Voices Off

I'm missing Movement class. I was showered and shaved and ready to go, shoes on, bag on back, when I realised that the sore throat and headache that had lingered in the wings since I woke up were now demanding my attention. If it had been Rehearsal, I would have sworn that The Show Must Go On and taken with me a bottle full of honey and lemon juice, but I'd rather save my energy for tomorrow and plan for a restorative sleep tonight.

But the day hasn't been wasted. As I've said before, I intend to pursue voiceover work as vigorously, if not more so, as I seek work as an actor. So today I've been exploring the web and listening to VO artists, to give myself an idea what is expected and how to find work. I then followed that up for a couple of hours recording my own voice to try out different effects and accents. And a mildly depressing experience it has been.

The first problem is that my recorded voice seems much less rounded and deep than it sounds to me when I speak. I'm not immediately disheartened; the weakness may be the fault of the recording, or my ear, or my incipient sore throat may have been holding me. But then I try various accents and moods and there is far less distinction between them than I expected. When I play around with my voice unrecorded, I hear different people, but when I play the recordings, I hear only me with different voices. And more than once - particularly when I'm trying the New York accent I need for The Odd Couple - the voices are off.

The only sample I make that comes close to what is going on in my mind is She Walks In Beauty, a short poem by Byron (yup, you guessed; that's him above). I give it a rhythm that marries the different paces of the verse and the meaning, and the words come out in an intimate, seductive tone that - I think - conveys the intensity of the poet's emotion. I am pleased with my work and encouraged by it. I'm even briefly tempted to upload it here, but sense prevails and I will get a professional opinion before I go that far.

By the time I switch off the microphone and make myself tea, I'm still convinced I have a natural talent for voiceover and radio, but I'm no longer naive enough to think that untrained talent alone will get me work. So when this course finishes, the next stage in my development is likely to be finding a coach or a class that specialises in voiceovers and accents. Can anyone recommend one to me?