh-huh. Then you go from machine to obtain a copy of the demo tape. When he gets back on the other hand on him and ask if the company is working to recruit voice talent, is sitting hunched in his Bar Stool, I looked at, because SIPS who buy his drink? Radio Guy.

I admit, this story is a decoration at all, but not too far from it, as desperate young vocal talent can play in situations where an advantage again. And 'even in the same way aspiring radio guy or girl can work if you wanted to get on the radio and they have just met someone who worked at the local station. It does not matter even if all the boy did not wash the floors, the idea would cross their minds. The feeling is the same, the desire for success and feelings of both is the same, even if you must take to do either are completely different. The radio is very much "to learn than to go to." You get a check, you will learn the ropes, even if it is a very fine control, you pay when you learn.

When you start trying to express the work, you pay as you learn. You can pay a lot. . . and you can pay much more than one way. After a few hours on the Internet, should demonstrate that there is no shortage of people out of their hands, offering to help for free. I am one of them. You are best advised to carefully stage, when it comes to imposing anything on any of these hands. Who want to work, or are desperate to make a voice a lot when they are hungry. There are a lot of people, "Internet-land", as well as everything else, waiting to take the right path that desperate. Makes a lot of hungry people, if they consider bringing food, or the one who can satisfy the palette of this stuff. Lots of gifts will take place along the road, and woe. Their fault or the fault of people offered to help them? Most often, human nature, when they are not to blame others around them. It takes very little sign someone to turn inwards and the goal of seeing how they could contribute their own death. In the case of who is to blame for the vocal talent does not exist, is a mixture of both teachers and students is a lot of levels.

What students must do in any case is to keep their end of negotiations with the practice and follow the instructions. When a coach on the other hand seems to be what they have failed. The line is to sit and wonder why he never took a first student. Excuse me while I "Star break Warsian" here, but Obi-Wan tried to teach Anakin the power of their own, without guidance, and Yoda. Makes his students and Anakin turned to the dark side. Although Obi-Wan and Anakin, still in the final analysis, I think Obi-Wan at the end of the movie and I thought it was a good man. This is a place, now back to reality.

VoiceOver Yoda and the force is not the only force that you want the person who took the money, when you find you do not get any work and you stink. When a coach does for you, or anyone you give money to you, not the real world, you're not going to like him, and you're really not thinking that it's a good man. In most cases, is a student who declares himself that the person has failed, because they have managed the project. What does the fact that the student does not understand that many times took a few precautions at the time of delivery of money to someone who stood for "voice talent."

Many times I had to appear on the eve of talent, you want me to do for them, you want me to do the vocal talent. I will try my greatest during the assessment to scare away. I tell them how difficult it is. I tell them how expensive it becomes. I tell them how long it lasts. I tell them that even if education does not guarantee getting hired. They also told of talent, that probably will never be able to work in the commercial market, and makes only the phone and cable locations at the end of his life. And still wanted to continue. They throw their money on the table and say, 'OK, you think you can make me a boy voice? "No matter how I tried, I just do not understand. It is at this stage, no coach should ever take a student. Why are doomed to failure, and on top of a bus and spend the rest of their lives to do is say bad things about them. You can not do this activity. You have to do yourself.

Young talent, whether from a radio or Radio Shack, the most advisable to search for and collect any information that can be patient and not jump into something at once. Decisions that make a more stable base of information you can gather, after an exhausting search. Every talent, who never walked in my office with the stars in their eyes were heard to say the same things you see here.

Many people have made this type of advice. I made a lot of information for people at no cost, for two reasons: 1 so that every SP have more arrows in their quiver as they come out to learn to look for the "Voodoo What we are doing so well." (Thanks to Harvey Korman and Mel Brooks) 2 Therefore, considering that someone will pay the studio or demo producer piece of money to think about my study and provides information and decide for themselves who you can trust.

Look around. . Caveat emptor. . Go with your gut in everything you do. . I hope you'll come to your conclusions. I just hope they are correct. Is in doubt – ask. I have been honest here. Are just more private.

Incidentally, when I was writing this experiment came from the large national advertisers. By the time I had received, 70 a part of the experimental work already. E 'was certainly one of those where you say "Ahh, there's then get this. Look at how many people have posted about this. "Those who do not cross my mind. Almost eliminated and moved. But I went ahead and did the same. The next day he contacted me and said that there are some people who "kind of got it, but I took a spot. I got the concert, recorded on site and was paid twice my share of talent, because I worked in their study, and were so pleased with the result. I found a week later, the guests were blown away to read. I'm not here in Tooting your own Horn. This really happened. There is also my website www. michaelminetree. com in different readings. This is the first. Only shows what little faith the practical skills and work to do to you this business. It 'a great year for everyone. I'll see you on the air.

Overview of the Voice Over Industry

2009-11-04T13:22:00.001+08:00

The voice is very clear to a niche industry, and audio recording.
Similar to the ecosystem is the natural order of things and relationships that are different, many of which are symbiotic, or mutually beneficial to the related parties.
Take for example people and trees.
Trees produce oxygen that we breathe. When we breathe, breathing, or leave our bodies, carbon dioxide, produced a result. After our exhalations, the trees, then we need to breathe CO2, which is their source of air, and the spiral continues, then, instinctively produce more oxygen rich, out of breath we breathe. Then we breathe carbon dioxide, and the wood is fed. . . you get the picture.
Like many of the natural relationships within the voice over are complementary, and there is very little self-serving relationships. For those who do not, are a necessary part of the voice over ecosystem, and without them it would not be in equilibrium.
This is just nature.
We see the tasks we will be profiling this week, a brief overview of each, starting from the bottom of 'ecosystem.
Voice Actors
Voice acting is a producer of creative work that voice is recorded and used for various purposes, including commercials for radio, television, phone, podcasts, video games and much more. Voiced to use the natural gifts, especially in the management of his voice and the fact that infuse life into the written word. Voice acting is the creator of voice overs and audio voice is part of the application of media commissioned by a client. Voice actors are also known as voice talent, audio transfers, voice over artists, VO, VA, narrators, presenters, speakers, and so on.
Voice Over Coaches and Advisors
Voice over coach or teacher is a person who is either a teacher of voice, voice acting, or have a long experience as a professional voice actor. These people are trained to educate, and often the beginning of the voice actors or voice actors who want to enrich and expand the voice over talents through private lessons and seminars. The voice is over the cars have less voice actors and their profession is often associated with the theory of publish or perish. Voice over the nature of the machine is to teach, but this person may also perform or printed (Pick) against other projects.
Audio engineers and producers
The engineer is a person who is highly specialized in the production of audio, such as recording, editing, mixing and mastering. As the engineer, this person is usually employed by larger recording studio or can also be a freelance writer who works independently, using their studio. There are schools where people can be trained to acquire skills in technical aspects of voice over business. For voice actors who do not understand the technology, so wise, sound engineers and record producers have relied heavily, so that they produce voice over demo, or save to send to customers willing to work.
Voice Over Agents and Agencies entertainment
Voice over agent is a person who promotes and represents the voice actress, to make their voice at work as consideration when the work, a suitable voice actor will be available. He may be independent or part of the talent agency, which works the same way as the talent agency or company that employs several people for authors to build a brand and manage a wide range of skills, not just actors voice. Agents usually represent voice actors who are either union or non-EU agreement, according to the agent, and if they are linked to the Union. Staff to continue work buying their customers a voice, usually 10% – 15% range of their services, this would be on top of what the voice actor does or taken directly from the profit. Fee Finder is a term that applies to some agents and agencies.
Casting Directors
Casting director, in particular, the voice casting director, is a person who is taking the better ear for a particular job. It includes casting director "throwing" the right person the importance of the customer, which is usually of little interest, ability, or lack of confidence "to choose" the right voice to represent their company, project or brand. Casting director wants to get the best possible performance of talent auditions. And 'their objective, namely, calling the actor to worry, because they have to evaluate all options against the best to choose the item most appropriate support for their client or project. Casting directors will charge the customer for their time and expertise.
Professional Organizations
The Union is a government body that regulates the terms for their clients. Trade unions may act on behalf of their clients, if the agreements were violated. Voiced to pay union dues or fees are linked to the Union, in particular, in order to obtain the services, benefits or opportunities to an exclusive Union. While some unions have an open door policy, anyone can subscribe to the extent that they meet the requirements of membership, there are other unions, which are "by invitation only, or other criteria. It is part of the European Union 'is not mandatory, and there are more voice actors in the world as it is unionized voice actors.
Voice Over Marketplaces
Voice over market is a place, usually a network in which actors voice can feature their voices and experiences of job opportunities to acquire voice over work. Since the term "market" means, portals that perform this task to connect buyers and sellers of that article, buyers and sellers of voice over services. Voice over marketplaces serve both the buyer and the seller, and in some cases, facilitate communication and / or activities. As the market combines voice over talent and jobs is an essential part of any voice actors marketing efforts as well as the most convenient and efficient source of our clients to find voice actors and purchase of services.
Customers who purchase voice over
Customers who purchase voice over services can be of any sector, country, and speak different languages. The need for sound production in general and the need to transfer voice, global markets and customers, creating strong demand for voice actors who provide high quality voice discs to represent the company, organization or event. Clients hire voice over talent for saving the television, radio, podcasts, video games, audio books, films, animation, telephony, business presentations, and for other purposes.

2009-11-02T00:33:00.001+08:00

2009-11-02T00:32:00.001+08:00

VOICEWORX! BASIC VOICE ACTING AND DUBBING WORKSHOP

2009-06-28T09:22:00.001+08:00

VOICEWORX! BASIC VOICE ACTING AND DUBBING WORKSHOP

creativoices.sulit.com.ph - Sunday, February 1, 2009

2009 © Sulit.com.ph

VOICEWORX! BASIC VOICE ACTING AND DUBBING WORKSHOP

2009-06-28T01:20:00.001+08:00

VOICEWORX! BASIC VOICE ACTING AND DUBBING WORKSHOP

creativoices.sulit.com.ph - Sunday, February 1, 2009

Agent Billy Serow: Show Your Strengths On Demo Right Away

2009-06-26T08:39:00.000+08:00

Agent Billy Serow: Show Your

Strengths On Demo Right Away

Voice acting in New York City is the specialty of Billy Serow, the gifted talent agent at Abrams Artists.

"It's such an exciting thing to find the next great voice," he says in the recent Episode #4 of the Erik & Ember Show podcast.

Yes, the Big Apple is a union town, with most hiring done by casting directors. But Serow listens to demos from both union and non-union talent. That's because a non-union talent can obtain a waiver to perform the first union job. The second union job requires union membership.

Of course, there's plenty of competition.

In the podcast, Serow tells hosts Erik Sheppard and September Day Leach that out of a hundred or more demos he receives each week from people seeking his representation as an agent, he'll pick just three or five to listen to a second time.

The hook?

"You've got to grab somebody in the first 15 to 20 seconds" of the demo, he explains. "Show your strengths and then reinforce them."

Serow says that it's often "hard to determine what they're best at" when reviewing demos.

This and many more nuggets of career advice are heard on the podcast, produced by Sheppard's Voice Talent Productions. To listen, click on Episode #4 in the right column of Sheppard's blog page, under the Erik And Ember Show logo.

You'll be enticed to hear other episodes, too, including interviews with Joan Baker, Heather Halley and Ann DeWig.

Blog/Podcast: www.voicetalentproductions.com/blog

Email Sheppard: erik@voicetalentproductions.com

VOICE IT OUT - CREATIVOICES FEATURED ON ENTREPRENEUR MAGAZAGINE MAY 2009

2009-06-24T08:35:00.000+08:00

VOICE IT OUT

Voice actors make good money making the right noises

By Miguel R. Camus

In the Philippines, a name that has become synonymous with voice-overs is CreatiVoices Productions. It is a four-year old company cofounded by Pocholo “Voicemaster” Gonzales himself, a long time voice actor.

Doing voice-overs has grown into a lucrative part-time industry due to the continuing expansion of the electronic media. “Before, voice acting was just for radio,” says Gonzales. “Now there’s also the internet, PodCasts, video games, and cartoons and TV show dubbings.”

The most popular of these voice-over applications, he says, are audio book recordings, animations or TV show dubbings, original content (pre-voice recording), and radio and TV advertisements. Voice-over talents who are paid on a per project basis, can actually earn some P30,000 to P50,000 for doing audio books alone which are mostly textbook translation; about P10,000 to P20,000 for radio and television advertisements; P500 to P1,000 per episode for anime and soap opera dubbings, and up to P30,000 for original content creation.

So how does one get into the Voice-over business?

Gonzales says that voice-over training is a prerequisite no matter how good the aspiring voice talent is, and he emphasizes that doing voice-overs is not just a hobby but an art and a profession. Indeed, this was why Gonzales decided in 2007 to put up the Philippine Center for Voice Acting, the first and only professional voice acting school in the Philippines. He established CreatiVoices himself with an initial capital of only P20,000 but it has become almost an industry by itself.

As the training arm of CreatiVoices, the center conducts a two-month voice acting program for a selected number of students using modules imported from the United States. The P8,000-program consists of once-a-week classes and runs four times a year, with classes that starts in January, April, July and October. The center has five instructors, all respected voice-over industry veterans. “When you train with us, in one day I can make you create 20 voices,” says Gonzales.

He says that although the center does not guarantee voice-over jobs to students who finish the program, it gives them support in landing voice-over contracts. In fact, almost a quarter of his stable 400 local voice-over talents, graduates of the program and a lot of his talents find work in other voice-over companies.

He explains the industry practice, “Even among my talents, there are no exclusive contracts. In my own case, I’m not exclusive to my own company; I work with different recording studios as well.” Considering that projects don’t come regularly, he also cautions voice-over talents to treat doing voice-overs strictly as a “sideline” profession.

Active in the industry for over 15 years now, Gonzales has done voice-over projects for hundreds of radio and TV commercials for practically all of the telecommunication companies, fast food chains, beverage companies, financial institutions, and government agencies as well as politicians on the campaign trail.

Some of his students at CreatiVoices have done very well themselves upon finishing its voice-over training program.

For instance, Jo Carol Fernandez, 18, communications sophomore at the Miriam College in Quezon City, has done many voice-over projects for anime shows since finishing the training. She says she dubbed voices for major characters in the shows Bokura Ga Ita (26 episodes) and Negima as well as for other projects outside CreatiVoices.

On the other hand, Mark B. Aragona, 30, writer and financial consultant, received an offer todo three advertisements for a large telecom company barely a month after finishing his voice-over training. “Let’s just say I made five times my investment for those ads,” he says.

Aragona likes the fact that doing voice-overs is very flexible in terms time. Although some projects can take up to an hour, he says, doing 15 minutes of voice-over work for an advertisement is already long.

Voice actors like Fernandez and Aragona are able to cultivate and hone their talent for professional voice-over work through CreatiVoices, which has since grown into an agency with 10 fulltime staff and some 500 local and international on-call voice actors. The company has not only given the voice-over industry a common face but now also enjoys instant recognition as the industry leader.

Says Gonzales of people wanting to go into doing voice-overs: “If you have a job, and if you’re really good and I want you to take the character, I will wait for you.” And he tells aspiring talents to see doing voice-overs not just as another job but also as a way of having fun, like what he himself does. “I just doing what I want to do,” he says. “This is not work; I’m just playing.”

CREATIVOICES NUMBER 1 VOICE OVER COMPANY IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GOOGLE

2009-06-22T22:44:00.000+08:00

How Not to Be Scammed by Fraud Voice Over Workshops

2009-05-23T17:42:00.000+08:00

How Not to Be Scammed by Fraud Voice Over Workshops

How Not to Be Scammed by Fraud Voice Over Workshops
By Industry veterans:

Brian “Dj BigBrian” Ligsay and Pocholo “The Voicemaster”Gonzales

Voice acting and voice overs is a fun and enjoyable environment for many. But for the most part, it is considered as a business by those who take it seriously.. Just like any business practice, it is important to make wise decisions in choosing and investing your money on seminars and workshops pertaining to the industry. Unsubstantiated information may do you more harm than good. Here are some indicators of what to look for in false and often misleading voice acting seminars:

1. Number of Attendees. (Check out pictures on voice acting)

- Voice acting involves interaction and reaction from both the instructors and the participants. A good methodology involves one-on-one training and close attention to performances in a group. However, the more the attendees, the poorer the quality of learning. Look for a class that involves mic handling and actual coaching. The rule of the thumb is, any class that involves more than 10 participants is a scam.

2. Reputation (Listen to what people say)

- How many times have they offered their classes? Have they been producing able and active voice talents? Are they a company of good standing in the industry?.. Do some research. A good seminar will immediately tell you their success stories involving their attendees and instructors. It will always tell you who will be handling the seminar.. Who will be teaching who? Otherwise, they could have just gotten anyone (perhaps an entry level producer or an amateur), to teach you subjects not even related to voice acting.

3. Join to Earn (Click here for Industry VO Legends)

- Sounds more like a pyramiding scam than a seminar. Nobody becomes a voice actor overnight, it takes dedication, passion and long days of labor and constant practice to be one. So if somebody is trying to entice you that you can earn big through voice acting if you join them, chances are they just want to earn big from you instead.. A good seminar will focus on teaching you the art of voice acting, the techniques involved in learning the art form. Yes there is monetary gratification in voice overs… you do get paid to have fun.. But go ask any professional voice talent and they will tell you the real side of the entertainment industry.

4. Too much of too less (Available seminars on voice acting)

- If you have been doing voice overs or researching on trying to break into the business, you should be aware by now that voice acting itself is a broad terminology on different acting areas of the art form. Some professional seminars will focus on one aspect of the seminar at a time (like narrations, audio books, commercials, etc..) You cannot combine two unrelated fields of voice acting in one sitting (like dubbing for telenovela and commercials for radio), because each field requires a different set of skills and discipline. Unless the seminar clearly states the details of the workshop, and what happens when, be on the look out for self-proclaimed voice artists who will do more talking than teaching.

5. Location is key (See our studio setup and graduation pics)

- Voice acting seminars should always feature a competent environment to work your skills on. It should mention that the seminar will be held in a proper setup, involving studio microphones and recording sessions. If they are not willing to record your voice for evaluation, then be on alert for money-making individuals. A good seminar will involve you testing and trying your skills on actual recording sessions. Here’s a good formula.. Let’s say you will be asked to read a 5 minute script. In a normal recording setup it will at least take 15 minutes for a good voice actor to finish a 5 minute material. Let alone the editing and the recording preparation involved. So normally, you will spend about 20-30 mins in a studio for a recording session.. 20 in a group you say? Are you willing to wait for 9.5 hours for your turn? Or will they even record you by then?

Whatever your purpose may be in joining a workshop, whether it is for self-improvement or overcoming anxieties behind the microphone, always be sure on who you trust to work with your talent. Professional voice directors will always be there to offer their assistance on your improvement, would have at least 10 years of industry background and experience and has done and produced an extensive lineup of projects here and abroad. Don’t be mislead by “money-for-their-cause” voice acting workshops. Let the professionals help you join their ranks, call CreatiVoices Productions at 7297274 or 9700971 and they will be there to assist you in discovering your potential in the world of voice acting. You can also check out their websites at: creativoices.com and creativoices.net. Email: creativoices@gmail.comor brian@creativoices.com

SUMMER VOICE OVER FUNTASY! VOICE ACTING WORKSHOP 2009

2009-03-16T12:21:00.000+08:00

If you cannot read this properly, please go to this site: http://www.creativoices.com/workshops/voice.htm
This email was sent by, or on behalf of, CreatiVoices® . Thank you for your interest in CreatiVoices® products and services.

Learn how you can make your voice as an art and career

Do you love voice acting? Can you do voices for a living or as an art? Or are you are actively involved in preparing materials for speaking, or your work requires you to meet people and carry conversations well? Then read along. Creativoices Productions, the creator of 7 seasons of the premier Voice Acting and Dubbing workshop in the Philippines - VoiceWorx!, announces their newest activities this summer.

VOICE ACTING CLASSES

Basic Voice Acting for Radio Advertising Workshop - 1	April 1,2 and 3 / 8 am to 6 pm
Advance Voice Acting for Radio Drama Workshop - 1	April 15, 16 and 17/ 8 am to 6 pm
Children's Voice Acting Workshop - 1	April 27, 28 and 29/ 8 am to 6 pm
Basic Voice Acting for Radio Advertising Workshop - 2	May 4, 5 and 6/ 8 am to 6 pm
Advance Voice Acting for Radio Drama Workshop - 2	May 11, 12 and 13/ 8 am to 6 pm
Children's Voice Acting Workshop - 2	May 18, 19 and 20/ 8 am to 6 pm

April - May 2009

Alert of the Week

VoiceWorx! 8 Basic Voice Acting and Dubbing

ONLY 2 SLOTS LEFT- - Classes will start on April 4, 2009 at the Philippine Center for Voice Acting	4 April 2009

Join VoiceWorx and be part of the most prestigious Voice Artist group in the Philippines, The Society of Young Voice Artists of the Philippines (SYVAP) www.syvap.org

VoiceWorx! 7 Graduation

VoiceWorx 7 Graduation at RedBox, Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati City	14 March 2009

Join VoiceWorx! 9 this July!	1 July 2009

VENUE:

PHILIPPINE CENTER FOR VOICE ACTING 3/f, 1745 Dian St., Palanan, Makati City 1235 PHILIPPINES

Call - 729-27274 or 970-0971

Visit this for all your voice recording needs!

If you want to know more about the Art of Pinoy Voice Acting visit www.pochologonzales.com

Subscribe to CREATIVOICES PRODUCTIONS

Email:

Visit this group

For any enquiries, send us an email to voiceworx@creativoices.com and info@creativoices.com

The Invisible Actors

2009-02-18T20:06:00.001+08:00

The Invisible Actors

by
Suzanne Smiley

English 151
Dr. Cubbage
October 8, 1998

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Outline

The Invisible Actors

Thesis: Voice acting offers little recognition in the area that we would commonly refer to as fame and is a challenging, often frustrating business to get into, but in the end, the benefits in many ways are actually better than those of on-screen actors.

I. What is Voice Acting?
A. Definition
B. Many voice acting mediums
C. How I became interested in voice acting

II. The job
A. The fun
B. The hard work

III. Voice acting versatility
A. Voice actors vs. on-screen actors
B. The voice director
C. Music in cartoons

IV. A voice actor's blessing and curse
A. Maurice LaMarche's example
B. Jess Harnell's example

V. The fan/actor relationship
A. Jess Harnell's example
B. Maurice LaMarche's example
C. Rob Paulsen's example

VI. Other voice actor's work
A. Jess Harnell's example
1. Song in movie

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2. Album
3. Stage work
B. Maurice LaMarche's example
1. Dubbed voice in movie
2. Off-screen announcer
C. Rob Paulsen's example
1. Commercials
2. Re-voicing a movie
3. Promotional spots

VII. Conclusion

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The Invisible Actors

Voice-over actor, voice actor, voice talent, and voice artist. These are all words that describe an actor who uses only his or her voice as a performance tool. I would tell people that the topic of my research paper was "cartoon voice acting", and the typical response was, "What's that?" I would then say, "You know, the actors who put the voices to cartoon characters." They would respond with an, "Oh," and nod their head.

Cartoons are only one voice-over medium. Some others are radio and television commercials, audio books, documentary narration, training films, corporate videos, point of purchase displays, CD-ROM programs and games, telephone voice prompt systems, and many others (Shaughnessy 1). Voice acting offers little recognition in the area that we would commonly refer to as fame and is a challenging, often frustrating business to get into, but in the end, the benefits in many ways are actually better than those of on-screen actors.

My interest in voice acting stems from my love of the Warner Bros. cartoon, Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs. I have been a fan of the show off and on since 1993, but it wasn't until 1997 that I became very interested in what went on behind the scenes of my favorite cartoon show. With the help of the internet, I started learning about the extremely talented voice actors of Animaniacs. Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, and Tress MacNeille supply, among many others, the voices for the show's main characters, a trio of cute, zany species-less creatures named Yakko and Wakko, the Warner Brothers, and their sister, Dot.

Animaniacs is not your typical kid's cartoon. Its humor and style is right up there with the classic Warner Bros. characters like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. After all, today's voice artists are the next generation of the infamous Looney Tunes voice actor Mel Blanc. When I started searching the internet for information on Animaniacs, I
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learned that there was a whole online Animaniacs community of fans just like me. People of all ages, ranging from the low teens up through their thirties and even forties were all crazy for Animaniacs!

Jess Harnell provides the voice of Wakko Warner, my all time favorite cartoon character, whose accent was inspired by the Beatles' Ringo Starr. Harnell has always loved doing voices, but he never dreamed that he could make any money at it. He feels that the people who thrive in life are those who take something they really enjoy and turn it into their career. Says Harnell, "If you love what you do, you are so far ahead of the game, man, 'cause everybody hates their job" ("Interview of Jess Harnell" 6). An sense of humor seems to come with the occupation. When Rob Paulsen, the voice of Yakko Warner, was once asked how it feels to hear himself on TV, he replied, "It feels like hearing yourself on radio, but with pictures" ("Animaniacs Voice Artists Live Kids' WB!" 5).

Simply providing voices for cartoon characters may sound like fun, and it is, but that doesn't mean the job is an easy one. The business is very fast paced. Voice actors need to be available from 10am to 6pm everyday because unlike on-camera auditions, casting calls are often last minute, and the actors may have to be there within the hour ("Fast-Paced Business" 1). Which means that voice actors must be willing to live where the jobs are. In North America, Los Angeles is where the majority of cartoon voice work is cast and recorded. No matter how talented, a cartoon voice actor will never get hired if they live somewhere such as New Jersey or Texas (Bevilacqua 2). "Voice-over is much more than reading words off a page. It is really an aspect of acting, with all the techniques, subtleties, and more" (Alburger 1). It takes true talent to act with only your voice ("Fast-Paced Business" 1). True talent is indeed what these actors have.

What does true talent look like? Voice artists, unlike on-screen actors, can be in many, many, programs and projects at once. Yes, occasionally a popular television star
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will do commercials for telephone services or credit cards or star in a movie. Voice actors can do commercials and lend their voices to movies as well, but how many TV series is the "10-10-321" man, John Lithgow, currently in other than Third Rock From the Sun? In addition, John Lithgow, as many on-screen actors, is always John Lithgow. As far as the voices he can do, he is basically limited to one: his own. However, at any given time, a voice actor may be on as many as five or six cartoon series, doing twice as many different voices in addition to commercials and other projects. Rob Paulsen pointed out that "there are a million average-looking white guys in Los Angeles" like him and with one faltering audition after another, he realized that he could do things with his voice that he would never be considered for on-camera ("I Could Do That" 34). For example just on Animaniacs alone Paulsen voices Yakko Warner, a wisecracking Groucho Marx type character, Dr. Scratchansniff, a slightly neurotic German "p-sychiatrist", and Pinky, an absolutely goofy white lab mouse with a British accent. All three are major characters with three very distinct voices. Many of the minor roles in a cartoon are divided up among the actors who are playing the major characters. However, often these minor roles go un-credited and only someone with a good ear for the actor's many different character voices will be able to pick them out.

Recording voices for a show such as Animaniacs takes around three hours for each half hour episode. The actors gather in a recording studio and the voice director guides them through the script ("Animaniacs Voice Artists Live Kids' WB!" 3) . However, keep in mind that since many voice actors are involved in more than one series at a time, they may have to do three or four recording sessions like this each day, all for different shows. Then add the fact that a voice actor may be dealing with several different voice directors in one day. "The style of every director is completely unique and it's a real challenge to understand and fulfill each approach as closely as possible"
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(Soucie 2). For a more humorous yet crude description of how voice directors work, I think the Warners put it best during the end credits of Animaniacs, episode #84:

"Voice director?" asks Wakko, "Who's that?"
"Oh, you know," Yakko explains, "She's the person that tells you to redo every line, like, fifty times."
"Yeah," Dot adds, "and faster!"
"Her?" yells Wakko with sudden realization, "I hate her!"

One key element to cartoons today, especially Animaniacs, is the music. "You'll find that everybody in animation can sing because it's become a musical industry" ("Interview of Jess Harnell" 6). Voice-over agent Allen Duncan believes that actors with talents in music often do better in voice-over because there is more of an awareness of time, tempo, and timbre. In that case, music study gives voice acting talent an advantage (McBride 1). With that in mind, it's not a surprise that Jess Harnell and Rob Paulsen both originally trained as singers ("Animaniacs Voice Artists Live Kids' WB!" 2).

Since a voice actor's primary performance tool is his or her voice, it is quite obvious that fans of their work are more likely to recognize the actor for their voice rather than their face. Therefore, unlike on-camera actors, voice actors often enjoy a simple low-profile lifestyle (Fischer 1) which can be a blessing for those in the profession. However, the non-recognition from the fans can also be a voice actor's "curse". Maurice LaMarche of Steven Spielberg Presents Pinky and the Brain likes the fact that he can sit in any Los Angeles restaurant and eat in peace, but there are other times when he just wants to say to people, "Oh by the way, I'm the Brain" ("Voices on the Road" 2).

Jess Harnell knows the frustration of non-recognition first hand. Harnell and his mother were once at Disney World where they saw an eight year old boy with an Animaniacs shirt on. In the hopes of getting a positive response, Harnell told the boy that he did the voice of Wakko Warner. The boy only replied, "So? I do it too." Harnell clarified that he actually did the voice for the show, but the boy was not convinced, explaining that Animaniacs was taped in California. Harnell then took out his driver's
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license to prove that he was from California. The boy only remarked sarcastically, "Oh yeah, if you live California then you must do his voice." Harnell was eventually forced to do his Wakko impression for the boy and at that the eight year old merely laughed and said, "You don't even sound like him" (O'Dell 1).

The fan/actor relationship regarding voice actors is on a far more personal level than it is with movie or television actors and their fans. In a live Animaniacs voice actor chat hosted on America Online, Jess Harnell even remarked that for him, one of the best things he had done in relation to Animaniacs, was going out on tour and meeting all of the fans in person (6).

I recall a certain post on the Animaniacs internet newsgroup, alt.tv.animaniacs. Two fans had made Pinky and the Brain stars Maurice LaMarche and Rob Paulsen really nice Pinky and the Brain t-shirts. LaMarche had lost the fans' return mailing addresses and was trying desperately to get in contact with the talented artists simply because he wanted to send the fans personal, handwritten thank you notes ("A Message From Maurice LaMarche" 1) .

There are also times, however, when things do not run quite so smoothly. I sent an email to Rob Paulsen asking if he would answer a few questions about voice acting that I could use in my paper. Exactly one week later, I received a reply from Rob who said, "Sure, I'll help you!" Voice actors recognize the importance of their fans who play a big part in helping the actors become as well known as they are. By treating the fans on a personal level, the voice actors can perhaps give a little back as a way of saying "thank you". After that final email from Rob Paulsen, I never got another email that answered my questions. Nor did I receive any kind of message explaining why. I sent another email two weeks later re-submitting a revised list of questions, asking what had happened. Still nothing. Why? Had I done something wrong? I suppose Paulsen himself puts it best in a July 1997 interview where he says that he is very flattered by the attention that anyone pays him and he appreciates the support that fans give him. He wants people to know that if he
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doesn't get back to them when they email or write, it isn't out of arrogance or that he doesn't want to. It is because he is lucky enough to have the work that keeps him busy these days. Often, he is just too busy to respond ("Rob Paulsen Interview" 7). That may be true Mr. Paulsen, but it still does not mean that it doesn't hurt. (author's note: The day after I turned in this report, I found a reply from Rob when I checked my email! It was too late to include here, but I will be using the information for a speech in another class about V/As on 11/5/98. I put up a page with the interview here! Thanks Rob!)

Animated character voices are not the only thing that cartoon voice actors do. The 1996 comedy film Mother, starring Albert Brooks and Debbie Reynolds, featured Jess Harnell singing in a rendition of the Simon and Garfunkel tune, Mrs. Robinson, that was written just for that movie (Fink 37). In 1996, under a small record label, Harnell even released his very own album called, The Sound of Your Voice. Also, just this past summer, Harnell played the part of the Cowardly Lion in a small live Californian stage production of The Wizard of Oz ("Interview of Jess Harnell" 5).

Maurice LaMarche's Orson Welles impression was made famous in recent times through his character the Brain, a white lab mouse bent on world domination, in Pinky and the Brain. That same voice was also used to dub over the actor who played Welles in the 1994 movie Ed Wood (Ranbom, Cremeans, and Leung 4). LaMarche can also be heard as the off-screen announcer on the syndicated talk show, The Howie Mandel Show ("Message From Moe (PATB V/A)" 1).

Rob Paulsen, LaMarche and Harnell's co-star from Pinky and the Brain and Animaniacs, can heard as the voice of a goldfish and a hyperactive paint roller in most recent television commercials. When the Jim Carrey film Liar, Liar goes on network television and Carrey's character uses a naughty word, it will be Rob Paulsen's voice that is dubbed in with a nicer, kid-friendly word. Paulsen re-voiced some twenty to thirty lines for the film. Since Paulsen wonderfully voiced the cartoon version of Jim Carrey's The Mask, Carrey and his manager could think of no better person qualified for the job ("I Could Do That" 34). Paulsen also did at least one promotional spot this season for the NBC comedy, Friends. Promotional spots are simply the commercials that tell people
Smiley 7

about upcoming shows. Paulsen, says he can get about $200 per promo and can do ten to twenty of them in an hour and a half. He also notes that although it pays well, "it's not very creative stuff" ("I Could Do That" 34).

Voice Acting is one of today's fastest growing industries so the business has never been more open to new performers. It's not the "closed circle" that it was twenty years ago when only a select few actors could be heard in every cartoon. Agents are always looking for the "next great voice" for they would be bored if they weren't able to search for something new. Voice acting today is an "ever increasing circle", always looking for new people ("Know Your Limitations" 2).

Voice acting may have its ups and downs, but those who make a career out of it do indeed believe that voice acting is the greatest job in the world. Jess Harnell notes, "What we do isn't brain surgery and we're not saving the world, but on the other hand, if in the course of what we do we make somebody smile, it's been a worthwhile day at the 'office', even if you were playing a dog" ("Interview of Jess Harnell" 7) . The profession, as all acting careers, may be difficult to break into, but the benefits from such a job are deeply rewarding, satisfying and well worth the struggle. I hope that the next time you turn on the television or listen to the radio, you will think twice about all of the talented "invisible actors" who are so much a part of our lives... and we didn't even know it.
Smiley 8

Works Cited

Animaniacs Episode #84. Perf. Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, Tress MacNielle, 1996.

"Animaniacs Voice Artists Live Kids' WB!" 17 May 1996. Online. Available http://wbanimation.warnerbros.com/. Accessed Mar. 1997.

Alburger, James R. "The Art of Voice Acting: The Craft and the Business of Performing Voice-Over" Amazon.com Review. 30 August 1998. Online. Available http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/024080340X/002-4328250-1047265. Accessed 16 Sept. 1998.

Bevilacqua, Joe. "Voice Acting 101." Animation World Magazine April 1997: 1-6. Available http://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.1/articles/bevilacqua2.1.html. Accessed 16 Sept. 1998.

David, Amelia. "Fast-Paced Business." Back Stage. 17 July 1998: 28. Available http://web4.searchbank.com/. Accessed 15 Sept. 1998.

David, Amelia. "Know Your Limitations." Back Stage. 17 July 1998: 32. Available http://web4.searchbank.com/. Accessed 15 Sept. 1998.

Fink, Mitchell. "Hey, Hey, Mrs. Robinson." People Weekly. 23 Dec. 1996: 37. Available http://proquest.umi.com/. Accessed 12 Sept. 1998.

Fischer, Rachel. "Off-Camera Oasis." Back Stage West. 23 July 1998: 10. Available http://web4.searchbank.com/. Accessed 15 Sept. 1998.

"I Could Do That." FHM Magazine October 1997: 34. "[ARTICLE] Rob Paulsen interview in FHM (text) (fwd)" Online posting. 7 Oct 1997. Deja News. alt.tv.animaniacs.

LaMarche, Maurice. "A Message From Maurice LaMarche." Online posting. 08 Aug. 1996. Deja News. alt.tv.animaniacs.

LaMarche, Maurice. "Message From Moe (PATB V/A)." Online posting. 10 July 1998. Deja News. alt.tv.animaniacs.

McBride, Murdoch. "Taking the Action a Step Further." Back Stage. 17 July 1998: 30. Available http://web4.searchbank.com/. Accessed 15 Sept. 1998.
Smiley 9

O'Dell, Ron. "Jess Harnell Meets Young Wakko Fan." Radio interview transcription. Online. Available http://www.amory.com/~keeper/jesshirt.html. Accessed 19 Jan. 1998.

Ranbom, Larissa, and Lee Cremeans, and Kane Leung. The Nifty Animaniacs Reference File. 11 Aug. 1998: 4. Online. Available http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/text/faq/usenet/tv/animaniacs/faq/faq.html. Accessed 6 October 1998.

Shaughnessy, Peter. "Non-Union? No Problem!" Back Stage. 17 July 1998: 36. Available http://web4.searchbank.com/. Accessed 15 Sept. 1998.

Soucie, Kath. "And I Get Paid!?!: The Life of a Voice Actor." Animation World Magazine March 1998: 1-5. Online. Available http://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.12/2.12pages/2.12soucievoice.html. Accessed 23 Sept. 1998.

Tindall, Linda. "Rob Paulsen Interview." Toon Talk. 9 May 1998 5-7. Online. Available http://www.voicechasers.org/ToonTalk/050998.html. Accessed 14 Sept. 1998.

Tindall, Linda. "Interview of Jess Harnell." Toon Talk. 11 June 1998 5-7. Online. Available http://www.voicechasers.org/ToonTalk/061198.html Accessed 14 Sept. 1998.

Tindall, Linda. "Voices on the Road." Toon Talk. 15 July 1998 2-5. Online. Available http://www.voicechasers.org/ToonTalk/071598.html. Accessed 14 Sept. 1998.

Voice Acting 101

2009-02-18T19:57:00.000+08:00

Voice Acting 101

Joe Bevilacqua (right), with mentor Daws Butler.Joe Bevilacqua (right), with mentor Daws Butler.

So you want to be a voice actor? Looks easy, right? Getting paid to act silly is actually very serious and difficult work. I've been a voice actor since the age of 12, worked in New York radio theater from age 22, studied voice acting with the great Daws Butler for 12 years, and I'm here to tell you some of what you need to know. To assist me, I have solicited the comments of some of my talented colleagues: Joe Alaskey, Bob Bergen, Greg Burson, Corey Burton, Nancy Cartwright, June Foray, Lee Richard Harris, David Kaye, Stephanie Morganstern, and Phil Proctor.

Real Acting
Most of the actors quoted in this article also trained with Daws Butler, and they all learned from him first and foremost that voice acting is real acting, not just "doing funny voices." This is very important to keep in mind. Characters should be real, no matter how cartoony the style is. In my radio cartoon series, for example, Willoughby and the Professor, I played all the roles, sometimes a dozen or more per show--from a one year-old baby named Bub and a 12 year-old boy named Willoughby, to the 60 year old Professor. None of these characters were just "voices"; they were flesh and blood people, fully realized in the script, in my head, and in the final performance.

Bob Bergen, the present day voice of Porky Pig, comments that, "The call that I get most often is, 'I want to work in cartoons but I'm not an actor,' or 'I don't want to be an actor.' A person with this perspective will never work. In this business, they could care less if you can do great voices. It's the acting that gets the job, it is definitely a skill and a craft that takes time to cultivate." he adds.

David Kaye with the characters he voices. David Kaye with the characters he voices.

David Kaye, the voice of Megatron, has similar sentiments. He says, "The first thing you've got to do if you want to get into cartoons or animation or voice work is take some acting classes.' Study the classics, because that is where everything comes from." Kaye recalls that, "I didn't start getting a lot of animation [work] until I started doing theater. I went to the four-year program at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. It wasn't until then that I could really go into an audition and create a character."

Getting Started
Recalling his start in voice-overs, Bob Bergen states that, "I wanted to be Porky Pig since I was about five years old. That's what I told my parents I wanted to be when I grew up. I called Hanna-Barbera and I said, 'How do I do it?' At that time, they didn't hire kids, like they do now. Hanna-Barbera sent me to Bob Lloyd, who's got a company called The Voice Casters, one of the biggest voice casting companies in Los Angeles. Bob referred me to teachers, and I studied with everyone."

Nancy Cartwright is one of Daws Butler's most talented and successful students . She plays Bart Simpson on The Simpsons, and many other roles in cartoons, as well as on stage and on camera; these range from The Snorks and Cheers in the 1980s to recent TV movies and a one-woman stage show, In Search of Fellini. "My training," says Nancy, "started when I was a kid and I performed in theater. I got my confidence, and recognized an ability I had to make people laugh. I was learning by doing it." Anyone who thinks cartoon voice actors can't act, should see Nancy in her superb one-woman show.

Practice Makes Perfect
Veteran actor, writer and producer, Phil Proctor recalls the transition from stage to voice overs, in his case from Firesign Theater to Rugrats. "I had to learn how to accommodate my own eccentric skills to the rather restricted demand of a particular vision, or often lack of vision, in order to create whatever it was that the client ultimately wanted to hear."

Joe Alaskey, one of several actors who now voices many of the Warner Bros. characters, recalls one of his early lessons, when "Friz Freleng scouted me from my stand-up act in the late 70s. He critiqued my work over the phone, telling me to keep working at it, and to prepare for the future. I started saturating myself in Warner Bros. cartoons, listening like never before, practicing every day to improve their unique sounds and the myriad of nuances in personality. I'm still at it today."

Agents & Demos
To get work as a voice actor, you must have an agent. Casting directors will not even consider you if you are not represented. (In the US, you can get a list of agent from AFTRA and SAG, the two actors' unions.) Equally important is that you really should live where the jobs are; in North America, this means Los Angeles, where most of the cartoon voice work is cast and recorded. Some actors such as David Kaye and Stephanie Morganstern are based in Canada, but they are exceptions. No one will hire you if you live in New Jersey or Texas, no matter how talented you are. When a casting call comes, you need to be there, sometimes within the hour.

In order to get a good agent, you need a great demo tape. Bob Bergen feels, "As far as the demo tape process goes, I don't believe in telling a story. Each segment should sound like it's a clip from a cartoon, where your character is involved and doing some kind of action. You should never repeat a voice on your demo tape. Each clip should have a totally different scene; perhaps one is jet fighter pilot, another a nerdy kid trying to ask a girl out, but scenes that contrast. You want to leave the listener asking for more. The average length of a demo tape is two-and-a-half minutes. I recommend one-and-a-half, because you are asking someone to take one-and-a-half minutes of their life for your life. And chances are you are one of 20 or 30 tapes they have to listen to that day."

Nancy Cartwright.Nancy Cartwright.

How To Audition
Auditioning is perhaps the most difficult part of an actor's life. You will be rejected most of the time, and will need to get used to this. You should learn to enjoy the process, because you will be auditioning much more than you will be working. There are a few ways to make this experience a fruitful one.

David Kaye points out the importance of showing your unique skills. "When I went in to audition for the Megatron voice," he notes, "I had just finished a Shakespeare workshop, and I pulled from some of what I had been studying. I learned the Laban method, and used it a lot when I auditioned for cartoons. It is based on different 'weights' you give a line reading. For example, instead of screaming, 'Don't ever do that to me again!', you can use a light weight, and softly, but powerfully say the line, which is more menacing than just outright shouting."

"I do full-bodied performances," Joe Alaskey says, "with expressions to match, just like Mel [Blanc]. I'm not just concentrating on my voice, though that's where the performance is concentrated; I try to become a cartoon--body, soul, mind and voice (not always in that order)--and then make my selections for the readings, of which there is usually only one 'right' one."

June Foray, best known as the voices of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Granny in the Sylvester & Tweety cartoons, feels that you must always observe your surroundings, and draw from what you see and hear in your life when auditioning. "When I as working for Chuck [Jones] on The Curiosity Shop, I was the aardvark, and that was easy. For the giraffe, I did a very haughty type woman, and then came the elephant; I thought, 'What can I do for the elephant that would be almost incongruous and yet acceptable?' Well, my husband and I were at a party, and there was a very heavyset lady chatting, and her voice was just a tiny, sweet little voice with very high tones. I listened to her and thought, 'That is the elephant!' It was a contradiction in terms, but the voice was just perfect."

"When I landed the part of Bart Simpson," explains Nancy Cartwright, "I wasn't even called in for that part. I was originally called in for Lisa, but I couldn't get a hook on her. 'I can't do her,' I said. But I had taken the time out in the lobby to look at Bart's audition and I said, 'Aha, I can do that!' I only gave them one voice, one concept, and I was hired on the spot."

Phil Proctor.Phil Proctor.

Developing A Voice
Voice actors today are faced with a number of stumbling blocks to creating truly original character voices. The studios want the familiar, not the new. Most of the great voices actors, such as Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, and Paul Frees are gone now, and the studios need sound-alikes to keep their cartoon franchises going.

Joe Alaskey explains that, "Revivifying the classic Warner Bros. voices is tremendous fun, but it isn't easy. The responsibility of doing all the voices for Marvin The Martian in the Third Dimension was a white-knuckler, the sessions were ongoing for over a year (but worth it!). But doing a more or less original voice such as Stinkie on Casper is no less intense an experience."

Greg Burson, who voices many classic characters such as Yogi the Bear and Bugs Bunny, studies those who did the original voices and how they spoke normally. "People leave road maps," he says. "It depends on the configuration in the voice box. Yogi came pretty quickly to me. I do the early Yogi, because that' s the one I grew up with and love. Bugs is much harder. To get Bugs right took me a year. I do the Bugs of the 1950s, as the people at Warner Bros. felt that that was when Mel was in his prime."

Not Just a Voice
When creating original character voices, it is important to put yourself into it entirely. The physical aspects of a character are as important as the voice. When I perform my characters for my Willoughby and the Professor radio cartoon show, I don't just stand still in front of the microphone and speak. I put my full body into the perfomance just as I would on stage. People who watch me perform find it as enjoyable as hearing the finished recording. For example, I flail my arms a lot when speaking since I find that this movement gives my performance an extra "hmmph". For naïve 12-year old Willoughby, I raise my eyebrows up, open my eye as wide as I can and stand very straight. This gives me a brighter young alert sound for Willoughby. My Professor character has very large jowls but I have a thin face with no jowls, so to get a "hollow" jowl sound for him I hold the sides of my face with my thumb and forefinger and pull my cheeks out as far as I can and hold them there everytime I speak as the Professor. All good voice actors work from the physical.

"I found that when I did the voice of Witch Hazel," says June Foray, "that I would come home with a crick in my neck, because I was bending over to play the character."

"I had an innate talent and I practiced it," explains Nancy Cartwright. "I found ways to become different characters with just the subtle change of a lift of an eyebrow or the curl of your lip; those nuances can affect your voice and help mold and shape a character."

June Foray notes that, "We all have greed; we have anger; we have charity; we love; we have all sorts of emotions. Being an actor, you have to capture your own feelings, and with your proclivities for voice-changing, you can insert that wonderful human quality that you have into that character with that particular voice that you're using."

Joe Alaskey.Joe Alaskey.

The Recording Session
There are many types of recording sessions. Sometimes, every character is recorded separately, then edited and mixed together later by a sound engineer. This can be a very difficult way to perform, as the actor does not have the opportunity to hear how the other actors say their lines and respond naturally. Most of Mel Blanc's work on the Warner Bros. cartoons was done this way.

Another type of recording session is done by dubbing the voices during post-production, when the animation is already completed. This is perhaps the most difficult of all for an actor. Most cartoons imported from Japan are recorded this way for the English market. Stephanie Morganstern, who plays Sailor Venus on Sailor Moon, is an expert at this type of work.

"We use the rhythmo-band technique," she explains, "which allows for a lot of precision in dubbing, especially when you're doing live action and need to match realistic lip flaps. The words you have to speak are written by hand on a transparent strip (of something like acetate) which is rolled, fast-forwarded or rewound in synch with the playing, fast-forwarding or rewinding of the videotape, and projected on a long horizontal screen above the video monitor. When the videotape is played, you can watch the images on the monitor, but your focus is on the screen above it where the words are projected, flying across from right to left at precisely the speed at which they have to be spoken. You voice each sound, gasp, scream or breath as it hits the 'speak' line to the far left of the screen. This is why the words have to be handwritten: if the character speaks fast, they are written scrunched up so they take less time to say; and if you have to stretch a sound like 'Sco-o-o-out Po-o-o- w-e-e-r!,' it's written elongated so that it takes as much time to say it as it does to travel across the screen. It's very confining, as it takes one of the most important parts of expression, timing, out of your control altogether."

The best recording sessions usually are the ones in which all the actors are in the same room performing together as if it were a radio play. All of Jay Ward's cartoons, such as Rocky and Bullwinkle, were done this way. Mark Evanier, who wrote and voice-directed Garfield, also works this way. I remember sitting in on many recording sessions of The Jetsons, when Daws Butler, Penny Singleton, Mel Blanc, Howard Morris, and the whole cast sat in a circle and worked off each other. They encouraged, prodded, and provoked one another into great performances.

Phil Proctor remembers that, "When I did The Smurfs at Hanna-Barbera, it was so much fun. I went into my first session there, with Daws Butler, Alan Young, Paul Winchell, and Jack Riley; Gordon Hunt was directing. They would say, 'Oh, Phil does a wonderful English accent. Let's create a part for him.' And they would massage parts for you. It was wonderful, like the old movie studio days. It was like being part of a repertory company."

June Foray.June Foray.

Changing Trends
One of the current trends in the American animation industry is to cast major movie stars to voice animated characters. From Robin Williams in Aladdin, Tom Hanks in Toy Story, even Woody Allen in the upcoming DreamWorks feature Ants, these stars not only demand huge salaries, they take work away from the core group of voice actors.

"A lot had changed since I was last in it," Lee Harris states. "The casting of celebrities promotes the cartoon to adults more than it does kids. A kid watching a cartoon isn't going to jump up and down and say, 'Oh boy! It's Danny Devito doing the voice!' I read a quote from a casting person at one of the big companies that said that the days of the Mel Blancs and the Daws Butlers are gone, and that they cast well-known celebrities because they want 'real' actors as if Mel and Daws were not 'real' actors, which of course they were."

"The greatest actor I ever knew was Daws Butler," insists Greg Burson.

"They gravitate towards celebrities," said Corey Burton, "so that they have actors who have already developed a persona they can draw from to fill out the character, whereas a multi-voiced person is waiting for their idea to produce the particular voice. So they get somebody like Don Rickles coming in to Toy Story, and say, 'OK, Don, you're Mr. Potatohead,' and they are able to use his personality. Plus, they see it as a big marketing plus. That way they get little bits on Entertainment Tonight and other 'behind the scenes' TV shows. That's not bad, but it's just insulting when they completely ignore the regular voice people."

Phil Proctor talks about the difficulties of keeping up with the ever-changing business: "I've been doing it for about 25 years now, and I have gone through all the different kinds of fads of what is 'in' and what is 'out'. It's rather difficult sometimes when you just have found a niche for yourself, and then they say they don't want that anymore."

Lee Harris states that, "My goal is to have an original character on a TV series. Our generation of TV babies are making the decisions in casting, writing and directing, and we seem to have a large case of nostalgia. I'd like to be known for an original character that people would remember. I've never lost sight of that, even though everything else in the industry has changed. The way that Daws used to describe things for animation or commercials, with somebody just picking up the phone and saying, 'Hey Daws, hey Frees, hey June Foray, come over, we're doin' a cartoon.' I don't expect things to be like that again, but the 'celebrity curse', combined with 'playing it safe' with just very few established voice actors--those are the battles to be fought and we just have to keep fighting."

Just Do It
Show business is a very tough business. Once you decide to join the ranks of unemployed actors, you must resign yourself to the possibility that you may never make it. Only those who stick it out for the long haul ever succeed. You should not set time limits on yourself. This is very stressful and restricting. I know plenty of actors who have said to me, "If I don't make it in five years I'm going back to Kansas." I say, "If that's the case, you should have stayed in Kansas to begin with." To me, acting is a life, not a career. You either live it or you don't. If you do live it, you will be willing to pursue it for the rest of your life and enjoy every minute of it. The process of learning, growing, improving, auditioning, creating--that should be your primary focus, not becoming rich and famous.

There you have it. Study long and hard, learn to act, make a short but stunning demo tape, get an agent, audition, audition, audition, study some more, audition some more, and somewhere along the line you may just find yourself the next Bart Simpson or Yogi Bear.

So now you know the real story, not a sugarcoated, Hollywood glamour version of life as a voice actor. Still want to be one? I have the number of a good therapist.

THE VOICE OF CREATVTY

2009-02-09T10:04:00.000+08:00

creativoices- Broadcast your self LIVE

Creativoices announces it's breakthrough voiceover seminars.

2009-02-05T13:54:00.000+08:00

Creativoices announces it’s breakthrough voiceover seminars.

Do you love voice acting? Can you do voices for a living or as an art? Or are you are actively involved in preparing materials for speaking, or your work requires you to meet people and carry conversations well? Then read along. Creativoices Productions, the creator of 7 seasons of the premier Voice Acting and Dubbing workshop in the Philippines - VoiceWorx!, announces their newest activities this summer.

Dubbed as “Summer VoiceOver Funtasy!” It involves participants exploring the potentials of their voice acting career with advance learning tools and techniques in Radio Commercials, Radio Drama, Script Reading, Mic handling, and Voice Over marketing. And now they will also be providing an exclusive Children’s Voice Acting Workshop this summer.

The classes will start as follows:

SUMMER VOICEOVER FUNTASY!

Radio Advertising Voice Over Workshop!!
March 2 and 3 CLASS A-RAV
March 4 and 5 CLASS B-RAV
March 6, 2009 GRADUATION

Advance Voice Acting and Radio Drama Workshop!!
March 9 and 10 CLASS A-RAD
March 11 and 12 CLASS B-RAD
March 13, 2009 GRADUATION

Children’s Voice Acting Workshop (10- 16 years old only)
March 16 and 17 CLASS A-CVA1
March 18 and 19 CLASS B-CVA1
March 20, 2009 GRADUATION

Children’s Voice Acting Workshop (10- 16 years old only)
March 23 and 24 CLASS A-CVA2
March 25 and 26 CLASS B-CVA2
March 27, 2009 GRADUATION

“The class will do more activities than ever, that involves working with the mic and less with the pen”, says Brian Ligsay VoiceWorx Director of CreatiVoices. Ligsay who is an accomplished performer, was hired recently by Rosetta Stone, Inc. as a Voice Director/Coach to work on their Filipino/Tagalog software program. CreatiVoices, he claims has successfully produced over a hundred voice over enthusiasts, bringing their total database of available on-call voice talents, close to a thousand.

“And that’s what producers are looking for nowadays in voice over production.. effeciency, diversity, creativity,” adds Pocholo Gonzales, Managing Director of the company. Gonzales is also known as the Voicemaster, who’s consummate performance is heard on TV, Radio and the Internet. He also recently starred in the animation movie DAYO Sa Mundo ng Elementalia Official entry to the 2008 Metro Manila Film Festival. He was the only professional Voice Artist among the Cast of Actors.

With talks from the Veteran and Young Voice Actors.
The summer workshop features professional voice performers and directors working closely with students in a strict all recording facility and studio at the heart of Makati City. So get ready to explore your talents this summer. Join the workshop and excel your skills in voice acting. Don’t hesitate to call, because in the world of success… it’s always first come, first served.

For details contact them at:

729-7274 or 970-0971
Text us at: 09195731714/09272404886
Email us at: info@creativoices.com, brian@creativoices.com
Visit our website: www.creativoices.net and creativoices.com
Our Studio address link online: http://creativoices.net/blog/?page_id=8
Official social network: www.voiceworx.ning.com

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

2008-12-23T12:47:00.000+08:00

The VoiceMaster and Dj BigBrian
Wishes you all a Happy Christmas and a Proseperous New Year!
Looking Forward to working with you again this 2009!!

Christmas Countdown - Advent Calendar!

A new surprise will be unveiled on the CreatiVoices Advent Calendar each day of the month as Christmas nears. Click on today's date to see the latest. Keep checking back to see (and hear) the latest treat! Happy Holidays from all of us here at CreatiVoices Productions!!

The VoiceMaster featured on MMDA ON THE ROAD with Bayani Fernando

2008-11-09T14:41:00.000+08:00

HEALTH AND WEALTH SUMMIT 2008

2008-10-14T00:38:00.000+08:00

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THE CALL TO PROSPERITY
to convince you to join 700++ people nationwide

A Filipino-American couple who made it big in the United States speaks in Manila...

Why we want you to join...
Health and Wealth Summit 2008

It's not always that we bring in successful Filipinos abroad to speak on stage to share their success story in Manila. After a couple of meetings and exploratory talks, we finally convinced ourselves that "this is it"--this is one opportunity where they can teach us what they've learned over decades of struggles and achievements.

Health and Wealth Summit intends to gather businessmen, entrepreneurs, corporate executives, managers, supervisors, community and church leaders, and students in a four-hour seminar conducted by Dr. and Mrs. Cris Enriquez, an epitome of a Filipino Dream in America.

In four hours, we expect you to learn how to become wealthy and healthy in our very own country. We'd like to see you growing by listening and understanding some principles that our speakers will embark once they go on stage, live!

We simply want you to learn from them as they speak in-person. We want you to gain significant information on how good health and enduring wealth are built.

In his own words, Dr. Cris said, "Filipinos are rich. They don't have to go abroad to make a abundant, quality life. They just have to adjust their level of thinking."

Dr. Cris is recognized as the only medical doctor in the world practicing in four fields of medicine simultaneously. He's the author of "The Healthy Life" published in the United States. His wife is as equally successful and active as he is in teaching and providing trainings in corporate America.

As we prepare this event, there have been a mix of emotions among us. We are excited and afraid at the same time. We're excited because here comes another opportunity for us to help a person like you and afraid because you may deny this invitation because of time constraint among other excuses.

But we trust that you will enthusiastically join us this time. Remember that we're staging this for FREE. And we're doing all these because we wanted to provide you with another learning venue where you can bring in your family, fellow workers, and friends.

But we can only accommodate 737 people. So, we strongly advise you to confirm your attendance as soon as you receive this invitation by calling the following number:

Tel/ 729.9541; 482.6927 or Mobile/ 09276603920 and look for me (Aila).

If you want to sponsor this event, you can contact us.

You can also send an email to eventsengineer@gmail.com with Subject Line: Health and Wealth Summit 2008 and give us the following details of participants that you're sending:

Name:
Email:
Mobile:
Company Name:
Designation:
Tel/Fax:

Alternatively, you can download a registration form by clicking this link and fax it to 729.9541.

Online Registration

Creating event inside a big event,

Aila Comla-Tibayan
Event Engineer
Health and Wealth Summit 2008

/Mobile: 09276603920 ; 09227069888 /Email: eventsengineer@gmail.com /Fax: 729.9541

PS. It is important that you will keep your commitment to this event as your seat is as valuable as one life deprived of an opportunity to learn when you confirm and fail to attend.

This event is made possible by

3J2 Society

Co-presented by:	Supported by:

Media Partners:

Also supported by:

Optimism that uplifts the spirit of entrepreneurship.
www.GoNegosyo.net

Premier organization of human resource practitioners.
www.pmap.org.ph

Exhibit systems solution, finally!
www.Myriad-Asia.com

Events manager and marketer?
www.Ariva.com.ph

All the news. All the views.
www.ManilaTimes.net

Employee benefits and brand building tool for the country.
www.MyPerksOnline.com

Quality eye wear? LLOYD LUNA wears Sarabia.
www.SarabiaOptical.com.ph

Filipino voice artist. Audio needs?
www.Creativoices.com

Good news from the Philippines and the world?
www.GoodNewsPilipinas.com

Winner of Nokia Mobile Entrepreneur Award.
www.TxtCast.net

This health and wealth campaign is powered by people like you!

QUESTIONS? We'd like to hear from you. Contact us or call tel. nos. (63) 2 482.6927 (63) 2 729.9541

CreativEvents Marketing and Promotions 4/F Creative Corporate Center 1745 Dian St., Makati City, Philippines
© 2008 CreativEvents. All rights reserved.

REGISTER TO VOICEWORX!

2008-10-13T10:42:00.001+08:00

Get ready for VoiceWorx! 6

2008-09-07T22:41:00.000+08:00

A New Breed of Voices.

By: The Godpodder

For many years, the word “voice over” have been implied as an easy-paying, non-popular, spur of the moment sideline, that only a select few of “big voices” can take on it. In fact, many thought that doing voice overs is so easy, that practically anyone can jump right into it and earn big time. And that all that is required is for you to have is a booming, modulated, “voice of god” type of resonance to pull it off.

The part of earning big might be true to some extent, but for the most part, everything about doing voices is now considered to be more difficult than any regular paying job. Thanks to technology, doing Voice Overs or Voice Acting has now earned a reputation of being exclusive to those of the extraordinary, is slowly being accepted as a career of choice, and in reality... Voice acting is a painstaking form of art.

Yes, technology now plays a vital role to a Voice actor’s dream of making it a career. People who are looking at this not just as a hobby, consider making the important step before entering the industry - researching and learning. Now you can browse the internet to find acting classes, lessons and voice coaching in your area. And by learning and experiencing the execution needed to land those VO jobs, voice actors and enthusiasts are discovering a new and better approach to their performances and in return give more value to their talent.

That’s what VoiceWorx! - Basic Voice Acting and Dubbing Workshop prepares you for.

“It’s a workshop aimed to introduce to you the voice acting world, and how you can master the techniques and skills of the art. You will have to learn how to speak and work by heart.” Says Brian Ligsay, who is the Head Voice Coach and Voiceworx! Director. He claims that the workshop produces learned voice talents, equipping them with what they need to prepare for, when the occasion arises.

“Being a voice over is not far from taking a four year engineering course in college… you just don’t become one overnight,” Ligsay adds. “And even after you finish your degree, you would still have to know how to apply what you’ve learned in “real” life. The good news is, with the knowledge you have, you’re far ahead than anyone in your age to land a job of your choice and keep it.”

“VoiceWorx! has been training enthusiasts and voice talents since 2005, and is continually producing new voices for clients.” Pocholo Gonzales, CEO and Managing Director of Creativoices Productions - which is widely known as a voice talent agency, and the same company who brought Voiceworx! to life. He also exclaims that, “You work with the best Voice Directors in the industry, and train with them so that you don’t venture into it alone..”

This time, a new breed of Voice Overs are coming into place, VoiceWorx! 6, starts this October 4, 2008 and runs for two months every Saturdays. Out of hundreds of interested parties, only 20 students were accepted. And they will learn how to appreciate voice acting, and study with acclaimed Dubbing Directors, Danny Mandia, Neil Tolentino and Alexx Agcaoili.

This workshop offers new insights into the latest trend and development in the voice acting world. With tips and tricks from professionals who have honed their skills thru many years of experience. It also features a manual edition of the Philippine Handbook on Voice acting, to guide the privileged during the entire course. Plus one-on-one voice coaching, road mapping scripts and translations, actual recording and dubbing sessions, and countless mock auditions.

For the longest time, people who ventured into voiceovers are taking into account the traditional and natural selection process that goes around in the industry. Through customary referrals and PR, you get more of the gimmick in the advertising world. This tiring process of whom you know and who knows you is the lifeblood of your next performance. Traditional voice talents are only hopeful that their regular client will always consider them for the next job. “They just wait and wait, without acting,” Gonzales says. Adding that talents should know how to create the demand.

But some are wiser to help themselves and not rely on this conventional form of getting voice over “gigs”. Those who are serious, aim for the better and more beneficial way of staying in the business, that said, considering it as a business. And by investing time, effort, and money to learn the field of voice acting, and marketing your talent - it will produce you better results and open new doors of success.

“Voice acting is not everyone, but should you decide to pursue it.. it will release the kid in you, and turn your voice into something you have never imagined possible,” Ligsay mentioned. “And maybe, just maybe, you’ll turn out to be a mutant of a voice after all!”

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Voiceworx! – Basic Voice Acting and Dubbing Workshop, is only offered 4 times a year. For more information on the next schedule, please call 729-7274/970-0971. You can also email: info@creativoices.com or brian@creativoices.com. Visit our websites at creativoices.com, creativoices.net and our official blog at pcva.blogspot.com. For pictures and forums visit http://syvapnetwork.ning.com

CREATIVOICES ON GO NEGOSYO

2008-08-17T13:57:00.001+08:00

The VoiceMaster on MATANGLAWIN

2008-08-17T13:52:00.000+08:00