A Day in the Life of a Budding VO Artist

Being a voiceover artist is one of the more interesting professions, in the sense that it’s something that is very much in the public sphere, but somehow also way out of the spotlight (which just happens to be my absolute sweet-spot). I thought I would kick off my blog with a quick rundown of how most of my VO days go.

Morning:

Admittedly, I ‘m not a morning person. So, very little gets done before I have a cup of coffee… Once I have my coffee and parse through my emails (usually around 8:00 - 8:30) I do a quick specialized yoga session on Rosie Secker’s YouTube channel Vox Yoga. Her yoga classes are targeted towards singers, but there is a considerable amount of overlap between singing and voice acting. 

After I have gone through that morning routine, I dive into anything I have scheduled to be recorded that day. Typically, I will have already reviewed and marked up my scripts the day or two before. I like to re-familiarize myself with the scripts before I get in my booth. I like to do a ‘marked’ rehearsal. Just something to kind of get me in the headspace of where I want to eventually get once I hit “record”. At this point I have usually totally lost track of what time it is, so I just carry on with whatever I have to do.

I now get in my home booth and begin a quick warm up. Once again, venturing over to Vox Yoga’s YouTube channel for some quick body, breath, and vocal warm ups… followed by a quick showtune sung in character to get the energy going. These days, I’m particularly partial to the Hamilton Broadway Cast Recording. The pace of the songs and mixture of characters in each number is actually a pretty good way to get my voice prepped for work. 

Then it’s time to record. I read through each script I have scheduled, starting with any commissioned work, then moving to auditions. When I get to my auditions, I typically start with any audiobooks, as these tend to be longer readings than commercial or character work. It may not seem like it, but for some of us, voice acting takes a considerable amount of energy. Those of us who are not blessed with a naturally gripping voice, and rely more on our storytelling ability need to awkwardly perform our reads as though there’s a live audience in our tiny home booths.

Once I have done all of my recordings, I step away from everything to clear my mind. I don’t like to have my scripts still in my head when I edit my recordings. Usually, I find that when I edit straight after recording I am overly critical of my recordings (especially auditions), because the voice in your head is rarely the exact same as the one you deliver. This leads to inefficient recording times. Some days, I pop into my home gym for a quick workout before lunch… Some days it’s just straight into the kitchen… 

Afternoon:

After lunch, it’s all about editing and correspondence. This stuff is WAY too boring to waste characters on… So, I’ll spare you the details here. The afternoon is when I get to any admin that I have to get to as well. Things like bookkeeping, note taking, and tea drinking. Of course, these tasks are a lot more enjoyable with an office buddy like Finnegan here… Even if he looks bored himself…

Occasionally, there are things that need to be re-recorded, if I don’t like any of my takes. When I do my scheduling, I try to schedule my recordings at least a day in advance of the due date. This way I can do my re-records the next morning, as opposed to forcing another few reads in the afternoon. Maybe this is being a bit too cautious, but I want to take care of my voice. It’s a common trope in music to say “your voice is your instrument”... I get the sentiment, but it’s not exactly true. A simple tune up isn’t going to reset your voice… It's a muscle that requires rest as much as it does maintenance. Pushing out a few extra reads today isn’t worth potentially straining your voice and sounding horrible for the next day or two.

This is especially true for any time you get sick. If you can avoid stressing your voice when you’re sick, just rest it. Find other things to do (like writing a blog). Often we feel like we need to be pushing out auditions everyday when we’re getting started. If you’re not feeling great physically, your takes are not going to sound good enough to land any jobs you’re auditioning for… Rest up, and get back in the booth when you’re capable of putting your best performance into whatever it is you’re doing.

So there it is. It’s not exactly glamorous… or even all that interesting… But, if you ever thought; “I wonder what that guy whose voice is in that commercial does during the day?”... If that guy was me… This is it!  If there’s anyone who is interested in pursuing voiceover, this is a pretty simple formula for your day. It may not work for everyone, but for me it brings some structure to a largely structureless vocation. Of course there are things that will come up, like live recording sessions, or someone who needs a reading ASAP… In those cases, I obviously have to make adjustments. But, for the most part, if you find yourself wondering what I’m up to at any point in time… Reading this should give you a pretty good idea.