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The Door Of Fame

Posted by JohnMatthewVO in All Posts | Voiceover Community & History - (1 Comments)

Now that I have a home studio, and more specifically a BOOTH, people are starting to show up to record their own projects here at my place. Which is fine with me, as it’s fun and relatively easy money.

The other day I was recording actress (and Seinfeld alumnus) Lee Garlington for my friend Janet Wilcox’s book project, when I thought ‘This is the third luminary-type I’ve had in [Rudolf Martin and Donna Bacalla being the first two], I should really start getting some autographs.’

Looking around for something for Lee to sign, I thought of the big bulletin boards in the hallway at Buzzy’s Recording, where I did the narration for all the Food Network shows some years ago. The boards are covered with hundreds of signatures from the many voice talent who have recorded there, going back over 3 decades now, and if you look around you’ll find the biggest names in the business – Mel Blanc, for example.

And then it hit me – the DOOR of my booth is essentially a big bulletin board, made of a smooth white material that takes a permanent marker very nicely. So, the Door Of Fame was born – and here it is:

voiceover booth, isolation booth

Just a beginning...

Not much yet, but one can only imagine the famous-types that will eventually populate the Door Of Fame…I’ll post more pics as it fills up.

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Home Studio Part 1 – Do I Need One?

Posted by JohnMatthewVO in All Posts | Home Studio | Voiceover Career Advice - (Comments Off)

Like it or not, having a home studio and being able to record, edit, finish and deliver audio to clients is a big part of your job as a voiceover talent these days. Now, you don’t absolutely HAVE to do these things – you can choose to read only at your agents’ office, or a casting director or client’s location; and only work at recording studios – but your opportunities will be limited, and you won’t be spending your time efficiently.

There is so much competition these days that you need to submit on as many projects as possible, and that takes time. I’m typically turning in about 50-60 auditions a month right now, to 6 different agencies and online casting services. I’m pretty picky about the quality of my submissions (remember, if you don’t nail it, someone else will), and I spend a lot of time recording and editing those reads. It comes close to being a full time job, and if I had to drive to my agents’ every day to read, it would be a lot more hectic than it already is.

Additionally, a lot of clients want to work with talent that have home studios not only to lower their production costs, but to speed up turnaround times. Voice talent tends to be called near the end of the production process when deadlines are looming, and it’s much easier to be able to email copy to the talent and get tracks back in a few hours, than to book a recording studio at the last minute.

A harsh reality of home recording is that you’ll often not be paid for your time as an editor, particularly on short projects. This isn’t necessarily such a bad thing, since working at home saves you time and transportation costs. On longer projects that require lots of editing time, you’ll generally be able to work some compensation into your fee, but there are no guarantees.

If you do decide to pursue a home studio, you’ll need to become a pretty good, fast editor. Editing need not be difficult or complicated (at least not for our purposes), but you have to have an ear for it and be generally comfortable with computers. If you’re hopeless with technology, think twice before investing in a home studio.

In the next installment, we’ll talk about the basics – the recording space, equipment basics and some software options…stay tuned.

copyright 2010 John Matthew

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