# Ask the Professional Voice Over Talent **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 15, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784 "2009-06-15T00:53:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Septemberday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Septemberday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septemberday)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/41 "2009-06-15T04:00:33Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > I would, but neither of us buys soda or popcorn, so it’s the studios making all the money on us, not the theater. We’re not the kind of customers they want. 🙂 > > How comfortably do you live with the income you make doing this? What’s your workload like? I’m comfy 🙂 I own two Hondas, have an apartment in the burbs, just north of the city, 3 cats. My business pays my salary every two weeks. I shop at Old Navy and The Gap and treat myself to $5 coffee and tea once in awhile. My workload varies wildly. Some days, I just audition. Some days, I’m working from 8AM til 1AM. It just depends on the client, the hugness of the job, the pay involved and deadlines. Most weeks, I actively record jobs about 18 hours. On top of that, I spend a good bit of time auditioning and marketing. I’d say maybe 25-28 hours total for everything. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/42 "2009-06-15T04:04:29Z")
> [@Septemberday](#): > > Sure 🙂 > > Most recently, I’ve voiced Skynet for Warner Brothers over at [SkynetResearch.com](http://SkynetResearch.com) and you can hear my teen voice over on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) by going here: [Amazon.com : Fujifilm FinePix Z30 10MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Pink) : Point And Shoot Digital Cameras : Electronics](http://www.amazon.com/Fujifilm-FinePix-Digital-Optical-Pink/dp/B001QEPR5M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1245029349&sr=8-2) and clicking on the “watch” button below the picture of the camera. Very cool. In reading your “bad day at the office” do you often get calls and do them the same day. Do you have your own music clips for backing? I did some in store announcements that cycled through the PA at the store I worked at and have often been told I have a professional sounding voice. I already have a home studio for music. Thanks for the titles and tips. ---
**Author:** ![Septemberday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Septemberday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septemberday)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/43 "2009-06-15T04:16:33Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > Very cool. In reading your “bad day at the office” do you often get calls and do them the same day. > > Do you have your own music clips for backing? I did some in store announcements that cycled through the PA at the store I worked at and have often been told I have a professional sounding voice. I already have a home studio for music. Thanks for the titles and tips. Very often. This is a world of “I need it yesterday”. I do have some music clips, but am not often called upon to mix or produce spots. I deliver mostly what is called “dry voice”. But when I need sound fx or music, I use [SoundDogs.com](http://SoundDogs.com) . They have loads of great stuff super cheap! ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/44 "2009-06-15T04:38:48Z")
> [@Septemberday](#): > > Hmmm…a bad day? When I’m not working! 😉 But there are other days that go something like this: Thanks **Septemberday**! I’m set up for a frustrating day tomorrow. Now I can keep in mind that there are days like that even in the glamorous world of voice over talent. At work, we’ve used voice talent for recording voice prompts – the kind that you splice together to create (for example) a voicemail system. While I was developing the product, I would record the temporary samples until we got the official ones from our talent. I found it difficult to ‘read’ the samples with the right inflection to make them fit together; the results were often humorous. Have you done this type of work? Is there a particular skill needed to record these samples so that they fit seamlessly together? Or is it just a small part of what you have to master anyway? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/45 "2009-06-15T05:07:40Z")
What kind of a world do you live in, and what is it that only one man can do in it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/46 "2009-06-15T05:55:12Z")
Do you work out of New York, LA, or somewhere in between? Do you have an agent? Do you get sides? Do you audition, or are the tapes good enough? If so, can you audition over the phone? What percentage do you get? When my daughter was acting, she went to one voice-over audition at an ad agency in NY, but that was almost 20 years ago, and I suspect things have changed since then. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/47 "2009-06-15T06:05:40Z")
I’ve always wanted to be a radio actor, but never did a thing about it, though I’ve done a few fun things with my friends occasionally. Have you ever tried voice acting, an actual performance for a video game or animated series or whatever? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/48 "2009-06-15T07:05:57Z")
> [@Septemberday](#): > > Thanks Mike!🙂 > > Hmmm…a bad day? When I’m not working! 😉 But there are other days that go something like this: > > _ringing phone_ > > Me: Hello? > > Client: September! This is Ralph from Captive Sound Productions. Our client heard your demo online and wants to hire you! > > Me: Great! I’d imagine the cure for this nonsense is getting paid for each re-do, rather than by the job. But I’d also imagine the industry standard is to be paid by the job. A good friend of mine is a voice talent (she did a ton of stuff for Hallmark Cards) and speaks French and Hebrew as well. Do you have a link to the message boards for voice talent? There is a trend in commercials that bugs me: dubbing the actors in the spots. Pharmaceutical companies are the worst. It’s obvious the voice doesn’t match the face - humans are pretty good at matching the two. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/49 "2009-06-15T13:02:10Z")
A year or so ago, I asked about what to my ears seems like an emerging trend in voiceover; a female voice that has a slight nasal, ironic inflection being used in a LOT of commercials catering to women. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/50 "2009-06-15T13:03:15Z")
> [@Septemberday](#): > > Home studio. You have to have one with the way the industry is. Most everything I record, I do in my closet next to the dirty laundry. Once in awhile, a client will want to be at the session and will buy studio time at a big recording facility. Or with something live, like the MTV Video Music Awards, I need to actually be there in case something goes wrong. But about 90% of my work is done in my closet. Ok, follow-up then – does your studio have a dedicated power source? I had done some reading up on home studios for voice-over work awhile back, and something I kept hearing was how important it was to have a separate electric main for your studio equipment, in order to keep the recording as pure as possible (no extra hum on the line or anything). ---
**Author:** ![Septemberday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Septemberday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septemberday)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/51 "2009-06-15T13:12:24Z")
> [@CaveMike](#): > > Thanks **Septemberday**! I’m set up for a frustrating day tomorrow. Now I can keep in mind that there are days like that even in the glamorous world of voice over talent. > > At work, we’ve used voice talent for recording voice prompts – the kind that you splice together to create (for example) a voicemail system. While I was developing the product, I would record the temporary samples until we got the official ones from our talent. I found it difficult to ‘read’ the samples with the right inflection to make them fit together; the results were often humorous. > > Have you done this type of work? Is there a particular skill needed to record these samples so that they fit seamlessly together? Or is it just a small part of what you have to master anyway? I do IVR work all the time. The trick is inflection. You need to be able to inflect a word up, down, and neutral. If I’m working from my home studio and can do the mixing myself, it’s a lot easier. I can save all the original stuff so I can listen to it while I’m recording to make sure it will flow. Sometimes though, it’s just easier to re-record the line if there is new info. Good editing of audio is very important when doing IVR to keep a natural flow ---
**Author:** ![Septemberday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Septemberday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septemberday)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/52 "2009-06-15T13:13:25Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > What kind of a world do you live in, and what is it that only one man can do in it? > > 😉 I live in a world where I get paid to say words…and no man can do what I do 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Septemberday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Septemberday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septemberday)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/53 "2009-06-15T13:15:53Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Do you work out of New York, LA, or somewhere in between? > > Do you have an agent? > > Do you get sides? Do you audition, or are the tapes good enough? If so, can you audition over the phone? > > What percentage do you get? > > When my daughter was acting, she went to one voice-over audition at an ad agency in NY, but that was almost 20 years ago, and I suspect things have changed since then. I live in Atlanta,GA. I have about 14 agents. Sides? Haven’t heard that term before 🙂 I audition all the time, every day. Sometimes my demo is enough, but often the client wants a custom demo. I land maybe 25-30% of what I audition for. But I’m picky and I only go after things that I know I’d be right for. There are still walk-in auditions, but the technology nowadays makes it easier for clients to get tons of auditions e-mailed to them without renting studio space. ---
**Author:** ![Septemberday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Septemberday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septemberday)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/54 "2009-06-15T13:19:08Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I’ve always wanted to be a radio actor, but never did a thing about it, though I’ve done a few fun things with my friends occasionally. > > Have you ever tried voice acting, an actual performance for a video game or animated series or whatever? Sure! I’ve done a few small video games, but again, I’m often the monotone killer robot. There is true acting in commercials though. I have to get you to believe that if you buy ProActiv, it will clear up your acne because it worked for me. If you’re sitting there mulling over whether or not you believe I’m young enough to have acne, or that I never used the product, well, the commercial won’t be very effective. I’m also doing a webisode series for Nintendo for “Animal Crossing” and it’s a bit of acting like a little girl. More fun than killer computers 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Septemberday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Septemberday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septemberday)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/55 "2009-06-15T13:22:26Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I’d imagine the cure for this nonsense is getting paid for each re-do, rather than by the job. But I’d also imagine the industry standard is to be paid by the job. > > A good friend of mine is a voice talent (she did a ton of stuff for Hallmark Cards) and speaks French and Hebrew as well. Do you have a link to the message boards for voice talent? > > There is a trend in commercials that bugs me: dubbing the actors in the spots. Pharmaceutical companies are the worst. It’s obvious the voice doesn’t match the face - humans are pretty good at matching the two. Well, there’s a fine line. You don’t want to honk off clients. I usually do 3 revisions for free and then we have to chat. The above example isn’t the rule, it’s more often the exception. However, it happens to every talent a few times. Enough for it to be a running gag. [voice-overs.com/forums](http://voice-overs.com/forums) and [vo-bb.com](http://vo-bb.com) are good VO message boards as well as [voiceoveruniverse.com](http://voiceoveruniverse.com) Yep, I’ve seen that as well…and been a part of it. Take a look… ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/oc1DIWpc4R4/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/oc1DIWpc4R4?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![Septemberday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Septemberday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septemberday)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/56 "2009-06-15T13:24:02Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > A year or so ago, I asked about what to my ears seems like an emerging trend in voiceover; a female voice that has a slight nasal, ironic inflection being used in a LOT of commercials catering to women. Yeah, that’s what they call “wry”. Sarcasm was a big deal and still is a bit, although they don’t want you to sound too snarky. I think it’s making it’s final curtain call though. ---
**Author:** ![Septemberday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Septemberday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septemberday)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/57 "2009-06-15T13:27:58Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Ok, follow-up then – does your studio have a dedicated power source? I had done some reading up on home studios for voice-over work awhile back, and something I kept hearing was how important it was to have a separate electric main for your studio equipment, in order to keep the recording as pure as possible (no extra hum on the line or anything). Nope, don’t need one with today’s technology. I use an M-Audio Fast Track Pro and it plugs into my USB port on my comp. It’s got it’s own sound card and pre-amp and phantom power; it’s already isolated from any line noise. The mic cables today are all fairly decent so as long as you get at least a mid-grade quality, you’ll be fine. Honestly, there are gearheads out there who run their voice through all kinds of processors and downward expanders and mic that cost thousands. My set up is : AKG C2000B mic into my Fast Track into my comp and I edit with Adobe Audition. Simple, easy and clean. Nothing fancy or expensive. Even my mic was only $250 and I actually asked for it for Christmas 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kingspades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecae2f/32.png) [@Kingspades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kingspades)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/58 "2009-06-15T13:53:00Z")
What project have you been most proud of, and why? What project would you most like to sweep under the rug and forget, and why? What would be your dream gig, and why? ( Full disclosure: I’m September’s husband. I’ve got some guesses on the above, but don’t actually know the answers, and thought other people might be interested, too. ) ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/59 "2009-06-15T14:42:21Z")
I’ve heard your voice at a Carmike theatre too! And how awesome is it that your name is really September Day. Coolest name ever. I have lucked into a few voice spots. I used to do temp work, and at one job, they liked my voice so much they made me the voice on their new automated phone system. That was a lot of fun, it was a day of recording on the equipment of the company that was setting up the system, all done in the office break room. (Irritated all the staff, they couldn’t get coffee. Oops.) Another job was at a radio station, and they wanted a sultry female voice to record a call letters drop for the overnight hours, and they were going to hire someone when the station manager heard me on the phone with someone and pulled me down the hall to the production studio. The call letters ended with “O” and I was directed to make that O sound like ooooooooooh like everyone knew what I was doing in the dark of night. That was even more fun. Ten takes and that drop was played for about five years. I’ve long thought about trying to break into voice acting. I used to do a podcast and I got a lot of compliments on my voice when I was in storytelling mode. And I’ve done some stage acting. I just need a.) the technology and b.) the nerve. **Septemberday** did you set up your studio on spec, and hope to get work, or did you get some work, record elsewhere, then learn you could do more if you had your own equipment? I’m thinking about a $250 mic (I spent $99 on [my podcasting mic](http://www.bluemic.com/snowball/) and that was hard to do) and thinking about other equipment and software and getting the twitches. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784/60 "2009-06-15T15:01:03Z")
> [@Septemberday](#): > > Well, there’s a fine line. You don’t want to honk off clients. I usually do 3 revisions for free and then we have to chat. The above example isn’t the rule, it’s more often the exception. However, it happens to every talent a few times. Enough for it to be a running gag. I’ve worked doing 3D animation and in web design, and the latter especially seems to bring out the bad art director in everyone - the type who doesn’t know what they want, but does know what they don’t want when they see it, > [@](#): > > [voice-overs.com/forums](http://voice-overs.com/forums) and [vo-bb.com](http://vo-bb.com) are good VO message boards as well as [voiceoveruniverse.com](http://voiceoveruniverse.com) Cool, thanks. > [@](#): > > Yep, I’ve seen that as well…and been a part of it. Take a look… > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc1DIWpc4R4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc1DIWpc4R4) Thanks! I mean, glad you got paid, but **neither** voice fit the actor’s faces. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-professional-voice-over-talent/499784.md?page=4)