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Everybody Should Have an “Uncle Willie” (part one)

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The Man of Multiple Names Could Hear My Multiple Voices

To his wife Joyce, his co-workers and other friends he was “Bill”.  His mom, my grandma,  always referred to him as William Thomas (I always wondered who that “William Thomas” guy she kept talking about was).  But to me and my younger brother Lee (pictured above), he was Willie.  Not even “Uncle” Willie…just Willie.  It was what my mom and his other siblings called him, and he graciously allowed us to keep using that name for the rest of his life.  Willie was probably the person most responsible for developing my creative talents and imagination.

Don’t get me wrong.  Mom always read stories to me (shifting her voice with the characters), and she and Dad always made sure I had imaginative toys, books, records, crayons & paper,  and  (of course) plenty of cardboard boxes.  Dad had plans to go into drafting (before the government beat him to it and drafted him for a little assignment in 1940s Germany), so my drawing and cartooning abilities doubtless came from him.  Mom and Joyce both made puppets for me over the years and if they ever thought I was weird for doing the voices of my stuffed toys as I played, they never let on.  But it was Willie who actively joined in the play, and invited me to join in his own, right thru adulthood.

The Electric and the Eclectic  

It was Willie who fostered my interest in things electronic.  He built me a crystal radio set and showed me how to string antennae wire all over grandma’s spare room and listen to voices and music over the headphones.  It was Willie who put me on the air for the very first time…even if it was just a quick “hello” over his custom-built ham radio set-up.

It was Willie who took me over to visit his friend Don Scales, who built hi-fi systems and had this funny contraption called a tape recorder.  He let us kids not only record our voices, but play around with tape echo effects.  And some years later it was Willie, through his connection with Don (also chief engineer at the home town radio station), who got me my first part time job as a radio announcer/dj  while I was still in high school.  It’s no false modesty when I say it was Willie’s doing  and not my own talents — I still have the original audition reel and it’s cringeworthy!

When I got a tape recorder of my own and started messing around with character voices and the sound effects I could pull off my cartoon kiddie records, Willie not only encouraged me, he wrote some silly “radio serial” scripts about the guys he worked with in the radio/tv repair shop at Sears – “The Adventures of Picture Tube Charlie”, and did some of the voices alongside mine.  I’m told the gang at work kept bugging him for new “episodes”.

Expanding the Circuit

While I never learned any electrical engineering, Willie did provide for the advancement of my on air style, creating a makeshift “portable consolette” for me out of old record players, a recycled cart machine, basic microphone and a small mixing board which he built himself.  I even used it at a few of my high school dances…the only time you’d find an un-datable square like me at such an event.

Willie , who worked as a TV Repair man at Sears, salvaged an old b&w tv from the shop and got it working so I could have it in my basement lair at home (another blog for another time).  That was the one I remember watching the first moon landing on.  During college, he repaired another set for my first apartment, and it was the first color tv in our immediate family.  Willie and Joyce had a big RCA color console at their house, of course, with sound that could be rigged through his custom stereo.  As kids, we were thrilled when a Saturday family gathering or a rare overnight stay gave us a treasured glimpse into this magical new world of color.  Promos for the upcoming week’s “Batman” almost gave me a sensory overload!  On more than a few Sunday nights, mom and dad grudgingly let our visit go into overtime so we could watch Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color before heading  home.

Still later, during the Betamax years, Willie could always be counted upon to faithfully watch the tapes  I’d bring home of a tv commercial or promo I’d directed or appeared in, or the few clips I was able to snag when my puppet characters and I appeared on the local kiddie show, “Time for Uncle Paul” (again…another blog for another time).

Even when the rest of the family wasn’t really that interested, Willie (and Joyce) served as my enthusiastic and encouraging audience.  And Joyce actually contributed one of the makeshift puppets I used on the show, Malcom, who was built from a teddy bear body and a ‘cookie monster’ style head that could “eat” cookies through a slot in the back of his mouth.  On the show, though, he quickly developed into a sweet, slow-witted soul not unlike Edgar Bergen‘s bumpkin, “Mortimer Snerd“.  The puppets couldn’t actually do much, physically.  But they really came alive as characters.

But Willie’s influence, and Joyce’s, didn’t stop at local radio and local tv.  It’s literally gone around the world thanks to all those years of creative nurturing.  More on that in the next post.

— over and out —

Hitting the Voiceover Trail (you can’t get there the way I did)

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It’s an honest question. I get it a lot.

“How do I get into voiceovers?”

Usually, the person wants a Secret Formula…wants to know how I did it…wants to know how to follow the same path I did.  The thing of it is:  you can’t follow that path.  It simply doesn’t exist anymore.

Broken Roads

The first thing I used to tell these people (back when I knew everything) was, “Get a part time job at your local radio station.”  My start was a 250 watt AM station in a small Indiana town, which (until they added FM) could barely reach the city limits.  Places like that do still exist, but now they’re usually just outlets for syndicated programs with someone else doing all the talking.  Even if you did manage to find a station that’d let you do much on the air, chances are you’d be stuck in a rigid format that frowns on any individual personality.

Voiceover’s “Poison Pill”

But let’s say you did find a local station that’d let you keep that mic open for more than ten seconds at a time.  Chances are, you’d be learning and developing skills alright… the wrong ones.  For one thing, you’d likely be tempted to sound like the other radio DJs you’ve heard all your life, and who are on the air with you now.  Trouble is, that DJ sound is exactly what voice seekers don’t want anymore.  They avoid it like the plague.  Send out a voice audition with what we used to derisively call the “Ron Radio” sound, and you probably won’t be heard past slating your name.  Even if you’re not yukking it up like a DJ, chances are you’ll be considered “too announcer-y“.  It doesn’t matter how nice your voice sounds.

Writing Your Own Ticket

Unlike my experience, you also won’t find yourself in a position to develop your own style by creating your own material.  It didn’t take long for me to figure out I’d never make it as a Disc Jockey.  But I did enjoy running what they used to call a “tight board”, turning the various elements of an air shift (commercials, Public Service Announcements, time & temp, and the music) into one smooth audio flow.  After a few wrong turns I was finally able to see a more likely radio future in the production room.  Doing commercials and little comedy bits for the “real announcers”, I was able to use all the character voices I’d gleaned from years of watching Bugs Bunny and Yogi Bear and Bullwinkle.  Not just funny voices.  Characters.  Eventually (very eventually), I got hired by a radio station who wanted a production guy who could “think like [Stan] Freberg and keep it clean”.  There I found a like-minded mentor who showed me how to adapt my writing skills into creating good, engaging, and entertaining advertising copy.  Within a year, I started picking up local Addy Awards.  Part of my secret was being able to write material for myself I already knew I was good at.  The other part was luck in having advertisers who let me do it.  You may not be able to rely on your own word-smithing to give you an edge.

So What Am I Supposed To Do?

Chances are, you can’t get away with doing what I did.  Heck, I wouldn’t be able to get away with it myself.  Radio stations don’t have time to train you, they want you to hit the ground running.  And formats are so rigid today, the kinds of stuff I created would never get on the air.  And studios?  They don’t have time to un-train you!

Parallel Highways

Have you ever been driving down an Interstate and notice an old two-lane road running alongside?  It’s an older way to get somewhere, but not exactly the same route or even end point.  There are still ways you can adapt the things I did to get into voice work.  Not everyone has the same experience, but here are some parallels.

  1. Find A Place To Stink. Comedian George Burns lamented the end of Vaudeville because, he said, it left “no place to be bad”.  Touring the circuit, performers were able to learn what worked and what didn’t, until their talents were polished and their individual styles emerged.  You may not have local radio, but there are podcasts, local theatre, or even just fooling around with the record button on your phone.  Learn to listen to yourself.  Compare what you hear to the sound and style of national (not local) commercials.  Don’t imitate those voices.  Find a way to do your own version of those styles.
  2. Find a Mentor. Sure,  you probably won’t have anyone like the guys who took me under their creative wings at the radio stations.  But you can find teachers online, maybe even where you live, who’ll guide you to finding your own voice (or voices).  I’m not talking about the people who want to sign you up for an instant voice demo after a $2,000.00 weekend seminar…I’m talking about someone who’ll work with you, one-on-one.  If you don’t have stage fright (or even if you do), get involved in community theatre.  You’ll learn how to use your voice in the context of a character (straight or comic). See what you can learn from various directors.  It’s likely you’ll have several mentors shaping you before you’re ready to “show yourself”.
  3. Learn what you’re good at. You may be able to do a great Homer Simpson but guess what.  That  job’s already taken.  Perhaps you can sound like Morgan Freeman or whoever the celebrity-du-jour is for producers.  But unless you’re a great impressionist, just develop your own way of adapting those styles.  It’ll happen over time.  And it will take time.

What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been

So, yeah.  You probably won’t get anywhere in your voiceover career by trying to do it the way I did it.  But that’s because this is now…and you’re you.  I’m still at it because I’ve tried to keep learning and adapting as styles and market demands change (and they’ll always be changing).  Once you get the hang of reading the signs, I bet you’ll find the “road rise up to meet you”…instead of coming to a dead end.  I’d be interested to hear what routes you’ve discovered.

— over and out —

Grunters and Screamers

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I’m not a Grunter or a Screamer.  No, this has nothing to do with my love life.  (Shame on you.)

 

“Whooooo Are You? Who-Who, Who-Who.”

One of the first tools I received as a budding young copy writer was “Tell ’em who you are by telling ’em who you ain’t.”  That may not be the current wisdom, but I’ve found it helpful in several areas of my career…not just in scripting ads.

It can apply to your image as a voice talent.  For example – my friend and marketing genius Doug Turkel promotes himself as the Un-nouncer, giving potential clients an instant idea of his style before they even click a demo.  It must be a good idea, because at least one other VO ripped off the theme for his own use before Doug put a stop to it.

But there’s another way to apply that “who you ain’t” tool, which will save you loads of frustration and wasted promotional efforts…plus make voice seekers appreciate you, even if they decide not to listen to your samples.

 

“I Gotta Be Me” 

Decide, early on, what you can…or what you want to do…with that voice of yours.  You’ll save your potential clients some search time and, even more importantly, save yourself a ton of unsatisfying effort struggling to do something you just don’t enjoy.  I’m not talking about refusing to try a different style of read at the behest of a client or coach.  And I don’t mean you should never explore things outside your comfort zone.  But in my experience, it’s been beneficial to know what I’m best at, and what I’m better off leaving to others.

Back to the title above.  I’m strictly a PG rated voice talent.  But I discovered early on that I just don’t want to spend my time at the mic repeatedly screaming my lungs out in terror or pain, or doing an hour of variations on “ungh!!!” for video games.  If it’s just part of a character I’m voicing, sure that’s fine.  But if that’s the whole character?  I’ll be glad to recommend some talented friends who not only enjoy that type of work, they excel at it.  I don’t know about you, but if I enjoy what I’m doing, I generally do a better job (and the director is going to get a better end product)!

Now, does that mean I never do video game voices?  Of course not.  But I found my specialties early on.  And, like most of my other acting, it rarely involves being the star.  My main value, and what I really enjoy, is being the voice of that slightly offbeat character the hero encounters…you know, the peddler who has that special equipment. or the magical earth spirit who has the next step in the quest, or the commander who sets out the mission and barks orders, or the little creature who offers a clue to a puzzle.

 

Jack-Of-All-Trades, Master of SOME

This philosophy also helps in radio spots or tv voiceovers.  I don’t enjoy doing screamer spots (“If YOU have a job and NINETY-NINE DOLLARS, YOU can DRIVE TODAY!!!” or “BE Therrrrrrre!”).  And that’s cool.  There are plenty of other talented people (and yes, I admit it’s a special talent) who do that better than I can and probably enjoy it more.

But likely as not, they can’t do what I do…at least not as easily or as well as I can.

Versatile as we may be, we’re serving a voiceover marketplace that usually has a narrow focus.  In my own case, it’s a constant struggle to zero in on what the voice seekers are seeking…not the literally hundreds of voices and character variations I can come up with.

When I worked in radio, our small cadre of announcers/DJs would stretch vocally to match any mood or character or accent as best we could.  Now with the internet, clients have plenty of the “real thing” to call on.  No need to accept a “stretched” voice talent.

 

“Know Thyself”

I’m not saying find one voice and one style and make everything you do sound the same (although there are people who’ve made a career of that).  Do find and exploit every variation and offshoot within your range and style.  Develop a core group of “voices” in your head you can easily switch between, should the copy or the director happen to throw you a curve…much like altering your basic look with a hat or other costume piece.

You’ll be making life easier for your potential client, who may need your specialty next time.  Ultimately, it’ll make life easier for you too!

And if that means being the best darn Grunter or Screamer money can hire…go for it!  I’ll be cheering you from the sidelines, saving my energy and vocal cords for when it’s my line.

 

— over and out —

Just When You Think You’ve Heard It All…

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People who know me are in general agreement that a Big Ego isn’t one of my worst problems.

Still, every so often I catch my overly-humble self missing a real treat because I think “Oh, I already know all about that.”  This turned out to be one of those treats. And if you think you already know all about “Old Radio”, or voice acting, or creating worlds with words and sounds and music, you need to re-think…and enjoy this book.

What I thought was just another book on Nostalgia turned out to have new insights and details on the era of network Radio which I had never encountered…and I’ve been collecting recordings and books on the subject for 40 years.  If you have any interest at all in knowing how people discovered and developed the art of entertaining (and selling) through sound alone…in effect, how the business you as a voice talent proport to be part of came about, “Raised on Radio” should be on your reading list.  This is the origin of your voiceover career, whether you acknowledge it or not!

Author Gerald Nachman goes far beyond the “gee whiz” nostalgic whitewash or dry academic catalogue of so many radio histories.  His is a “warts and all” description of this Theatre of the Mind which still lets all the “beauty marks” show.

Newscasts, Sponsorships, Production and Sound Effects, Soaps, Dramas, Kiddie Shows, Quiz Programs, the relation to Vaudeville and later to TV, tie-ins to movies, music, and the history of the moment, even the development of what’s now known as the situation comedy – it’s all laid out here, in a personal, conversational tone still laced with authority.  And while not a textbook on performance, I noted several sections that would serve as guidance on things like mic technique and character development.  You may even take a fiendish glee in the section about the big movie stars who were absolutely no good in front of a microphone!

It’s a big story, in a big book.  But if you enjoy it as much as I did, you’ll wonder at how fast it goes by.

I think I’ll have to keep it around for a re-run…just to remind myself every once in awhile how much fun it is not to “know it all”.

— over and out —

“It’s A Gift…”

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I don’t think I’ve ever done a “re-run” on the Clogged Blog.  But this one came to mind during a serious moment in Jesse Gephart’s otherwise hilarious stage production of David Sedaris’ “Santaland Diaries”.  This talented performer, in a one-man show, seamlessly shifted from satirical monologue to genuine concern when he noticed an audience member having some very real health issues.  Shifting his focus to solving an unforseen problem, he turned a show-stopping incident into something that seemed completely natural and in character.   That, plus the part of the script detailing all the awkward things Santa gets asked for…brought back an experience I may not have told you about, if you’ve just recently “tuned in”.  This is from 2008.

———————————————–

I can’t reveal names, lest I jeopardize any cherished Christmas traditions, but this really happened. I know because I was there in the studio.

A local radio station decided to whisk Santa Claus into town to take phone calls from area kids. It’s a situation just waiting for a misstep.  And sure enough, just fifteen minutes into the hour, it happened.

Santa was cheerily chatting up a sister and little brother, with plans of innocent avarice dancing in their heads. At one point, Santa asked the boy if there was anything else he’d like. There was the briefest hesitation, and then the little guy continued…words carefully chosen, and voice starting to quaver a little.

“What I’d really like…would be…to be able to…talk to my Papa again.”

It was more a simple statement than a request. But I couldn’t imagine how the old guy was going to get through this one. Before I’d even finished the thought I heard Santa, in a very soft and sympathetic voice: “Ohhhh, I know what it’s like to miss a papa, especially around the holidays. It’s extra difficult, isn’t it.”

“Yeah,” the little voice replied.

“Well,” continued the old gent at the microphone, “I’m not sure exactly how much I can fix, but…I’ve got an idea. You put your mom back on the phone, and meanwhile we’ll work on getting that game system you and I talked about to maybe lift your spirits a little, okay?”

“Okay.”

And darned if it didn’t sound like that was just enough for the young fellow. He handed the phone back to his mother and I heard Santa, in that same caring voice, ask if she had any old recordings of the dad she could lift a little something from, and wrap up a small tape or disc for the boy…with a note that it was the best Santa could do. Those of us in the studio half expected the lady to brush it off, but she immediately brightened to the idea, saying she’d never thought of that, and knew of something that might just fit the bill.

Sincere wishes for a season of comfort were exchanged and the call was ended. The editor went to work and condensed what actually went on the air, though I was surprised he left in the conversation about “papa”.  A brief adlib was attached alluding to the “talk to mom/got an idea/lift the spirits” ending and the call went out over the air.

I don’t remember much about the rest of that hour. But later I had to wonder how differently it could have gone, if the station had just yanked in some guy with a funny voice who could go “Ho Ho Ho!” on cue and talk about toys.

I post this “long winter’s tale” not so much as a credit to quick thinking, but as an encouragement for all of us who are tasked with using our talents to really connect with the person(s) we’re being paid to talk to.

Yeah, it helps if you can nail the sound and read the words without stumbling. But when the person at the microphone can let some part of what’s truly inside come out in what’s being voiced, whatever’s on the page…there’s potential to transform the everday into something a little more.

But who am I to say: maybe he WAS the genuine article!

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays and a Season of Comfort to us all.

— over and out —

Do You Know Where You Came From? No, I Don’t Mean That Way…

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I consider myself pretty knowledgable in things involving voice recording over the years…especially in Radio, film and animation.

But voice talent Scott Reynes just boosted my knowledge by leaps and bounds with a chart he created, which chronicles the history of the voiceover.

You’ll find it at http://scottreyns.com/history-of-voice-over.php   Once you get there, click on the thumbnail that looks like the picture here, and you’ll get the full-size graphic.

Thanks, too, to the BillyBlog over at http://www.billyvoice.com/blog/.  If I hadn’t seen it mentioned there, I might have missed it.

— over and out —