FAQ

Here you'll find the answers to many frequently asked questions

What are the different types of VO demos?

Commercial

This is the big one. Even if you just want to focus on animation work, your agent is going to want a commercial demo. Commercials are where the vast majority of the work and money reside. This will consist of 6-8 short segments of commercials. The general effect is that you're flipping channels on a TV and every single channel is you doing the VO for different products. Read about the process here (link)

Character

This is where you can showcase your non-standard commercial VO talents. If you're looking to get into video games, cartoons, anime dubbing, or commercial animation this is the demo you present. It will highlight you range from the evil villain to the wacky sidekick as well as accents. Read about the process here (link)

Narration

Generally audio book narration. If you're looking to get into audio books, which is usually though Amazon's ACX now, you'll want a narration demo.

Industrial

Not the most exciting thing in the world, but there is a lot of this work. If you're unfamiliar with industrial narration it's basically what you see in technical or explainer videos. Such as an instructional video, training film, or history of a company video.

What do you do with a voice-over demo?

A voice-over demo is a sample of what you are capable of at your best. It's what you bring to an agent to get representation. It's what you showcase on your personal website or through an audition service. Generally for a non-open audition, producers will pour through VO demos looking for the right voice for their project. Your voice-over demo says this is what I sound like and what I can do. The market is currently inundated with terrible stock demos that were recorded on a phone or laptop microphone. Having a professional voice-over demo is a huge step up.

How long should my demo be?

60 seconds. I suppose I should elaborate on that. When a creative, producer, or casting agent is looking for the right voice for their project, they will often sift though voice-over demos. They'll either search through submissions, voice-over job sites, or through talent agencies. The number they'll listen to can easily be in the hundreds. They're not going to listen to everyone's demo from start to finish, in my experience they usually listen to the first 5 or 6 seconds before either short-listing for later review, or move on to the next one. They'll narrow it down to 10 or 20 demos and those they'll listen to the whole thing to see what kind of range they have and how professional they seem. If your demo is 2 or 3 minutes long, it's just going to be a pass. At best they might skip around it a bit, but ultimately you're at a disadvantage because they're not going to spend that long listening. A non-standard industry length demo is also a sure way to separate amateurs from professionals. Looking at a short-list of 10 demos you see that they're all 60 seconds and one is 5 minutes long, that's going to be a pass.

When should I update my demo?

Every few years or so. If you're younger you'll want to update it every 2-3 years, as your voice tends to age fairly rapidly. You'll find you have more or sometimes less range, and you want your demo to accurately reflect that. Also the style of ads tends to change a lot, if you listen to a commercial from the 90's you'll find that the style and tone are very different from modern ads. Advertising is always changing and what sounds 'right' now, probably won't sound quite right 5 years from now.

As your career progresses, you'll also want to start filling out your demo with clips of real commercials that you've done! Every time you finish a spot or project, make sure to ask the engineering or your client contact if you can use a clip for your demo. It's a very standard request, and the answer is always yes.

What format should my demo be?

Mp3 and Wav. Gone are the days of CDs, cassettes, and DAT; your demo is going to have a digital presence, not one on physical media. The Mp3 file is what is going to be embedded on an agent's website or voice-over job site. The Wav file is your uncompressed master file. If you were going to make CDs you would use the Wav file. If someone wants something in a different format or some yet unknown future format, you'll make it from that Wav file. The Wav file is the uncompressed highest possible quality original, so that's what you'll convert from.

How long does the production process take and what is involved?

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How much does this cost?

Can I record at home or do I have to come into your recording studio?

Can you record at home? Yes. Should you? Probably not. Here at CCH you'll be in a professional well-treated recording booth and using the best recording equipment money can buy. The space and the gear go a long way to making your demo sound as good as possible.

If it's not possible for you to come into the studio, we can still make recording at home work. Using Zoom, Discoard, or Skype I'll still be able to direct you remotely. Then with enough editing time I'll be able to get your recorded audio sounding as professional as possible.

How do I prepare for my demo interview?

There's nothing to prepare! There's no right or wrong answers to anything I'll be asking you. Just simple questions to get a sense of your voice and to get material that is personal to you to base a script on. Examples of questions are “Tell me about the most annoying person you ever worked with. Tell me about your favorite local restaurant. What kind of hair-care products do you use?”

How do I prepare for my demo record?

Practice

Practice the script as much as possible. Read it out loud, mark it up with notes however you see fit, force your friends and co-workers to listen to you read.

Warm Up

On recording day make sure your voice is warmed up.

Dress for Success

In the case of voice acting that usually means sweatpants and a t-shirt. You don't want to wear anything that makes noise when you're moving your arms around. The same goes for watches, jewelry, chains, or any kind of bling you may have. The microphone is incredibly sensitive and anything that rattles, clinks, of whatever will get picked up.

How do I set up a home studio?

The days of auditioning in a professional recording studio are coming to a close, so most people will want to be able to record auditions from home. Here's what you'll need.

Recording Space

A small room or walk-in closet that you can dedicate to recording. The best mic in a bad room, will still sound bad. You'll need to dampen the sound of that room as much as possible.

Treatment Option #1

The cheapest and easiest option is to cover every wall with thick moving blankets. They're not ideal but it will help to eliminate high-end reflections and make the space a little more dead.

Treatment Option #2

A better option is to buy sound absorption panels. These are big box frames that are filled with rockwool insulation and covered in fabric. These will make a serious impact on the sound of the room and eliminate high-end reflections as well as a lot of the mid-range stuff. You can also build these yourself for a fraction of the price! 1x4s, rockwool insulation, fabric, thin plywood, and some screws. A trip to the local hardware store, an afternoon of crafting, and about $300 in materials will make a huge impact on your recording space.

What microphone and gear should I get for my home studio?

I've used a ton of different microphones for VO over the years. The Neumann U87 is the undisputed king of voice-over microphones, but it's also close to $4,000. If you're reading this you're probably looking for something more budget friendly. My personal recommendation is the Aston Origin. This is an amazing voice-over microphone that has a lot of the qualities that the U87 brings to the table. It's got a big warm low end, it's not overly bright, and it's only $300. The most popular beginner mic is the $250 Rode NT-1 and the Aston Origin absolutely blows it out of the water. Spend the extra $50 for the Aston, it is well worth it.

What interface should I get for my home studio?

The Focusrite Scarlett Solo. It's cheap and it works. Unless you start doing serious big-budget productions, you really don't need anything better. If you're wondering what an interface is, it's basically the thing that powers your microphone, controls the volume to the microphone, and turns the microphone's analogue signal into something the computer can understand.

What recording program (DAW) should I get for my home studio?

AVID's Pro Tools is the industry standard, BUT that's not what you want. First off it's expensive, not user friendly, and they have the worst customer service of all time. I recommend Reaper, it does 90% of what Pro Tools does and it's a one-time $60 purchase. Also you can demo it for free, for just about forever. It takes a while to learn, but it will be well worth it in the long term.

What headphones should I use in my home studio?

Sony MDR-7506 Closed-Back Professional Headphones. They're cheap, they're durable, they last forever. These are the perfect headphones for self-monitoring. They'll give you a super-flat and non-exaggerated response so you have a very accurate idea of what your recording actually sounds like. These have been a professional recording studio standard for nearly 30 years and they only cost $100.