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Forget Cs5.5, Cs6.0 is in!

May 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Scant months ago, Adobe touted the release of it’s newest iteration of Audition since 3.0 (which stood for years).  I’ve barely cracked open my Cs5.5 packaging and now 6.0 is available.

Adobe recently adapted the software to OSX devices. Mac users tired of the over-kill of ProTools migrated to AA in number.

Despite a lingering perception on the part of some seasoned professionals that Adobe Audition is a clear tip-off that you’re an ex-radio jock…the Adobe DAW software has gained a significant niche in the marketplace, and user-groups (even FaceBook groups) and forums abound to help with tech support.

According to Adobe, “…Adobe® Audition® CS6 software offers high-performance, intuitive tools for audio editing, mixing, restoration, and effects. Powerful new features such as real-time clip stretching, automatic speech alignment, and control surface support help you deliver projects faster than ever…”

Adobe Auditon Cs6.0 is available for a free evaluation download.

Upgrade pricing from 3.0 on up is available.  See Adobe’s site for more specs, offers, and links.

CourVO

 

Filed Under: Software Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

TwoFer Monday

May 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Yeah, I know…it doesn’t exactly sound right, but on this first day of the work week, these two reminders:

ONE:

The Voices.com iPhone app is now available for free download and install.  I first noticed it being in the App Store at 2am PST.  There is no iPad app per se…but like all other iPhone apps, you can install and run it on your iPad too

I blogged about the Voices.com app Friday.  Right from the installation and on through the log-in and use of the app, you’ll feel right at home with the branding look and feel of this app (that is, if you’re a subscriber).  Voice seekers, too, will recognize the familiar navigation and feature elements of the web-based Voices.com.  The interface is very intuitive, visually appealing, and a cinch to navigate. The Ciccarelli’s — as usual — have done their homework with the seamless marriage of content and technology here.

TWO:

We Sooooo take our physical speaking apparatus for granted, don’t we?  We just expect the ole voice to BE there whenever we need it.  That is, unless you’ve had allergies, or some laryngeal illness, or you yelled too hard for too long at your daughter’s soccer game.  THEN you start to think maybe the vocal cords are NOT an endless resource.

The voice-box is an organ that deserves to be protected, nurtured, and methodically cared-for.  Among her many other talents and abilities, VO coach Bettye Zoller is passionate about vocal health.  There’s a helpful webinar on that tonite with Bettye, but first try taking this quick quiz on the topic:  http://www.voiceoverxtra.com/article.htm?id=nmslirag.

Yeah, I didn’t get ‘em all either.

If you noticed at the bottom of that article, you’ll see this link to the VoiceOverXtra webinar on vocal health: Your Vocal Health
Learn Truths - Shatter Myths.

This would be a worthwhile and affordable webinar to brush-up on the basics of vocal cord health, as she’ll be joined by a leading voice physician from the Dallas area for the session.

CourVO

Filed Under: Heads Up! Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Voices.com App

May 4, 2012 By 2 Comments

One of THE most visible online voice over subscription services is about to launch its own smartphone app.

Voices.com‘s David Ciccarelli is known for his  business and technology acumen, and VO industry watchers had long suspected the P2P service would launch an app soon.

The mobile phone — or smartphone — is quickly becoming the go-to device for modern connected citizens who turn to it for news, social media, texting, video, pictures, recording voice, and, yes, finding clients.  So this is a move that makes great business sense.

You can see a Preview of the Voices.com iPhone app here.

The app is due out for release Monday, May 7th.

You can also download the Voices.com iPhone app user guide, now available before Monday’s release.

The Voices.com app is certainly not the first app of this kind to hit the market that promises to match talent with voice-seekers.
On my short list of similar apps:
TalentPlease   (my blog about Talent Please)
Rehearsal2      (my blog about Rehearsal)
Artist Grrowth (my blog about Artist Growth)
Doddle              (my blog about Doddle)

And I’d be nuts not to mention that I developed my own CourVO iPhone and Android app last October.  You can find it here: IPHONE and ANDROID.

The CourVO app offers all my great blog info on-the-go for your smartphone.

CourVO

Filed Under: VO Community Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

How Social Media Leads to VO Jobs

May 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In June, Terry Daniel, Trish Basanyi and I will be presenting on this very topic at VOICE2012 . That’s not all we’ll be talking about, of course, but that’s what everyone wants to know.  “How do you work Twitter or FaceBook so that it leads to jobs?”

‘Get that question all the time.

I understand the quandary.  It’s not a direct relationship.  You can’t see the car up ahead.  It’s through the tunnel or around the curve.

Basically, the thinking goes like this:

The Social Network connection leads to a conversation.
The conversation engenders familiarity.
The familiarity opens up a relationship.
The relationship breeds trust over time.
The trust prompts a job opportunity.

It needs to be this way for it to be legitimate.  And the job opportunity means you’ve done your homework, and you are ready to make the most of the opportunity when it arises.  This is when you “close the sale” so to speak.  But by then, you’re in the relationship, and both you and the other party are a known quantity, and there’s little stress or discomfort, so it’s not a hard close like a life insurance salesman on an awkward first-time call to your house.  It’s more like the friend you’ve had over for dinner, and “Oh, by the way…you do voice work, right?…well, there’s something we need you for in our shop…”

The author of the blog DUCT TAPE MARKETING, John Jantsch, wrote an excellent article on this recently.

His flow goes like this:  Know, Like, Trust, Try, Buy, Repeat and Refer.

Read more about it in his blog:  The Incredibly Logical Way to Manage Customer Relationships.

He makes a lot of sense.

You coming to VOICE2012?  ‘Hope so!

CourVO

 

Filed Under: Marketing, Relationships, Social Media/Networking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Rume for Volume

May 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

So many of us got into this crazy business of voice-acting from the crazy business of radio.  Hey, we’ve been cutting spots for the clients every day in our radio jobs…surely there’s better money in this when you’re working for yourself, right?

There are so many things fundamentally wrong with that approach to VO that it’s beyond the scope of this blog, but in Nancy Wolfson’s 8th tip in our mini-video series: HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE, you’ll find that some of the powerful voice techniques you brought to those radio spots might actually have a place in your voice portfolio.

In “Make Room for Volume in Radio”, Wolfson’s admonitions are short ‘n’ sweet.

Just watch:

You can also watch from this link: http://www.braintracksaudio.com/soundreal/8.html

Now…I’m not going to draw this out to be more than it is, but Wolfson has the sublime talent of making a profound observation sound obvious without making YOU feel stoopid.  In Wolfson’s approach to acting for advertising (totally different than acting for stage, screen, TV, or even HS musicals), you’d better get used to deciding in the first 3 seconds whether you’ve got a sheet of radio copy vs. TV copy in your hands.  Once you’re decided on that…THEN you can move on to the 126 analytical tools she’ll be providing you in HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE.

You could make the argument that today’s tip is pretty obvious, and then assume you aren’t getting much from the entire Wolfson video offering, but you’d be wrong Bosco.  Nancy Wolfson may not be the only VO coach in Rome, but in this arena, no one has trained the Gladiators better.  I can’t imagine a better value for your dollar other than engaging Wolfson for her personal training.  Get details on the whole video here:  HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE.

Next week: Men: How to Relax Your Voice for an Audition

CourVO

Filed Under: Coaching Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

‘Coupla Noteworthy Deadlines

May 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

My my how time flies!

A minute ago VOICE2012 was more than half-a-year off, and now it’s about a month-and-a-half away…how does that happen?

Executive producers of the VO conference James Alburger and Penny Abshire have sent out about a million notices about today’s deadline.  The BEST pricing for the conference ends today.

Need some encouragement that your dollars are well-spent for this conference?   I’ve talked about that in a previous blog(5  VOICE2012 Myths Dispelled)…and all of it is still true.  :)

Visit this page to take care of the VOICE2012 registration today.

********************

About a month ago, I published a blog that got more than 5,000 hits.  It was an interview with a friend who made a long list of suggestions for tapping into CraigsList as a job resource. (Cracking Craigslist).

That friend — John Breese — is selling off his Craigslist site, and the rights to his course.  Until May 4th, his course (typically $37), is now on sale for less than half that price.  I promised him I would pass along this information to all of you who found his tips so helpful.  I have not reviewed this course, but I believe in the value that John places in the products he releases.

Click HERE to read more about the offer, and at a price that costs less than 4 gallons of gas.

CourVO

 

 

Filed Under: Referral, VOICE2012 Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Yin and Yang

April 30, 2012 By 7 Comments

Old v. New
Past v. Future
Done  v. Disruptor
Known v. Unknown
Static v. Change

Call it what you will, things are not staying the same in VO-land.  Depending on your current status, your acceptance of change, and your view to the future, you may agree or disagree.

Of this, there is no doubt:  the thousands of people who live and work in a milieu of voice acting reflect the population at large — particularly in the present cultural climate  — they are diverse and polarized.

COMPARED TO:

Give me a moment to make an analogy to a related industry I know something about.

Traditional news media (newspapers, radio, TV) are grappling with a sea change.  The reactions run the gamut:
1) Stick your head in the sand and hope it goes away.
2) Fire a lot of news staff.
3) Hang on till your last reader/listener/viewer dies, then close the doors.
4) Sense which direction the wind is blowing and try something new.
5) Over-commit to the latest trend.
6) Run two operations simultaneously with the same people and pay.

The only thing that’s constant is change.

The voice over industry is part of the same change because we depend on those media for our work, but other factors are at work here:
A) Technological developments enabling freelance excellence
B) The loss of influence of talent agencies, and legacy studios.
C) The lagging of union accommodation to change.
D) Community sharing enabled by social networking.
E) A global marketplace, and with it a shifting rate structure.
F) A growing awareness of the strength of the individual as an independent.

Where to now?

Yes, the SAG-AFTRA merger is part of this paradigm shift.  To see these two very entrenched institutions move out of their comfort zone is not only encouraging, it’s strong evidence of my argument.  What will be their direction?  How will they handle the malcontents?  Will they adapt?…be more agile?…listen to their constituents?

Witness the effect FaceBook, and LinkedIn, Source-Connect, FaffCon, Bodalgo, the iPad, and even Voice Bunny are having on the marketplace and the VO community.

I hear and respect established, seasoned professionals in LA and NY who would argue that like ISDN…talent agents, top studios, and long-established procedures are nowhere near gone.  The big dollars go with tried-and-true formulas.  Yup…and Disney never though computers would replace a human artist at the drawing board.

It doesn’t happen overnight.  You see subtle shifts…from cassettes to DVD’s to mp3′s.  Radio didn’t go away when TV hit the stage, but boy did it change!

In the midst of these factors, World-Voices.org pops up its head and says: We think we have something new and worthwhile to bring to this community of voice actors…something that’s needed…and overdue.

So far I’ve heard from almost 200 people who agree, and two who don’t.  If a this were a Nielsen diary…some station just ran away with killer ratings!  I’m biased, and in some ways myopic.  I hear from those who are like me, and thus support those things I tend to support.

But when I hear from total strangers or people I never met from the Phillipines (!)…from voice actors who have even opposed me on certain issues, and now step up to offer attaboys…I start to believe we’re really onto something.

Whadya think?  World-Voices Organization doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, but it wants to be part of the solution.

CourVO

P.S.  See and vote on the new WOVO Logos at http://world-voices.org/logos

 

Filed Under: World-Voice Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Note About Thank You Notes

April 27, 2012 By 4 Comments

This blog is to remind me to say thank you.

Actually, I love to say thank you, especially to my clients…and I do it often.  But I’ve never sent a physical thank you note to a client in my life.

That’s gotta change.

I figure there’s one rule:  Keep it simple and sincere.  No ulterior motives. No biz card included. No upsell implied.

It might not even hurt to include a small gift, like a Starbucks card…but no branding elements.

What to say?  Well, there are a lot of thoughts about that, and below is a list of some of the best suggestions I’ve been able to find on the subject.  Glean what you can, but remember, the best approach is simple and sincere…no ulterior motives.  Thank you is thank you.

How To Write a Thank You Note

Crafting Thank You Notes

Writing a Personal Thank You Note

Thank You Note Samples

Sending Thank You Notes

CourVO

Filed Under: Business-end-of-things, Thanks Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

World-Voices Organization Launches

April 26, 2012 By 26 Comments

For those of you who were unsure what the fallout from SaVoa would mean to your accreditation, we have some official announcements to make:

1) World-Voices.org is now incorporated, chartered, officers chosen, and a website up and running.
2) Non-profit status is practically completed, as are the proposed by-laws.
3) Our unique tierd-structure of membership is being brainstormed, and we seek your input.
4) We’re dropping the word “accreditation” and will be using “certification” instead.
5)  We’ve already sunk hundreds of our own dollars into these moves, and I think that means we’re serious.

Some Voice-Actors didn’t give a hoot abSout SaVoa, and while we respect that point-of-view, we ask only that you come with an open mind to what we have to offer with our new concept for a true GUILD of voice over professionals.  Members helping members raise the standard of competency within the profession.

Our founders are Dustin Ebaugh, Dan Lenard, Chris Mezzolesta, Robert Sciglimpaglia, Andy Bowyer, “Kat” Keesling, and myself.   All are SaVoa ex-patriates.  With certain obstacles out of our way, we’ve been able to organize, conceptualize, implement, and carry-out an amazing array of technical, foundational, and legal collaborations in just a matter of days.

Below is our official News Release. It’s important to read — if, for nothing else — to see our official pithy-sounding verbatim quotes!  :)

Please note the web address, and the email addresses for sending us ideas, comments, criticisms, or other notes.

We’ll have much more to tell you in the coming days.

CourVO

__________________________________________

For immediate release:  Wednesday April 25, 2012

 World-Voices Organization Is Founded.
Freelance Voice Artists To Have Their Own Industry Association.

 Las Vegas, NV.   World-Voices – a member-driven and member-controlled organization — will set standards of professional quality and skill to produce recorded audio in a home environment for the expanding commercial market. It will also serve as a guild to train voice artists on how to attain those standards.

Advancing technological changes in digital audio recording, and the ability to produce that audio in a home based setting, is prompting rapid growth to the voice-over business.  With the growth of this new cottage industry, the Founders of a new VO association and guild representing freelance voice artists who work out of their homes announce the opening of World Voices Organization.  (World-Voices.org)

Founding President, Dustin Ebaugh says “…It was time to create a certification organization for the members, run by the members and existing to serve only the members.”

Mr. Ebaugh and the other founders — five other respected members of the world -wide community of home based voice over artists — filed their not-for-profit incorporation documents today in Nevada.  A website presence is imminent, and invitations will go out in public notices for people to join.

The newly established World-Voices Organization will also actively work to promote certified members to potential voice seekers through its website and in an aggressive marketing campaign.  Materials explaining a proposed structure will be posted on the website.

Founding Executive Vice President, Dave Courvoisier says “All of us organizing members have well-worn experience in another group that failed to value the deep well of member resources.  We plan to use that strength in collaboration, and we’re excited about helping others.”

“The home-based voice over industry has grown exponentially in the last 5 years.” says Founder Dan Lenard, VP of Technical Standards. “And its not just commercials on radio and TV.  Businesses use of the Internet for advertising and promotion via their websites, a changing audiobook publishing industry, and the rapidly expanding use of computer E-Learning material via the Internet also has created a demand for talented voice artists.  Voice artists who can cost effectively create the audio at home for this are in great demand.”

CONTACT:

[email protected]

Dustin Ebaugh, President [email protected]

Dave Courvoisier, Executive Vice President [email protected]

Dan Lenard, Vice President of Technical Standards [email protected]

Chris Mezzolesta, Vice President of Membership [email protected]

Kathleen Keesling, Secretary/Treasurer [email protected]

Andy Bowyer, Founding Member [email protected]

Legal Counsel:  Robert Sciglimpaglia  [email protected]

Filed Under: World-Voice Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pictures In Your Mind

April 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

A 30-year TV career, and I was never exposed to the concept of a StoryBoard until I started dabbling in Voice Overs.

In TV News there’s no time for the luxury of conceptualizing your perfect pictures first.  You just use the available pics you’re given…and write the story as best you can in a given time slot on a set deadline.

But in ADVERTISING, the storyboard makes all the difference…especially for the voice actor who’s just received a new audition from a client they’ve never seen, and copy that’s unfamiliar.

Nancy Wolfson’s free video mini-lesson: “StoryBoard it in your mind to hit the right words” hits all the right notes.  Watch this:


You can also see the video here:  http://www.braintracksaudio.com/soundreal/7.html

This is the 7th mini-lesson in a string of 13 total videos from VO Coach/producer Wolfson.  The mother lode video from whence the 13 “minis” come is called:  HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE.

What up-and-coming voice actor hasn’t heard that training with Nancy Wolfson is the bridge to success in this business?  There’s no subsitute for the one-on-one with Wolfson, but the 127 tips in this video is either a great introduction, or a complete review…depending on whether you’ve worked with her or not.  If you ask me, she’s giving away the farm for the price of some hay bales with this video…but you’re the one who benefits.  HOW TO SOUND REAL AND NAIL THE SALE.

Next week:  Make Room for Volume in Radio

CourVO

 

Filed Under: Coaching, Training/Education
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