Dave Courvoisier's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘narrationvoices’

January 1st, 2008, when my blog was just a few months young, I posted a bold list of voice-acting resolutions for the new year.  It was actually two blogs with about 18 goals.

Honestly, I barely re-read the list once or twice in the last 365…now it's time to come clean.  Did I live up to my own lofty principles?

I tackle the first 10 on the list in this blog.  More tomorrow.

I'm re-printing each one here, with my reaction underneath.

BLUE = YES, GOALS MET.
RED = FELL WAAAAAY SHORT
PURPLE = MIXED OUTCOME

1.  Invoice all clients
who haven't paid for work I did in 2007.  Whether I did it in December or
August, a new year is always recognized as a milepost in settling
accounts.

2.  Post at least one,
if not two entries EACH DAY in this blog.

3.  Post along with each Blog
entry, the Podcast .mp3 OF the
entry.

4.  Do a new Commercial Demo. 
This may take a good bit of time and effort, but by the end of '08, it's GOTTA
be done….that's all there is to it.

5.  Launch an entirely new AudioBook demo from
scratch.

6.  Market more
aggressively the following two segments of this industry:  AudioBooks and
E-Learning.

7.  Re-vamp my website,
embedding all my demo's INTO the site with Flash Players.

8.  Re-vamp my
website some
more.  It's a work in progress…never done, really.

9.  De-code and
actually try to understand what my Google Ad-Clicks
are doing, with the goal of tweaking them to better use.  I'm getting cold-calls
from people searching for VO talent…but I'm sure it could be
better.

10.  Learn Pro-Tools better.   
Despite what Frank Frederick says, I believe there are features within that
program that can benefit my VO product.  I just upgraded to M-audio Pro-Tools
7.4, and I hope to learn new features each week.

BLUE = 5 goals met
RED = 3 failed goals
PURPLE = 2 mixed results

I'm calling this a win. 

At least 70% of my goals had some degree of success, with half of the top-10 being a total success.  Not perfect by any means, but probably the best adherence to a New Year's Resolution list in my life.  I'm encouraged.

Tomorrow, goals 11-18. 

CourVO

This morning, I handed over my first-born to the surgeon.

Since age 2, Grace has danced…following the rhythm in her heart.

A Sophomore at the University of Illinois, she continues to make us proud as a scholarship dance major.  All the more reason we were saddened and scared by the MRI revealing two herniated lumbar discs resulting in chronic sciatic pain so debilitating, Grace has been unable to dance — thus in her mind, unable to truly live, nor express her heart — for 8-9 months.

This morning, in a 45-minute outpatient surgery, we believe our 1st-born was given a 2nd-chance.  The sciatic pain immediately removed, she must now recuperate from the incision.  The immediate danger being that she feels SO good, she could ruin her recovery by engaging in BLT's.  Bending, Lifting, or Twisting.

Forgive me a brief window into my faith…but I believe a first-born to Mary many many years ago gives us an unending bounty of 2nd-chances…for eternity.

No amount of Rennaissance-era cherub-painted representations of the child can do justice to the perfect love this being feels for his children.

I get some glimpse of that whenever I look at my child…my Grace, and see the promise that lies in her.

I want to be healed that way.  Let me dance.

CourVO

Top-notch voice-actor Connie Terwilliger posts the following evaluation of the Word 2 Wav software that many people are dying to get their hands on IFF it is everything it claims to be.

I've blogged about this software previously.

In short:  I think Connie kinda likes it.  Read below.

Thanks, Connie!

CourVO

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Phil Tederous has been cutting my hair for more than 20 years.  He's an affable guy — maybe a little younger than me — and an entrepreneur/businessman in the grandest tradition.

Although his bread 'n' butter is hair styling, he's also tried running restaurants, gift shops, managing office space, and more recently launching a fitness salon.

We've grown to share our personal lives and our professions while I spend time in his chair. 

As my voice-acting business grew, he asked me more and more questions about how it all worked.  Then came the day when he said he wanted to hire me.  Since we're such good friends, I told him maybe we could barter something.

"No," he said.  "We need to arrange a compensation package for what I want you to do for my business."  He mostly wanted me to update his various phone system messages once-a-month.  It was a piece of cake, but he insisted on paying me for my voice services.

See? 

Phil gets it.

He's not just a stylist.  He's a businessman; and he recognizes how hiring my service benefits his business. When callers can't get Phil live on the line, they hear a professionally-recorded message instead.

I'm not going to get rich on the jobs Phil gives me, but I'm sooooo encouraged that he understands the value of MY work for HIS business .

Oh, and he's an excellent stylist, too.

CourVO

   …and you thought chocolate was addictive!

Twitter is worse…. at least for me.  Yes, I've been spending too much time there of late, and  not auditioning enough…but that's going to change as soon as I complete the 4th-step in my Twitter's Anonymous Recovery group.

Thing #1:  I have no problem directing people to other blogs.  If you're a voice actor and don't read Bob Souer's blog everyday, you're missing out.  Now, there's another blog to add to you list:  Anthony Mendez' The Lazy VoiceOver – Doing Less to Achieve More.  Thoughtful.  Useful.  Helpful.

I'm thinking especially of his most recent post, when I think of my Twitter overload lately.  Click HERE to read: "Lowering Your Noise Floor"…some great thoughts about how to choose VO priorities and stick with them despite distractions (and like he says:  it's not about recording).

Thing #2:  I've started a Google Group for voice actors.  Sheesh!  Is there anything Google DOESN'T do?  Sometimes they worry me.  Believe it or not, I actually started a Google group for voice actors as an extension of a TwittGroup I created for voice-actors.  Honestly, I have no idea where this is going.  I'm just trying to stay ahead of the curve, and not sure there IS a curve.

Anyway, click HERE to get the the Google group for Voice Actors.  Maybe it'll evolve into something at least as prolific and helpful as the Yahoo VO group…'cause maybe Yahoo ain't gonna be around all that much longer.

I'd post the link for the TwittGroup for Voice Actors, but it's Sunday, and I don't think it's cleared their filters yet.

Thing #3:  The bad guys are winning. I wonder where this is all going sometimes.  'Could be, it's going down the tubes.  Click on THIS article referred to me during a TechMeme visit, and see why it'd be easy to get a little depressed about this internet thing we all rely on so intrinsically for our voice acting businesses.

Enjoy what's left of your weekend!

CourVO

Check out the info below… a chance to win TWO tickets to Julie Williams'/Deb Munro's VoiceLympics cruise next year.  They've got a pretty impressive roster of coaches on board…. all business, though… no play!!!  ;-}

CourVO

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….'cause it's 3am….and they say sleep is good for your health (and I've been spending waaaay too much time on Twitter….I take that back: PeopleBrowsr).

Many thanks to those who visited and those who commented on yesterday's blog: "A Word About…Words"

Apparently I struck a nerve.  I'm working on Part II.
 
I'm reminded by Bettye Zoller of a great site for anybody in voice work who needs a quick one-stop-shop for anything VO.  It's not the end-all-be-all…but it's pretty slick:  WhereIsTheMic?.

The (now official since Dec 2007) recession is NOT dampening the rampant rumours that voice-acting is the new fast way to have sacks of money appear at your door.  I gauge that by the number of queries I got BEFORE we got smacked, compared to those inquiries I'm still getting.

Upcoming on Voice-Acting in Vegas:  two absolutely KICK-BUTT blogs involving question and answer sessions with people who are forming the very industry we work in.  No names yet, and no timetable either…'cause genius deserves it's own pace… but 'safe to say we're getting close, and you'll want to read every word.

CourVO

Fellow voice-actor Heather Costa shows up in an online article from the Flint, Michigan Journal stemming from a 2-hour voice over class she visited at an area High School. 

Click HERE.

Cool Heather!

CourVO

One thing leads to another.  I remember promising myself many moons ago that buying more/better equipment wouldn't be worth the return.  My "stuff" was good enough.

But the gearhead in me won out….bit by bit.

First, Joe Klein talked me into an incredible deal with the Aphex 230 Master Voice Channel.  All was good. (BTW, I now have a dbx266XL 2-channel coompressor/gate for sale)

But my sturdy little Alessis MultiMix8 USB with which I was porting my sound into my DAW didn't really accept the digital inputs that would maximize the power of the Aphex 230.  My resolve was weakening more.

I finally capitulated with a minimal investment in a great soundcard bought from EBay.  It's a refurbished unit, in the box direct from the factory.  I've got a 100% success rate with refurbished stuff, and so far the record is intact with this purchase too.

I got the Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum.  That was after posting a query on the VO-BB to see what all my colleagues might suggest.  "Get the Lynx" one said.  "I love my Echo Mia" another chimed in.  Emu cards were mentioned.  I researched them all, but was taken with the configuration of the Sound Blaster X-Fi.  The front-panel input bay is just such a huge plus.

My friend and mentor  Frank Frederick tells me some audio purists turn their nose up at the venerable Sound Blaster product, 'cause it doesn't have an XLR input, therefore is not a true professional sound card. 

Maybe so, but this baby has everything I need and then some.  Now I route my Aphex 230 into the X-Fi with optical fiber or S/PDIF cables and yes, I notice a difference.

Heck this unit even has a remote control. I haven't figured out exactly what it does yet, but I HAVE noticed that one of the buttons causes the downstairs toilet to flush.

CourVO

You don't have to.  Apparently, it's been done for us.

This tip compliments of the HoldOnLog newsletter.  HoldOnLog is an online resource for actors of all stripes…so it's worth a visit for their take on things. 

They also offer what they call "Performer Track Webware".  It's a tool for managing your acting business.

The info below is from their "Performer Nation" Newsletter a link to a wonderful free BBC site that breaks down Britain into each dialect geographically, and offers a listen to the differences between each one.

CourVO

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