SOUND4VO.com

By Dan Friedman

On Saturday night while most Faffers were out to dinner, Amy Snively, Pam Tierney and I sat in the mezzanine of the Crowne Plaza Hotel Harrisburg and talked. Among many other discussions, we talked about our favorite parts of the event and past events. I mentioned at one point that I thought everyone’s first Faffcon would be their favorite.
Let’s face it, if you’ve been to Faffcon, you already know you will be coming to a second and probably more after that. The only Faffcon I’ve missed (and therefore hope I will ever miss) is the very first in Portland, OR. It is the one Faffcon that set the stage for all others and I’m sure it will never be duplicated. However, just 24 hours after my conversation with Pam and Amy, I had an amazing experience that I will never forget.

Pam actually had offered to “hire” me to help her with her studio. We were going to go through her entire signal chain from “soup to nuts” (Pam… FOCUS!) . But, as far as I was concerned, this was a great opportunity to continue faffing, so we invited others to join us in the mezzanine. About 20 of us spent over three and a half hours talking studio stuff. It was an incredible thrill for me to share my knowledge, and also learn from everyone who participated, in a truly unexpected Faffcon session. I was told later that this impromptu session captured the essence of the very first Faffcon exactly. How cool is that!

Like any “first,” everyone’s first Faffcon will probably always be their most memorable. However, and this is the true beauty of Faffcon, each session and event is filled with “firsts”, opening up the possibility to new opportunity, new connections and handfuls of “golden nuggets” each and every time. It is truly an inspirational event. I hope that everyone in voiceover gets the opportunity to experience these “firsts” for themselves.

And now some very special shout outs:

David Goldberg – I really appreciated the opportunity to work with you and to get to know you better this time around. I know we can make things happen and I’m excited about the possibilities.

Colleen Colin – Voicebank and Voice Registry provide such a vital service to our community, I’m thrilled to be a new member. Thank you for all you contribute to Faffcon and our industry.

Pam Tierney – Your adventurous spirit and sense of humor is infectious. Thank you for all that you do for Faffcon and for your friendship.

Paul Strikwerda – Your session on blogging was fantastic. I was inspired to write an entire blog based on just one thing you said (this will be forthcoming). I know that my blog will benefit greatly from your advice.

Peter O’Connell – Your improv sessions provided me with some of the best laughs I’ve had in years. They also got me out of my comfort zone and offered an experience that I will never forget.

Melissa Exelberth – Where would I be without you Melissa? Probably under a table at the Firehouse. Thank you for being such a good friend and pouring me into the rickshaw on Friday night and getting me where I needed to be. I’m not ashamed to admit how much fun that night was!

Corey Snow – It was a pleasure to meet you. I know we will be talking more and working  on some things in the future.

Philip Banks – Thank you for just being there. It is incredible that you traveled half a world away to share your knowledge and experience with us. While that alone would have been enough, your support for my efforts and words of encouragement were greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Cris Dukehart – I think you may have been instrumental in opening a new door for me. Thank you for that. I really look forward to getting to spend more time with you in the future.

Liz de Nesnera  – I am so thankful for your friendship, support, kind words and everything else… and yes… your demo deliveries ROCK!

Cindy Neill – It was a pleasure to meet you face to face. You are always a blast to work with and I’m happy to help you (directly or indirectly) any time you need it.

Tom Dheere, Trish Basanyi and Lauren McCullough – I loved hanging out with all of you on Friday and at various times throughout the weekend. You are all ROCK STARS!

Special thanks to my ProComm family:

Amy Snively
Amy Taylor
Cindy Neill
Mike Harrison
Rowell Gorman
Zak Miller
Bob Souer
Philip Banks
Melissa Exelberth

I love you all!

Bob Souer – Your generosity, expertise, and knowledge is simply unmatched. Thank you so much for all of your kind words, support, information and help with my personal journey as well as everything you do to help make this event happen.

and… our QUEEN BEE…

Amy Snively – Words really cannot express the level of appreciation we all have for what you do and for how you have enriched all of our lives by bringing us Faffcon. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of the Faffcon crew. It is an honor and a pleasure. You literally work to the point of exhaustion and WE LOVE YOU and THANK YOU for everything!!

I would also like to thank everyone who has ever purchased a copy of:

SOUND ADVICE – Voiceover From An Audio Engineer’s Perspective

Thank you so much for your support and kind words. Let me know if I can ever be of help.

Since returning from Italy a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been dealing with a trademark issue regarding the name of my website. While I won’t express my thoughts about the need for this change or even get into the specifics, I will say that it is great to know that my book SOUND ADVICE – Voiceover From An Audio Engineer’s Perspective, my blog and my presence in the VO world are getting noticed. I greatly appreciate the kind and supportive messages I’ve received in response to the book and also my blog articles, both on my site and on the ProComm Voices website.

I want to take this opportunity to thank attorney and voice actor Rob Sciglimpaglia for his  help with the trademark issue. A couple of days before I left town, Rob “friended” me on Facebook. I didn’t know Rob, but I knew of him. I had read some of his postings on various voiceover related forums and websites. As fate will have it… Rob’s timing could not have been better. When I returned from my trip, waiting for me, was a letter informing me of the trademark issue. I immediately contacted Rob. He was very helpful, friendly and responsive throughout the whole process. It is nice to know that there is an attorney who not only understands the legal issues related to our business, but also actively participates in it as a voice talent.

Change is a certainty in life. Although we don’t always get to choose when a change happens or becomes necessary, it still often leads to bigger and better things. With this in mind, I’m announcing that SoundAdviceVO.com is changing its name to Sound4VO.com and my facebook page, SoundAdvice – Voiceover, will also change to Sound4VO. Please make a note of these changes.

My mission (which remains the same) is to help voice talent everywhere sound their best and to effectively communicate the messages of my clients for whom I provide my voice. I look forward to helping voice actors with their equipment, studios, demos, and deliveries and also to sharing the knowledge I’ve gained from years of experience on both sides of the microphone with our industry. I love my job!

For a long time, I’d say the last couple of years at least, it seemed that the vast majority of scripts I was recording, mixing, or voicing were simple voice and music spots. Lately though, I’ve noticed more dialogs as well as scripts with interesting scenarios and an abundance of clever lines. To all of the writers and ad agencies out there who are responsible for this… let me express my gratitude. What a welcome change!

Every single aspect of this great business gets even better when creativity is injected into the process. Recording sessions are more fun as talent get to interact and react in response to one another or their lines. Mixing is more fun with greater opportunities for sound design. Most importantly, the spots are more interesting and attention-getting when on the airwaves. Naturally, the concept must be well executed, but that is for another article. I don’t think I’m out of line by suggesting that nearly everyone prefers to listen to a compelling or clever story rather than be told what to do, or worse, shouted at (just ask my kids).

During the last several weeks I mixed a spot for a bank that placed a character in a silo to demonstrate that people can truly do their banking from anywhere. I voiced a spot that included clever and relatable lines in response to a kid who couldn’t stop asking, “why?” I’ve worked on a hospital spot where a husband took the lead in helping his wife prepare for surgery. These are just a few examples out of many. While I haven’t done any scientific studies (although there probably are some), I’m convinced that people are more likely to turn up or tune in to a commercial if it offers more than just price points and deals. The VW commercial that premiered during this year’s Super Bowl is a perfect example. It is cute, it is compelling and it tells a story (okay, so it does not include voice over… nothing is perfect).

Today’s technology makes sound design easier and faster than ever. Therefore, creativity doesn’t have to cost a lot more. As a VO engineer and producer I love creating a scene with sound. As a voice over talent, I love to communicate the unspoken messages of a script just as much as the spoken ones. I don’t know of any producers or voice talent who would not prefer to fully utilize the skills they’ve developed in their craft. My guess is that, if you are a writer, being creative and clever to effectively communicate a message is equally rewarding. So, to those writers out there who are bringing creativity back… thank you! I encourage you to keep it up and I look forward to helping you and your clients sound great.

Today my 8yr old son had a VO gig. He’s been doing this since he was 5. In those early days, before he could read, I would sit in the booth with him, read the line and he would “parrot” the lines back to me the way I read them. These days… he’s almost entirely on his own.

Today was harder than most, probably because I was still involved. I think he tends to overdo it a little when I’m around. I sat behind the scenes on another session he did a couple of weeks ago, with another engineer, and he was nearly flawless. His interpretation was spot on from the very first take. I guess we really know how good are kids are, or maybe how good we’re doing as parents, by how they behave when they think we’re not looking.

Today’s job was a full 30 second spot where he had to say things like “free frozen” and “fifteenth”. He also had to say “particularly”. These words are a mouthful for some adult voiceover talent and especially for his (still) chubby cheeks. After only a few takes he began saying everything so well that the client and I decided to use some earlier takes simply because the stumbles were cuter.

What is probably most exciting though is hearing the progress he’s made over one year. He worked on this campaign last year as well. Today we updated one of the three spots he did last year (all full 30 second spots with him carrying the entire spot). Two of the three are being used again. After warming up a little, his interpretations came together quickly. He didn’t need nearly as many takes as last year and the editing took no more than a few minutes. He did a great job and the spot came out very nicely. Needless to say, I’m proud.

Although both of my son’s have been doing VO work, I’m pretty sure they won’t pursue it as a career and I’m not sure I would want them to. But I do want both of my sons to do what their daddy does… so I tell them, “do what you love and figure out a way to make a living at it.”

Speaking of my other son, my 6 year old wanted to know why he didn’t have a VO job today. He clearly understands this business pretty well already… don’t you think?

Dan

As I opened my Facebook page today I saw some great comments from a few of my new Faffcon friends.

Randye Kaye – “Dan Friedman your whole blog rocks! great advice for Vo directors, talents and engineers as well. will share the link.”

Mercedes Rose – “Immediately came home and adjusted all the settings in my studio. I sound even more brilliant. Didn’t even know that was possible. Thanks to you, ya golden nugget you.”

Loren Kling – “Dan, nice meeting you and great book so far. Was reading it on the plane and may have scored a future VO opportunity.”

THIS IS AMAZING STUFF! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

I’ve got to be honest… I don’t normally hear these things. As voiceoverists, audio engineers and studio people in general we are all very isolated at times. We live in bubbles (that are kept cold, dark and are filled with pretty lights and fun knobs and faders to play with). Sure we sometimes get praised for the work that we do, usually when we are doing it… and that is great, but rarely does it continue beyond that moment.

I’ve been at ProComm Voices for nearly 10 years. Doing a great job is what is expected of me and what I expect from myself as well as my co-workers. Because we all routinely deliver on this promise, we rarely take the time to praise one another… it would almost seem silly to do so.

Praise sure does feel good though. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that the things I had to say at Faffcon, or that my book, would be so graciously accepted. Subsequently, I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would feel so good hearing what great results people are having because of something I said or wrote. Thank you so much for the positive feedback and please… do not hesitate to also let me know if you disagree with something or would like more information or clarification on anything in the book. I want to continue to provide the best and most useful information I can for our VO community.

Thanks again to everyone who I spoke to at Faffcon… but especially to my friends and co-workers at ProComm Voices. You all do a great job!

-Dan

Attending Faffcon in Atlanta this past weekend was an incredible experience for me. As I drove back home last night I couldn’t help but smile the entire way… good thing I don’t drive a motorcycle — do I have something in my teeth Mercedes?

As many of you who attended may have guessed… I really love what I do. After meeting all of you, it was so clear that all of you love what you do as well. It was great to see and hear with my own eyes and ears that each of you really care about your sound, your studios and improving them whenever and however possible. Thanks to all of you who attended and those who have supported me and my book. I really appreciate it and please feel free to comment on it or let me know if you have questions or concerns.

Now some very special shout outs!

Amy Snively – You did an incredible job organizing this event! Thank you for greeting me with open arms. Faffcon is a great event for our industry.

John Florian – It was great to meet you. Thank you so much for posting my articles on VoiceOverXtra. All of the information you provide on your site is a must read.

Mercedes Rose – What can I say… our discussion over coffee will be my most memorable moment and probably my biggest “golden nugget”. As you can see I’m already putting some of it into practice. I’m a slow learner so I hope you will continue to guide me.

Paul Armbruster – I meant what I said… if it wasn’t for you and your workshop, I would never be where I am today. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Peter O’Connell – You are a smart and funny guy. I think you definitely gave us all some great laughs.

Randye Kaye – I know you didn’t know about the book when you attended my group, so when you asked if there was a book (any book) available, you opened a door for me to talk about it without me having to feel apprehensive about doing so. It was impromptu and simply perfect! Thank you.

Pam Tierney – I really enjoyed meeting and talking with you. I know I will be talking to you again soon.

Dan Lenard – It was great to finally meet you. I really appreciate what you do to help everyone in our industry sound their very best.

Bob Souer – You sir, are truly an inspiration to us all.

To my ProComm Voices peeps – Melissa Exelberth, Rowell Gorman, Kevin Silva, Bob Souer, George Washington III and Wendy Zier – It was so great to see all of you. Thank you for the great sessions we’ve had and I look forward to many more in the future.

Have a great day everyone! Travel safely.

Dan