Instruction: 7.  How Can the Director Put the Project on Track

Response:
It is very important for the director to know what the script, he or she, is directing entails. Since the director is the one in charge of directing the script to the voice actors and ensuring that they bring all the scenes out in the best way, they really need to understand the script well.
Directors have the capability of breaking or making a project. If they don't direct a film properly, then chances are they will end up having a bad read which will affect the whole film project. While directing, there are factors that come to play to ensure that the director does his job well. Some directors love using this tool to correct bad reads or to make sure they don't happen. We refer to this tool as "line reading"". This is when a director reads a line of a script to the voice talent, with exact pronunciation, inflection, and cadence, then the voice actor voices it the same way.
These are a few questions frequently asked about voice actor casting. I will mention more on another article that you should be on the lookout for.
Depending on the project you want the voice recording for, there are a lot of things that one must consider when looking for voice artists. Looking for voice artists for a particular project is what we term as casting auditions. This is when you get a few talents showcasing their capabilities and capacity to deliver in front of casting directors or talent managers.
Different production companies or clients usually have their own ways to carry out the auditions. There is really no standard way to do it, but there are ways that are more effective than others and that is what we will look at in this article.
As the voice-acting industry grows, more ways to get the best voice actors are always being introduced and one of them is custom casting auditions. These are auditions that are held specifically for a particular project or a particular form of voice over.
As I mentioned before, different production companies have a specific way of casting for their voice talents. Custom casting auditions are formulated to make the whole process easy and straight to the point. They help you get exactly what you are looking for, as a casting director. There are projects that need a very rigorous and hands-on voice talent casting, and in such a case getting one without a custom casting audition would be hard. A good example would be a company looking for specific voices for their advertising purposes to appeal to an international market, in this case, they must get voice artists with great resting tones, acting range and technical skill to do all the recordings. If you are looking for voice artists for a dubbing project, you must ensure you get voice actors who will bring out their character's personalities in the best way. A pre-recorded sample may not have all the information these clients need to pick their voice artist, and that is where custom auditions come in handy.
Custom auditions are also great for projects with multiple levels of casting review. It's difficult to get stakeholders to approve foreign-language voice-over talents based on pre-recorded samples, especially since they may not extrapolate a final performance from them. A custom audition that allows stakeholders to hear their project's text will often help to expedite this process. The audition sample can be used as a baseline for direction in the studio session.
With that said, we will look at how you can create a specific custom audition for a big project. Keeping in mind that they can be costly, with these steps, you will get one that works well for you without straining your pockets.
1. Minimize the audition text.
It's very easy to get compelled to have the talents auditioning, reading the whole script so you can have a great idea of what they can do and what they can't. Reality is that this will end up either taking too much time and you might end up not auditioning all the talents or getting what you were looking for. If you have different aspects of a 30 minuted or 1-hour script that you would love to be recorded, it would be advisable to get the most important bits and have them cut down to 2 minutes or 5 minutes and have it customized for the auditioning stage.  This makes sure that you can see the range in which a voice talent can perform depending on the different aspects of your custom script. You will also save on a lot of time that you would have wasted giving talents a 30-minute script to read through. Another reason is that the talents could focus more on a shorter script and bring their A-game when auditioning. Long scripts have a way of confusing someone and making them nervous, which means they won't perform to the best of their ability. Reviewing multiple auditions is very time-consuming and difficult to track–and more so, if the samples aren't concise. For the sake of quality and expediency, keep audition scripts to 100 words or fewer.
2. Be sure to include every important aspect of your minimized text.
A lot of casting directors usually make this mistake, and it ends up messing them up in the long run when it's time to bring their project to life. When minimizing the audition text will include different and important aspects of the original project that you will work on. This is important because when choosing a voice artist you will cast them according to how they perform on the audition text so if it's not in line with what the main project is, you might end up casting the wrong talent. The script must include all beats, tone and shifts and any element you might need for your main project.
A good example to show you what it is I mean: You cannot be cast for a cooperate project and use an entertainment or music kind of text for your auditions. Your auditioning text must be in line with what the original project you are casting for is. Doing this will really save you a lot of time and money. You don't want to make a mistake and cast the wrong voice actor and end up re-doing the whole audition process. Also, if you are auditioning for a dubbing project, you must be sure to look out for the change of character and personality of your main character in the voice actor and see if they can handle both aspects. For example, if your principal character goes from naïve to cynical during the series run, you’ll want to hear both tones in the custom audition.
3. Be specific on the performance and beat changes by adding notes about them.
Depending on how your original script is, note down all the expectations you have of the talent during the audition. If, according to your script, the character has to switch from one emotion to another and you want the voice actor to showcase that in their audition, be sure to note it down and ask them to do it during their audition. Noting down all these major aspects of your script will help you remember what exactly you are looking for because it might slip your mind during auditions and you might end up casting a voice talent whose capacity and range don't cut across perfectly.
4. Include translated forms of your original script.
I have seen casting directors who ignore this step and end up asking the voice talent to do a direct word to word translation while auditioning. Translating a script is your job as the production company, the work of a voice-talent is to come in and read out loud the scripts you give to them. You should know if you are getting a professional translator this will be costly, so you need to be ready financially for this step. It simplifies a lot of things because once you have your script translated for the custom auditions, you will have them ready for the dubbing process so you won't have to incur more expenses.
5. Involve your in-country partners or stakeholders.
This goes without saying when you are casting for a voice talent for a localization project you should include the big bosses as I like to call them. These might be your partners or stakeholders in the project you are working on.  An in-country contact may pre-translate the audition script. They can also provide audition performance notes that are attuned to their specific culture or language. They are the ones who know what is and what is not offensive in their culture, what is and what is not right in their culture. You don't want to end up offending a particular culture when you are trying to get them on board and support you just because you were not keen enough to have someone from their culture give a go-ahead during your translation process. Also involving your partners and stakeholders only mean that once you all agree to cast a particular voice talent, there is no going back on that.
If you follow all these steps, you will come up with a custom casting audition for your project and make the whole process super easy and even fun for both you the casting director and the voice talents.
Did you ever know that when you take your phone and start recording yourself you are doing a voice-over, voice acting or dubbing? Well, I'm here to let you know that, anytime you record yourself or someone else while singing, talking or reading out loud, there is an aspect of voice over, voice acting or dubbing that takes place. For the longest time, people did not know how to term this process and they ended up calling it a recording. What you may not know is that recording is a general term that can also be used for video recordings or filming. It is not exclusive to sound recording.
In this article, we will dive deeper and look at the three aspects that fall under sound recording. These three aspects are voice-overs, voice acting, and dubbing. All these processes are subsets of film production.
Voice Over–This is when a voice-over artist or talent, have their voices recorded using a high-quality condenser microphone in an acoustic, professional studio in a soundproofed booth. We use it in both broadcast and non-broadcast media.  It might be for advertising or promotional purposes, commercials, documentaries and anything that deals with narrations. Some narrations that need a voice over are IVR, e-learning, corporate videos, and tutorials.
The people who do voice-overs are known as voice-over artists. You might wonder why they are artists. Is the voice-over process an art? The answer is yes. The process of voice-overs is an art that has been growing over the years in leaps and bounds. A lot of film production companies are taking it more seriously. It is a sort after service by a lot of clients, who are looking to do promotions, advertisements, and marketing for their companies. It is a cheaper alternative to creating audio-visual promotional or advertising content, and thus why more people prefer it. You should always opt for an experienced voice-over artist, otherwise, you might mess up a whole project. The best way to get a good voice artist is to work with an agency that deals with outsourcing the services. You can also use a custom audition, where you cast for the best voice artist yourself.
Voice Acting–when you hear of voice acting, just think of normal acting without the visuals. In voice-acting, voice-artists use their voice modulation, inflection, intonation, and impersonation skills to change up an accent, pitch and disguise their natural speaking voice and manner to bring unique characters alive.
How cool is that? Imagine being able to use your own voice to bring a character alive by manipulating your voice? It sounds like the easiest thing to do. Having to manipulate your voice differently for different scenes is tough, and it takes a great professional with years of experience to hack this to perfection.It's an interesting creative process that requires observational skills, mimicry skills to pull off specific characters. The upside of voice acting is that, in visual acting, characters have to master their body language, facial expressions and also memorize their lines. However, in voice acting, all this is unnecessary, as long as you have 100% control of your voice and know how to alter it, from scene to scene, then you are good to go. It also takes years of experience to be a good voice actor. I hear people say "I can act, I only need an opportunity and I will show you what I have" but for voice acting it takes a lot of practice and work to be the best voice actor. You may not get roles that you have perfected on, so you need to be constantly practicing and developing your skills.
Dubbing–This is a film process that involves localization of film to different languages and dialects. So what exactly does dubbing have to do with sound recording, is it even audio recording? Yes, dubbing is a sound recording just like voice overs and voice acting. In dubbing, a voice artist dubs or voices in a film, animated movie or TV series in their native language, dialect or local accent so that the film, video, series can be syndicated, or licensed to play, or be released in other markets, other than the original country.
Back then, it wasn't really a process that a lot of film producers wanted to deal with, however, as the world becomes a global village, and anyone and everyone has access to the Internet, content creators have felt the need to incorporate dubbing in their content creation. The dubbing process is also more expensive than the other two types of sound recording aforementioned. There are a lot of steps that need to be taken before dubbing itself starts. It is a key service offered by localization companies that specialize in translation. It is a process that involves translation, casting for voice artists, getting proper soundproof studios, sound engineers and so on and so forth. From this, you can tell that anyone who would want to dub their content needs to be really financially ready. Voice artists in a dubbing project have good acting and observation skills, to mimic the emotion, intonation lips movements of the voiced actors. Both the voice actor and the sound engineer handling the dubbing project need to be very skilled.
The dubbing art started when different singing voices were incorporated in a film if the lead actors couldn’t sing well enough. A different artist who could sing better would be given the role on behalf of the main character and their voices would be looped within the film.
With that said, you have a rough or clear idea of what voice over, voice acting and dubbing are. All these processes are challenging in their own specific ways. A voice actor has to be more creative and showcase the different vocal ranges they can offer, while a voice-over artist just has to read through a script and they are good to go.
Voice acting is more challenging in that, you don't have the joy to feed off the other character's energy or emotion, you just have to use your imagination and think of what the other character might say. Voice-overs in commercials fall under the category of voice acting. This is because the voice-over artists need to bring out their acting skills and be able to push a message while still sounding authentic and true. I can confidently say that dubbing and voice acting somewhat fall under the same category because the artists usually convey their acting skills by using their voices only.
What we can take from this article is that it takes a lot more to be a voice-over artist, voice actor, and dubbing artist. The more talent you have, the better your career shall be in the VO industry. It's just as simple as that. Practice makes perfect.
I have been writing different write-ups on dubbing, voice recording and voice acting. I thought, why not write a series of articles that will talk about different studios and the equipment we find in these studios we use for our voice recordings and film dubbing processes? People think for one to create professional audio recordings they need a full-blown pro studio but that’s not the case. In this series, you will get to know what kinds of equipment you will need for a studio depending on your financial and space capabilities. This article will come in handy for anyone who is planning to voice recordings. I will outline different studios and you can choose the one that will suit you well.
We have four types of recording studios. These studios are:
Bedroom audio studio.Dedicated home studio.Semi-pro audio studio.Pro audio studio.
This will be a three-part series talking about the different studios I have mentioned above, I will talk about the semi-pro and pro-recording studios in one article because they somehow have the same equipment. In this article, we will look at the bedroom studio.
A bedroom studio is a small studio that people set up in their small rooms and don’t really need a lot of equipment. It is typically a tiny setup that allows one to record sound into their computer. This is a studio for someone who is a beginner and would like to learn the ropes of perfectly recording and editing sound. As much as you would want to learn everything at once and be a pro, every good thing takes time, and every step is a learning lesson. Building a bedroom studio will really help you in your journey to being a pro sound engineer.
When building a bedroom studio there are some pieces of equipment that you should get, to get you started on your journey and that is exactly what we will look at today. You will need:
ComputerDAWAudio Interface.MicrophonesHeadphonesStudio Monitors.CablesMicrophone Stands.Pop Filter
We are living in a time when everything is digital, and since that is the case, having a computer is very vital. It might be for recording, but in a digital world having a computer is paramount. For a bedroom studio, you should be able to invest in the best computer you can afford. You need not start with a super expensive one, but just having one that has all the important specs is very important. A computer with a good DAW would be the best bet because you will end up maximizing on its features before you can upgrade and get a higher level computer with time.
In case you were wondering what a DAW is, it is a digital audio workstation.  It is a software whose primary function is to assist in recording, editing, and mixing music and audio files on your computer. Digital Audio Work stations were originally designed to mimic the look-and-feel of analog mixing boards from the pre-digital era. It is good to note that a good digital audio work station will really help you get the most out of your audio recordings with its vast level of functionality. Depending on what exactly you plan to use your bedroom studio for, there are different DAW’s you can choose from that would work well on any computer.
Once you have chosen the best software for your computer, you should be able to get the best audio interface that will work well with your chosen software.  The primary purpose of the olden days’ audio interfaces was to provide the connection for you to send your music or recording INTO the computer when recording it and OUT of the computer during playback. Modern-day audio interfaces are used for digital conversion, mic preamps, DI boxes, headphone amp, and monitor management. The best audio interfaces for a bedroom sound studio would be the “all-in-one” audio interfaces. They are the best when trying to save some money.
4. Microphones.
I think everybody knows what a microphone is. They have existed for a long time. Even our great grandparents interacted with a microphone. A microphone is a device that is used to amplify the volume of sound. They work the same way they used to back then. They are important in studios and for your bedroom studio; you need a microphone. They help to achieve a different sound from different instruments in different situations.
5. Headphones.
For your home studio, you can either invest in good earphones or headphones. The reason many people prefer headphones to earphones is that of how good the quality of the audio is when listening to it through headphones. For an audio studio, there are usually two important types of headphones that everyone needs. These two headphones help to complete two main tasks, and these are closed-back headphones and open-back headphones. For your bedroom studio, invest in headphones that are not too expensive but can at least help you in the best way.
Studio monitors are very important for any audio studio. In a pro studio world, they are known as near field monitors. You might confuse them for normal looking speakers, but they are more than just normal speakers. Normal speakers usually help in accentuating specific frequency bands to improve the listening experiences for specific audiences. Studio monitors are designed to provide perfectly FLAT frequency response, so engineers can hear a mix as it truly is, flaws and all… so they can adjust accordingly. These monitors are usually very expensive, but you can get cheaper ones for your bedroom studios.
I will tell you this for sure. You will not miss lots and lots of cables in different studios, so it is not any different for bedroom studios.  You need to invest in cables that will help you connect your different equipment to help make your work easier. As you expand your studio, you will end up owning more cables than you can really count, but for a bedroom studio you only need three cables and these are:
RS/TS (audio) 1/4” TRS stereo .XLR (audio, digital audio) Male and femaleRCA (audio) RCA left and right channel audioMIDI (data) DIN-style connectors, used for MIDI protocol.ADAT Lightpipe (digital audio)Word Clock.USB (audio, data, connectivity)FireWire (audio, data, connectivity)
8. Microphone Stands.
It is important to have microphone stands. It would not make any sense to own microphones and not own some microphone stands. This will help you put your mics in place and avoid them falling, and getting spoiled. Depending on how many microphones you have for your bedroom studio, you can invest in the same number of stands or fewer. There are different shapes and sizes, all designed for different purposes and tasks. Be sure to get a great quality so you can use them for a longer time even as you expand your studio. Be sure to note that investing in good microphones and microphone stands will be beneficial for you in the long run.
I have many people say they need to get pop filters for their bedroom studios. Pop filters usually help to filter out some unwanted or unnecessary sounds that our lips make when we pronounce certain words. If you are just a beginner, you wouldn’t know this but a professional sound engineer would know this and that is why pro filters would come in handy for pro studios more than bedroom studio. If you are a perfectionist though and you have a bedroom studio, it is very okay to get a pro filter for your studio.
If you a young aspiring sound engineer who doesn’t really have the financial capacity to open a huge pro audio studio, you can open a simple bedroom audio studio in the comfort of your house and invest in the equipment I have mentioned above. You don’t have to buy everything at a go. Just take it a step at a time and in no time you will have your bedroom studio and can start practicing as you wait to open a bigger studio. It might be a dedicated home studio or a pro studio, but the sooner you start the better.
As a beginner, you built a small bedroom studio, and it served you well to an extent that you had to expound and eventually build a slightly bigger audio studio in your house and now you want to go all out and create a pro studio where you can have clients and two sound engineers as your employees. You are looking forward to setting up a pro or semi-pro studio. You don’t have to look further to know what your pro studio will need and some equipment that will set you out on the great journey that you are looking to start.
We will look at the equipment that you should have in your semi-pro and pro studio. Below is the equipment that you need.
Studio rack mounts.Power ConditionerMicrophone Preamp.Headphone Amp.Monitor ManagementVirtual Instruments.MIDI Controller.Electronic Drum Kit.Control Surface.Software/Plugins.Snake CableUninterruptible Power Supply.Direct Box
Now let’s look at each one in more detail…
1. Studio Rack Mounts.
Since you are moving into a bigger space and your intention is to work with more people and create a business out of your studio, you need to get studio rack mounts. These will help you mount more equipment and avoid clutter. As you might have noticed in a dedicated home studio, you opted for a single workstation because your space was smaller and you just needed a set up for a single machine. For a much bigger studio, get studio rack mounts.
2. Power Conditioner.
Have you ever gone to a studio and noticed how they have their cables set up so carelessly? That is exactly what you want to avoid when you invest in a power conditioner. The power conditioner will help you set up your power cables in a neater and safe way and also help in merging power for the entire rack down a single cable. It also filters the power using various technologies such as surge protection, voltage regulation and noise filtration which extends the life of your gear and allows it to always perform at its best. Investing in power conditioners is very important.
3. Microphone Preamp
When you have everything concerning the power and its set up out of the way, take your concentration to other extra input channels like microphone preamp. You will have access to this by adding a multi-channel microphone preamp to your setup. Another common variety of this device is the high-end single-channel mic preamp, which studios often use on vocals or any other particularly important track in a mix. You should also make sure that whenever you buy a microphone, preamps make sure that your audio interface has enough line inputs to accommodate the extra channels.
4. Headphone Amp
The good thing about investing in a pro studio is that everything you end up investing in will always be useful. After including many inputs, you can now invest in other output channels like headphone amps. This is very important for someone who is making their studio business. More headphone amps will ensure that if you have many clients at a time, they can use the headphones to monitor their performance during recording. Since most audio interfaces have only 1-2 headphone outputs… you’ll need a headphone amp if you want more. Common headphone amps offer stereo outs for anywhere from 4 to 8 sets of headphones.
5. Monitor Management.
Since you have dealt with the output channel options for your headphones, and they are in plenty, get extra outputs for multiple studio monitors. The reason monitor management outputs are important is so that your sound engineers can compare their sound mixes over a variety of playback devices. They do this just to make sure that the quality of their work is good, regardless of which kind of speaker is being used.  For them to accomplish all this, they need the monitor management equipment.
6. Virtual Instruments.
A Virtual instrument is some software that allows you to have access to inbuilt instruments that would come in handy for you if you are the only one doing the recordings.  When there is a need to play a part that includes multi-instruments, the virtual instruments will really come in handy for you. If you don’t invest in this software, then you need to be semi-proficient in all these instruments, if not proficient. Be sure to invest in virtual instrument software to avoid such hassles.
7. MIDI Controller.
When you are working with virtual instruments, you don’t get the original feel of working with normal instruments. It gets boring for sound engineers, and that is where MIDI controllers come in. While they aren’t perfect, they allow for at least some expression by giving you something real to touch with your hands. They make the experience more realistic and more fun. Who doesn’t want to enjoy the work they do? The answer will be no one, so invest in MIDI controllers to help you with your virtual instruments.
8. Electronic Drum Kit
You might wonder, well I already invested in virtual instruments which will also have a section for virtual instrument drums, but they really don’t come through like how electronic drum kits would and that is a reality because dramas don’t enjoy using the virtual form of the drums. This is because electronic drum kits provide an excellent compromise between the “real” and the “virtual“.
9. Control Surface.
Working from home in a home studio can get really frustrating because you might have all the important equipment that will allow you to work, and impeccably in that matter. It will not take you long to notice that working with a keyboard and a mouse is not the most liberating way to work on your recordings. It slows down your workflow and makes it much harder to perform more advanced mixing techniques, such as automation. The solution to this problem is a control surface, which is essentially an MIDI controller, designed to mimic the look and feel of the analog boards from decades-past.
10. Software/Plugins.
You can go the expensive way and invest in premium plugins like other sound engineers or look out for the free plugins that usually come with DAW’s.  The thing with plugins is that if you do not have prior knowledge or don’t know what you are doing, you might end up not getting used. They really make the sound much better and of great quality.
11. Snake Cables.
If you don’t want your studio to end up looking cluttered and a big mess, be sure to invest in snake cables.  By combining several individual cables into one, snake cables allow you to clean up the look of your studio, and they help to keep your cables permanently organized. The only problem is, snakes are mostly designed for much larger rigs than a typical home studio, and it can be difficult for beginners to find the right one for their purpose.
12. Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
If you ignore all the other equipment I have mentioned, please do not forget to invest in an uninterruptible power supply system. You do not want to lose all your recordings just because the power went out before you could save what you had already recorded. Trust me, that feeling is the worst, and no one wants to have to re-do a task they had already worked on. A UPS gives you several minutes of power to shut down your computer safely in the event of a blackout. This gives you time to save up your work before the power goes completely.
13. Digital Converters.
Digital converters have two useful purposes and that is to convert analog audio into digital (A/D) and to also convert digital audio into analog (D/A). Since digital converters usually come to a side-feature in most devices, be sure to confirm if it is available in some recording devices you buy. In pro or semi-pro studios though, a lot goes into investing to buy high and stand-alone digital converters that have no other function than to deliver the absolute best digital conversion money can buy.
14. Master Clocks.
A master clock, also known as a digital clock or a world clock. We commonly find these in most digital recording devices. Whenever you connect digital signals from two or more devices, the individual digital “samples” must align perfectly in sync. If this is not the case, the resulting audio will end up being filled with annoying “clicks” and “pops” from the misaligned samples. In most setups, the audio interface clock defaults as the master, and the others as slaves.  Meaning one clock leads, and the others follow.
As much as you invest in your studio with the most expensive equipment, be sure to invest in good sound engineers who will work diligently to ensure that your studio offers the best quality audio recordings.
In this series, I set out to look at the different stages that sound engineers take in opening their studios. Just like everyone else, they have to start from somewhere. They don’t just wake up one day and they have a huge studio with all the expensive equipment. Stage one of this series, I wrote about the bedroom audio studio and in this article, we will look at stage two, which is the dedicated home studio.
In the bedroom studio, we looked deeply at some important equipment that would come in handy, and help you make the most out of your bedroom studio. We noted that the most important equipment is a computer and other budget audio equipment that will work well with it.
Compared to a bedroom studio, a dedicated home studio is bigger with more equipment. It serves the same purpose as a bedroom studio, but has a bigger space, with more valuable and useful equipment. There is no problem with a bedroom studio if you want to record in your bedroom studio forever, do so. However, if the plan is to own a state-of-the-art studio, the next step from a bedroom studio is to set up a dedicated home studio in your house. You can get a room and dedicate it to housing your home studio. After getting a specific room for your studio, be sure to get the following equipment.
Desk/Workstation.Studio ChairsBass Traps.Acoustic Panels.DiffusersReflection Filters.Monitor Isolation Pads.Studio Monitor Stands.
Now let’s inspect each one…
1. Desk/Workstation.
Since you have more space to set up more equipment, be sure to get yourself a workstation or a desk where you will work from.  To make sure you maximize the space in your new room, have a desk to set as the centerpiece. The most important thing you should take into consideration is that as much as you have a bigger space you should be careful not to crump it up in no time by getting a bigger than life, workstation. Also, be sure not to go overboard by spending too much on a desk and end up not getting the most important equipment for your studio.
2. Studio Chairs.
Since you have invested in a good centerpiece for your home studio, which is a good workstation desk, it only makes more sense to get studio chairs. You can invest in any kind of chair. Be sure to take comfort and back support as the number one factor. Folding chairs are the best because after using you can just fold it and put in a corner, it helps in making sure the place doesn’t look cramped up. If you do not have the financial capacity to get studio chairs, you can opt for a simple chair in your home and save for better studio chairs. Chances are you will end up spending more time in your studio, so the more comfortable the chairs are, the better.
3. Bass Traps.
Why do you need bass traps? Well, recording anything in your studio without some acoustic treatment will be hard, and that is why you will end up needing some bass traps.  Unlike any other form of acoustic treatments, bass traps offer broadband absorption across the entire frequency spectrum, and are good at absorbing lower frequencies… which causes most problems in any studio, especially in smaller rooms. Since it will help in ensuring that the quality of your recorded sound remains perfect, it is important to invest in it.
4. Acoustic Panels.
Since you have already invested in bass traps by now, the next best thing to invest in is acoustic panels. They might not be the best in absorbing bass frequencies, however, they help in absorbing frequencies in the low-mid to high range and they also come in handy in taming standing waves on any recording. Standing waves usually cause major acoustic problems in rooms with parallel walls, where sound reflections bounce back-and-forth in the same spot. In typical home studios, where the room is likely to be cubical, standing waves are especially problematic, which is why acoustic panels are a must-have.
5. Diffusers.
So far our studio is coming up well. You have invested in a good work station, studio chairs, bass traps, and acoustic panels, the next best thing to invest in is diffusers. As much as this might cost you an arm and a leg, it is very important to invest in it. It will definitely come in handy when you upgrade your studio because you won't have to buy it again. Diffusion is an important element of acoustic treatment, it creates a nice natural ambiance without removing too much of the “liveliness” from the room. Diffusers help in scattering out any form of sound energy in a room by allowing frequencies to disperse randomly, rather than build up unnaturally in certain spots. It's not that important, as you can always invest in them further down the road.
6. Reflection Filters.
This might be super expensive and financially limiting for a small studio like a dedicated home studio, but I do not know your financial capacity so I won’t rule it out for anyone. Is it a piece of important equipment? Yes, it is, but can one do without it? Yes, they can. This is one piece of equipment that you should get if you can afford it. It is usually useful for recording, where it can help you skip the hassle of treating your entire studio by capturing sound reflections before they ever enter the room. They work wonders, but not as good as proper acoustic treatments. They are a good investment, for sure.
7. Monitor Isolation Pads.
These are usually used to improve the quality of the sound in the room. Monitor isolation pads usually go a step further in ensuring that your sound is good. You can place them directly on the desk which will insulate that sound vibrations transfer through the surface of the desk from the monitors. Without these, any objects receiving the monitors' vibrations may cause new and unpredictable resonances. The monitor isolation pads will help with this problem by creating a buffer of acoustic isolation between your monitors and desk, preventing any vibration from transferring.
8. Studio Monitor Stands.
Studio monitors will help you take your monitor position a step further. Since you have a bigger space, then it is advisable to invest in monitor stands. Many people usually have the monitors on the surface of their desks, but with monitor stands, you can position them perfectly.  It will allow you to work well with the distance, height, and angle and also allow you to adjust them to your liking. They’re a big help because to get the most accurate sound from your monitors, they need to be in a very specific location in relation to your ears.
As we have seen, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that a dedicated home studio is better than a bedroom studio. I’m not saying that a bedroom studio is not good or it won’t help you out with your audio recordings. What I’m saying is that a dedicated home studio is more efficient and has better equipment that will help you create professional-quality audio recordings.  Space is bigger compared to that of a bedroom studio, so you won’t feel cramped and uncomfortable when working in your studio. There is also a workstation where you can work from and which will make your work simpler.
If you would love to upgrade and get a bigger and more useful studio than a bedroom studio, or to even hire an extra pair of hands to help you in your work, the home studio is your best bet. Compared to a pro studio, it is very inexpensive and will still serve the same purpose.  By going out and investing in all the different equipment I have mentioned, you will have one of the best home studios. Depending on your workload, expanding and getting a bigger space will be very important and would work to your benefit. But if you are just working by yourself and do not need a bigger space for your studio, you can still opt to work from your bedroom studio. When the time comes where you would want to work with even more people and make it more professional, you will need to invest and get a semi-pro or a pro studio.
Every single year, I see young men and women wanting to get into voice acting. It is such a good career path for anyone who is trying to get their foot into the film industry. From afar, it sure looks like a lucrative job where artists are free to do. Before you feel the need to get into the industry, there are things that you don't know that I think you should. It is very okay to be excited about a new career path and all the possibilities it might bring into your life. It is important to be sure of what you are getting yourself into. In this article, we look at some things that you might not know or might have known about voice actors or voice over artists. This will give you some vivid knowledge about the career path that you are so eager to get into.
Different people know what it is the life of a voice artist is like and it might not be the truth 100% so we will debunk some myths and misconceptions and look at some facts you don't know about voice actors.
1. Sometimes actors get hired to breathe.
Just imagine being excited about being a voice actor and end up getting cast for breathing scenes? That is surely really troubling. I can't imagine telling my family about a gig I got in a film as a voice actor, only to be told I will be "breathing" on my scene. Believe it or not, it is the reality of the matter. There are characters who can breathe and breathe amazingly well as needed for a scene. Does it make them any less of a voice actor? Surely not, but a casting director might end up casting you for such a role when you wanted to have a bigger one. The sooner you are aware of this, the better.
2. They are always on call.
The film production industry is really a busy one in case you did not know. Everyone is always on the move and unless you have a long-term contract for a particular film, chances are that you will constantly be on call with casting directors asking you to either go through a script or for casting you did not understand, etc. You should be very flexible with your schedule because they can call you to sit in for someone or to come and do an impromptu script voicing. You will need to have your phone on the standby at all times so you are reachable, else other voice artists will get a role they cast you for.
3. You may voice for a film, but your voice might not make it in the film.
This is a known factor in the film production industry, working with a particular name brand of a known actor, or actress will give you more sales, and your film will be more successful. They might request you to do some voice acting, and you will do it to the best of your ability. Only to find out later on, the voice they settled for, is of a famous actor or actress or a computer-generated voice. In such a case you must have thick skin because you can't do anything about it other than accepting and moving on with your life. As a voice actor, keep praying that the casting directors go with your voice for a particular role.
4. They always use vocal pops.
As a voice actor new in the industry, your voice may not appear in a film as you originally recorded it. There are specific vocal ranges that one cannot hit with their natural voices, and so producers enhance them using different equipment in the studio. With the use of technology, it is very easy to add vocal pops using a computer. If certain scenes don't sound right with the original recorded voice, then they will most likely use voice pops.
5. Producers can put you on standby, without pay.
This is by far the worst thing that can happen to anyone who is a freelance voice actor. It's known all over that producers can book you for a gig for a whole week and you end up not working, or getting any money for that whole week. This is because when producers book you in advance they are willing and looking forward to working with you, however, you might end up not working at all. Since you had already availed yourself with that producer, you can't take other jobs. So, in case the producer who booked you did not give you any work, then you will go without pay. It happens a lot, and it's one downside of being a freelance voice actor.
6. They work in front of the camera.
You might get into voice acting because you have been told that the only thing you must use in your work is your voice and that alone. It happens for a lot of voice actors who are fortunate enough never to be in front of the camera. That is not the case for others though, from time to time, voice actors have to make a cameo in front of the camera following a request from their casting director. It is usual for general reactions and whatnot, but you know that one day, one time, they might request you to be in front of the camera and you should be ready.
7. They can get paid per line.
Depending on who you work for or which production house hires you as their voice actor, you will get paid extremely well or badly. A lot of production companies have a standard pay rate per line, but if you are very lucky, you can land a job with one that pays really well. You might wonder what being paid per line is. A line in voice acting is every statement you read out loud or record. When all the lines add up, you will have a rough idea of how much you make in a particular project. If you want to make more money, pray to get a lead character on a script because they always have more lines than any other. Imagine having 10 lines to work on in a week when someone else has 1000 lines to work on. As a voice actor, strive to be good so you can get leading roles.
8. Celebrity actors don't always make the best voice actors.
You might think, just because a celebrity actor is popular for his or her excellent performances, that they would be as amazing in voice acting. This is not always the case. A lot goes into voice acting that a normal actor wouldn't be able to grasp. While normal actors focus more on body language and facial expression for their craft to be perfect, voice actors focus on their vocal range and voice to perfect theirs. These two forms of arts are far apart and just because one can do one doesn't mean they can do the other. So don't get into the industry thinking it's possible for all actors to get into voice acting.
9. They get extras' roles in a movie.
Normally, in visual movies, voice actors get the roles of extras. This is because most roles had already taken by visual actors and instead of investing in more actors to act out extra roles, they get people who won't have to say anything like in a crowded scene and get voice actors to record for such scenes. If you don't get a lead role for your voice acting gig, you can as well be an extra on a movie.
10. They don't always recognize their voices.
A recorded voice doesn't always sound the same way as a normal voice when speaking. Because of this, a lot of voice actors rarely recognize their voices when they listen to some films they did a voice over for. So be ready not to recognize your voice when you hear it after recording.
With that said, I am now confident that you are ready to get into the voice acting world. It is not an easy career to get into, but once you grow and get used to it. It can be very fulfilling and lucrative. Learn the ropes and with time, you will be where you aspire to be.
Translation service providers are steadily rising. Before you know it, they will be everywhere across the world. This is because everybody is in search of translation services. Whether it is a major corporation, or it's an individual trying to learn a new language in 2020. Everyone needs translation services. In the past decade, research has shown that more and more software developers are attempting to develop machine translators to cope with this increasing demand for translation services. We keep on hearing now and again, "There is only so much that a human translator can do"""".
The main reason behind the popularity of these machine translators is their speed, and their cheaper cost, compared to the human translators. Despite all this, human translators remain to be an invaluable resource for many employers. We will look at what employers look for in a human translator.
Level of experience. Everyone is on a different level in terms of his or her profession. A lot of companies seeking translation services usually avoid amateur translators. They look at their experience level before hiring a translator. This is because working with professionals is less cumbersome, as they already know what to do.Education. I am sure you have met people who lie about their credentials so they can get a job or go into a school. The thing about lying is that you end up being incompetent, eventually failing to deliver. Academic credentials are essential, and they assure the employer that a translator is certified.Fields of specialization. Just like in any other field, translators can specialize in any field, be it, sales and marketing, research, administration, you name it. In the world of translation, specialization is usually either in a language pair or in a profession. What do I mean by that? You might get a translator whose specialty is working with specific language pairs. It might be English and French, Spanish and Italian, English and Arabic and so on and so forth. You might also get a translator who only works on administrative documents, or Medical documents, or Law documents. That is exactly what we mean by field of specialty. It would be crazy to work with a translator who has specialized in one specific language pair and expect them to work on a language pair they are not conversant with.Location. Translation work is so flexible, a translator can work from whichever location. A lot of employers, however, prefer to work with translators, who are in the same location as they are. It's not that important though, it is just preferential. Native speakers. This is another thing that employers look at, though they don't really take it as seriously as they should. Being able to work with a native speaker, either in the original language or in the target language, is important. The translator should have a strong grasp of at least one language, ensuring that they do the translation perfectly. This is what we will look at for the rest of this article. We will look at some benefits that come with working with translators who are native speakers.It is very important to note that before people started learning different languages and gaining fluency in them, most translators were native speakers and they were not necessarily the best, considering the fact that they were not professionals. They were native speakers who knew the languages they worked with perfectly, despite them not being professionals. As much as their translation was perfect, they lacked experience and education. As the world of translation kept evolving, a new breed of translators came into existence. These were translators that were not native speakers, though they had certifications. They had an education; they were more experienced and spoke different languages fluently. Regardless of this, people seeking translation services still opted to work with native speakers. This is because they had a linguistic feeling, and could render the meaning of a source text into the target language with better precision than non-natives. They were also aware of the linguistic features of the target language and would be in a better position to come up with variants in line with the ones in the original language.Another group of native speakers is a group known as native bilinguals. These are individuals who can speak two languages with the same high level of fluency. This is the case for people who live in multicultural and multinational countries with over one official language. They could end up mastering multiple languages at a native level, eventually being native bilinguals. Getting a translator from such countries works to the benefit of the employer. They could literally kill two birds with one stone. Such translators can translate texts across two languages with so much ease and in the best quality. If you are in search of translators, then getting native bilinguals would be the best bet for you.In translation, you might get a project that requires the translator to have a deep level of understanding of the source (original) text, to translate it into the target language. A good example would be if one needs serious documents being translated from Portuguese to the English language. High chances are that the Portuguese speaker has to be a native, to denote how to translate the text into the English language, in the best way possible. It is always advisable to work with a native speaker who understands the source language, more than they do the target language. This is because chances are, their interpretation of the source language will determine how the translated text will be.If you are working with a non-native translator, but you have a native editor, then that would still be a good combination. The reason I say this is that the native editor would go through the translated text and make the corrections on the mistakes that the translator might have made. This is actually what most service providers do. They can work with any translator, but a native editor carries out the quality check. Native speakers usually end up processing the translated text to make it sound natural and seamless for the target audience. It might be a costly route to take, but it is the best option when you are not working with native translators. That said, next time you are looking for a translation service, you should be able to make a better choice between native or non-native translators, depending on your requirements.The main intent behind having native speakers doing most translations is so that the target audience gets the text in a form that they can easily understand. That is why it is very important for the person looking for translators to decipher who his or her target audience is. This ensures that he or she gets the best translator, who is a specialist in that field. It might be in the medical field, or the engineering field. A native translator will alter the style, vocabulary, articulation, and sentence length to better suit their needs and wants. This also ensures that the translations carry the same meaning as the original text.There are specific skills that native speakers usually have. More times than not, they are usually proficient in their native languages. Therefore, it is very easy for them to extract the meaning of the original text and denote it perfectly to the target language. To do this, translators examine documents thoroughly and identify ambiguous material that needs clarification. A native translator will recognize culture-bound clichés that make no sense in the target language.  They will pinpoint references that cannot translate internationally. That is why, choosing to work with native translators is advisable, it even makes the translation process much easier and interesting.
With that said, you can work with native translators, or get non-native translators alongside a native editor. The second option might be more expensive, necessary. Both options will work for your benefit.
I’m sure this is a very interesting topic, and that is the reason you might have clicked on it. I have come across a lot of articles speaking about the advantages and disadvantages of these two processes and I thought of comparing how these two will fair when put head to head in different scenarios. Since I have seen none of these articles anywhere, I thought it would be fun to look into that and see the outcomes.
For those who might not know, these two are types of film translation processes.
Dubbing is having the film audio translated into another language to localize the film to reach a wider audience.
Subtitling is the process in which we do the translation of a film in text format known as subtitles, which are placed at the bottom of the screen to localize a film to reach a wider audience.
With that said, we will jump into the different scenarios that I came up with:
When you want to watch a film, in an area where there is background noise and you have no earphones. Dubbing. For dubbing, this scenario would be a tricky one, because one, you do not have earphones, and two, you are in a noisy place. You might try raising the volume of the film to the maximum, but this will only make the place even louder and noisier, bringing even more attention to you. Definitely, you wouldn't want that to happen, would you? The best place to watch a dubbed film is in a quiet environment. Or better yet, just get yourself some goddamn earphones!Subtitling. In this scenario, a film with subtitles will be the best option for you. You might wonder why this is the case. Well, subtitling is a process that provides film content in the form of translated texts. You can therefore literally mute a film and watch it while following through on the subtitles. It might not be the best way to watch a film, but it is definitely the best option for someone in such a position. When you want to watch a film without distracting others (e.g. in an office environment).Dubbing. In this scenario, it is possible to watch a dubbed film as long as you have earphones. However, we all know that in an office environment, unnecessary noise prohibited. Chances are, even watching a film in your office restrained. Therefore, if by any chance you do not have earphones, and are not in a position to borrow a pair, then watching a dubbed film while in the office is not plausible.Subtitling. A film with subtitles will be perfect for such a scenario. For one, having subtitles makes it easy for someone to follow through the film, without having to increase or alter the volume of the film, or even having to use earphones. With that said, I can confidently say, if you are in such a quagmire, subtitles will not disappoint you.  God forbid, your earphones stop working in the middle of a film, or you are in a quiet office setup, you can continue watching your film in peace, and follow it to the letter.When your speakers or headphones are not loud enough (e.g. on an Airplane).Dubbing. As we have already established from the previous two scenarios, dubbed films are all about the sound. Not just any sound, but good-quality, audible sound. Therefore, anything that might affect the quality of a dubbed film's sound is not worthwhile. In case your speakers or headphones get broken, or if they are inaudible, you will enjoy nothing. You better get your headphones fixed, or just stay watching nothing. If not, I guarantee you that your movie experience will be a total nightmare.Subtitling.  A subtitled film would come in handy is such a scenario. First, you are in the air so finding another pair of earphones, or getting your speakers fixed not possible. With a subtitled film, you can still follow the film by reading the subtitle texts even with no or poor audio. You won’t be making any noise for the other passengers, and you continue to enjoy your film peacefully. That said, aren't you killing two birds with one stone? When the volume of the media is inconsistent (quiet speech vs loud background music).Dubbing. Have you ever tried watching a film, and the sound gets distorted or keeps on changing from time to time? How annoying is that? I have, and I can tell you for sure, it is the worst thing that can happen to a film viewer. In such a scenario, a dubbed film should be your last option. You will end up getting extremely agitated and frustrated. Subtitling. Subtitled films are the best for such a scenario. I know many people might not appreciate subtitled films but in a scenario where the film you want to watch has super inconsistent audio-quality, and you are a person who gets pissed off quickly, then you'd better stick to a subtitled film. Watching a film with inconsistent sound is the most annoying thing that I can imagine. To make it worse, not just a film, but a dubbed film with poor sound, will undoubtedly drive you nuts! When watching media in a foreign language (to learn it).Dubbing. Well, we all now know what dubbing is, from the description I gave above. If you are trying to watch a film in a foreign language that you do not understand, then dubbing is a superb option. However, a dubbed film may not be appropriate for someone who wants to learn a new (or the foreign) language.Subtitling. Subtitled films offer the best case for such a scenario. I’m sure you have seen in different articles mentioning that subtitled films help people who are trying to learn a particular foreign language. This is because it is easier to learn a foreign language while reading, rather than while listening. Subtitled films have a line to line synchrony of the audible sound, with the displayed subtitles. This makes it super simple to follow through, helping you decipher meanings of the foreign language's words by following the subtitles, which are in the language you are more knowledgeable in.When taking notes from educational or resource videos with fast dialogue. Dubbing. If you have a dubbed film, that has a fast dialogue, and you are planning to take notes, the amount of pausing, rewinding, and forwarding may become annoying and laborious. Dubbed films are not appropriate in such a case.Subtitling. Subtitled films are the best in this scenario. This is because they provide you with the information on the audio you want to take notes for. Regardless of how fast the dialogue is, with the availability of subtitles, you can take your notes easily.
What this comparison has brought to light, is that when dealing with dubbed films, ensure that you are in a quiet environment where the film is audible enough, but not an inconvenience to others. Subtitled films, however, can apply anywhere, under most circumstances.
Every professional has a specific set of traits that ensure a great work environment for both the professional and the client. In this article, we will look at the traits one should possess to be a great sound engineer.
1. Patience.
Patience is a virtue that many people don't possess, and it's one that is very important. Imagine having to work with someone who is not patient and is constantly reminding you of how bad you are at doing something, or how what you are doing is not good enough, instead of showing you how to do it. This is the worst environment to work in. Sound engineers, usually work in the creative and artistic department, and we all know how creativity needs a lot of patience and attention to detail, or else you will end up messing on something. Sound engineers need to work with many people in order for them to accomplish their tasks. Working with people on a collaborative project needs a lot of patience. Unlike the example I just gave, when working in a collaborative project, you might meet a person who has no work etiquette, and will end up messing the process for you. You will have to be very patient with them to work together. If you meet a sound engineer who is really on top of what he or she is doing, be sure that he or she has a remarkable level of patience and control over his craft and his reaction because artists can be very inconvenient.
2. Good Planner.
Sound engineers always work with lots of clients or artists, as you would like to call them. The thing is they work on a session basis where clients book their sessions and the sound engineer slots them in, at different times. For one to follow through and be on time with all the time slots booked for a day, they must be good planners. They should always be on time, have things set up for different clients requests, make sure that everything needed for a session is ready and set before a session begins, make sure that the studio is clean, have clients songs edited on time, back up all sessions multiple times and also have the amps needed for a session ready for use. It's a lot of things that happen in a studio, and if you are a sound engineer who is not a good planner, then things will end up overwhelming you. You won't be able to perform at your absolute best if you are overwhelmed. This is the only trait where you can get the help of someone else. You can get a personal assistant, who will ensure that all these different aspects of sound engineering, are taken care of, as you concentrate on doing your job perfectly.
3. Optimism.
Pessimism has never ever been a good trait for anyone in any job description. No one wants to work with someone who is constantly negative because what that does, is that it draws out the energy and concentration on a particular work project or anything general in life. Imagine how negativity can be so draining in a creative and artistic setup? If you are the person who is always ready to fight or bring up a fight over something tiny and unreasonable, then sound engineering is not your calling. It might not even be about fighting or bringing up a fight but the mere fact that you constantly have nothing good or nice to say to your artists as they record is also a pessimistic trait, that will have artistes running away from your studio. You cannot constantly be saying “That sucks,” “that sounds bad,” “that’s a stupid idea"".. This is the fastest way to have no clients. No one wants to work with someone who is constantly putting them down with their negativity. It is very important to be an optimist when working as a sound engineer, there is nothing good about being a pessimist.
4. Humility.
I say this to everyone, humility will take you far in this life. No one wants to be friends, relate with or even work with someone who is always boastful and a "know it all"". Humble yourself and see how much you can learn from others and how that will impact your life. The reality is that you do not know everything and you will never know everything. There is so much to learn in the world and humbling yourself will have you learning things that you never thought you will know. The most amazing sound engineers are the ones who possess the virtue of humility. They are so willy-nilly and ready to learn from everyone and on anything. You might be strictly into sound engineering, however, humility will have you better your skills in other forms of your art, that you didn't know about. This will make you a great sort after sound engineer, because of your prowess. Also, how you relate to your clients will ensure they either keep coming back or completely avoid working with you. Be sure to talk to them in a respectful and humble way, and you will secure yourself several loyal clients, who will always come back, every time they need sound engineering services.
5. Keenness.
Being a super-keen person is something that will always work to your benefit, in any environment. You won't always be fortunate to work with people who will come straight to you and tell you whether they like something or not. As a sound engineer, you will work with very many people from different walks of life and different personalities. The best artists are the ones that will let you know straight up if they are not enjoying their session, or how they sound on a particular recording, as they tend to be outspoken. However, from time to time, you will get artists who are super timid or don't know how to express themselves. This where being keen as a sound engineer comes in. You will pick up any signs of an artist not being happy with what's happening, during a session, or when they are not happy with how they sound, therefore, make the appropriate changes. Be sure to pay attention to all your surroundings and how your artists behave, you will be surprised by how much you notice. Be sure to create an environment where the artist can speak up. This is because, once both the artist and the sound engineer are in tune, they end up making magic.
6. Aggression.
I know you might wonder how this is a good trait. By this, I mean that you must be very aggressive in your need to learn new things. The industry is always changing, and you should also be ready to change with it. New ways and techniques of sound engineering come up and if you are not aggressive enough with your will to learn these new techniques, then sound engineering might not be the profession you should be in. New software, are being introduced from left, right and center and you should be able to keep up with all of them. As much as this is a trait that you should possess as a sound engineer, it is important to control it and use it to your benefit. Your aggression should be a hunger for new knowledge and not how you relate with your artists.
7. Diligence.
Diligence is another important trait that you should possess as a sound engineer. Be sure to do everything as expected and be attentive and persistent. This is more important for new sound engineers who are trying to create a profession for themselves. It will not be easy, but with diligence, you will grow in this industry and become a great sound engineer. If you are asked to a specific task, be sure to do it and do it in the best way. Double-check your work, make sure it is error-free. People love working with diligent people and if you have this trait, be sure that you will meet sound engineers who would want to invest in you, and teach you more.
8. Reliability.
A reliable sound engineer is an important part of any studio. A sound engineer who shows up and makes sure that all his or her sessions are done in the best way possible is one that will never go unappreciated. One who delivers on his or her promises without compromising on quality, by finishing projects on the set date and time. Being a reliable person shows that you care, it shows that you take pride in your work and are dependable, which is very important when clients are trusting you, to see their project through and make their vision come to life.
With all these traits, you will make it as a sound engineer. These are not the only traits but they are the most important ones, as they focus on how sound engineers relate to their job and their clients. These are the two main important aspects of any profession.
By now you already know what a voice-over artist is, and what their job description entails. The question remains, do you know the voice-over styles we have out there? We have so many voice-over styles, but in this article, we will look at just a few. We will look at what kind of voice artist works well with these different styles and then have a further look at the main factors that differ within these voice-over styles.
Working as a voice-over artist is so far, one of the best professions out there. Voice artists get to work in different industries and are not limited to one specific niche. This helps voice artists to be versatile and all-rounded, which is a plus for any profession. Whether you are an up-and-coming voice artist, or a director looking for voice artists, this article will be of great help to you. The following are the voice-over styles to be aware of, when seeking work in this industry, or looking for an artist for your project.
1. Commercials
We all know what commercials are. If you own a television set or a radio, then chances are that you have interacted with commercials more than once. Television and radio commercials make a tiny percentage of this business, but it's what everyone always relates to when they hear anything about voice-overs. One sure thing about commercials is that getting your foot into that market is hard, as they always have specific talents to work with. The minute you get your foot in there and get more gigs, then it can be a lucrative profession where you can make lots of money and grow in your career with more challenging projects.
2. Narration Voice-Overs
The first thing you should know about narration voice-over is that they are a progressive kind of job. This is the case, as it's a voice style applicable for audio-books. Most voice artists who work in the narration part of voice-over work with publishing houses or freelance authors, as their work entails narrating different books. From cookbooks to novels, to recipe books, you name it. If you ask me, voice artists who do narrations have more of a steady income, compared to those who work on one time gigs. They make most of their income from narrations, which make almost 92%, of most voice artists' income.
3. Announcement Voice-Overs
We all know what an announcement is and have a rough idea of where they are made. These are usually used to pass information to a group of people. Announcement voice-overs are pre-recorded or done live. In places where the voice over is prerecorded, you find that it's done on a repetition. We often encounter announcement voice-overs in airports, stadiums, train stations, malls, and other large public areas.
4. Biography Voice-Overs
In biography voice-overs, the process used, is the same as in narration voice-overs. Biographies are like stories, and since they are stories about people, reading through them, would be termed as a way of narration. However, this is not the case, since they are biographies and not normal stories. The voice-over style applicable to them is usually known as a biography, and not a narration. Voice over artists' who work in a biography, tell the life stories of celebrities and politicians. They can work in biography films, by telling the stories of the people in them. This is one style that is rarely tapped into because people prefer to read a biography rather than to listen to it.
5. Character/Animation Voice-Overs
This is one of the most interesting, entertaining and interactive kinds of voice-overs. If you ask a voice-over artist who has worked on most of the different voice over styles, they will definitely tell you they enjoy working on character and animation most. This voice-over style taps into specific characteristics that take a lot of expression and animated voices. Not everyone can hack this style of voice over. It needs a lot of practice to be a pro and a perfectionist. You'll find that there is a specific voice artist, whose directors gravitate towards these animations and character voice-overs. This is because not everyone can hack them well.
6. Corporate  Voice-Overs
You may wonder how it's possible for voice artists to work in the corporate world, or to do corporate voice overs. Well, it is very possible, and I am sure you have experienced their work once or twice in your professional life. If you are an employee in a certain corporation, chances are you have received training at the beginning, and chances are that you listened to training audios, or used promotional material that has human voices in the background. These are corporate voice artists' work. They are not so common, but if you are a person who works in a corporation, high chances are that you know what they are, and have interacted with them at a particular stage of your corporate life.
7. Internet Voice-Overs
This is a very common and rapidly rising form of voice-over. With the fast rise in the internet's use, the internet has made the world a global village. From time to time, you will find business owners getting voice artists to advertise and market their businesses. The good thing about internet voice-overs is, they cut across all industries. Depending on what industry your business is in, you can create internet voice-overs and put them on your website. They are not exclusive to a particular industry. Internet voice-overs entail creating videos for website tours, banner ads, and online tutorials.
8. Exercise/Inspiration Voice-Overs