Well, it’s been months in the making but we are almost ready to fire up our popular Introduction to Voice Over Workshops again!
You can expect bookings to open before the end of October for dates in November and December, but before you book in please note that all participants will need to be fully COVD-19 Vaccinated. In consultation with Bang Bang studios and following the directives of the Victorian Government for safe return to work practises for various industries, this will be a requirement until further notice for all group workshops. If you have any questions around this please feel free to contact us.
We will confirm your vaccination status when you book for a workshop and may ask you to confirm this by presenting your digital or hard copy vaccination certificate on the day.
We’re looking forward to having you join again from mid-November. Stay safe!
The newly announced Victorian Roadmap of proposed restriction levels may not offer us any short term relief from Covid-19 restrictions, but for many businesses (including this one) it does thankfully provide some light at the end of the tunnel.
The point at which we’ll be able to return to the studio for both group workshops and 1on1 coaching sessions will be “Phase C” when 80% of 16+ are fully vaccinated due to happen around November 5.
We’ve already done our part with both Andy & Cecelia now fully vaccinated and we’re hoping that everyone else who wants get back to something that looks more like ‘normal’ will do the same.
After cancelling workshops in June, July, August, September and now October our eyes and ears and fixed on November and December for the next round of workshops. Booking are not open yet but as Melbourne follows the roadmap out of restrictions we’ll also switch on your ability to book into the next workshops.
For anyone starting out in Voice Over over the past 18 months, understandably it’s been a frustrating time. Access to courses & coaching has been limited not just by complete lockdowns (like the one we’re in now) but even by restrictions such as social distancing and indoor mask wearing which make studio work difficult.
So while we continue to navigate the new normal of the COVID-19 landscape you may be wondering what you can do to get started on your voice over journey while you wait to do a workshop / course or some coaching.
Well, here are some ideas.
Do some research. If there’s a particular area of Voice Over that you are interested in, finding others already working in that area and listening to their work is a great place to start and can help you form some goals for the future. For example for Radio / TV & Corporate work you could visit Voice Over agent websites such as www.emvoices.com.au or www.RMK.com.au and listen to the Voice Over Demos of the individual talent. These people are all working professionally as voice over artists so will give you great examples of the skills you’ll need in action.
Practise. While you may not be ready to share your voice with the world or audition for jobs, getting your hands on scripts to read is really useful. One of the key skills needed for a voice over artist is the ability to read a script from beginning to end fluidly, giving the words meaning and without error. This sounds easier than it is.
Think about how much printed matter you read out loud, word for word everyday and you may realise that it’s not something that many people do very often. You don’t even need to record yourself reading practise scripts, though it can be useful, it still counts and practise and will help when you do get into the studio. If you’re already signed up for a workshop will us we can send you some practise scripts, otherwise Google can help you find some also.
Make some recordings On your phone, using a basic headset or USB Microphone. It doesn’t need to be high quality and you don’t need to share it but try recording a few of your practise scripts and listen back to them. Make note of anything you’re struggling with or feel that you do well and learn from that as a start.
Do some online coaching Online voice over courses and coaching has become very popular over the past few years and it can be a great way to get started if you can’t get into a studio. We feel that online learning can be a component of learning voice over however the in-studio experience is still a really important part of your voice over journey. This is why we don’t offer a full voice over workshop or course online however we do offer short 1 on 1 sessions that are designed to start or compliment your learning in this area.
A 1-Hour coaching session via zoom can be a great to getting an introduction to the industry and how it works, asking lots of questions or just running over some of the basic skills in voice over. At the moment you can do a 1 on 1 online session with us for just $50 by using the code LOCKDOWN. So what are Voice Over Artists doing during the current COVID-19 lockdown?
We’re still working. When there’s work to be done.
In the home studio and always ready to record
One of the most valuable lessons learned, for even the most experienced voice over artists over the past 18 months is that having a home studio is now a must-have! With many of the restrictions places on how businesses could operate during the various lockdown periods recording studios were simply not allowed to host recording sessions, but they could virtually connect to and record voice over artists from home studios. This still continues today with most Voice Over Artists who have a home studio connecting with studios and clients using tools such as Source-Connect and Zoom.
It’s worth mentioning that not everyone is busy with voice over at the moment, in fact some are doing it tough. The Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the economy has found that in some areas there’s less production work being done or some clients are not spending as much so less voice over work is available.
I hope everyone is staying safe and well and perhaps even getting their vaccinations organised.
If you have any questions about this post or any of the workshops / coaching services offered here feel free to get in contact anytime.
Just announced today, August 16, an extension of Melbourne’s current lockdown complete with even Tougher COVID restrictions including a curfew of between 9pm and 5am until at least September 2.
If you’re currently booked in for a workshop on August 21, 22 or 28 OR are waiting to attend a 1 on 1 in-studio coaching session these will need to be postponed until restrictions have eased.
I will be reaching out to everyone with current bookings and understand that for many people this may be quite frustrating as we’ve already moved workshops that were set to run in June and July.
If you have any questions or concerns please do feel free to reach out via email any time or give us a call.
Finally I would like to encourage everyone to do their part in getting Melbourne out of lockdown and keeping us there.
Due to recent lockdowns here in Melbourne we’ve had to move a few of our workshops around in recent months, but with restrictions easing we’re heading back to the studio in August.
Circuit breakers, lockdowns, mask wearing and other health restrictions. We hope you’ve managed to navigate the last few months safe and well!
The good news is that with easing of restrictions again and the ongoing Vaccine rollout, we are back running both our group workshops and 1 on 1 Voice Over coaching and Demo creation sessions.
Having cancelled our June workshops our August workshops are now fully booked, however we have now opened up bookings for the Introduction to Voice Over workshops running on October 16 and October 23.
If you simply can’t wait until then to get started on your voice over journey you can book in for a 2-hour 1 on 1 coaching session. These are held on a day and time that suits you and are suitable for beginners or those with experience looking to ‘level up’.
Also for those who feel they are ready to take their voice to the world, Demo Creation Sessions are on again. We’ll chose the scripts that best suit your talents and work through them during a 2 hour recording session, then produce them up in to a full demo of up to 2.5 minutes.
If you’d like to discuss any of these options further feel free to get in touch for a chat via phone or email.
Once a luxury, the Home Studio has quickly become a ‘must have’ tool for any Voice Over artist. We saw this in 2020 with many professional recording studios unable to host clients or artists due to Covid-19 restrictions and many scrambled to create a space and buy equipment so they wouldn’t miss out on work.
The problem I find with this is that for anyone just starting out in voice over, the quality benchmark may not be so obvious, that is until someone rejects a recording.
Now it should be noted that I’m talking about quality from a technical point of view, which is completely different to your ability to do the voice over. Specifically we’re talking about things like the properties of Microphone you use, recording levels, room reflection and ambient or unwanted noise. You could have an amazing voice and deliver a great read, but if you can’t capture it in a way that meets professional standards you’re going to have issues when pitching for jobs or recordings being rejected.
This is why we’ve created the Home Studio Score Card. This service is designed to help you improve your home studio setup by giving you a score across 4 key areas based on a raw recording you provide from your studio. Along with a score out of 5 in each area, we include comments and suggestions so you can work on improving your recorded sound.
Aimee Smith is returning to Melbourne and will be running a 90minute session to demonstrate how to use Twitter to find leads for video game character voice auditions.
In 2019 and early 2020 we had the pleasure of hosting multiple sold-out workshops with Aimee aimed at those wanting to get into video game character voice work but didn’t know where to start…and how she’s coming back!
This time Aimee will be running a presentation to help you navigate Twitter to uncover leads for video game character auditions.
So who exactly is Aimee? Aimee Smith is a Sydney-based, Australian Voice Actor best known for her roles as Milla in Freedom Planet, Alysia in Battlerite, Ktara in Siegecraft Commander and Olivia in Heroes Arena (but her list of roles extends far beyond what we’ve written here).
The upcoming May 21 session will be run at a venue in South Melbourne from 6pm and consists of a 1-hour presentation followed by 30minutes of Q&A.
We hope to see you there! If you’d like to attend you can BOOK HERE.
If you’re new to voice over, at some stage you’re going to need to be able to record yourself to practise, audition or perhaps for your first job.
One key piece of equipment you’ll need is a Microphone, but you don’t need to spend a lot on this (at least not when you’re just getting started). The truth is that you can spend as much money as you have in your bank account on a really great Microphone, yes I’m talking thousands of dollars, but we certainly don’t suggest you do that as you’re just starting out and still learning about voice over.
So what Microphone should you buy?
USB Microphones that can be found at most electronics retailers (JB HiFi or Officeworks) are a great option as they are simple to set up and start using quickly, however they don’t all sound the same and there are plenty that are not really good for much more than as a desktop Microphone for zoom meetings.
Working as a sound engineer for 28 years, I’ve used plenty of different microphones for different purposes, but I’ll never recommend a Microphone (or another other piece of equipment) that I haven’t personally used.
Ok, here’s my recommendation…
The Blue Yeti Nano USB Microphone. The cost is usually around $150, but I see that Officeworks has them for $128 right now.
Yes, you’ll see it has a desktop stand but don’t use it like this. Get a microphone stand and use the included adapter to mount in on the stand so you can use it at standing height. You can also then consider adding a pop-filter.
Finally, it’s important to mention that if you’re looking to make high quality sound recordings from your new Microphone, you also need to consider your recording space. Even a $4000 microphone will sound terrible in a poor recording environment. I’ll talk about setting up a recording space another time but if you have any questions feel free to reach out any time.
Update: Our April Introduction to Voice Over workshops are now fully booked and we are now taking bookings for June.
These Introduction to Voice Over workshops are perfect for anyone who has little or no experience in Voice Over and wants to not just find out what it’s all about, but actually get in a studio and give it a go!
As part of the in-studio workshops on April 17 and 24, you’ll also attend a 2 hour zoom session on April 14* (from 7pm) where we’ll get most of the discussion and theory done to give you more time in front of the Microphone when you attend on one of the Saturday workshops.
There’s not another beginner’s voice over workshop like this in Melbourne.
You’ll learn, you’ll have fun and leave wanting to do more!
*If you can’t make it to the zoom session you’ll have the opportunity to view the streaming video of that session before you come to the in-studio part of the workshop.
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