SFI Audio

Are We Having Fun Yet in Audio Narration?

Kym — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:35:27 +0000

In my quick daily perusal of the audiobook narration community chatrooms – there was an interesting question that whizzed by me this morning – I looked for it again just now, but it wasn’t coming up fast enough, so I’ve moved on…. symptomatic of life these days and it goes to the heart of the question I think I saw… Are you still having fun in voice narration?

I didn’t get into voice narration via the technical field – as did many highly reputable narrators: Karen Commins comes to mind. I came in through voice acting, essentially through the right brain stem… and according to Daniel Pink in A Whole New Mind, our time as right brainers (intuitive, conceptual, connecting people and ideas, creative and highly interpersonal) is coming…..just doesn’t feel like it’s here quite yet. Until then, we and our ilk have been on learning curves of various steepness in our dogged determination to learn audio production so that we can, yes, have fun narrating again. I’m at the mid-point in my 3 book audiobook producing commitment with ACX. And I find my challenge is to re-connect with the joy I had as a narrator; blissfully ignorant of mouth noise and breaths I have to edit, and what is that weird hum happening in the room? I find myself not re-living the author’s fabulous story, but having to listen as I read with 3 sets of ears: Narrative, of course, but also Directive (I could have done that better – I have to do that section over, I think I lost her accent!) and Productive: (That was a gasp not a breath! Did I just whistle my “th’s” again? What the….?!?) You get the idea. I take solace that I am having more fun now than when I began, but there is so much to think about and pay attention to the more I know about production, and I have to work hard to keep faith in my abilities. And to keep faith that on the other side of this steep hill I’m climbing….. this will get fun again.

New Year – New Audio Wishlist and Voiceways to Explore…..

Kym — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:17:39 +0000

I love lists! The illusion of having it all under control – neatly printed out and organized and checked off. It’s fun, and I invite you, if you haven’t already, to take stock of your audio progress…and do a little dreaming. Especially at the end of the year – the turning of the earth incrementally towards the sun and all of that – new possibilities and chances to once again – get it right. Or at least better…..

A few Audio Voicing Victories this year: I have

Managed to deepen my knowledge of Pro-tools and have produced 2 books with contracts for 3 more through ACX . My enjoyment of reading books out loud has reasserted itself in tandem with my growing grasp of the editing technology.
Tackled some audio tech issues that would have completely panicked me a year ago. It’s nice to track some incremental but definite progress.
Discovered some real learning value in online networking sites, and my contributions and questions have been more frequent. I don’t like participating just to be part of the “noise”, and I stay away from sites that simply serve as self-promotion vehicles for audio artists. If I can’t really add value with a post, I’m fine with quietly learning from others, and I’m getting better about diving in and asking “stupid” questions! Check out Audiobook Voices Network as a great example of a value added site.
Been blessed with steady voice coaching work focused in a variety of areas with terrific engaging clients – and the list is growing!
Got an ipad for reading in the booth. And got it ON SALE! OK so it’s still in the box….. Getting that set up is on the list for…
Just for fun…. I downloaded a free app called SonicPicsLite …. I can create audio haiku using photos and images – and the sound quality ain’t bad either!

2012 – Here’s some Voiceways I’d like to explore….

How to get some portability into my recording set-up. I’ve had some lovely opportunities to record oral histories with people in their 70′s and 80′s – something I set out to do early in the year to really hone my editing skills. Talk about mouth noise! But it has been delightful, and somewhat lucrative – to create multi-generational audio for families to enjoy…. I’d just like a more streamlined set-up than what I currently have….love some ideas!

Here’s my dream: I want to do regular audio narration/production for a magazine publication. And I want an opportunity to do that in 2012.

And of course, get a few more voice clients and get more audio work in e-learning programs, web promotion and commercials….

It all looks do-able at the start of the year doesn’t it?

May your holidays be filled with peace and joy – and your New Year full of Discovery!

Audiociously,

Kym

Audio Fiction or Non-fiction – Two different Planets?

Kym — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:52:38 +0000

I’m working with a client who has a great voice – you know – the kind of voice where everyone says “You have a great voice – you should record audio books!” He’s in the legal profession and yes – his voice has a natural – what used to be called a “radio-fry” quality to it. And so he started working with me because he likes to read out loud and he has a great voice.

Well OK. We started on fiction of course. That’s where many people who have been told they have a great voice want to start. But for most of his adult life, whenever he read fiction out loud, he was reading to his kids. So it didn’t matter if I asked him to read Dr. Seuss or Stephen King, his association with “Fiction as a Child’s Realm” was just really strong. The range of pitches would become extreme and forced, the rate of the narrative would slow down, and suddenly I was two years old and sucking my thumb.

We worked with an actor’s approach – Who/What/Where/When/Why are you telling this story? Sensory imagery: see/hear/taste/feel/smell the story. But no matter the choices he made in his head, the audience was still under 12. What to do?

We went on the ACX site and looked for a male, middle-aged adult, non-fiction audition. He chose a narrative set in the Civil War, and suddenly – maybe because the story is “real”, he could tell it with authority and expression. We worked to give the factual text a POV, some drama, an escalating sense of narrative action – and hey – he started to sound like a Narrator.
Now, I know plenty of professional narrators who will not touch non-fiction material. The challenges of bringing it to life are just too daunting….all those pesky facts and dates and place names and God help us – scientific terms! The need that so many non-fiction authors have to cram their sentences full of historical research and scientific asides, which, for a narrator, can be tricky to voice and difficult to “breathe through”. I know from two non-fiction texts I voiced last year as a way to learn editing – that the experience was really a trial by fire. You can know that, at the end of it, you have survived, and learned much along the way. And if you have found the pace and flow of this narrative and managed to bring it to life… you have accomplished a great deal against significant odds.

All that said – I have a fondness for a true story. And apparently, among narrators, non-fiction has a reputation for being difficult to voice. A producer called me recently and asked if I would be interested in narrating a non-fiction book written by a particular politician campaigning for office. He asked primarily because he knew that I have a background in training and development, and maybe therefore, some “street cred” in the non-fiction realm.

It has a reputation as a different planet – nonfiction. But with many similar elements to the more imagined world of fiction: the energy and thrust of a story may be more of a challenge to find, but it is there – lurking under those pesky facts. My client and I worked on what facts to “throw away” – to de=emphasize in favor of the more active notes in a narrative. He’s progressing. So he may have a future in non-fiction narration once he retires from the legal profession….should he so choose.

What’s your preference – non-fiction or fiction? And why?

A Thousand “No’s” in Audio

Kym — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:55:38 +0000

The last few weeks have been filled with all things Steve Jobs – and as it should be really – his were amazing contributions to our way of life – he was a true maverick and a catalyst for change on a major scale. One of the pieces that came out recently was by Carmine Gallo titled “Steve Jobs and the 7 Rules of Success”. I was struck by number 4: Say No to 1,000 things….especially in light of some recent things I have said Yes to this week.

“Jobs was as proud of what Apple chose not to do as he was of what Apple did. When he returned to Apple in 1997, he took a company with 350 products and reduced them to 10 products in a two-year period. Why? So he could put the “A-team” on each product. What are you saying “no” to?”

Well… When 4 out of 6 ACX auditions for stipended book projects came through with offers – I did say “no” to 1 of them. And “yes” to the remaining 3. I’m going to be a busy bee for the next few months – and that’s just fine by me. In addition, I will get at least $100 per recorded hour along with whatever Royalties may come through.

There is a lot of controversy about taking on Royalty share projects. The narrator takes on the bulk of the work at sizable risk. There is also the larger picture: it seems as though “A-team” narrators won’t touch these projects, hoping to force the industry to start coughing up real money for real quality. And that’s completely understandable. These narrators are saying “no” to their 1,000 things.

Personally however, I don’t know whether I can really consider myself “A-list” and not because I am not good enough as a narrator. I’ve won an Audie Award, I’ve had fabulous reviews and done my share of narrating, and I’m proud of my skills – and if voice acting were all that is currently required, I could sit out this phase in the industry too I suppose. But I truly want to perfect my technical expertise in audio production, as Malcolm Gladwell says – I also need to put in my 10,000 hours toward mastering my skills. And without opportunity for refining those aspects of my work, all I feel I am doing by saying “no” is posturing. I’m speaking only for myself here, of course.

I really want to work as a narrator and a producer. Consistently. For Good Money. And so do you. We all need to start the ball rolling someplace, to build our 10,000 hours, and I have chosen to start by saying Yes to 3, and No to 1. A step towards my thousand, and 3 more towards my 10 thousand. How far along are you?

If an audio voice eludes you…..try a little music

Kym — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 01:23:32 +0000

I was working with a client today on audio narration…he’s in the legal field, and he has one of those voices with natural authority, but he wants to be a voice actor – so he needs to shake it up a little. I suddenly remembered a trick I used years ago when I was struggling to find a vocal “fit” for a characterization. I just couldn’t find this voice – I was in my 20′s and the character was in her 40′s – a black blues artist: smoky and sultry and soulful – and here I was: white, suburban and…perky. I felt like I was planet away from where I needed to be with her. Finally – in desperation – I dug to the bottom of my CD collection and I found my inspiration…. Ma Rainey. 1930′s blues diva – big and brash and loud and soaringly soulful….I listened over and over and over until I started to get it a little – a rythm, a cadence, a different sense of style….as if her music had somehow entered in to my pores just enough to find that narrative voice. The voice I came up with wasn’t “perfect” but it was way closer than where I had started….I just needed a different door into that world.

So I started to play with the musical “world” of the books I was reading…..Pat Metheny’s “Wichita Falls” for Virgin of Small Plains a murder mystery set in the midwest, even some Radiohead for a sci fi book: Darkship Thieves. I’m not recommending this for every project, but music plays on our subconscious in ways we can’t quite explain, and it helps marinate us in the emotional tone of a narrative.

So I invited my client – and I invite you - to play with some music – just to see what might come of it – just for fun…..open some doors you may not have known were there and on the other side you might find the “voice” that has eluded you.

Breath – where Voice Narration begins….

Kym — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 20:22:52 +0000

We get so involved in voicing and the quality of our voicework: characterizations, pacing, mouth noise.. that we consider the breath as just something we have to edit out of the audio – particularly when doing broadcast commercial work. But consider this – how a person breathes – and the quality and pace of the breath can be a terrific addition to voice narration for audiobooks. I got the chance to play around with a concept I haven’t worked with in awhile – elemental breathing – through work with a client who has been experiencing shortness of breath and “voice anxiety”. Elemental breathing is patterned on – surprise! – the elements: air, water, fire and earth. Most of us breathe in one or two of these patterns most of the time.

See which ones correspond to your breathing pattern:

FIRE: Inhale through the mouth – Exhale through the nose

WATER: Inhale through the nose – Exhale through the mouth

AIR: Inhale and exhale through the mouth

Earth: Inhale and exhale through the nose

My client says his primary breathing pattern, particularly when under stress, is Fire, and that he is experimenting with Water breathing – the inverse. Apparently, he’s finding it helpful.

So maybe there is some gold in applying this directly to characters in an audio narration. I’m working on a series through Finalrune Productions: THE CLEANSED, and I will be voicing Sam – she’s an officer in the military – no nonsense, take-charge, tough as nails kind of girl…. I’m thinking maybe Earth and Fire….

Keep breathing……

Discoveries…..

Kym — Tue, 24 May 2011 00:44:52 +0000

Hey – couple of overdo updates: I’ve been doing some voice coaching with a client who is struggling with nasality and a pronounced pitch pattern, and I have discovered some interesting material on vocal pitch patterns. This is a special interest of mine – if you listen to any number of voiceover commercials - it’s pretty easy to discern a pitch pattern at play in the voice artist. If it’s consciously applied for a reason – great – but many pitch patterns are simply habitual, and if it is really pronounced – it can make the listener tune-out. So I’m reading a book SET YOUR VOICE FREE by Roger Love and in it he quotes an experiment a student of his did on vocal patterns. After listening to the pitch sequences of a random sampling of people, this guy could accurately guess which profession the person belonged to – simply by gauging the pitch range! He determined this by converting the speaking voice into actual notes on a scale – so bankers had a pitch variation of 1, (the distance of say, middle C to the next note – a D) while artists and singers had a span of notes that comprised a 5th or a 6th (from middle C to G or A). It’s an interesting concept to play around with – try an experiment next time you’re in a group of strangers and see how close you come to determining something about a person based entirely on their pitch range…..

On another note: Audible has created an audition service for those interested in producing and narrating audiobooks. It’s very comprehensive – authors, narrators and producers are encouraged to participate, and good news – it’s FREE! The idea is that those who really are determined and talented will rise to the top – and that’s obviously who they want to deal with – so Click Here to sign up !

Audiobooks – for “Free” or not for Free???

Kym — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 21:38:45 +0000

I’m a fan of Seth Godin. I wish he lived down the block from me – I really do. Just so I could run into him and have a casual conversation about….Tribes or Purple Cows or the one I’m listening to right now “Linchpin”. How does this relate to Audio books? Other than the fact that Seth is even great at narrating his own stuff? Well….I’m on the part of “Linchpin” about doing your Art for Free…. This looks to be a very touchy subject for audio book narrators – and why wouldn’t it be? The blogs I’ve been reading (see “To call this rate insulting” here) have been fairly outraged about awful rates for projects requiring hours and hours of time and effort. Audible has reduced prices for Audio book consumers – Yay! And shattered the rates for the majority of Audio book Narrators -Boo! in a widely lamented and teeth grinding race to the bottom. But Seth’s book is an invitation to view this another way. The internet has provided us, via social networking and a wide variety of platforms, the opportunity to expand our reach beyond the confines of our immediate circle of friends and peers (and traditional publishers and producers). So the possibility exists that if you record an audio narrative and launch it out there- free to the listener – that you will increase visibility – and with consistency – raise the profile and the marketability of what you do, without having to negotiate with the gatekeepers. But first, according to Godin anyway, you have to do it for Love, for the sake of Art…for Free. Yeah – I know. I need to make money too. The Power Co. doesn’t want my Art in exchange for its Electricity – but there is a sizzle to this, nevertheless. So I’m toying with the how to do it…..consistently in small chunks over time….and some of the ideas that are coming to me are making me happy – even just thinking about them. I’m starting to explore again, and capturing some of the excitement I had when I first got into this business and maybe I’m getting jazzed about the creative potential of sending something out there – for Free. Hey - Karen Commins just put out a trailer on Voice 123 on a book she recorded for LibraVox – free of charge- and 2 weeks later people are still praising her efforts! If this is making you nauseous, ok – understood – but do yourself a favor and give Linchpin a listen. Now if only it were possible to get Linchpin for free….:}!

My New Favorite: the Sound Converter App!

Kym — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 02:25:19 +0000

Hey Voicepals - have you gotten this one for your home recording studio yet? Record your voiceovers and demos as any kind of sound file – and then convert it instantly via drag & drop…..It’s easy, it’s fast and it’s way easy on the wallet – $15 gets you the Sound Converter App and there it is on your desktop – green and vaguely 1950′s sci-fi looking….you drag your wave file into it – press “mp3″ or whatever – it “gurgles” and…. ta da! Your file is ready to fly! File conversion made easy – Don’t you love it when stuff works?

It’s a New Year – Commit to your Voiceover Career!

Kym — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:21:08 +0000

It’s like anything else – isn’t it? A new skill, a different direction, following a dream….it takes time, focus and patience….and if you are at all like me – those things are usually in very short supply. But for some of us who have been juggling too many half done projects and/or other people’s priorities….like spouse, family, boss (fill in yours here_____), the approaching New Year is time to Put Up – as in put something out there – be it demo, audiobook, regular auditions – or Shut Up. as in go do something else that matters more.

So, I will assume that voiceover work is mattering more to you right now than other priorities – at least it’s in your top 3. I think “resolutions” have too many holes in them – I prefer the retro term – GOALS and here are mine for 2011:

Independently Produce/Voice 3 – 5 audiobooks: I am upgrading my studio and will be all set on the new software system by Jan. 1,2011.

Put in place a system for online auditioning: I either do a whole slew of these voice auditions sent by Voice 1-2-3, or I feel overwhelmed by amount of auditions I receive and pull the plug on all of them!

Start doing the audio for an established nationally syndicated magazine/news source. This one scares me a little and that’s usually a good thing….do any of your goals scare you a little?

Get 3 -5 ongoing Voice Coaching clients: That’s right, I’ll do for you what I would love to have someone do for me – support you in your voiceover career goals. I’m a good Voiceover class teacher, but I’m really good one on one. Make this the year you get going on that dream. Give yourself a New Year’s present of launching yourself out there and onto the voiceover map. See more about my classes and coaching options here under Something New…. And have yourself a magical holiday!