British voice overs
Scan the internet for voice over work and you will be faced with an enormous array of sites offering voice training courses, advice about agencies and newcomers posting questions asking where and how to start in voice-overs. When you click on some of these sites, you will notice that many of them are based outside the United Kingdom.
So where do those of us with British accents find the work? One way is to refine the search, putting in keywords such as ” UK voice over agency” or “voice over training in London, Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham”. You can be even more specific by mentioning your gender; so “female British voice over artist” and “male British voiceover UK based” will produce some interesting results.
However there are limitations to all of this. It assumes that voice over artists only achieve jobs and work in their country of residence; in the age of the internet this is certainly not the case. Those beginning their careers often find there is just as much (if not more) opportunity outside of Britain. There are a couple of reasons for this:
Inexpensive recording equipment means you can set up a mini studio at home with minimal outlay. You just need your computer, some software (free to download from the net) a microphone and sound deadening material. In the latter case, pillows duvets and curtains will work well in removing room ambience. So it does not matter where you live or indeed where your client is located, you can deliver a sound file from anywhere to anywhere.
The other reason is that international clients, especially in the US, Middle East and Europe, just love a genuine British accent. In many cases it adds cachet and gives a product upmarket appeal. If you have not made your showreel yet, ask your voice over coach to really bring out your natural tones and accentuate the accent, whether it is Home Counties BBC style, or you have a regional lilt such as ‘Geordie’, ‘Scouse’ or even ‘Brummie.’
Have you ever heard an advert on the radio? Or a disembodied voice on the TV? Well those things are all done by voice over artists. Any voice work that needs to be done where the person is not visible will be done by these people. If you want to work as a voice over artist there are some things you are going to have to know.
The first thing you will need to know is that you are not simply reading a script. As the audience does not get to see you the emphasis on emotion in the voice is much greater. You will need to be able to covey messages and emotions using only your voice. Of course you do not have to have a smooth, velvety voice either. No matter what you voice sounds like there is bound to be someone out there looking for someone with it.
Voice over agencies can offer you a host of different services that you will need to help you with your career. There are some that have their own recording studios where you can record your demos and any work that you may get. The one big advantage of going with an agency is that they will do all the leg work of getting you an audition for a job. Also there are many companies who will rather go through an agency to get their talent then try their luck with freelancers.
These days you do not need a big, expensive recording studio to get going. You already have the basic bit of kit….. it is your computer. Recording software is freely available on the internet, so all you need to buy is a decent vocal microphone. You can even replicate studio acoustics by using pillows and duvets around the recording area.
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