Making a Voice Demo Reel
By Wyatt Elling
Now that you know about the wide world of voice-acting, it's time to get into the game. But first you'll need to know what kind of voice you want to sell, and how to go about packaging it.
When you're starting to develop your voice-over persona, keep in mind the categories that casting agents have in mind. A familiar one is the Announcer Voice Over (AVO); this voice type is strong, authoritative, and acts as the main command in a TV or radio commercial. More common these days is the regular Voice Over (VO); this type serves the same function as the Announcer, but takes a more personal and casual inflection. The regular Voice Over often blends in to the Character voice role, which takes an active role in the narrative of the commercial. Documentary narration, like Sigourney Weaver's voice-over on the popular Discovery Channel series Planet Earth, is authoritative but also friendly and relaxing. Each type has a different tone, pace, and inflection. You should spend a few hours flipping through the radio for advertisements and channel surfing for commercials to get an idea of what they sound like.
The most important thing to have when you're trying out for voice-acting roles is a professional demo reel. Unlike regular acting, where video reels are beneficial but not required, you won't get a single voice-over job without an audio reel. Your audio reel shouldn't be over two minutes long, and each individual clip should be as short as possible while conveying a solid sense of range. Your demo reel needs to set up a distinctive, stable voice and also show a variety of styles without getting too confused. Range is delicate in voice-acting auditions, because you want to sound as distinct as possible at all times, show a wide range of voice types, and maintain a memorable voice persona. Keep in mind that most agents and casting directors will decide in the first ten seconds or so whether they want to keep listening. Use your best, most distinctive and agreeable voice first.
If you've already got recorded voice-over material, great, but if you don't, that's okay too. Casting directors know that everyone has to start somewhere, and they're more interested in your voice than a long resume. It's standard practice to write down the scripts from established TV commercials, and then re-record them yourself. These can be any type of radio or television commercial, or even a movie trailer, so long as you can match the type of voice in the original commercial. Many professional voice-actors record multiple versions of commercials on their own to show their range.
Once you've got your clips together, you'll need to have them edited and mastered and burn the reel to a CD. There is no shortage of professional studios that will gladly accept your business. The costs can run from several hundred dollars to several thousand. In the past, casting directors have urged voice-actors to have their reels professionally produced, but new technology has made things easier. With affordable software like Garage Band, you can record, master, and arrange your own reel for a fraction of the price. It's also a great advantage to have your reel in a digital file format, so you can burn as many copies as you want, post it online, and update it as often as you want.
Click here for Part 3 of How to Make Money as a Voice Actor!
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