Dave Courvoisier's Blog

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VIRTUAL STUDIO TECHNOLOGY.  That’s what it is.

Steinberg developed it.  Steinberg Gmbh is a German musical software and equipment company based in Hamburg (Wikipedia).  BTW, Gmbh is pronounced Guh-Em’-buh-hah…I know…I had to research it once.  It’s an abbreviation like Ltd., or LLC…only for international firms.  Steinberg’s best-known software products in our line of work are probably CuBase, Nuendo, and WaveLab.

But back to VST’s.  If you use a DAW, you probably have VST’s under your “effects” library.  Most modern software DAW’s recognize a plethoria of VST plug-ins, or modules that emulate certain audio effects.

Again, from Wikipedia:  “VST plugins are generally run within a Digital Audio Workstation, providing the host application with additional functionality. Most VST plugins can be classified as either instruments (VSTi) or effects, although other categories exist. VST plugins generally provide a custom GUI, displaying controls similar to the physical switches and knobs on audio hardware. Some (often older) plugins rely on the host application for their UI.

VST instruments include software simulation emulations of well-known hardware synthesizer devices and samplers, emulating the look of the original equipment and its sonic characteristics. This enables VSTi users to use virtual versions of devices that may be otherwise difficult to obtain.”

There.  Clear as mud?

I’m only on to this at 3:05 on a Thursday morning, PST…because I’ve spent the last 2 hours configuring my Adobe Audition 3.0 software to accept Source-Connect as a VST plug-in. I was using Source-Element’s own free ‘desktop’ interface, but when I talked to the Source-Connect people at VOICE2010, they assured me it would work with AA3.0 as well.  They were right.  Pretty slick, actually.  Works great!

I’d been neglecting my Source-Connect account for a while, so this was a welcome re-visit of its functionality. The bulk of those two hours was spent re-configuring the ‘port-forwarding’ for my static IP address, so I would get a more reliable connection for my SC.  It all worked, and these things don’t always happen that way.

Need to know more?  Contact Frank Frederick sometime.  He could be Steinberg’s Chief Engineer for all I know.  The guy has it down.

CourVO

Lately I’m identifying more with the title “freelancer” than voice-actor.  As a business model, it’s probably a more honest and realistic approach.   Most every other freelancer — be they web authors, CAD Designers, or still photographers – have to tackle the same challenges of running their own business.

As such, I love the website: FREELANCE FOLDER.  The site has consistently great suggestions for handling generic freelance business issues.

So, to be clear, the above title comes from a blog article written by freelance author Laura Spencer.  I hope she won’t mind that I send you there to read it.  All the credit goes to her.  I’m just the conduit.  But please read it…this issue ALWAYS seems to garner attention among voice actors.

While I’m at it, let me lend a shameless plug for my LinkedIn VoiceOver group covering this very issue:  SETTING VOICEOVER RATES.  In no time, about 100 people have joined this group.

CourVO

‘Came across this article somehow…not even sure who wrote it, but it’s not a bad little explainer (albeit rudimentary) for why you should hire a VO.

Hey, if every voice actor wrote just one article this simple every once in a while, how much more work would we ALL get?

Check it out HERE.

CourVO

There is no one to blame but me for the way my life is:  BUSY!

4 days in LA for VOICE2010, 2 days back to work at my TV job, including an intense 2.5 hours on-air live for the Primary Election’ then a blessed 5 days vacation with family near Tahoe.

But you know what returning from vacation means:  Yup!…a pile of work, emails, bills, auditions, and phone calls.

In case you’re still catching up to all the wealth of data that came out of the event, you might want to visit Connie Terwilliger’s excellent summary blogs HERE.

THIS is another fine resource of material, pics and observations of the event, courtesy of ace marketing an voiceover talent Peter O’Connell.

Also, the VoiceOverXtra site puts together a host of blog articles (including this one) for a roundhouse summary of the event.

And surprisingly, I have not yet mentioned in this blog of my endeavour to help Bob Bergen in his desire to see Legendary Voice Actor June Foray get respect.  We’re seeking a place for the still-vibrant 92-year-old in an upcoming SONY feature film on the Smurfs.  June was the original Jokey Smurf, and that’s aside from her well-known role as  Rocky the Squirrel in the Rocky and Bullwinkle show, and countless other roles in cartoons and animation.  So far, she hasn’t even been approached for so much as a token line in the movie.

Please see THIS FACEBOOK PAGE, and click “LIKE” at the top to lend your support to a grass-roots effort to get SMURF JUSTICE FOR JUNE FORAY.

Finally…don’t forget to visit the SocialMediaVO.com site, as we are updating it regularly, and filling it with loads of info that VO’s can use in their social marketing efforts.

Have a great week!

CourVO

My mantra for blogging is to be steady and consistent.  There should be something new for you here almost every single time you visit.

You’ll see an ebb and flow of quality, but there should always be something new.  That’s my commitment.  At least one new blog every 24 hours, and hopefully something that contributes to your VO business.

I’ll be blogging for the next few days, but the only thing you’ll find that might augment your VO business is a little inspiration from the mountain West.

I’ll be vacationing with my family near Truckee, CA for the next few days.  That’s Lake Tahoe country…very close to where the Donner party had their tragic Winter-over in the Sierras.   It’s beautiful there, and I can veg.

So, stop back here for a few gorgeous pics if that will bring some tranquility to your day…there just won’t be much about business.  Even computer/internet/geeks need some time away from the digital universe.

CourVO

Judging by the flurry of social media invitations I’ve received in the last 36 hours, I’d have to say there’s at least some truth to the Butterfly Effect.  You know…the loosely-held theory that even the beat of a Butterfly’s wings somehow sets off a chain of events of unanticipated and incalculable results across the world, forever set in motion, never to be rescinded.

The idea was played out in a  2004 movie by the same name starring Ashton Kutcher.

In other words, our actions are only part of a dynamic system that constantly fluctuates and responds to the actions of those around us resulting in a never-ending, changing sum of consequences.  Heavy, huh?

VO people are investing more time in FaceBook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, ostensibly on the urging of Terry Daniel and myself in what was hoped to be a persuasive presentation of the benefits of social networking for your voice-over business.

I’d like to think our talk had that kind of power…but really, most of those in attendance had some inkling there was a treasure-trove to be had online, they just needed a nudge.

I’m a big proponent of the potential of social media, but VOICE2010 was the butterfly effect that VOICE2008 set in motion.  That event two years ago, set up a wave that crashed ashore last weekend.  Email, Twitter, and FaceBook make for wonderful relationships, but they don’t replace a face-to-face encounters.  They’re practice.  Prologue.  Face-time is the result.  Humans are just built that way.

Terry and I met on the phone every week for two months.  We exchanged scads of emails. yet it was the synergy of our persons sharing the same space in the physical world that  had impact.  The result you saw onstage — in person — made a bigger, longer-lasting impression than ANY webinar, or teleseminar could EVER make.

So here’s a toast to the virtual world, and the entré it gives us to deeper meaning in the real world!

So keep the tweets, invitations, and notices coming…I’m ready for VOICE2011!

CourVO

Why do these publications jump a month ahead?  I don’t know, but I DO know this edition of EQ is packed…and by that I mean the content is hot from the ads to the tips on recording, production, equipment, post, technical, software.

Call me crazy, call me a geek…you’d be right on both counts, but either way, read this online magazine, and be amazed — not only by the true virtual feel of flipping the pages, but by the excellent content, and yes, the ads.

Click HERE to go there.

CourVO

For less than 24 hours, I left the VOICE2010 conference for the best of reasons: my middle daughter’s HS graduation in Las Vegas.  Some told me they thought I was being a good dad by making that decision.  Here I thought I was a lousy dad for even being in LA on a graduation weekend.  Yes, I was at her graduation, but I missed some of the context and the nuance of the weekend event by being at VOICE.

Luckily, my daughter seemed fine with it all, and I WAS able to share the important moments well enough.

When I walked back in the door at the Century Hyatt Plaza the next morning at 9am after a quick turn around of SW Airlines flights, I honestly wondered if I had been gone (??) at all.  Strangely confusing, but not all bad.

The rash of Saturday seminars are excellent, and I was back in the swing of introducing the presenters, and trying to get around to talk to all of the amazing attendees from whom I can learn so much.

As I’m here blogging, I’m sitting in on the “VO in the Trenches” panel with the likes of Philip Banks, Bobbin Beam, Bob Souer, Zurek, Janet Ault, DB Cooper, and hosted by the acerbic John Taylor.  The information is golden… these are salt-of-the-earth working voice-actors…some are union, some are not, some have agents, some do not…but they are all full-time, working professional voice actors sustaining themselves and in some cases, even their families with their VO work.

The talk was of marketing, and cold-calls, and the value of Pay-2-play sites …what value Fi-Core, finding your niche, follow-up, demos…yes the topics were far and wide, and the advice was imminently usable.

Were you to consider buying the DVD recording of VOICE2010, this session alone would be worth the price.

Yet to come:  Joe Cipriano’s panel on promo’s…but it was oh-s0-much-more in 2008.  In fact THAT was the session that gave me more impetus than any other almost two years ago.

More later on Joe and a few more observations in general coming up later.

CourVO

Today, Terry Daniel and I made our General Session presentation at VOICE2010 on how to leverage Social Media to your best advantage for your VoiceOver business.

If you were there, I hope you enjoyed it.

If you were not there, you can see the entire presentation, and reap the benefits of all our work.

We’ve prepared a resource website on Social Media JUST FOR Voice Actors.  Instead of putting more pages in the VOICE2010 workbook, we just decided to save a tree, and put it all “in the cloud”…I mean after all, this is what our presentation is all about — being online and making it work for you.

You’ll find our entire PowerPoint presentation, as well as pages and pages of advice, information, links, tutorial videos and much much more when you visit this site:

http://www.socialmediavo.com

We’ve worked hard to make this a resource guide for voice over talent for now and in the future, so we hope you use it and use it well to your advantage when you have questions about social media.

We hope you will let us know if you think something’s missing…something about the site isn’t working right, or we got something dead wrong.

This is YOUR resource site, and we hope you use it to your full advantage.

Pat Fraley’s General Session Presentation on this first day of the VOICE2010 conference promised a “mystery” celebrity guest, and it was Brad Garrett, TV star of “Everybody Loves Raymond” and the voice behind may animated characters.  Brad began as a stand-up comedian, and has a host of film credits as well.

Pat’s presentation was on the topic of comedic timing, and having Brad there for the entire hour-and-a-half was the perfect complement to Pat’s impeccable instructional insights.  In other words, the whole session was hilarious!

Brad was gracious in meeting many of the attendees and having his picture taken with many.

The rest of the morning and afternoon was filled with sessions by experts who know the business in one way or another, and shared information in their niche area of expertise.

Deb Munro delivered her presentation on the advantages of using online tools in  your VO business, fittingly, on SKYPE from her studio in Vancouver, CA.

I sat in on several other sessions, as well as introduced the speakers in sessions all day.

One of the more candid and useful seminars came from Erik Sheppard, a NYC-based talent and agent who did not mince his words talking about the common (and frustrating) mistakes VO talent do when submitting or relating to possible clients.

And, Marc Cashman, LA-based talent and producer had a wonderful presentation on “taking it to the next level”.

I didn’t get to see much of it, but home studio master Dan Lenard had a rapt audience for his session on making sense of a quality home studio at an affordable price.

Now you might understand why I say this is where the VO rubber meets the road.

There’s no success in ANY endeavour without practice, know-how, consistency, and attention to detail.  Attendees got an earful today!

CourvO