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HOW
CAN I
BE A
VOICE ARTISTE?
Neeraj M
Mehra |
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Many people often ask me how to be a voice
artiste. They have been commended by their
parents, friends that you have a good voice, go
for it. Mainly they are commending on your voice
texture, not on other aspects. But still many
people don’t know what requires being a voice
artiste. What is that is required by the producers
& directors?. I would here explain in very simple
terms.
First of all I would like to break a very
big myth that a heavy voice is a very good voice.
No, the criteria of using particular kind of
voices depends solely on the requirement of the
script. Always upon receiving the final script,
the director, producer and the sound engineer
decide on the voices to be used and few short
listed samples of the same voice texture are sent
to the client for final approval. Therefore you
don’t listen a very heavy baritone voice for
character voices or such promos where a common
man’s voice is used or for example insurance type
of ads. Yes, for Programmes such as discovery and
NGC where a narrator takes the whole Programmes
you tend to listen heavy baritone voices as they
tend to portray authority, command in their
speech.
Now what is required to be a voice artiste…
first you should be having a good command over the
language you speak. You should know how that word
is spoken and what does it mean. Second, the
fluency in your speech. You should be able to read
and speak it fluently without any stammer, lisp or
stutter. You should have clarity in your diction,
i.e…you should know the correct form of spoken
language of the particular region. I believe, many
of you are through with two pre-requisites. Now
comes how to throw your voice with proper
modulation, pitching. Or in simple terms how would
you put emotions in to it. This delivery of voice
is the most difficult part but also the easiest as
you can train yourself rather quickly than
overcoming any natural problem.
I would explain more on the third aspect,
the delivery or modulation. People assume that
modulation is done from the throat. Yes, it does
but more so from our mind. The most important
aspect in delivery of voice is to analyse and
understand the script completely. Unless you
understand each sentence of the script you cannot
give justice to it. Therefore it is necessary to
have some basic practical voicing skills before
you actually land up doing professional
assignments. Learn on breathing techniques, how to
improve your voices, how to increase voice
stamina, exercises for the throat and delivery, do
and don’ts for intake and a lot more. More so you
should do some actual recording or get yourself
train in this aspect. Try to observe voicing in
different kind of documentaries and Programmes and
then practice the same scripts so that you can
correct yourself. Try to spend some time in
observing Voice artistes in sound studious. Always
spend at least 15-20 min in script reading and
most important get opinions from professionals not
from amateurs or friends, as they would always
praise you and you would never come to know your
weaknesses.
Get your DEMO CD prepared by professionals
in a sound studio. Always remember this is similar
to preparing an impressive CV for a JOB so that at
least you get short listed for the interview. That
should be not more than 3-4 minutes and should
contain the best takes. You should then promote
yourself by sending this CD to various sound
studios, by email and promoting your voice profile
on different websites. Take a subscription to get
voicing leads so you can apply and get work.
The biggest advantage of being a Voice Artiste is
that you do not have to leave your current
profession. You can do it freelance, part-time, on
weekends or if you get voicing assignments
consistently you can take upon as a full time
career too. There is no age or sex bar, as young as 3 years to 80 years can render their voice.
You can be of any color, caste or religion. As no
camera is involved so anybody can be a part of it,
you sell your voice, that's it. You can even live
your passion if you have just thought of it.
We are always with the aspiring Voice
Talent in every aspect mentioned above. Hope to
bring smile on your face, always.
Neeraj M Mehra
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