 Hey, it's time for voiceover body shop and tonight our guest is Mark Cashman Over there, I mean so he's yeah, he's over over here this way Say hello mark. Hey guys. How are you doing? Great? If you've got a question for Mark Cashman and as he talks it's all it's gonna raise all sorts of questions You can throw your questions is this guy one of them. Yeah You can throw me in the Facebook Question mark. Yes question mark. Yeah, I needed that right now You can go into our Facebook chat room and ask your questions there And if you're watching on YouTube, you can visit chat room in YouTube, too You can use that Jeff Holman is sitting out there somewhere and he is Getting all that stuff down and get those questions to us we're gonna talk about directing and how to improve your your your vocal performance and Interpreting scripts and all sorts of stuff tips upon tips upon tips upon tips or as I mentioned You know that when we all get together The stuff the voice over stuff just oozes out so go grab a bucket useful stuff Yes, anyway time for voice over body shop right now From the outer reaches they came Bearing the knowledge of what it takes to properly record your voice over audio And together from the center of the VO universe they bring it to you now George Wittem the engineer to the VO stars a Virginia Tech grad with the skills to build set up and maintain The professional VO studios of the biggest names in VO today and you Dan Leonard the voice over home studio master a professional voice down with the knowledge and experience to help you create a professional sounding home VO studio And each week they allow you into their world Bring you talks with the biggest names in the voice of a world today Letting you ask your questions and giving you the latest information to make the most of your voice over business Welcome to voice over body shop Voice over body shop is brought to you by voice over essentials.com home of Harlan Hogan signature products source elements remote studio connections for everyone voice actor websites.com Where your VO website isn't a pain in the butt VO heroes.com become a hero to your clients with award-winning voice over training JMC demos when quality matters and voice over extra your daily resource for VO success And now live to drive from their super secret clubhouse and studio in Sherman Oaks, California Here are the guys Well, hello there, I'm Dan Leonard and I'm George Whidham, and this is voice over body shop or VO Bs Well, welcome to another week of voice over body shop and we're together in the same place for once Which is how did you end up with almost the same color shirt because I told you to wear an orange Who changed first? I I was wearing this when you came in So it doesn't really matter and you were all over the place this weekend Up in Monterey or yeah, I was in the Monterey area. I was riding a bicycle around the Laguna seca raceway Oh, cool part of the time. Yeah, that was surreal You know anything about that racetrack the corkscrew the corkscrew I was camping in a in a camping spot as it was like being on the top of a multi-tiered cake Yeah, and we were at the very top and looking down on this corkscrew the first morning We watched the road racing team come down that corkscrew on their road bicycles Yeah, it was surreal then I got to do it But then I got to do a ride Sunday morning That was my race single-speed mountain bike class and they made us ride up the damn thing It was like it was How you they were gonna do well it is mountain biking they made us ride a lot of hills But anyway, I made it back just in the nick of time after having to make an emergency stop today for a VIP To unpack his studio Brits booth not put it together Just unpack it and get it in the apartment so it wouldn't get ruined out of this including the door Which requires an honor guard and thankfully said VIP is an able-bodied man and helped me carry it in Which was that door is massive anyway. We're here. That's right. We made it. All right Yeah, so if you wonder what goes on in our lives day-to-day, you know normal stuff normal crazy stuff Anyway, it's time to introduce our guest who's been with us many times because he's a riot He is a great director, but but he knows stuff He knows a lot of stuff and he's written a lot of stuff But with over 40 years in the voiceover industry Mark Cashman has written hundreds of articles about voice acting for a bunch of publications I won't mention what some of them are He's in demand for VO conventions and conferences when they actually happen as a keynote speaker and a great master class Instructor I've been in those classes, and I know what they're like and has authored one of the top-selling books on voice acting V. Oh oh H. Oh That's right That's how you say it tips tricks tools and techniques to start and sustain your voice over career Let's welcome back to voiceover body shop. We'd love having him here, but he's at his place in steve's ranch Mark cashman. Welcome back. Hey guys. How are you doing? Doing good. Can you hear me? Okay? Danny five by five excellent excellent. I'm so glad to see you guys together You're usually remote and and and George is gallivanting all over the country and you're having to stay You know in the VOBS studios keeping things going Yeah, and and then George calls in every so often says hey, how's it going? great and We've gotten so used to working in multiple locations. I was probably pretty close to calling in from the beach today But I just didn't want to push it a little far Anyway, you know welcome back to the show. This is one. I don't think I've ever asked you before and that's how did you get into the voiceover business? Oh My I always ask everybody that but I don't think I've ever asked you that it's in your notes Yes, well actually no, I didn't even go into that in my book I didn't want to make it I didn't really didn't want to make it biographical I just basically just wanted to make it practical and just have a lot of you know information in it for everybody but in a not you very very simply I Got bitten by the radio bug by listening to two people Stan Freeberg and Dick Orkin and they inspired me and the more I heard them and the more I listened to them the more I wanted to emulate them and and that's why I came out to Los Angeles over 40 years ago to do what they did to write and produce radio commercials and I knew nobody here. I knew didn't know how to do it or anything. I just knew that I wanted to do it and And I actually did it After after a few years, I finally got enough clients to be able to basically do what I do and I've been doing it literally now for 40 years and But I came out to Los Angeles Just wanting to be a radio producer. What's really weird was After I started getting involved in writing and producing and casting A number of my clients would ask me to voice their commercials and I Initially said, oh no, no, no, no. I I work with the top talent. They're great. I They're pros I did you want them not me But they kept insisting and insisting and insisting so I realized I'd have to get up to speed in terms of being a voice actor. So I joined one of the very first voice acting Workout groups It was in the mid 80s And I was one of the I was in one of the first groups that are that ever got started and we Got together once a week for three hours a night Every week and I did it for six years Six years of constant constant working with this group and It was just great. So while I was writing and producing and casting I was Working on becoming a better and better and better voice actor And that's basically how I got into it. It was kind of a sideways thing. I didn't know anybody. It wasn't nepotism I didn't win any competition. I just decided I wanted to do this and and there was nothing that was going To deter me But I'm kind of like that Just lost you Lost you lost your audio. Oh, can you hear you now you're back? Okay? all right So, uh, oh because you had the microphone has to we'll have to we'll have to figure out the the mic switching Okay, make sure it doesn't follow the camera. We'll get that right. We'll get we know how to do this We've only been doing this for 10 years. I keep changing the way we do the show though And that's not your fault. No No, it's not but it's getting better and better. That's the whole thing. That's the most important thing on average Yeah, that's right on average. It creeps up. Yeah, so you're you're massively Experienced and doing the voice work directing writing and all this stuff and now you're are you are you still teaching a class and in college? You know, I I did the college classes When the pandemic hit I Everybody, you know, just kind of went there as you know went their separate ways and everything was doing remote And um, they haven't quite gotten to I haven't figured out what to do there. So I've been teaching at the college level for going on Almost 20 years now. So I've just decided I've been there done that. I've been at UCLA. I've been at usc. I've been in cal arts and I think I'm I'm just gonna take a take a vacation From that for a while and radical and yeah sabbatical That's exactly it and and um, but I've got my classes my online classes and I'm gonna be starting my in studio classes I'm doing one-on-one coaching and And and I I'm so lucky I get to work with people all over the world Not just the u.s. So that's been fun and and also. Oh, I got some Some some events coming up, but I'll talk about that at the end toward when we when we wrap up Absolutely. All right. All right, you know, we see a lot of people Getting into the business these days. I mean if you go on facebook You'd think there's a hundred thousand people considering themselves voice actors Um, why are so many people? I mean, I mean you talk to a lot of these people. I talked to them What are you hearing from people that makes them want to do this so much? Well, you know, it's all timing You know that that last march when the pandemic came down when when the hammer came down All of a sudden you had millions of people just Completely confined in four walls and saying what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do with my life? I'm not particularly happy with my job. Uh, what would I what could I possibly do working from home? Oh Voice over I can open my mouth. I can read words. I can speak A language Yeah, I can do that So I have to tell you that over the past 18 months you've had a deluge of people of coming into the industry Wanting to be part of the industry But Really have not come from that part of the industry. They are not actors. They're not singers. They're not performers They're not public speakers They've been doing other things and they just decided they would try out voice over because again, they were quarantined That's going to shift that's going to that's going to die down After a while people are going to start to go back to work And we're going to be having the the normal influx of people trying to break into the industry But one of the main reasons that so many people are interested in this business is because it is so Now ubiquitous and very familiar people are starting to be very familiarized with All things audio with not just commercials. They've been seeing those for years But other things like e-learning projects and explainer videos and and and more animated series and and and the endless endless endless procession of video games and of course audiobooks as well basically the bottom line is The opportunities have become more and more And so that has attracted More and more people. Yeah, so it's just a democratization of the industry itself It's just a little bit more approachable To get into it people think also that celebrities rule and I just want to put that that notion to to bed When you see a celebrity doing a commercial or whatever, you're just seeing the very very tip of the tip of the iceberg Only one percent of all voice work. Maybe two percent max is done by celebrities, but I'm pretty sure it's just one percent 99 percent is done by unknowns Doing a lot of non broadcast stuff Yeah, I worked with a lady who is a Broadway performer like that. Her life is eight shows a week And that was the plug was pulled on that whole industry And she built out a really nice voiceover booth in her parents farm in Iowa Nice wife, and she's like, well She actually that was a challenge. There was farm machinery All around in their house So they had to be soundproof. They did a lot of work and then long long story short She's got a great studio there and she's like, well, I'm gonna own this house someday So it's worth the investment But I mean, I didn't know I'd be working with Broadway actors like for this. Oh, absolutely Absolutely, as a matter of fact Broadway actors are are very very much in demand Particularly for commercial Particularly if you listen to commercials really really closely You're going to hear a lot of Broadway actors not just actors but actor slash singers actor actually triple threat actor singer dancers But you don't have to dance and voice over but But you're you're you're again being an actor and being a singer gives you such a huge advantage over Well, again, half the people in this business are not actors and singers. They're they they They they just Didn't come from that that's not to say that they're not going to be successful because truthfully I think half of all voice work is Cast not because you're a great actor. It's cast because they just love the sound of your voice Yeah, or the way or the way you read something in a particular way. Exactly. Exactly a little bit Exactly Excuse me if By chance, you're just joining us right now here on voice over body shop We're talking with mark cashman who is a writer director voice actor instructor All these things that you do um And if you've got a question for them throw them in our chat room either in facebook or on youtube And he will be happy to answer that especially questions about Performance because that's what mark and I usually talk about is how do you? How you make something a little bit different we have a script we're going to work on a little bit later Yeah, yeah, it's gonna be a fun script. We always do that when you when you're on and you usually lead me some other place, but So with all these people coming into the business right now What do you see is the biggest mistake that most newbies make? Just say hiring the wrong coach I don't think that's I don't think that's that's true Uh, uh, overall there there might be some exceptions, but but but overall I don't think that's true. I I you know I don't know who I don't know Is there is it a possible that that that that nobody that could be somebody who makes no mistakes? It's not possible. We all make mistakes. We all make wrong choices. Sometimes we all we're all We want to We just want it. We want it. We want it. We want it. We want it now. We want it soon. We want to get it done I guess one big mistake are basically people who are do the want to do their demo and they're not ready for it. Yeah That's a huge huge thing Um, and then they're they're they're regretful because they spent all that time and all that money Putting it together and they should have just waited another six months a year, but whatever Uh, they should have waited. So yeah, so a lot of people just want to They just want to Come on. I paid the class. I did the class. I bought the equipment I've been doing this for a whole six months. That's right. That's right. Why am I not booking? Why am I not booking and I keep those all the time because we don't think it's their equipment Exactly and and that's just this just not the case Um I you you've we've mentioned this in my previous V. OBS appearances, but I'm the only voice acting teacher in the world who gives out report cards Everybody is graded in eight different categories on a one to ten scale And it's basically like an x-ray of your abilities. It shows where you're strong It shows where you're weak and it makes recommendations should you want to continue And that's basically what most people don't get when they finish a class of a workshop a webinar, whatever the case might be After they're done, they get started as good luck. Good job. Good luck. Good luck But they don't get any feedback. They don't get any specific feedback And that's where my report card comes in because it gives them It's like an x-rays an objective analysis of their current skill sets their current skill sets It doesn't mean that they can't get better But it just measures their current skill sets and I remind people when you were in First grade second grade third when you were in sixth grade and you graduated elementary school Do that mean that you are going to go out and start working? No You were in elementary school You still have some schooling to go when you're done with junior high school, you're going to go out and start working No, you're going to go on to high school And you graduate high school Now some people say well, I could start working after high school. Yeah, you could absolutely Or I could go to college and really really really learn what I want to do And spend another four years Now does that mean that you have to spend 12 years of training in voiceover to be professional? No You can't just do as you said six months and say come on What's going on? When do you know someone's? Ready, you know because you know when you're working with people you're like you're ready to do a demo What what keys you into the fact that they're ready? When I don't have to Ask them to do the same things over and over and over and over again I need to tell peace. I need to tell person once what they need to do And I need to know that they heard it and they're going to do what I just asked them to do It's a very simple thing This is what I need you to do. Can you do that in the next take? Yes Good, let's do that if they can do that They're ready and if they can't do it, they're not ready. It's pretty simple Hey most most people don't get Doing you know, they just think it's reading that it's you know and and that they need to project their voice Of course, I mean these are all the mistakes that you know that I see people making They get too close to the mic I have to be like this to do voiceover Absolutely. Yeah, and that's just it Well, and of course now the beauty is is that with instruction with one-on-one instruction? None of that is necessary everybody, you know, if they make if they they do something untoward if they do something that They're not supposed to be doing then they're just gently corrected and said okay on the next take Let's try this instead of that And and and and do it that way There there's not one habit that can't be broke one bad habit that can't be broken There's not one good thing that you can do that can't be practiced and and and and done best practices It's it's I always remind people this is not brain surgery. This is not rocket science This is very very practical things that you can do very very practical I record all of my sessions And so that I can my students can listen back and see how they did and get a really good objective sense of how they're sounding And how they're listening That's one of the biggest things again. I go back to what we just talked about before a lot of people don't listen Many times words go in one ear and out the other They'll listen to the director, but they won't listen to themselves But listening requires listening on multiple level So so listening is a huge huge thing What are you saying? He's saying that you have to be able to listen. I'm just kidding Yes, yes, I work with two Two of the subtlest guys in the business. Yes. Yes. Thank you. In fact, um, why didn't you say, uh, say say that again Say it again I can't because I wasn't listening Thank you. We're here all week. Try the veal. Okay Listening is possibly one of the most important skills you can have in voiceover because one you you have to be able to listen to the director You've got to listen to other people. You've got to listen to what other styles are And you got to be able to listen to instructions Which is what you're saying is you know, can they follow instructions or they are they getting What it is that's necessary from from a director Now I also liken it to being a great jazz artist everybody. I know that's an amazing musician listens to Probably as much music as much as that they play if not more They're listening so knowing knowing like if you watch if you skip commercials on your on your TV Do we still use those? Uh, I don't uh, then you're not learning From no, absolutely. As a matter of fact, thank you for for for venturing that uh because I'm here's just a suggestion um For for everybody out there Uh, if you while you're watching tv I'd really really love it if you could invest 49 bucks in a pair of wireless headphone Wireless headphones that means you can watch tv and listen to tv. You can walk all around the house But the most important thing is when you have headphones on you're hearing voiceover Like no get out. You're hearing it completely differently without the yeah, that's right without the visuals as a matter of fact I know it sounds counterintuitive But when a tv commercial comes on I want you to close your eyes and not watch it but listen and if you have a dvr Then you can rewind it and you can listen to it over and over and over again my poor sainted wife Um, uh, it loves it when I rewind the commercials and listen to it over and over and over again She just Yeah, yeah, yeah, she did so so far. That's a really great idea Yeah, so I I strongly strongly suggest uh anybody when you're watching tv listen listen listen listen to the subtlety of of vio and as a matter of fact i'm gonna i'm gonna point out, um What's your quality? Um Hold on one second. Well while you're saying Well, I can identify who's doing the commercial far better if i'm not watching think of it If it's just in the other room or in the background. Yes, so and so oh that's so and so but if i'm watching it Their voice kind of disappears a little bit to me. Anyway, actually extra effort to tune in To who to the voice and what's being how it's being performed? Absolutely again Close your eyes and just listen And literally you could you could talk along with them again? You can rewind rewind rewind as much as you possibly can But also I want you to listen very very carefully lately. There's a trend going on I'm always constantly listening to either tv commercials when they're When i'm watching tv or uh radio, but there is Lately a trend going on and everybody if you're listening if you watch commercials listen to commercials Um, uh constantly you're going to hear this trend going on. It's not for radio. It's only for tv And this and it's in it's in the delivery And there's one word for this delivery and it's called chill chill If you listen to the all state campaign, uh, this young african-american Woman is doing the vo for the all state campaign And if you listen to any of those all state commercials any of those current all state commercials and listen to her her delivery It is chill with a capital c Now not Not relaxed lying in a hammock Not I just did a dube relaxed But but chill present but chill In other words, the vocal the the volume is pulled back And if you listen very very carefully to her delivery You're going to hear what I mean And then you're going to hear that emulated in other campaigns that I've heard they're all copying the all state campaign But does it have does it still have a lot of pitch changing? No up and down? No It's it's but it's not monotone It's just chill. It's just it's like a smaller range of notes. I guess that's exactly right. It's it's very very gentle It's but again, it's in the volume. It's in the volume george. Yeah, it's in the volume It's 75 volume right now I'm using my 100 voice and this is what most people do when they audition they use their 100 voice They're full voice But if you listen really really carefully, you're going to hear a lot of delivery at least 25 percent of that delivery Is going to be pulled back to that 75 range that quieter Not as projected volume chill Very chill. I I've been using I adapted your 100 voice to describe that to my clients now because I want them to understand that. All right, give me a read at your 100 voice and then I explain what I mean by that Um, and that's I'm remembering now. We're already got that because like I know this term. Why do I know this term? Yeah, so thanks for reminding me. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, it's it's just it's Wild and it's a trend. It really is trending. I heard it on etsy The other day on a new a new spot and in another spot. I didn't even write it down I usually have a pad right next to my to the sofa that I write down Things were again, I can trend and usually I'll I'll end up once I find that thing I will when I'm doing let's say a session with one of my students I'll share that on I spot tv And I'll do I'll do a share zoom session and just play the spot for them So they can hear the delivery and hear what I'm talking about But but yeah, that's that's it's very trending Yeah, I've I've always been of the opinion and if you're watching tv And you turned off the sound and you knew what was going on and really appreciated it And then if you turned off the picture and listened to the audio and couldn't tell what's going on and appreciated it What you have is a totally cohesive production You know and you will find that with you know any good movie or any good television show and stuff like that At least you're like eliminate 50 of the information right still exactly still get the get everything you need Yeah, yep. Yeah once again, we're talking with mark cashman who is a writer director voice actor Voice coach all these things if you've got a question for him on performance because we're going to get into some performance after the break here uh Now would be a great time to throw it in the chat room in facebook or on youtube And he loves answering questions And uh, we'll get right back to those questions and a script that he picked out for me right after these very important messages. Don't go away Before time began there was v obs dot tv watch or else Well, hello there I bet you weren't expecting to hear some big voiced announcer guy on your new orientation training for snapchat. Were you? Is virgin radio? Well, okay. We're not that innocent. There's genes for wearing and there's genes for working Dickies because I ain't here to look pretty. She's a champion of progressive values A leader for california and a voice for america. It's smart. It's a phone. It's a smartphone But it's so much more. It's a the files are ready. Don't forget to pick up the eggs What time is hockey practice? Check out this song. It's the end of the road for Red When hope is lost the i8 from bmw Who said saving the planet couldn't be stylish? Hey, it's j michael collins. Bet you think i'm gonna try and sell you a demo now, huh? I think they speak for themselves, but I will give you my email. It's j michael at jmc voiceover dot com Now if dan will stop waxing this mustache for a minute. We'll get back to the show As voice actors we need to hear the clear transparent and honest sound of our voices Harlan hogan signature series voice optimized headphones 2.0 Provide both that accurate transparent sound with enhanced mid-range audio less bass and the creature comforts voice workers deserve Clearly different from traditional studio headphones the upper mids and highs are clear as about no muffling or cross bleeding between frequencies Like a pair of studio monitors the low is there But at the same level as the rest of the spectrum They're comfortable like no other phones i've worn That's because harlan used actual leather for the pads. 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Here it is vo heroes dot com forward slash Start again, that's vo heroes dot com forward slash start Get ahead in voiceover simply by Getting started go to vo heroes dot com forward slash start This is bill radner and you're enjoying voiceover body shop with dan lennard and george widham vobs.tv And we're back with mark cashman here on voiceover body shop And again, if you got a question throw it in the chat room because we will get to those questions in a bit Now you you published a book Pardon me bless you vo OH Which I remember, you know reading the original edition of it on a plane because you've let me have the galleys for it And it was like, yeah, I've heard him tell this story. Yeah, I've heard him tell this story But nobody else has heard that story before So it's you know, and they're they're they're great, uh, you know anecdotes about really what it's like to be in the voiceover business But one of the things you've been doing is you've been putting 365 Tips one a day in various places. What what was involved in that? You know, that's wild a few years ago. I was talking to my daughter and and said I said, you know, I need to establish a um a web presence um a social media presence And she said dad the only way for you to do that is to be posting on at least four different platforms linked in facebook twitter and instagram And doing it on a daily basis I said, well, I can't come up with a a blog and I can't reinvent the wheel every day I don't have time. I have to work. I have stuff to do She said, well, you got to figure out something that you can do that you can post every day It's not going to take off take up a whole bunch of your time. So I figured, okay, what can I do? What can I do? What can I do? Okay, how about this? I can start off with 10 tips 10 tips I can I can post a tip a day for 10 days. How about that? She says, okay That's that's a that's a good start. So I came up with 10 tips. But After by the time I got to nine, I said, well, am I going to stop at just 10? Oh, so I just did another 10. So do 20 by the time I got close to 20 I said, well, am I going to stop at 20? No, let's just keep going. So I got to 50 and I said, well, this is silly I'm not going to stop at 50 and then I went to 100. Okay, let's do 100. But then I figured, wait, wait, wait Why just stop at 100? There are 365 days in the year Do you not know enough to post one tip a day for 365 days? You've been at this for 40 years I think that you could You could do this and so that's basically it wasn't so much of a challenge but but but that's basically how it evolved and um So yes, I've been I've been posting one voiceover tip every single day for the past three years plus I think go ahead. This is my fourth year um every day every single day um on facebook instagram linkedin and twitter and multiple pages on Excuse me multiple pages on linkedin and facebook um and And I've it's just it's and and so what's great about it is once you do in 365 You can do it every year there after all though 2020 was a leap year. I had to do 366 I had to do add one more to the mix but um, but yeah, so so now All I do is is just again every year just It's it's basically the the 365 tips are they're classic. They cover everything performance and what's today's tip? Oh today's tip was What's today's tip today's tip was was a was uh, um, what you call it a a quote from daws butler And occasionally occasionally some of my tips are quotes from really brilliant people so So daws butler, uh, but it was it was something to the effect of um, uh voice acting is a lot like jazz There's there's music in the in in in the cadence and the delivery and the words are more of Interpolation than interpretation So it I didn't get the exact quote there, but if you go on linkedin or facebook or instagram or twitter You'll see the quote from daws butler who is Brilliant and and truthfully it was my my biggest regret was I never got a chance to study with him When when I was living in la and he was still alive If I could go back and and do it all over again I would have sought him out when I first came to la and just try to get as much as I can because He was brilliant. He was absolutely brilliant. All right. Well, I've been looking forward to this all day because whenever you're on You get a chance to direct me Reading copy. This is always a little entertaining for me. Yeah. Yeah Not being a voice actor. I mean you probably see this stuff all the time I'll get to see the direction actually. Oh, yeah. Yeah. All right. So you gave me this And I said give me the weirdest piece of copy you possibly can And you know and after a while if you've been if you've been printing out copy, you know You usually have about the Eiffel Tower is worth after a while Uh, so you picked out this one's called quick trip um So I'm going to read through it once you recommend that he does a cold read first or just read it to himself first No, read it to yourself first Read yourself first while he's while he's doing that George, you and I will just we'll we'll we'll have a little a little chat here so Do you notice that I don't have a windscreen on the microphone. I that's I was just going to say I was just I was just going to my my pet peeve Is the windscreen that the the condom or or the windscreen I've I I I pride myself on I know that the windscreen Industrial complex is not very happy with me Only because I've explained to people that microphones when they are designed They don't design them when with windscreens in mind. They don't design them with condoms in mind They design them to pick up your voice Now I have a question for you, sir The specific question for you that's uh, that's totally different than than our than our day today Which you can answer either today or after off off hours far away I've noticed over the years That that mics like the Neumann which have the figure eight pattern inside a booth are so unbelievably sensitive that they can pick up a mouse fart Yeah, but I've noticed that that that shotguns Have and tell me if I'm wrong about this a little bit of of noise rejection On the on the barrel of the mic and it's they're not as sensitive As the figure eights. Am I Is this delusional? Am I Figure eight is another deal. So figure eight is sensitive on the front and the back But not sensitive around the middle like around the center so that in some sense in some cases That's actually a really good thing and in other cases. That's a really bad thing So he depends on the situation But the shotgun mic picks up a lot less On the sides has a little bit of a pickup in the back But it's definitely a better choice To reject more background noise than a standard Condenser less large diaphragm like a cardioid right like a neumann t l-1 l-3 Those are definitely the ones that are all right. I think I think our student is ready I am ready. Thank you for answering that question. My perception was correct. I'm not crazy. I'm not delusional Thank you. Thank you for answering that tech question Now we'll get back to the artistry Voicework here. All right, my friend whenever you're ready Whenever you're ready. Okay, george. You're gonna stop I know you didn't I mean, uh, dan you didn't time yourself. I got the clock. I'll keep you honest Okay, you have to be out of 45 Okay, so so just to run it down and we're gonna call this a quick trip take one. Okay There's a place where people wake gently to ocean waves singing birds children playing It is paradise Then there are places where people actually have to work for a living which means getting out of bed early getting dressed and getting The best hot beverage you've ever had from cafe caruba coffee cappuccinos Ah, yes a little hot beverage perks up brains and eyelids and outlooks But what about tummy hungry tummy needs more than hot beverage Fear not tummy by any hot beverage from cafe caruba and quick trip will throw in a glazer donut for free Uh, tummy like glazer donut brain likes hot beverage and free glazer donut. Maybe this is paradise after all Great first take dan great first take. All right. So time wise not bad, sir Not bad. You're in the ballpark. We came out to 47 and change. Ah, no problem. Don't worry about that Of course 47 and change. You're in the ballpark already. So you just need to shave three seconds off your next read You'll be Good to go. All right. You don't have to worry about the sfx cues as being part of that No, because they're underneath. They're always underneath. They're not in the clear that's it's not it's it's not a real time there So usually virtually every effect is underneath you As you're saying it so you don't have to have to lay out now technically truthfully actually it was really more 46 and a half Only because you took this huge beat Between paradise and and and the next line then there are places so so technically you're only about a half second over So you're in the ballpark already your timing was great But dan you did so many good things in that first take and as always what I want to do is I want to reinforce All the good things you did and then I want to ask you to make some adjustments Into the next take. All right. So first of all Uh right at the top you understood where paradise is so Culturally where is paradise or heaven? What direction? Up up and and being on earth what if you're on heaven and you want to get down to earth Where what direction do you have to go to get to earth down exactly? So when you listen to your pitch Your intonation the first line you were in your upper register There's a place where people wake gently to ocean waves singing birds children playing and you are in your happy place dan And then there are places where people actually have to work for a living and you descended down Into your mid to lower range and your voice changed your tone changed. You'll hear it So thank you for making that adjustment. That's exactly what you needed to do You're in heaven in the first part and you're back down to earth in the second So some nice snark in there Unto you want to make it a little more snarky you go ahead and do that and you stuck with it my friend You understood misdirection, which means getting out of bed early getting dressed and getting and you stood right there And now the best hot beverage now we're back To to paradise again, but when you listen back you were in paradise to the Paradise squared you were in paradise And I just need you back in paradise again Okay, you just got a little bit too big in that middle section the best hot beverage You've ever had you put exclamation points on there where there weren't any okay All right, we'll just go back to paradise again the best hot beverage you've ever had from cafe caruba Coffee cappuccinos. That's what that phrase is coffee cappuccinos. Let that hang Gotcha and move and move through that coffee cappuccinos. Ah, yes coffee cappuccinos. Ah, yes Now you took a sip you took a sip inside there. You said coffee cappuccinos. Ah, yes Let's take the sip on take two But take it cleaner Whenever you're doing mouth noises whenever you're doing mouth noises on on microphone on microphone Don't do anything disgusting. Keep it clean. Keep it clean It's you're sipping through a straw No slurping no slurping no nothing like drista makes a sound people go you No, ooh, okay clean clean clean All right, one more take because we got a couple questions we want to get to okay All right, but I want to do a couple of more things here brains and eyelids and outlooks series of three You found it brains and eyelids and outlooks you took up you took the steps up there That's what you want to do But it says primitive voice primitive voice you understood that you're caveman. Yes Mm-hmm. The concede is cavemen speak English, which is silly But when cavemen speak English they speak it not grammatically correct. How do we going to make that sentence not grammatically correct? But what about tummy hungry tummy? What hungry tummy? Right? Give me that sense ungrammatically needs more than hot pepper. No, no, no if it's grammatically incorrect What are we going to do with the word needs? um Need yes now give me that line hungry tummy need more than hot pepper. Yes, exactly because cavemen don't speak English correctly Yes, right. Okay. That's our that's our concede of Fear not tummy by any hot but hot beverage from cafe group a quick trip. We'll throw on a glazer donut for free Thank you for hitting free. Thank you. Make sure you continue to hit free But you don't go back to the primitive voice dan. It doesn't say back to primitive voice It's still stay right there. Ah tummy likes glazer donut brain likes hot beverage and free glazer donut hit free Underline is an after on the last line is an after Maybe this is paradise after all hit those underline those two So you so you remember them mark your copy mark that copy What are we talking about here? This is called bill This is what I call a book end copy book end copy state something at the beginning of a story and restates it at or toward the end Look at the beginning. It is paradise. Look at the end Maybe this is paradise after all because it follows the mantra of advertising The mantra of advertising is tell them what you're going to tell them Then tell them and then tell them what you just told them That's the mantra that's that's way it's that way at any speed. That's the way it works. That's the way it works Here we go. We're going to do this again. We're going to call this is going to be quick trip Now you got your notes and stand by it's going to be quick trip take two There are places where people actually have to oh wait, I started in the wrong place. Yeah There is a place where people wake gently to take take to stop suffering put land on place Okay, land on place There is a place where people wake gently to ocean waves singing birds children playing It is paradise Then there are places where people actually have to work for a living which means getting out of bed early Getting dressed and getting the best hot beverage you've ever had from cafe caruba coffee cappuccinos Ah, yes a little hot beverage perks up brains and eyelids and outlooks But what about tummy tummy need more than hot beverage? Fear not tummy buy any hot beverage from cafe caruba and quick trip will throw in a laser donut for free Ah tummy like laser donut brain like hot beverage and free laser donut Maybe this is paradise after all after all After all after all do to pick up ah tummy likes put the f back on likes. You're not the caveman Uh, ah tummy likes laser donut brain likes hot beverage and free laser donut. Maybe this is paradise after all after all After all yes, maybe this is paradigm. Give me that line Maybe this is paradise after all Maybe this is paradise after all you forgot to end under why isn't after so this is paradise after all Exactly exactly and the only reason you mark your copy is just to remind yourself. Where those emphases go You if you mark your copy look, we are multitasking behind this microphone We're doing a million different things all at the same time mark your copy It's one less thing you've got to worry about or concern yourself about or or remember for that matter Mark your copy so you know where your emphases go and you and you know how to navigate through it Marking your copy marks on your copy. You're like navigational buoys If you've ever been on a motorboat in in the water, you know that if you go outside the buoys You'll run your boat of ground if you mark your copy and you and you don't pay attention to your marks You'll run your your delivery of ground, right? You ready to answer a few questions from our vast audience Yes, absolutely anytime mr. Winnon All right. Well, we did actually get a question in here. We got a few of them stacking up. This one's from grace newton First one question for the panel actually with the current commercial trends requiring a conversational Genuine believable read Why do you think some voice actors are having such an adverse reaction to the ai phenomenon? And what are your thoughts on ai in general? Well, I guess the impression is like human believable Natural and all those things conversational genuine is not what we think of when we think of ai. No, right? So why are people freaking out? What are you saying? Don't? I mean, yeah, that's if that's what they want. What should we be worried about ai taking those kinds of gigs Yes, I think so now I know dan and I this is one of the few things dan and I disagree with Dan says don't worry and I say i'm sorry, but but um, uh, any Any job that replaces the human voice is one less job for somebody who does what what what what we do Does that mean that we can change things that we can halt progress? Unfortunately, no the genie's out of the bottle. It's only getting better and better and better. I used to think I was such a naive Idiot, I used to think oh, you know the human voices is so there's so many things going on there They'll never be able to get and to be able to approximate the human voice I'm sorry if you've been listening to ai Voices lately you'll be astounded at at at how How much that technology has gotten better? And it's only going to get better because they're only going to add more and more algorithms and more more subtleties and more more nuances and I'm sorry, but It's easy now. I just realized to replicate the human voice rather than easier to replicate human facial expressions and body language Right, but can they take an ai take your direction? No Thank you and and and and that is probably The our last last bastion of of no no they they yet Yet they can't yet, but then again if they ever can If they ever can take my direction, we better be looking for other planets to Land on because as as as uh, steven hawking says once we do reach the With the what's what's it called the that point the Singularity the singularity. Yeah once the singularity has been raged Ain't no going back. We're screwed. Yeah We're question from tim kelly Very interesting i'm a vo guy from doublet ireland Do you think it would be a good idea to use an american accent or just stay natural? I have what they call a Imminent lentic accent anyway. It's just so difficult to compete with the north american accent. It just sounds so great Well, we'll take that as a compliment. Wow Anybody ever say that before Sorry, but but but but I always I I consider myself an honorary irishman So so so so as far as i'm concerned, uh, I think uh the irish accent is so much more beautiful than americans I know americans who can out irish irish people. I know brits who can out out american americans I know australians who can out american americans. I know black people who can out white white people I know white people who can out black black people I there is so they're all roles right they're all they're all roles If you can do a really killer american accent go ahead and do it if you've got the opportunity And if you don't then don't but but you're you're I'm sure that you're speaking voice. You're your natural speaking voice is Is is is wonderful, but definitely definitely try other accents and again Nicole kidman when she first came to america everybody thought she was american She was she's australian mazzi. Absolutely. Absolutely. No if you can do a great american accent do it I've one of my students is irish and and I got the best compliment of my life when I gave him That did my irish accent and he said you're an honor. You're an honorary irish So so I was really really complimented with that and he and I said hey you can practice your american Stuff and I'll practice my irish stuff and and that worked out great No, go ahead and do american if you can nail it if you can nail it One of my recent tips was about accents if you can do an accent really really well and sustain it Go for it. If you are iffy Pass yeah, don't be fans like doing. Yeah a cockney accent Yeah, that's right. And if you think that you can do a good accent Bounce it off of somebody who's got the accent and say is this goodness is passable because if they give you a thumbs down And say your cockney accent is the worst thing I've ever heard Yeah One more here from linda joce minor who says on youtube Uh, she says uh via folks think you get a lot of requests for friends But on linkedin it is the only way to get those tips. Please reassure folks because those tips are great Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Um Yeah, the again, I The tips are I I put it on linkedin the regular linkedin and then there's a bunch of voiceover Groups on there. Uh, so then I post on on their on their pages as well But uh, but thank you. Thank you linda. There's there's a very very sweet sweet comment Yeah, um, thanks for being with us today. That's always great having you on and it's always You direct me. I wish you could direct me more when i'm actually doing stuff because Like all alone when you give me a heads up and we'll do it then we'll definitely definitely do it For the big gig the big gig the big gig speaking of gigs Uh, uh, uh, if it's okay, just please. I was about to ask you one minute. I've got my last online class For 2021 coming up on october 23rd. It's four week class It goes to just before thanksgiving middle of uh, november So october 23rd my last online class for the year. So, uh, we still have a few seats left. Um What else is going on? I'm hoping I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can open up my burbank studio in january And and and people can actually be and it'll be it'll have been two years completely, which is insane Um, yes, you have to have proof of vaccination, but most people are are already taking care of there So that shouldn't be a problem. So that's going to happen in january. Hopefully Um, and I got some events coming up, which are pretty wild Um, there's a voiceover conference in the philippines So I've been asked to be a keynote speaker this month on the 25th Uh, next month I'm doing I'm working with a group of voice actors in nigeria, which is wild So I'm going to be working with them and then in in december I'm planning to to get together to have a joint Uh commercial workshop with one of the top voiceover coaches in australia And so we're doing a kind of a um, uh It's going to be weird four in the after four till eight p.m. Saturday, los angeles time Which is nine to one p.m. Nine a.m. To one p.m. Australia time on sunday So it's going to be a you know two days all at the same time So it's it's the closest we'll ever get to time travel. Yeah. Wow So that's that's what I've got coming up over the next few months and and uh And I've been busier than a one-tooth man at a corn on the cob eating contest That's that's almost as good as a one-legged guy at an ass kicking contest personal favorites Anyway mark, thanks so much for being with us tonight and thank you for inviting me guys It's always I just I just love it you guys I'm so glad you came up with what you came up with that you are continuing to do this Every single person I've spoken to they said oh, I saw you on v obs. Oh, I've seen you on v obs So I'm I'm I'm partially famous because of you so thank you. Well, we'll take credit where credit is due All right, George and I'll be right back to wrap things up uh and get ready for tech talk Right after this. Thanks guys. You're still watching v obs In these modern times every business needs a website when you need a website for your voice acting business There's only one place to go like the name says voice actor websites dot com Their experience in this niche webmaster market gives them the ability to quickly and easily get you from concept to live online In a much shorter time when you contact voice actor websites dot com Their team of experts and designers really get to know you and what your needs are They work with you to highlight what you do Then they create an easily navigable website for your potential clients to get the big picture of who you are And how your voice is the one for them plus voice actor websites dot com has other great resources Like their practice script library and other resources to help your voice over career flourish They'll try it yourself go with the pros voice actor websites dot com where your via website shouldn't be a pain in the you know what Well, it's that time where we talk about source elements the creators of source connect So dan yeah has source connect's been a tool that's been a part of any of your productions since the pandemic Because it's been happening for you a couple of times a couple of times, you know, I have to use it They say you gotta have source connect and they know one shows up on the script, right? It's like well, it'll show up on the on the specs on the most ad source connect the paid version The paid version, right? Exactly. So when we're talking about the paid version We're talking about source connect standard or source connect pro now Pro implies that you need to have it because you guys are pros The pro version is really for the studio. They they use some of the extra features Like they can initiate what's called a q restore replace session What the heck is that anyway now? How many times have you been on a session using any of these remote technologies? zoom If it'll all these others and they always tell you please record a backup Or please record. I know we're doing this over this thing and it sounds good. Please record it anyway and send it I always do the q restore and replace thing is amazing The q manager it's called because what it's doing is recording Your side of the conversation Seraptiously or really in the background. It's just happening all the time But if something happens during the session, let's say there's a little internet bobble blob drop out whatever you want to call it So what don't worry about it because the q manager is recording your voice in the background And as soon as that occurs it fills in the missing audio In pro tools at the studio. So that's the pro version doesn't for the producer or the studio You can be on standard and have that feature work along in tandem So you don't need pro version you can get a subscription You can sign up and get the subscription going and then you get support you get testing They'll help you with port mapping. They really do everything as long as you've Paid for a support plan and if you just want to do a demo and go out on your own That's fine, too You can get a 15 day free trial and just kick the tires of source connect a little bit But anyway, hopefully more source connect sessions coming for you in the future Absolutely because those are the big pain ones, right? That's why you gotta have it. Yeah. Anyway, we'll see you in a second This is ariana rattner and you're enjoying voiceover body shop with dan lennard and george wittem v obs dot tv Well, we're back To say goodbye for a little bit. You should stick around because we're gonna do tech talk. Yeah, that's why you're watching live Yeah, you know, if you're not watching live, oh well um Next week, we're gonna have tech talk number 65. Yep, if you can believe it as we race through 2021 at breakneck speed Anyway, who are our donors of the week? A lot of familiar names. I love it. Uh, jill goldman Rob rider patty gibbons ant land productions michelle blinker christopher epperson sondra manwheeler philips superior tray moseley thomas pinto gregg thomas shanna painton baird martha con Don griffith steven chandler robert ledham michael kerns And graham spicer. I think we lost a name on that list because I was saying her name wrong too many times Let's probably forget this These names you see this often it's because these folks are set up on an auto renewing subscription basis Using paypal for as little as a dollar You can do that by clicking on the donate button or Just you can just drop a buck. You don't have to subscribe Right, you know, it's a cheap way to get your name read on the show and uh, we thank you appreciate this point helps us Be the technological marvel that we are Here in our amazing studio and so that helps to have that that's thank you um You can click the donate now button on our website bobs.tv. It's right underneath everything else is donate now Click that set that up there. We need to thank our sponsors like harlan hogan's voiceover essentials voiceover extra source elements bioheroes.com voice actor websites.com and jmc demos Uh, thanks to jeff holman in the chat room tonight doing a great job getting those questions in Of course our amazing technical director doing it from her own place in burbank Thanks, sue You know getting the direction down getting the the shots changed all those sorts of things that you think are like How do they do that sue sitting in her house and burbank going Take now again. Yeah, and of course definitely lee penny for being lee penny Well, that's going to do it for us this week for talking about voiceover tech talk is next stay tuned for that We want your questions In the meantime look audio is not an easy thing to do but If it sounds good It is good. I'm dan lennard and i'm george widow and this is voiceover body shop or vo b s b s see you in a bit