January 2011 Archives
When I started my voiceover career, I recorded in a tiny closet with accordion doors. The room is upstairs on the front of the house and faces the street. The only entrance to our subdivision is about 150 yards away from my house.
Consequently, 99% of my 200+ neighbors must pass my house every time they enter or leave. To make matters worse, we live at the top of a hill. The neighbors step on the gas to get up that hill. I constantly had to stop my recordings every time a car passed.
Moving to a walk-in closet across the hall helped to alleviate some of the car traffic noises. However, it didn't help with the air traffic, leaf blower, lawnmower, and other noises around here. The county airport is not far from our house, so planes with small propellers are constantly flying overhead.
In 2005, we decided to take drastic measures to reduce the noise. We started by replacing all of the windows on our house with triple-pane, casement windows. Instead of the common double-hung windows, which have 2 pieces that open by sliding them up or down, casement windows are one piece which opens outward. The movement forms a better seal to the house, and the 3 panes of glass with krypton gas between them significantly buffer outside noises.
We also built my stunning soundproof studio employing the following techniques:
- 2 layers of ceilings with R30 insulation between them
- 2 layers of 5/8" drywall (instead of the usual single layer of 1/2" drywall) in each of the ceiling layers and all 4 walls
- 2x6 studs instead of 2x4 to provide additional space for insulation
- sound barrier insulation under the siding and R30 insulation in the walls
- air pocket between the garage and the studio
- 2 entrances, each with an air pocket between 2 doors
- no windows
- built on a concrete slab
I also bought a 6'x8' WhisperRoom sound isolation booth. The WhisperRoom adds more density and air pockets in my quest for silence. Since the floor is on wheels, it can eliminate the low, rumbling noises that could be generated by passing trucks.
What a joy to record in this room! I can't remember a time when I had to stop work due to a noise outside the studio.
I thought you might like to see and hear a short demonstration of the effectiveness of my studio. Using my iPhone4, I made a little video today after Drew started his motorcycle. I deliberately left the video in one continuous, unedited take, so I apologize in advance for any jerky movement. Turn your speakers up to really hear the difference!
Edited 1/30/11 to fix a spelling error (gasp!) and add a detail about the video
Creativity is not something that you wait for.
Creativity is something that waits for you.
-- Neale Donald Walsch
A few years ago, Drew gave me a Valentine's present of joint membership at a local pottery studio. While we weren't envisioning a re-do of the famous scene from the movie Ghost, we had been interested in learning how to create some crockery. Instead, I learned something more valuable through the experience:
When I exercise my creativity in a new or different way, I'm more creative in other areas.
Each time I came home from the pottery studio, I might perform a voiceover audition with more inspired choices, play my harp more fluidly, or design a scrapbook page with lots of layers and textures. Any of these things make me feel even more pleased and give me the desire to do more.
I discovered this theory holds true when I attempt to draw in my journal. Even writing this blog, which itself is an artistic endeavor, causes me to feel more innovative when I finish each entry.
No matter how you express yourself, each way that you can be creative is scooping more good stuff into your life from the same bountiful well. Why use a teaspoon when you can use a jug?
In the last week, I've done a couple of things in marketing my voiceover business that allowed me to express my creativity in new ways. First, I created the book trailer video for an audiobook, which I included and discussed in my previous entry "Reasons to Create Your Own Stuff". Many voice talent have written to me saying that they felt inspired by the ideas and marketing info that I presented, so I encourage you to read that entry if you haven't already.
The other thing I did was enter the Voices.com photo contest on their Facebook page. They wanted pictures of voice talent in their studios with the Voices.com web site displayed on some sort of screen. While winning the prize would be wonderful, I entered because it was a direct call to action to be creative. After all, the judging criteria is the "most creative, coolest picture".
I wanted to do something with recursion. In computer programming, recursion occurs when the program calls itself repeatedly. I also wanted the picture to be as much about me as Voices.com, making it good marketing material for both of us.
It only took a few minutes to come up with an idea that met both of those objectives.
Atlanta voice talent Karen Commins can't get enough of Voices.com!
What are you doing to feed your creative spirit? I'd love to get your comments on the blog!
Create your own stuff.
I hope that these examples of my spare time projects give you inspiration to create and market your own stuff. I'd love to see your work, so please leave a comment on the blog!
I've written about this theme in the past, but today, I want to show an example and talk about the marketing advantages available to voice talent who choose to cast themselves and develop their own work.
As a service project, I'm narrating the audiobook of A Woman Who Went to Alaska on LibriVox.org. May Kellogg Sullivan wrote the book in 1902 to recount her adventures during the Alaska gold rush at the turn of the 20th century.
Obviously, the audiobook itself is a form of creating my own work. Rather than watching fluff TV shows like American Idol, I choose to spend my spare time this way because:
- I am improving my skills, both in long-form narration and audio editing.
- I am being of service to others in offering a free audiobook.
- I can use the credit in discussions with audio publishers about paying gigs.
- The free audiobook will be helpful in developing a loyal fan base.
Marketing is a HUGE part of any business. It is especially important when the commodity offered by the business is one's voice. Not only am I creating the audiobook on my own, but I also decided to market it by creating a trailer for it!
Early in my voiceover career, I did a lot of direct mail marketing with imprinted products. While my campaigns were extremely memorable and attracted voiceover jobs to me, they also were extremely time-consuming and expensive to produce.
Here are some immediate marketing benefits of creating this trailer:
- The book is in the public domain, so most of the images had no cost. I only had to spend a few bucks to obtain the stock images that I used. The music came from my royalty-free library, which requires no residual payment.
- The video is another method of advertising my voice to people who haven't heard of me or listened to my demos.
- The trailer demonstrates to clients and prospects that I could assist them beyond voicing their scripts.
- We live in culture obsessed by and immersed in video. Tell the truth -- when you saw the video in this post, did you immediately click on it before reading any of the text? People say they don't have time to read. Many would watch my trailer who would never read my description of the audiobook.
- I cross-posted the trailer on Facebook, some LinkedIn groups devoted either to audio publishing or Atlanta businesses, LibriVox, AudiobookCommunity.com, and BarbaraSher.com. Note that most of these postings are targeted directly to 1000s of members in niche markets who may be interested in hiring me for their projects!
- I received more responses in a few hours than I ever received from a single mailing.
- The trailer gave me material to add to my blog, which helps my search engine rankings.
- Once the book is done, I will update the trailer from "coming soon" to "available now".
In addition, the subject matter of an audiobook can point to even more opportunities for marketing it on-line. In this case, a flurry of TV shows are about Alaska, so I know the public has a lot of interest in that state. One show is even about a group of people currently mining for gold in Alaska -- a perfect tie-in! Fans of these shows gather in discussion forums where I can post my trailer. I also can post it in forums for people who are considering an Alaskan cruise.
Aside from all of these reasons, perhaps the biggest reason to create your own stuff is that it is fun!
I hope that these examples of my spare time projects give you inspiration to create and market your own stuff. I'd love to see your work, so please leave a comment on the blog!
Screen shot from Teri Clark Linden's Facebook status update 12/29/10
After seeing fellow voice talent Teri Clark Linden's Facebook status last week, I was intrigued about the new movie "The King's Speech". Regular readers of my blog know that I often find hidden parallels to voiceover work in my life situations, as well as in books and movies. This is one instance where the similarity is obvious to anyone who views the movie, and, like Teri, I cannot recommend too highly that voice talent and actors go see this fantastic film.
Without giving away too much of the plot, King George VI (played brilliantly by Colin Firth, who should win an Oscar) is a quiet man who never wanted to be king. He was forced to take the throne after his brother King Edward VIII abdicated the crown in 1936 in favor of marriage to the twice-divorced Wallis Simpson.
People usually say the fear of public speaking is at the top of their lists of fears and stress-inducing events. In addition to the normal nervous sensation felt by everyone in front of a microphone, King George VI has a significant obstacle to overcome: a stammer developed in childhood and exacerbated throughout his life.
Enter Lionel Logue (played impeccably by Geoffrey Rush), an actor and speech therapist who works with the King to help him become the kind of public speaker necessary to lead the British people through the travails of World War II. Aside from the historical relevance, much of the delight in the movie is watching a King and a commoner learn to trust each other and find the oneness that binds all of us together.
An underlying theme that was revealed in the film is that, while Lionel Logue had his own dreams as an actor, his greatest glory was achieved due to his service to others. Indeed, to quote Ralph Waldo Trine from his 1896 book What All The World's A-Seeking, or, The Vital Law of True Life, True Greatness, Power, and Happiness, it is through service to others that we find ourselves:
The idea has prevailed in the past, and this idea has dominated the world, that self is the great concern,--that if one would find success, greatness, happiness, he must give all attention to self, and to self alone.This has been the great mistake, this the fatal error, this the direct opposite of the right, the true as set forth in the great immutable law that--we find our own lives in losing them in the service of others, in longer form--the more of our lives we give to others, the fuller and the richer, the greater and the grander, the more beautiful and the more happy our own lives become.It is as that great and sweet soul who when with us lived at Concord said,--that generous giving or losing of your life which saves it. This is an expression of one of the greatest truths, of one of the greatest principles of practical ethics the world has thus far seen. In a single word, it is service,--not self but the other self.We shall soon see, however, that our love, our service, our helpfulness to others, invariably comes back to us, intensified sometimes a hundred or a thousand or a thousand thousand fold, and this by a great, immutable law.
I think that I know perhaps better than anyone just how much you helped the King, not only with his speech, but, through that, his whole life, and outlook on life.
Just as the King's speech affected his subjects, every voice talent has the ability to influence someone whenever we take the microphone. You'll note that some of Logue's coaching to the King are the same techniques that we continue to use in our field.
Even if you aren't a voice talent or actor, the King's courage, determination, and persistence in fighting his battle and Logue's ever-optimistic attitude and problem-solving skills are traits worthy of emulation. Go see this movie!
Karen Commins
Voice Actor
Voice Actor
• Greetings from Karen
• How to Reach Me
• Places I've Been
• Advice for Your Journey
• So You Want to Get Into Voiceovers?
• My Path So Far
• How to Reach Me
• Places I've Been
• Advice for Your Journey
• So You Want to Get Into Voiceovers?
• My Path So Far
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