A Career in the Voiceover Business...
Article: Voiceover Career? Get started in a career in voiceover? by Don Capone.

Voice-Over Careers - Working From Home:
Working from home and starting your own home business, in your home recording studio. Ok so your thinking about a voiceover career... you've been told by so many people that.. you have a great voice and you should do radio imaging or try voice overs... and you have always played with the idea... but never acted upon it... Well.. now you're here and reading this... so you have taken the first step... In this business we call voice overs... you gotta have thick skin.. Remember its nothing personal.... errr... well maybe it is personal if your not selected after you do a voice over audition...after all you are the product... your voice IS the product your selling!!!... but remember... this is still a business... that is mostly run on a few things... Your God given Voice Talent... Who You know... and How you market yourself... and of course if the client likes your voice!!!!

Voice Over Training:
So your looking for a career in voice overs... Fist thing first... Voice training and practice...every chance you get ..pick up something... anything... and read it out loud... listen to the commercials that are played on radio and tv and emulate the way you hear the voice over artist say it... There are many different styles... so first look for a style of speaking you are comfortable with... and... Practice, Practice, Practice... I even recommend taking acting classes. Advertisers are looking for voices that motivate, inspire or tell a story about there product. There may be character voices needed for an animation project or radio spot.  But whatever the call... all comes down to the voice actor to be able to "act". Acting and being able to deliver the type of read that the client wants is the key. A great place to check out would be Edge Studio Voice Over training.

Voice Over Equipment:
If you want a career in voice overs... your gonna need to buy some voiceover equipment... you can go dirt cheep like a USB microphone from either Samson, Editors Keys or Blue starting around $80 bucks... and you can use a free audio recording software like Audacity to make your voice over demos with to showcase your voice talent. This way you have minimal out of pocket expense to get your new voice talent career going.... BUT... this is just to cut your teeth on... Not recommended if you want your voice overs to be the best thay can be.... Places we recommend to by voice over equipment in no particular are... Atlas Pro Audio, BSWUSA.com, Sweetwater.com .. I "Don Capone" have personally made purchases from all these companies.. and there all great... a lot of voice talents will tell you that voice overs are done with 95% talent and 5% equipment... BUT... LISTEN CAREFULLY TO WHAT I SAY... In MY OPINION I belive its about 60% talent and 40% Equipment... this is why I stress it is very important not to skimp and to have quality voice over equipment.

1.) Voice Over Career: Super Low Low Budget Voice Over Equipment (if you must... not recommended.. but...)
   Editors Keys SL150 USB, Samson C03U, Blue Snowball USB around $80 - $100 bucks
   Audacity $FREE

2.) Voice Over Career: Budget Voice Over Equipment Recommend By Don Capone
   Microphone: Studio Projects C1 $249 (highly recommended)
   Preamps: PreSonus Studio Channel Strip $299
   Analog to Digital Converter: M-Audio FireWire Solo  $199
   Recordeing Software: Adobe Audition CS3 $349

3.) Voice Over Career: The Best Voice Over Equipment Recommend By Don Capone
   Microphones: Neumann U47, Telefunken USA U47ae, Telefunken AK47, Sennheiser MKH-416, Lawson L47MP MKII, Manley Reference, HORCH RM2J, BOCK 251, Soundelux E47, Wunder Audio CM7, Wagner U47w, Rode Classic II, Brauner Phantom C, Neumann U87, Gefell MT71s, Gefell M92, Pearlman TM 1, Peluso 2247 SE, Mojave Audio MA-200, Bock Audio 507, Blue Dragonfly, Studio Projects C1....

   Preamps: Avalon VT-737sp, Manley VOXBOX, Avalon M5, Requisite PAL Plus, Focusrite Red 7, Focusrite ISA 430 mkII,Tube-Tech MEC 1A, Millennia Origin STT-1, John Hardy M-1, Pendulum Quartet, D.W. Fearn VT-15, GML 2030, Vintech x73i, LA2A Leveling Amp to name a few....

   Analog to Digital Converter: M-Audio FireWire Solo, E-MU 1616M soundcard, PreSonus FIREBOX, MOTU UltraLite-mk3, M-Audio MobilePre USB, M-Audio Fast Track Pro USB....  

Personally I usually use:
The Sennheiser MKH-416 with the Avalon VT-737sp Tube amp
The Telefunken AK47 tube mic
(Not a rule... but I personally prefer a solidstate microphone into a tube amp or vice versa... a tube microphone into a solidstate mic pre-amp)
M-Audio FireWire Solo into my PC Adobe Audition CS3
the mic I use the most... would be hands down the Sennheiser MKH-416

More Info and Samples At These links below
Voice Talent Microphones | Voice Talent Equipment | Voice Over Software

Voice Over Work:
Ok so now you have practiced and purchased voice over equipment for you voice over career... and have made some voice-over demos... Now we need to get them heard.. buy the right people!... people looking for voice over talent... because you are now ready to get some voice over jobs.

Marketing your Voice Talent:
The two places that come to mind for people who need to kick start there career in the voiceover business are Voice123.com and Voices.com .. there are other places... but these to have the most visibility on the net. You can post your voiceover demos there and people who are looking for voice talent for projects can find you... We also recommend getting your own website that is dedicated to promoting your voice talent services. A Web Design company like MediaRocket can help you put together a voice over talent website that will showcase your work.

What about using a Talent Agency:
Do you even need a talent agent? Well... not in the beginning of your voice acting career... but most likely...as you progress, you will. Talent agents are the gatekeepers to the producers and casting directors who are looking for voice talent. Your talent agent should be franchised with AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), and also with SAG (Screen Actors Guild) ... visit these sites for lists of franchised talent agencies in your area.. and information in joining them...But I must stress... getting and talent agent and joining AFTRA or SAG costs a pretty penny...and is very extreme for someone just starting out.... so.. relax... focus... Got it?.. Get It?... Good!

Should I get an ISDN Line:
NO.. you do not need ISDN... BUT... The decision on getting an ISDN line for your home voice over studio usually comes when you are loosing voice over jobs and opportunities because you do not have an ISDN line... This can only be determined by your budget. Some voice over studios and production houses will only work with voice talents who have a ISDN transceiver, so they can hook up directly to your voice over equipment and give you direction on how they want you to read the script and also record your voiceover read live directly into there digital audio workstation through the ISDN lines. Highly recommended ISDN transceivers like the or the Musicam Suprima IP DUAL AUDIO CODEC with ISDN & X.21 that does ISDN and IP or the  Telos Zephyr Xstream with price tags around $3000 to $4000. I recommend Buying your ISDN codec unit from Dave Immer from DigiFon, Dave is an ISDN Production Specialist...He will help you test your ISDN unit and get it configured properly for doing your voice overs.... Oh... and don't forget about the monthly cost of the ISDN BRI interface line itself from companies like Verizon... ranging from $50 a month and up depending on where you live.... Yes... it is an investment, but one that you can recover with just couple of voice over jobs. If you can afford it and you see the demand for it... get it. There are some other voice technologies that are excellent ISDN alternatives ... and more affordable like Source Connect ... but until everybody's on the same page... ISDN is still the industry standard... A phone patch is also good to have if you don't have ISDN. This enables a voice producer/director to hear your read live as you record it in your home studio. Its basically a glorified speak phone.. (kinda) .. and Skype or even a Magic Jack can be used as a phone patch.

Anything Else?
What about background music and sound effects in the voice overs? Well... yes and no... It all depends on how deep you want to get into this business. Of course you can make more money if you do full production on a spot. But usually most of your clients will just want you to give them a dry-read with no music or effects so they can produce the voice over project themselves with there own in-house production. For those clients who want a fully produced commercials... look into buying a Royalty Free Music Library and a Royalty free Sound Effects Library... Buy-Out production music for commercial use and Royalty Free... IMPORTANT...make sure you read carefully the terms of use for the music or sound effects you buy so they can be used in your commercial projects before you buy it and that it is a buyout!!! ..also...Download some free Voice Over Scripts and practice!!!!!

The Last Word:
Everything I wrote about a career in voice overs is very very basic... There is more to it than just this... so do your research... and ask ask ask questions... google anything and everything about voice overs ... you will find many different opinions... probably get even more confused than you are now...but with will and determination you will persevere and conquer... because you want this!!!!  so Remember... life is short.. and if you really want it " A Career in Voice Overs " there's no reason why you can't make this happen... Remember who you are... and there isn't anything you can't do if you put your mind and passion into it... BUT don't quit your day job just yet! ... but... maybe one day:)

blessings
Don Capone

by Don Capone © www.DonCapone.com
Since 1979 Don Capone has been in the voice business.  Don Capone offers professional voice over talent services offering that bigger than life voice imaging that is needed to compete in today's corporate world.

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