Welcome to episode 56 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

This is part 3 of my interview with the wonderfully talented Monica Rial! You can check out her amazingly long list of anime credits on the Anime News Network website!

As we wrap up our discussion of the Texas voice acting market, Monica explains how to approach companies like Funimation and Sentai Filmworks in order to audition for voice acting roles in anime. She also explains what you’ll need to do in order to be truly competitive as a voice actor.

Then, Monica shares with me her 3 part checklist of things she wants every aspiring voice actor to know about before going in to audition:

1. Study your craft.
2. Find your archetype.
3. Don’t fan out.

Monica expands on this checklist and shares all sorts of insider information. Trust me, it will save you a lot of heartache!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #56 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 55 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

This is part 2 of my interview with the wonderfully talented Monica Rial! You can check out her amazingly long list of anime credits on the Anime News Network website!

In this part of our conversation, Monica shares with us the skill from her theater acting background that she has found most useful in her voice acting career. Turns out, it’s a secret, and Monica shares with me how to use that secret to your advantage! Also, she talks about her own challenge in figuring out which character types suited her voice the best and she gives advice on what you can do to find the character types that fit your voice. I think you’ll find it very enlightening!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #55 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 54 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

In this episode, I’m pleased to be interviewing my good friend and amazingly accomplished voice actress Monica Rial! Monica has been in so many anime series, it’s impossible to name all of them here, from Dragon Ball to Excel Saga, from Noir to Soul Eater and everything in between. Monica has spent the majority of her career working in Texas and I was eager to get her on the podcast so she could share her knowledge of the Texas voice acting marketplace with those listeners who may be interested in pursuing voice acting in that area.

As of the recording of this podcast, Funimation is currently the largest distributer of anime in the U.S. and their studios are based in Dallas. ADV films, which helped fuel the anime market in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, is based in Houston and have now remade themselves into Sentai Filmworks. Suffice it to say, there’s a lot of anime that gets dubbed in Texas! In addition, more and more video games are now being recorded in Texas including such titles as Orcs Must Die!, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Halo Wars.

Monica will not only be able to give to you her insight on what it’s like to work as a voice actor in Texas but she’ll also share what it takes to succeed!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #54 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 53 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

I’ve been getting so many great questions from my listeners recently, that I thought I would continue answering their questions here on the podcast. For those who don’t know, in past episodes, I’ve given out a phone number where you can call in and leave me a question about voice acting as a voicemail. From time to time, I’ll pick the most relevant questions I receive and answer them here on the podcast.

For this round of Q & A, I answer questions from David from Albuquerque, NM and Amanda from Irondale, MO.

David wants to know what options there are for practicing voice acting that don’t cost a lot of money. I share with him the advice I give my voice acting students: try voice matching professional voice actors, especially celebrities. Voice matching can help you in a number of different ways:

1. It can help you expand your vocal range.
2. It can build up your roster of characters that are accessible to you.
3. You can get hired to voice match celebrities in video games, animation and commercials.

I not only share with David my advice on how to best practice voice matching, but I also explain the limits of practicing acting on your own and why it’s important to get the insight of a professional if you’d like to compete in the professional voice acting world.

Amanda wants to know if working on fandubs is a viable way to improve one’s voice acting skills. For those who may not know, a fandub is an amateur voice acting project where aspiring voice actors come together to re-record an animated show that they like with their own vocal performances. Some people do it just for fun, some people use it as a learning experience.

While there are many advantages to working on fandubs when you’re first starting out, including developing both your technical and artistic skills, there are also some pitfalls when working on fandubs. I share with Amanda what you need to know to best take advantage of fandub opportunities.

I hope you find the answers useful in your own voice acting endeavors!

As a reminder, the number where you can call in and ask your question is:

323-696-2655.

Please don’t forget to include your first name and what city in the world you’re calling from. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks for listening!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #53 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 52 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

In this episode, I continue answering questions that my listeners have been leaving me on the podcast voicemail number. I’ve been getting so many good questions lately, that it seemed appropriate to go through a number of them. For those who don’t know, in past episodes,  I’ve given out a phone number where you can call in and leave me a question as a voicemail. From time to time, I’ll pick the most relevant questions I receive and answer them here on the podcast.

For this round of Q & A, I answer questions from Stuart from Westhill, Scotland and Victor from Rancho Cucamonga, CA.

Stuart wants to know how to do higher pitched characters without his voice cracking or feeling pain in his vocal cords. In order to help him with his question I explain the basics of traditional western vocal production, a skill I learned from my classical singing training. I demonstrate with my own voice the best way to do higher and lower pitched characters without straining your vocal cords. I then explain why one’s voice “cracks” and what can be done to minimize the effect.

Victor wonders if it’s possible to pursue voice acting part-time instead of full-time. I begin by reiterating the two types of voice over work that I discussed in episode 16 of the podcast:

1. Narration style voice over
2. Character style voice over

While it is possible to do one of these on a part-time basis, it is far more difficult to do the other part-time. I talk about what agents and producers are looking for and how if you’re going to play in the major leagues of voice acting, you need to show a major league mindset and commitment level.

I hope you find the answers useful in your own voice acting endeavors!

As a reminder, the number where you can call in and ask your question is:

323-696-2655.

Please don’t forget to include your first name and what city in the world you’re calling from. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks for listening!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #52 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 51 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

In this episode I’d like to talk to you about acting. Specifically I want to show you how acting is not about “creating a performance” as much as it is bringing a character to life by calling upon your own personal experience as a human being interacting with other people.

It is my opinion that actors rely heavily on the social skills that they have developed over their lifetime to bring believability to their performances.

Often my students misunderstand the acting process and think it’s about demonstrating a character or “putting on” a voice. They think there is a “right way” to perform a line of dialogue and they strive to achieve acting success by honing in on that “correct” performance. I suffered from this same misconception when I started acting, but it turns out there is no “right way” to read a line. There is only what is believable within the circumstances of a scene. In order to create a believable performance, you must call upon your own personal experiences of interacting with people in social environments and apply that knowledge to your character. You must infuse your character with your own life experience.

I take this episode to explain exactly what I mean in detail and I also offer three different techniques to improve your social skills. I hope you find it useful!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #51 Here (MP3)