5 Early VO Influences

Happy Voice-Over Appreciation Month!

I thought I’d take a moment to showcase five voices that are probably responsible for the paths I’ve taken in life, be it radio or animation. Not that I knew it when I heard them, mind you. Let’s call them ‘early influences.’

Ernie Anderson
His voice was synonymous with ABC television for as long as I can remember. He was the personality of the network, which is the whole point of imaging. He had the voice of God and he made programs like the Love Boat sound like the most exciting show ever! You didn’t hop on board the “Love Boat.” You took a ride on the “Loooooooove Boat!” He almost made it sound dirty, which he claims was his intention in this terrific interview segment.

 

Wolfman Jack
That deep, raspy voice first came to my attention in a film favorite of mine, George Lucas’s “American Graffiti.” Although he wasn’t onscreen for long, his voice on the radio was as much a character in the movie as any of the young stars. There was a mystery about him. He sounded like a cartoon! What did he look like? Why does he call himself the Wolfman? Was he as hairy as a Werewolf? There’s a lesson in branding for you. I still enjoy his DJ bits on the (killer) soundtrack to this classic coming of age comedy. Jump to the :50 mark in the scene below to watch Wolfman Jack’s cameo with Richard Dreyfus.



Mel Blanc
No surprise here. The Man of a Thousand Voices! He’s on everybody’s list. Bugs Bunny, Barney Rubble, Speed Buggy. I’m sure Mel Blanc was the first animation voice I ever heard, and I’m positive he was the first voice-actor I ever saw in front of the camera. Seeing him onscreen in that famous American Express commercial didn’t break the illusion for me. I knew they were hand-drawn cartoons. But to think all of those voices came out of one man? I just thought he had the coolest job in the world! Apparently many folks felt that way as his requests for autographs jumped significantly as a result of the ad.



James Earl Jones
Another great mystery here. Two or three, in fact. And another George Lucas movie… Star Wars. David Prowse was tall enough to fill out the Darth Vader costume, but a British tenor was not what Lucas had in mind for the voice of filmdom’s most popular villain. He chose the deep, bass tones of James Earl Jones. And when the helmet came off in Return of the Jedi? It was neither of these guys. But “Luke, I am your father” is one of the most (mis)quoted lines in film history (he actually says ‘No. I am your father.’) And then there’s his great speech in “Field of Dreams.” And of course, the ID for CNN.



Rich Little
Rich Little was always on TV when I was growing up. Seemingly able to do an impression of anyone, he even had the targets of his satire laughing (as you’ll see in the clip below). Rich Little had me doing impressions of Rich Little doing impressions of celebrities. And we can still take a lesson from his fearlessness when performing… He’s not afraid to look silly. He commits to the role. And he really becomes the character in posture, mannerisms and facial expressions.



This is by no means a definitive list of my voice-over heroes, nor are they ranked by importance. But when I stop and think about it, they really are my earliest voice-over influences. They provided the catch-phrases of my youth.

Who influenced your VO career?

A Toast for National Voice-Over Appreciation Month!

September is National Voice-Over Appreciation Month. I’m lucky enough to be a part of the voice-over community, but I thought I’d take a moment to share with you the many ways that I interact with voice-over when I’m not the one on the microphone.


When I'm driving, a pleasant sounding British woman tells me where to turn. This makes for a total of two women in the car giving me directions.

When I shop, an

Audio Editing 101

 In the freelance voice-over business, we all wear many hats. The acting hat, the marketing hat, the book-keeping hat… The John Deere hat, the dunce cap, and the one with the mouse ears…It’s possible that you are a voice-actor by choice, but an audio engineer by necessity. If you are new to slicing and dicing .wav files, this tutorial is for you.

The images and shortcuts provided in this article reference Pro-Tools, and are Mac-centric, but the methods can be applied to any audio-editing software that you may happen to use. Honestly, if you are strictly doing voice-work, a free program like Audacity is all that you need to record and edit a single track. If you have goals of producing your own multi-track commercials or demo songs, then I would suggest