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More than just a voice – David Houston

May 31, 2011 by George Leave a Comment

Months ago when I was involved with the Random Acts of Culture Project, voice artist David Houston was kind enough to post about it. Today, I want to return the favor.

David is based out of Austin, TX, and is more than just a voice guy. He also is a fine musician in his own right, and you should absolutely check out his guitar instrumental “That Which Was Lost.” He talks about it very briefly in his post “New (Old) Music,” and then let’s the music speak for itself:

The talents and skills of the people I know always amaze me. Thanks for sharing this, David! You can follow him on Twitter at @DavidHoustonVO.

An Open Letter to Skype and How it Might Happen

May 11, 2011 by George 3 Comments

Via Scoop.it – voiceover and voice acting

There is a Twitter fellow you should be following: @SomeAudioGuy. He is an audio engineer that works heavily in the voiceover field, and his daily observations about what actually goes on in some pretty high profile sessions are invaluable to the beginner in pointing out what kind of preparation you should have going into a session and the etiquette you should follow if you ever want to come back. He also blogs at his site.

Back in March of last year, he wrote “An Open Letter to Skype on Behalf of Audio Engineers,” in which he asks Skype to do something that doesn’t seem that far fetched anymore:

“See, if you’re capable of linking our computers to engage in real time 720p video calling at 30 frames per second, SURELY you’d be capable of granting us a 256kbps or higher audio only connection.”

He proposes this as a way to get past the cost and technical difficulties of ISDN, and even as a competitor to the growing Source:Connect platform. I have used Skype in place of a phone patch in the past, and will likely do so again. but if Skype were to offer such a thing, this would be revolutionary.

Enter Microsoft.

On Monday, the Redmond software giant entered into an agreement to purchase Skype for over $8 billion dollars. Considering the company was valued at $2.7 billion during the worst of times at the end of it’s ill fated time as part of eBay, this is a huge jump.

Skype as a company has bounced around over the last few yearrs. They started as an independent company, were inexplicably purchased by eBay in 2005, spun off again in 2010, and now this. Over this time, they have introduced and discontinued many features, but the core functionality has remained and been improved. Now Microsoft steps in with its $55 billion dollar warchest and takes on a company currently provides about 13% of the international call market share.

Microsoft has the money and incentive to make Skype a viable rival to any number of telephony solutions. Skype on its own probably did not have the funding to go this route. This opens the door for Skype to provide exactly the level of quality that SomeAudioGuy asked for back in March of 2010. He said:

“You would become the hero of studios nation and world wide. You could single-handedly lift the entire recording industry out of the data dark ages. And We would gladly pay for a stable service.”

I think more than just the audio engineers would rejoice. Love them or hate them, Microsoft has this power. I say keep your fingers crossed for developments in this area to end the “tyranny” of ISDN.

Genius from Kat Keesling on handling “demo reel” payment

May 2, 2011 by George 3 Comments

Kat Keesling, super genius

Back in 2009, I had the pleasure to work with Diane Havens and Kat Keesling on the Hear the Bill Project. Their brainchild was to help ordinary people who would have a very difficult time wading through the complexities of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate versions by bringing together voice actors to volunteer their time and read them in their entirety. It was a perfect example of an empowered citizenry and the greatness of our industry: well over a hundred voice artists contributed, and the project received glowing remarks in the press.

Kat has continued to be one of the people in our community of artists I listen to and read, and this weekend she posted an outstanding article on her Pure Opinion blog that may be flying under the radar. Entitled “A better response to the ‘demo reel’ payment,” she lays out what I consider a brilliant way to respond to these requests, which often come from students and non-profits with little to spend on professional talent. She points out the baseline conflict everyone faces about doing this kind of work:

Anyone who knows me knows my generosity with my voice. I lend it out for causes freely when I believe in what I am doing. However, I am not living in my parent’s basement or off of a Trust Fund and have struggled with limitations I must work within to keep my time profitable.

It not only includes a sample response, but links to the use of Creative Commons Licensing, which allows the use of your work, but protects you in the event of misuse.

Rather than quote her extensively, I urge you to go and read the article in its entirety. I told Kat that she is “about 18,000,000 times smarter than me,” and that may be an understatement. Thank you, Kat, for taking the time to put this into the public, and I hope it will become a resource for everyone struggling with these questions.

I Never Promised You a National Campaign

April 27, 2011 by George 2 Comments

Admit it, the Aflac Duck campaign was a fun little diversion. Gilbert Gottfried blew it (hey, he’s an insult comic, it was bound to happen), and in a brilliant bit of PR, the company decided to throw the doors open in a nationwide search for the next voice of the Duck. And here he is: Dan McKeague, radio sales manager from Minneapolis.

From the CNBC Story:

McKeague beat out well-known celebrities like Jeff Foxworthy and Richard Lewis for the job which Gilbert Gottfried lost after making jokes about Japan post-quake. Gottfried had been the only voice the duck has known since being introduced 11 years ago, but Aflac gets most of its revenue from Japan, so Gottfried’s remarks turned out to be no joke. (Gottfried never did the voiceover work for Aflac’s Japanese ads.)

A nice bit of PR for the company that helps it recover from the damage done by Gottfried’s less than thoughtful remarks, a pretty cool opportunity, and a re-establishment of goodwill. A win win for everyone.

Well almost everyone. Not unlike the Ted Williams situation, I have seen members of the voiceover community/industry grousing about how someone who didn’t pay their dues or spend a ton of money on training and equipment, or maybe just wasn’t them, got a gig that perhaps they shouldn’t have. Specifically, one quote I heard was “Who invited this guy to the party?”

Who invited him to the party? The same people that invited you, me, and every other voice artist out there: THE CLIENT.

Now I am certain that this isn’t the majority of people out there. Most of us, I hope, have the perspective that this is a selection process that the only part of which you control is your performance. Most of us realize that your chances are slim in just about every audition process you have, unless it is targeted specifically for you. Most of us get the fact that there is another job around the corner that might be yours.

But for those who do not, here’s the rude awakening: you aren’t going to get everything you audition for. You aren’t going to get half of the things you audition for. You probably aren’t going to get one-quarter of the things you audition for. No one promised you a NatGeo documentary series, a national ad campaign, or a Pixar/Dreamworks film deal. Learn your craft, work your contacts, market yourself. Audition. And audition some more. And don’t obesess about the relative success of one-off situations like the Aflac campaign. You got into this because you wanted a career, not a job, right? Don’t lose that perspective: there is always another job.

Congratulations to Dan McKeague! That’s a sweet gig, and I hope it gives you much success. Everyone else? Let’s get back to work!

An artist you should know on camera

November 11, 2010 by George 1 Comment

One of my “Artists You Should Know,” Lauren McCullough, stars in a new ad for the Lincoln MKS. The music is “The Future is Where We Belong” by The Hot Pipes. Lauren knocks this one out….click and watch!

Handling rejection with grace – up close and personal

November 3, 2010 by George 1 Comment

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I posted this little story on the VO-BB, but I thought I would share it here as well.

Early in October, I auditioned to sing the National Anthem at a Charlotte Bobcats game. Not a money gig, but exposure, fun, something I’m good at, and tickets to an NBA game. Hard to lose in that situation in my opinion.

Well, until I got the email the following week that I didn’t make the cut. I still find it very very difficult to believe they could find 40 or so people better than me at singing the anthem. It sounds very self absorbed, but I know what I can do.

I let it go. Until last week, when I received an all hands email, looking for chorus members to sing at the Bobcats opener on Friday. I was steamed when I saw it. But still….let it go. It was just an audition like any of the ones we do.

Then, Wednesday. The Opera Carolina office calls me and asks me to do the anthem, since they couldn’t pull enough choristers together on such short notice. An email was sent to the Bobcats with my contact information, and I was ready to go. Woot!

I try to contact the team to make sure I can get tickets for the family. No answer. Call again. No response. We get to Friday. 4 calls, no response. I have to assume that no one is going to get back to me, so I get dressed, and head down to the stadium.

After sitting in the season ticket holders’ entrance for 45 minutes. I am finally whisked to court level, and handed off to the person running production. She goes off to speak to someone, and comes back.

“We’re so sorry. There was a mix up. We don’t need you to sing tonight. We can offer you two tickets?”

Anger. Embarrassment. Humiliation.

I love NBA basketball. I have been a supporter of this team since they came to Charlotte in 2004. And I am still livid. I don’t think I have ever been put in such a position as a performer.

And honestly, it took all I had not to blow up at the production lead. But I took a moment to think that it clearly was not her doing. It wasn’t her fault the communication dropped. But I was seething with anger anyway, and I left the building without pausing, and drove home. Not my finest moment.

This is a slightly different kind of “rejection” than that we face on a daily basis as a voice artist, but still, the lesson is the same: maybe not this time, but possibly next time. It isn’t always your call. You have a right to be disappointed and angry. But you can’t live on that.

There is still a little knot of anger and frustration with the situation. But I am striving to find another success, another positive to fill the gap that momentary lapse of reason left me with. It’s coming, don’t you worry.

Thank you to all of the VO-BB.com denizens who offered me kind words and support. You guys are the best. Again, if you are a voice artist or aspire to be one, you should go there right now, sign up, and see what these helpful, insightful people have to say.

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