‘Love this online mag!
Articles worth checking out in this edition:
- DigiDesign Pro Tools 8
- Apple Logic 9
- Three “Nouvelle Cuisine” DAWS
Oh, and the ads. Doggone it….the ads are almost worth the price of admission here….FREE!
Click HERE.
CourVO
May EQ Mag is Here!
March 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment
VOICE2010 Fun
March 30, 2010 By 1 Comment
When the VOICE2010 conference kicks off during the first week of June, my co-host at the event will be the lovely Bobbin Beam.
We put together our collective talents and recorded a little invitation for you to come to VOICE. James Alburger did the audio engineering. It was a quick and fun project, and you can give a listen right HERE.
Click on the link: LISTEN TO BOBBIN AND DAVE TALK ABOUT VOICE2010 under our pics.
CourVO
R U Covered?
March 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Taking the time to read an article about insurance ranks right up there with wisdom tooth extraction for me, but when my friend John Florian at VoiceOverXtra pointed out an insurance article ESPECIALLY written for voice-actors, I took a gander.
You should too.
Keith Michaels, former broadcaster, voice actor, and insurance underwriter makes some important points about the coverage you may need to think about to protect that new $2100 pre-amp you just bought.
Check it out HERE.
CourVO
Q & A with PieHole
March 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The fine folks over at PieHole (based in Ireland) approached me some time ago with a host of questions for a future blog article. I offered up my finest bull, and whadya know…weeks later, they actually had the gumption to post it!
Again, PieHole is a service matching voice actors with mostly European clients and studios, based on the relationships they’ve engendered through their script writers. I don’t think that’s being done here in the US in any organized way. PieHole is expanding into the UK and Canada, with hopes to put an office here in the US eventually. As far as I know they’re always considering new talent for their service.
Click HERE to see me waxing eloquent on all sorts of topics related to voice-over.
CourVO
VOICE2010 Discount for SaVoa Members
March 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The Society of Accredited Voice Over Artists (SaVoa) began organizing in earnest about the same time James Alburger, Penny Abshire, and Frank Frederick put together the first true convention for voiceover talent: The Voice Over International Creative Experience (VOICE). Both were the natural progression of an industry coming of age.
VOICE held its first conference in Las Vegas in 2007, its 2nd in 2008 in Los Angeles, and the 3rd is scheduled this June…also in LA.
SaVoa is also steadily growing and gaining members, and for the first time, will be appearing in force at VOICE.
VOICE 2010 is scheduled for the first weekend in June, which puts it roughly 8 weeks away. As an organization, SaVoa is moving to make its presence known to the attendees at VOICE 2010. This is consistent with its goals, good for its growth, and just smart marketing.
SaVoa is also encouraging members to attend VOICE, and has been working with James Alburger and Penny Abshire to get the best deal possible for SaVoa members.
From now until April 25th, all SaVoa members are eligible for a 15% discount in the price of attending VOICE 2010.
But wait, there’s more!!!
In order to achieve SaVoa’s goals at VOICE 2010, SaVoa will incur some expenses. SaVoa have a booth for attendees to visit for personal contact with attending SaVOa members, along with small promotional items for all attendees to help promote SaVoa. We need your help to offset those expenses. If would like to donate to the effort, you can make a $20 donation and you will automatically be entered in a drawing – exclusive to SaVoa members only – for one free registration to the entire conference! Non-SaVoa members are welcome to help in this endeavour by making a donation as well.
The deadline for the $20 drawing is April 15th. Click on this link: http:// http://www.savoa.org/donate to make your donation. The winner will be announced on the 15th.
After the drawing for the free registration is held on April 15th, if you aren’t the winner, you can use the code SaVoa20 when registering, to apply your $20 donation to your registration fee on top of the 15% discount. Again, your donation helps defray the cost of SaVoa’s presence at VOICE 2010.
We hope you’ll take advantage of this special pricing. Feel free to contact your SaVoa Advisory Board member if you have any questions, or contact Dave Courvoisier at [email protected] 702-610-6288 or Dan Lenard [email protected] 716-689-8179. If you’ve ALREADY registered for VOICE 2010, and you’re a SaVoa member, please contact us and we’ll make sure you get the discount.
SaVoa members, please see check your recent e-mail from Board Member Thom Wilkins for the special SaVoa member registration codes and links you can use to get your discount.
We’ll see you at VOICE 2010!
CourVO
Spotting a VO Amateur
March 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment
My Friend Paul Strikwerda has written a golden blog article entitled: “10 ways to spot a voice-over amateur“.
Of course, this is not for US professional voice actors. It’s for when…uh, er…when we might all become casting agents…. yeah, that’s it!
Seriously, this is a must-read! CLICK.
Great job, Paul!
CourVO
The Commins Came
March 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Here’s proof positive that virtual relationships can grow and bloom and become real-world friendships.
Voice actor Karen Commins and her husband Drew visited in Las Vegas last week. The main reason: celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary with a drive-thru renewal of their vows at the Little White Wedding Chapel on the strip — on a Harley no less! Great style!
In between scheduled items on their busy visit to Vegas, though, Karen and Drew took time to visit me at the TV station during a newscast, and then to break bread with me at an off-strip restaurant.
I wanted in the worst way to write about that visit last week, but certainly understood and honored the Commins’ wishes NOT TO, for the sake of confounding social media rules that dictate revealing all our whereabouts all the time! In other words, protecting their home while they were away.
I’d write more about it, but Karen already has done so quite eloquently.
Please click HERE for more pics, and a great review of their visit.
Karen is a kindred soul, an astute and savvy student of the digital age, and a wonderful person (even though she’s seen Barry Manilow in concert 51 times). ;-}
CourVO
In Character
March 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The folks over at the VoiceOverDirectory have put together another great teleseminar…this time on developing believable characters.
Voice over artist, casting director, voice coach, and producer MJ Lallo will be the focus of this session. She’s the best. I keep running into her at VOICE conventions, and her material is always right on the money…a great person to get to know, as she can open doors for you.
VoiceOverDirectory.com set me up with a teleseminar back in November, and their product is everything it’s advertised to be…speaking of which, their ad for THIS event can be seen by clicking HERE.
This teleseminar is Saturday, so now’s the time to move on this.
CourVO
Coaching vs. Voicing
March 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The responses to the question I posed a couple of days ago in ‘VOICE OR TEACH‘ were most edifying.
I thought I had this issue all sussed out, and I wasn’t even close.
The crux of my argument probably came out this way: “…Don’t you just want to put all your waking energy into getting better VO jobs?…wouldn’t that pay better than putting all your energy into teaching VO?…”
My good friend Chris Wagner tended to agree:
I think it’s easier to teach because there is a pool of readily available students. And the competition is less fierce, whereas the competition for actually doing voice over is much greater by a number of factors.
How do you keep on top of your skills, and still be considered an expert in your field, if you are not actively doing the very stuff that you teach?
VoxMarketising genius Peter O’Connell added this:
The only reason I started up Voice Over Workshop a few years ago was that I decided I was tired of spending so much time on the phone offering free career advice. My time has a value to it and after I sat and did the math (counting on both my fingers AND toes, mind you) I realized that being a nice guy felt good but it didn’t pay good.
Scotland-based voice-acting ace Philip Banks put it succinctly:
The key for a buyer of VO classes is DON’T BE IMPRESSED BY THE PERSON, be impressed by what the person can bring to the party ….YOUR PARTY.
Canadian-based voice actor and coach Deb Munro had the most meaty response. I’m pasting an excerpt here, but you should really take the time to read her whole comment at the bottom of the article.
MANY of my first workshops were free……as I just wanted to help….it’s a part of my personality.
I am not a coach who couldn’t so they taught….I am just a very honest person who DOESN’T BELIEVE that I own any information and it is all of ours to share. No one has to agree, it’s just how I feel.
I was hoping Bettye Zoller would respond on this topic. Like Deb, she’s prolific in both ends of the spectrum here. Bettye responded to me on FaceBook:
It does not have to be either or…some of the greatest musicians and actors in history also have taught future generations their arts and crafts. I adore teaching but own a recording studio as you know and have recording clients, not only my vo work, but my producer functions for others. It’s a wonderful life. Try teaching. You’ll learn so much! I always tell my students they learn, but I learn more!! Teach it and you KNOW it.
Finally, the thoughtful, eloquent, and incisive JS Gilbert offered a full 4-page document on the issue. JS says he’s got partial laryngitis, and uses the time to get his voice into shape each day to write, and avoid the negative thoughts. I’m glad he chimed-in on this one. I’m reprinting his entire treatise below. Take the time to read it for the great perspective he brings to this question. Thanks JS!
…and thanks all who contributed their thoughts.
CourVO
Big Deal
March 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment
At the extreme risk of beating a dead horse, let me once again regale you with the advantages of attending VOICE2010 this June in LA.
There is nothing else like this in VO-dom. I was walking about 2-ft off the ground for a week after the previous VOICE conclave.
The chance to share the same air with your fellow voice actors for several days holds no comparison to anything else in our business. I’m not going to prattle on and name-drop about all the stellar personalities who will be there (a who’s who!), nor will I try to convince you of the dollar value (’cause it’s personal)…but I can tell you the return-on-investment is as good as it gets.
If you are a SaVoa member, there are perks. Visit the SaVoa.org site, and click on the VOICE2010 link. Registration gets you a 15% discount. Exact details coming on this blog and the SaVoa.org blog in a day or so.
SaVoa is also sponsoring a raffle of sorts for those hoping to register for VOICE. Pay $20 upfront, and your name goes into a hat for a drawing. The winner of the draawing gets to go to VOICE for free. For everyone else, their $20 goes toward the regular registration cost anyway, so you lose out on nothing.
Take a stroll around the VOICE2010 website for a look at the conference schedule.
Disclaimer: I’m a co-host, AND a presenter, so I’m naturally stoked about the whole affair, but I”m also not blowing smoke at you when I say this is one fantastic meet-up. The clock is ticking, my friends…and June will be hear before you know it.
Contact me personally with questions: [email protected] or 702-610-6288.
‘Can’t wait to see you there!
CourVO
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