VAM 113 | Do You Need to Be a Vocal Chameleon to Succeed as a Voice Actor?
Welcome to episode 113 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!
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http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast
In this episode, I want to address a common misconception about voice acting, one that often causes a lot of anxiety and self-doubt in new and aspiring voice actors. There’s a widespread belief that in order to truly be successful as a voice actor, you need to be able to perform dozens if not hundreds of different voices. A common question I hear from first-timers is, “How do I learn to change my voice more?” or “How do I expand my range of characters?” Everyone seems to want to play a large number of radically different-sounding characters, and it’s seen as a particular badge of honor if “no one can recognize that it’s you” playing those characters. On one hand it’s easy to understand why it might seem really important to be this kind of vocal chameleon. After all, you hear about it a lot. Often the voice actors that get the most media acclaim are those who have the ability to change the sound of their voice so radically that it is hard to tell it’s the same person playing different characters. Mel Blanc is the most obvious example of this. Mel was the voice of almost every male character in the classic Looney Toons, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam and many others. In more recent years, actors like Frank Welker, Billy West and Jim Cummings are often heralded for their ability to be vocal chameleons and to differentiate the sound of their characters drastically.
When faced with such impressive examples of vocal transformation, many beginning voice actors believe that the most important skill they must develop is the ability to modify the sound of their voice. They feel that they must be the voice actor of a hundred or a thousand voices and they worry that if they can’t achieve that vocal flexibility, that they’ll never be professionally competitive in the industry. This can lead to them spending the majority of their time trying to find techniques to change the sound of their voice, rather than focusing on the highest priority in voice acting: the acting.
While being able to change the sound of your voice is certainly a useful and marketable skill, being a vocal chameleon is not nearly as important as being a capable actor. It is far more important to have the emotional flexibility to identify with a wide range of character psychologies than it is to be able to disguise your natural speaking voice. Ideally, a consummate voice actor strives for both and can not only portray the nuances of a character’s psychology, but can also adjust their vocal instrument to sound appropriate as the character. But too often I see aspiring voice actors put all their focus on trying to change the sound of their voice, and not nearly enough attention on their ability to act well.
Another damaging aspect of believing that one needs to be a vocal chameleon is it can lead you to discount the greatest asset you have in your voice acting arsenal: your own natural voice. I’m going to spend this episode debunking the myth that you need to be a vocal chameleon, if only to free you from the creeping fear that your own voice is not enough. I’m also going to give you a way to approach vocal flexibility that is based on the emotional believability of your acting, rather then trying to use technical tricks to change what you sound like. The fact is, any vocal transformation that is not rooted in the psychology of a character will not sound believable anyway, so the more you focus on the acting, the more believable your vocal transformations will be. Let’s get started.
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #113 Here (MP3)
For some people, this could be a case of “was told one thing, then another.” On one hand there are voice actors who say “You have to be versatile to stay competitive,” and then there are other voice actors who say, “Yeah, but I get hired to do my regular speaking voice 90% of the time.” So you can see how it could be frustrating for some people who want a straight answer. I know when I practice, the character voice will come out eventually if I’m in the right moment. To follow your analogy, the sauce will come out once the steak is right.
Thank you for your time and wisdom.
Sounds like less a case of being told two contradictory things, so much as being told one thing, not understanding what it means but divining some misbelief from it, and being frustrated that something else discredits those presumptions. You do need to be flexible to stay competitive, but that overwhelmingly comes from emotional versatility.
Someone once said that the definition of intelligence is being able to hold two contradictory ideas in your head and still be able to function.
It is important as a voice actor to be able to act with your natural voice. It’s also hugely beneficial to be able to act when adopting a different voice from your own. I just believe that until you can act with your own voice, any character voice you adopt will not be compelling.
I can only speak from my experience and the experience of watching other talented voice actors. From that experience, I agree with you that emotional versatility has always seemed to produce far more believable performances than simply technical facility.
I think there’s a difference between getting a straight answer and wanting a rule that you can apply universally in all acting situations. The thing is, I always do my best to give a straight answer to anything that’s asked of me, but when it comes to the question of versatility vs. using your natural voice, context is everything. Some people have created an entire career with one voice. Some have created a career with 100s of voices. Which is the right technique? Depends on the actor, their voice, their skills and the type of work where they tend to find the most success. I realize that’s a frustrating answer for someone who may just be starting out and wants to have a simpler road map, but the reality of being an artist means that you always have to find your own way. That’s why it’s art and not becoming a lawyer. There aren’t any hard and fast rules, just what does or does not captivate an audience.
In my experience teaching students, they often discount their own natural voice far too often. Also, they think being able to do impressions is the same as acting. I have to separate those two ideas in their head first before we can make headway actually improving their acting skills. Hopefully that came across in this episode. There is absolutely nothing wrong with developing a huge collection of different character voices. But as you so rightly said, they are sauce and all that sauce needs to be put on a masterfully cooked steak in order to please the patrons.
Glad you’re enjoying the episode.
16 year old me needed this podcast. I’ve been acting with my natural voice more and more recently, and it’s freeing because when you’re modifying your voice over a long period of time, say for a series, inconsistencies can arise and pitches can vary even though you’re trying your hardest to keep it consistent.
The psychology part of it has always been the fun part for me. Backstories, motivations, emotional journeys are always a fun rabbit hole to fall down into.
Lovely episode as always, and can’t wait for the next one~!
Well, I hope present day you finds the podcast rewarding as well! Hopefully 16 year old you is also benefiting!
Thanks so much for listening!
hi, a great episode as always 🙂 it was very insightful and it just goes to show that voice acting is STILL acting and requires insight into a character’s mindset.
i have question; In certain English dubbed anime like for example Fate Stay Night UBW, the character Lancer is a Heroic Spirit from Ireland and he doesn’t have an Irish accent. This has puzzled me for some time now and i guess my question is, Why do they choose not give characters like Lancer an accent when it’s clearly part of the character itself?
Voice acting has always been acting! Just ask the people who listened to stories during the golden age of radio drama before televisions were invented!
As far as your question about Fate Stay Night UBW, I’m not sure why they decided against having Lancer speak with an Irish accent. I honestly don’t know.
I know in Hellsing we tried having Alucard speak with a British accent since ostensibly he would have learned his English in England, but it didn’t sound right. We even tried him with a Transylvanian accent (this is before he transforms into his “Count” manifestation where he actually does talk with a Transylvanian accent). The Transylvanian accent didn’t really work either. He just seemed to sound best in a standard, polished, American accent.