I've been pondering about trying some voice acting or audiobook reading. How decently does my voice fit those jobs?

[Anonymous]

Some clips:

https://vocaroo.com/15b5tE3wrb3W : An energetic scene from the Lion King; I think this type of role is the most suitable for me.

https://vocaroo.com/1haCu6nhBbZt : A more tense scene from Attack on Titan; I used accents to differentiate the characters, given my restricted range.

https://vocaroo.com/16kcgDCzduyo : Opis Mutiny speech, Alexander the Great; the closest approximation to how I speak naturally; apologies for being too close to the mic.

https://vocaroo.com/1DeMHfofaM2g : Something more sultry (SFW); I don't think I'm a good fit for this type of voicing, but I tried.

I used a crappy phone mic to record all these, so the quality might not be great.

Looking forward to hearing what y'all think!

[FunkyMonkee]

We'll phone you.
NEXT!!
But, seriously. Good stuff but, you sound like you're holding back, like you're afraid someone's gonna hear you if you get too boisterous. I've done two movies myself and almost got a cartoon series and, I've heard back some of my recordings and they kinda have the same issue but not quite as "bad". Some, I feel I could've and would've done better if I had some idea of what I was expected to do but, all I got was a script and the kind of voice each of the 16 characters were suppose to have so, I just did what I thought was wanted from the script. That was back in `17. I finally got to see the movie this summer and, as I said, I could've done better had I know what I was supposed to be going for.
The other thing I noticed with your Lion King clip was that all the voices sounded the same. I couldn't tell one character from the next. I've never seen the movie so, I couldn't even use imagination or mental visualization. I'm guessing you kind of memorized all the lines and just rattled them off in one go. If you plan to do several characters that end up conversing with each other, you might want to invest in SOME kind of recording gear that will allow you to either multi-track or do each voice separately and then edit everything together the way it needs to be. I have a Tascam 4-track Porta-Studio but, they go up to at least 16 tracks and are all digital, now (mine is cassette tape) and there are a number of recording and editing computer programs you can use, Audacity might even be a good place to start since, it's free.
Don't let rejections get you down, you just might get a lot of them. I've heard some very famous people say they could paper their walls with all the ones they've gotten. On the other hand, maybe you'll just hit a winning streak! I think I've tried out for maybe 5 projects and only got 2.5 rejections. The.5 was because on one of them, they had me on the short list but, I didn't get it. Seeing as how I've never seen or heard of that cartoon since then, I can only guess nothing ever came of it, anyway so, no great loss!
So, anyway, the only things I heard "wrong'' with yours was it needs more projection and more character distinction. Break a leg!!

[Asker]

Thank you so much for responding!

Yes, I completely agree about my very limited voice characterization! That's my biggest weakness. I can pull off a few major macrovoices: "Stitch" (Lilo and Stitch), Christian Bale's Batman, softer + more effeminate tones, but deviating from my standard voice is a challenge. I almost have to do extreme styles in order to sound convincingly differentiated as a character.

I was restrained on the recording, yes. I did everything on a cheap phone mic in single takes, and my parents were in the house. I didn't tell them beforehand, so they wouldn't have known what I was doing if had been yelling and screaming at full volume! lol. We're not an artsy lot, and I just did something on a whim for fun. I *would* like to hear how I sound on half-way professional equipment (never tried it before).

For how many years have you been in the voice acting world? I didn't expect to find a professional on GAG of all places!

I'm actually a plant breeder and farmer, very little aesthetic or cultured about me (other than compost!). I get bored out in the fields and find myself rattling off scenes from media, plus people seem to find me entertaining at times (maybe not for good reasons? 😅 ). I figured that maybe I'd take a stab at seeing how suitable I am for the entertainment world.

Many thanks again for answering!

[FunkyMonkee]

I just started back in `17. Nearest I can figure, because I've always been doing voices, sometimes ventriloquism, and different accents just because I felt like it, I thought I'd try my hand at voice acting. I think I found some guy in Hollywood that claimed he was looking for a voice actor for some project so, I applied but he ended up going with someone else but, told me that he'd keep me in mind for a future project. About a year later, I get an e-mail from some guy in Hollywood asking me to do voice work in a movie he was shooting! Suddenly, I recalled some Hollywood guy the previous year telling me that he'd get in touch with me so, I assumed this was him! Otherwise, he just wrote to me out of the blue! He only paid me about $350.00 but, it's a chance for me to get my foot in the door so, I said I'd do it. He sent me the script (mostly, just the 16 different parts I'd be doing) and I spent a day or two recording them in my living room and editing them on the computer and then sent them to him via MP3's. He loved what I did and used them in his movie! It was part 2 of a trilogy.
Very shortly after that, I saw a group of local movie makers were looking for a voice actor in a short movie they were doing. I tried out for it and not only did they pick me for the voice I did but, they also wanted me to actually play the part!! They told me that, as soon as they set eyes on me, they knew I was the one they were looking for!!
I WANT to get back into it but, thanks to my ex-sisters, I haven't been able to do it for the last 3 years!
Otherwise, I'm just a drummer in a rock & roll band! Well, I WAS, until my singer died 10 years ago! I've also done a couple of comedy records and helped write a few books. Maybe I'll try stand-up sometime, soon. I have two cousins that did acting and comedy, one got a t. v. commercial and the other's been in two movies, one of which won some kind of special award.

[Asker]

Musician, writer, and comedy. Dang. You're a jack-of-all-trades! I take it that you're in a neck of the woods where those types of talented people congregate. What type of character personalities / archetypes do you play?

I'm actually going for an interview with a talent agency next week. I doubt that I have the look for the modeling side, but hopefully they can connect me with more voice-focused people in the industry.

[FunkyMonkee]

Well, I guess there's SOME artistic types here but, not an incredible lot.
There's not really any one type. I just do what they need. The local movie wanted me to play the part of an alien called, The Merchant. They said he had a bit of a raspy voice with a Scottish brogue so, that's what they got! For the cartoon, I tried out for 4 of the 5 characters they were looking for. The vampire was a Vaudevillian Jew, the Wolfman had a Jamaican accent, I didn't try for that one, the Mummy had some other dialect, I forget what it was, and there was a female character, I don't recall what they wanted for her but I tried out for her, too. The one I nearly got was Billy Bolts, he was a Frankenstein-like character that was dumb as a bag of rocks, but he was afraid of fire and wanted to become a policeman. For him, they wanted a cross between Shrek and the retarded guy in ,"Throwing Mama From The Train". so, I gave them his line, "Hey, you guys!!" with Shrek's voice, as well as a few of the other lines they wanted me to do. I'd never heard either one before so, I listened to both and mixed them together.
With the Hollywood movie, he wanted 16 different voices. I don't recall them all but, one was a tough Russian, one was a hillbilly, one was from Texas, one was from Liverpool, another New York, another was a cross between W. C. Fields, Sheldon Leonard and an old Vaudevillian. He told me what he wanted and I gave it to him! All of my characters were either off-screen or wearing masks so, I wasn't actually in the movie. He's on the west coast, I'm 3000 miles away near the east!
If I hadn't lost my house 3 years ago, I would've gone to this new book store a few blocks away that sells only kids books and told her that I could read to the kids (she had reading hours where she'd read a story to the kids) and I'd try to do voices for each character. I think Barnes & Nobels does that for kids, too but, they're at least 6 miles from here and I don't drive!

[Asker]

You've done so many types of characters! I'm jealous. Vaudevillian? I've never even heard that word before! haha.

Okay. I figured that you were out in California somewhere.

I'd enjoy kid story hour. I can usually make the kiddos laugh with one of my voices. They're much less harsh on you than adults are!

[FunkyMonkee]

Vaudeville was a type of entertainment circuit about 100 years ago, it was mostly where Jewish comedians would get up and do their routines. I guess you'd mostly do one-night stands.
No, I've never been west of Chicago and even that was only for a few hours!
Yeah, the younger ones will let you get away with murder but the slightly older kids are too smart to be fooled by some of that stuff.
I was thinking a few hours ago that, one thing that, dare I say, "helped" me become more vocally flexible was, when we were kids, we loved to imitate sounds and accents we heard around us We had LOTS of cartoons in the 60's to work from! If anybody needed a Pinto Colvig voice, I could step right into that in half a heartbeat!! I didn't even know who he was until about 20 years ago!! I just knew him as the voice of Goofy in the Disney cartoons. Pinto plays the country wolf in this short clip. https://youtu.be/tJk364Y1D2c

Here's one I used to love to do! I could both of these voices as well as Bert & Ernie.
https://youtu.be/KTc3PsW5ghQ

[Asker]

Gotcha.

Thanks, man. I appreciate it.

[FunkyMonkee]

No problem! (That'll be $10.00.)

[Asker]

Check is in the mail!

[DizzyDesii]

I’m at work so I’m going to listen to the other 3 inbetween clients but you are incredible!! As for The lion king one, thats got me crackin up so bad rn. Not the animal sounds too 😂 Holy smokes how are you not working for Disney rn! You got some Robin Williams talent. The recording quality is amazing. Your Scar voice is so hot whyyy 😂 Normally deep voices scare me but your singing omg

[DizzyDesii]

Your country twang in the second is on point! And the Alexander one you have a slight Aussie accent! I don't know why but i like haha

[DizzyDesii]

The sultry one

[Asker]

Thank you! I do enjoy high energy entertainment. I kind of want to try "Friends on the Other Side" or "Friend Like Me". The latter would be quite a feat to pull off...

[DizzyDesii]

Oooo yes!

[Asker]

You like the sultry one, really? I feel like it comes across as stilted and trying too hard. lol.

Well, in that case, this was the take that I originally planned on submitting:

https://vocaroo.com/11lhd1SClioH

Which is better? This or the first submission?

[DizzyDesii]

Lmaooo i definitely prefer the first one

[Asker]

Well, shoot. :-/ You wouldn't like my accent then. lol.

https://vocaroo.com/1gKc3oaDLAVg

I try to aim more for a Standard US dialect when recording stuff, because a lot of people don't like the twang, and it won't get cast for certain roles. haha.

[DizzyDesii]

I looove twang! I’m from the south bad boy lol. So i love that this is your normal voice! Its amazing. My break is in 20’mins. I’ll try to record then :)

[DizzyDesii]

Alright back at ya
https://voca.ro/18pYD1hhYdDo

[Asker]

People either tend to really like the twang or really hate it. lol.

Nice to meet ya, Desii, dizzy lots. You sound dizzyingly delightful.

With your voice + the bubbliness, I would've guessed you were 20. haha. People think I'm younger too, though it's due to my face rather than my voice.

[DizzyDesii]

I mean im in my 20s 😂 but i wish i was 20 haha. And yea im bubbly when im not annoyed by work/fam haha. And yea your face looks 24. Your twang sounds 30. Your other voices sound 21 lol

[Asker]

It's quite a conundrum! Older women think that I look or sound too young for them, and younger women think that I look or sound too old. *sob*

I wonder if I should send my batman voice...

[DizzyDesii]

Oh gosh no not batman. His voice is awful. I love yours. You dont sound old

[Asker]

Hmmm. Fruity voice?

[DizzyDesii]

Oh gosh no 😂 If you sounded gay i’d tell you. And in case you meant batman, he doesn't sound gay either, he just sounds demonic lol.

[Asker]

No. lol. I was asking if I should send my fruity voice? I couldn't resist, so here it is.

https://vocaroo.com/16DIZQRkGQGi

I'm fabulous!

[DizzyDesii]

I refuse to listen to it. you're not gonna ruin your image rn 😂

[Asker]

"I worked so hard and got so far, but in the end, she wouldn't even listeeeennnn!"

[DizzyDesii]

Lol i can't stand hearing a guy play gay. If you’re gay, so be it. Bt if you’re not, its a good way to run a woman off. So if i listen to that, it will ruin my image of you and your beautiful sandy hair 😂

[Asker]

You know, you can DM me. No one else answered my post, so this has basically been an open-view DM sessions. lol. 😅

[DizzyDesii]

Lol it says you have to accept

[Anonymous]

Hey, you won't know till you try right?

[Asker]

How did the clips sound to you?

[Opinion Owner]

They sounded good.

[Asker]

Thank you! Do you think that one was a better fit for me than the others?