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[Ash Sparrow]

So I wrote this novella and decided to get it done in audio. I looked for a bit, got some voice samples, wasn't really feeling them. In hindsight it might have been better to go with one of those people as they were so enthusiastic sounding. Then I heard her voice, the woman I thought was perfect for the job. She too sounded excited, but almost from the start the issues sat in. Knowing she had a family and stuff and wanting her to have a good first experience recording audio for someone, I was very generous with time, she kept being late. I know I messed up as I didn't keep it business. I was trying to show her I believed in her, that she could do it. She'd disappear for weeks. I was not in a rush, so i tried to stay nice, but I could feel a bit of something creeping in.

We finally got it down to a pretty releasable quality I thought, before she finally disappeared without doing the last touches. Thing is I have shared some of the recordings. I have two people who hated her voice and more people who said they liked it, it was good etc. So I honestly want to know what a general consensus would be. Was I right and she was still a good pick for the voice or was I clouded by wanting to genuinely help a stranger get her start in voice recording.

So she's from Canada and in this story I asked her to be The Queen of England. My British friend though she did a good job. I love her voice. And still wish her well.


So what is a Gaf thread without a twist. There is a very big GAF sized twist, i'm just not sure its right to share it. I'm thinking about that part.

 

[GAMETA]

five words: simp lisp sorry

 

[GymWolf]

I'm not a native english talker but she sound like she has some minor speech impediment, i don't know, maybe it's on purpose or it's just how canandian women talk or maybe there is nothing wrong and i just don't like her pronunciation, but like i said, i'm not a native english talker.

 

[Amey]

I think she's taking very few pauses, so the entire thing feels quite rushed overall. It made me feel like she's not fully invested the story herself.
She also seems to be lacking in emotion a little bit in some places.
English isn't my native language so I may be wrong about this, but she didn't sound like a British person to me.
Based on the narration in this sample alone, I'd be OK if this audiobook was a freebie included in the book's price, but I'd not pay full price for this separately.

 

[Mihos]

the twist is it's Nolan North

 

[Relativ9]

I have some experience working with freelancers that don't deliver, the project I'm working on right now have had to drop one animator and one 3D generalist because they kept missing deadlines with new excuses each time and would suddenly go MIA for weeks at a time. Luckily I'm just the creative lead and have nothing to do with actually paying them, so I don't feel quite so burned, but still very annoying to work with people like that. In the end me and the owner decided to cut them loose after we had given the both of them way to many second chances. Initially we had wanted to help them along, because they both showed genuine talent but were new to the industry...sadly talent and hope isn't enough to carry a career; hard work and dedication will always outshine it. The two best people I have working for me now are SUPER hungry, and while their initial work left a lot to be desired, they were cheaper (as they both come from lower wage countries) and their work has been improving at a quick and steady rate and the concept artist has even gone back and redone his earliest work for free to match the much higher quality he has since developed.

At the end of the day, it's nice to pick someone up from "noob" status and help them develop and grow, heck that's how I (and almost everyone) got started as well, but I've learned not to be very forgiving with them because if they truly want it and will work hard for it, they won't mess up more than once or twice early on. AND the dead give away that someone isn't worth your time and money is if they stop responding to your messages over long periods of time.

And yeah, asking someone who clearly doesn't have the acting chops yet to do a strong accent doesn't do them any favors. It quickly leads to over acting, her voice is probably fine, I don't think she has a lisp or anything, it's likely just a combination of bad recording equipment (and enviroment) and her contorting her mouth in unatural ways to force the accent.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

the audio quality sounds really bad so that's not helping. she has a nice voice (the accent is quite good too!) but yeah there is a lisp there or something. she should also slow down a bit.

if she wants to get into voice acting she would need to get voice therapy/training. there is potential there for sure

 

[ValiantTraveler]

Her performance is meh.

But c’mon, you HAVE TO tell us the twist.

 

[eot]

Her voice is nice, her acting isn't great but it isn't awful either. I agree that she's pausing too little.

If I heard it on the radio I'd probably turn it off though, sorry.

 

[Rival]

.

 

[Ash Sparrow]

Thanks for the comments really appreciate the feedback. Maybe this will help, it's her just speaking in her regular voice. So maybe its a better example than her doing accents.

Relativ9 You're right. I have made money video editing for people and I've always, been on time, even if it meant working all night, answering all of their messages etc. I was thinking maybe she just did not have trust in her own work, being new, and self doubt was hindering her. But yeah hungry is a key word. For whatever projects I do in the future, its going to be someone who I know for sure wants to come alone with me till we get it right. I would actually feel guilty when I had to ask her to rework stuff. And it did seem like she was having trouble with her equipment. Which was not my fault.

As for the twist I don't want to be that guy, but I do want to be fair to her. GAF has too many detectives lol. So for now you can use your imagination. When we started working together she gave me her real name. But then she said I want to record under a fake name. She says you know I might want to record some audio books that have basically sexy stuff in them, things that she doesn't want people who know her to hear. So when she disappeared on me. I really wanted to finish the book with her. It was like man we got this far I'd rather finish with her than start all the way over. So she had gave me her real and told about some other tame work she does. So I'm like okay i'm going to search for her to see if I can get in touch with her. Lets just say its probably what you're thinking by now but not what your thinking, When we started I wouldn't have expected what I found. I think she didn't want the people she would be doing audio books with to look down on her life style. And its not porn related I dont think, or would be considered that.

oh I also found that she was immensely talented crafter and could play music beautifully and I think she was wearing too many hats to fully commit to be doing audio for people

 

[rykomatsu]

It sounds more like an ASMR reading than a voice over - probably because you can hear a strong lisp and in the second video a bit of ... not sure what the term is to describe it ... lip smacking-ish sound? Voice quality / timbre etc is quite good, however. Also, as someone mentioned too fast...I'd concur as some of the more complex longer-syllable words are difficult to comprehend.

 

[Happosai]

So I wrote this novella and decided to get it done in audio. I looked for a bit, got some voice samples, wasn't really feeling them. In hindsight it might have been better to go with one of those people as they were so enthusiastic sounding. Then I heard her voice, the woman I thought was perfect for the job. She too sounded excited, but almost from the start the issues sat in. Knowing she had a family and stuff and wanting her to have a good first experience recording audio for someone, I was very generous with time, she kept being late. I know I messed up as I didn't keep it business. I was trying to show her I believed in her, that she could do it. She'd disappear for weeks. I was not in a rush, so i tried to stay nice, but I could feel a bit of something creeping in.

We finally got it down to a pretty releasable quality I thought, before she finally disappeared without doing the last touches. Thing is I have shared some of the recordings. I have two people who hated her voice and more people who said they liked it, it was good etc. So I honestly want to know what a general consensus would be. Was I right and she was still a good pick for the voice or was I clouded by wanting to genuinely help a stranger get her start in voice recording.

So she's from Canada and in this story I asked her to be The Queen of England. My British friend though she did a good job. I love her voice. And still wish her well.


So what is a Gaf thread without a twist. There is a very big GAF sized twist, i'm just not sure its right to share it. I'm thinking about that part.

The voice acting is sub-par but the writing is great. This would make a great play. You've got talent.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

Voice doesn't do it for me, but if you like it, go for it.

Besides, you can always release two versions with two voices, right?

 

[Ash Sparrow]

Thanks I really appreciate the compliment Happosai.

Had not really thought about two versions. I had actually sort of left this idea in the past and started on the second book. I think I might revisit but start over with a new voice actor someday. I feel like i under delivered on the twist aspect of the thread so . Here goes. I saw my voice actress nude giving birth by accident. Not sure thats a twist.. Oh well

 

[brap]

Thanks I really appreciate the compliment Happosai.

Had not really thought about two versions. I had actually sort of left this idea in the past and started on the second book. I think I might revisit but start over with a new voice actor someday. I feel like i under delivered on the twist aspect of the thread so . Here goes. I saw my voice actress nude giving birth by accident. Not sure thats a twist.. Oh well

BRUH

 

[Happosai]

Thanks I really appreciate the compliment Happosai.

Had not really thought about two versions. I had actually sort of left this idea in the past and started on the second book. I think I might revisit but start over with a new voice actor someday. I feel like i under delivered on the twist aspect of the thread so . Here goes. I saw my voice actress nude giving birth by accident. Not sure thats a twist.. Oh well

I would save the twist for the unabridged version. On a serious note, have you talked to publishers? I like reading indie novels.

 

[John Day]

Its not her voice i feel. I just feel like someone is rushing me to read fast page after page, not sure if you understand what i mean?

Maybe needs to breath more, take it a bit slower.

 

[Happosai]

Its not her voice i feel. I just feel like someone is rushing me to read fast page after page, not sure if you understand what i mean?

Maybe needs to breath more, take it a bit slower.

I had to read voice overs for online educational advertisements last year. Once the producer comes in and they're watching you read the script...you feel rushed. You can do an infinite number of takes for voice acting...but I hate being watched. So, I get why the voice actress didn't pull of with an excellent take. Theory...if you want someone who doesn't charge much but acts well (for voice overs/acting)...check local theater actors.

 

[Ash Sparrow]

She was doing a podcast. I think that she read the story sort of like she did her podcast. It's weird John, but I agree. like you and others have said. I think it is the rushing. But I could not really hear it at first tbh, like I did today and I have been listening to her recordings for quite awhile. I haven't talked to a publisher. I had plans on maybe redoing the first book some, but now I just have moved on to book two. Maybe this is the one I will see if I can work with them on.

 

[poppabk]

I like it, but there is a little of a sibilant sound in places but it seems like it may be the recording set-up. The speed seems fine but I listen to my audiobooks on 1.5 - 2x speed. I didn't listen long enough to get to multiple characters talking, that's where most audiobook narrations start to sound bad or not.

 

[poppabk]

Thanks I really appreciate the compliment Happosai.

Had not really thought about two versions. I had actually sort of left this idea in the past and started on the second book. I think I might revisit but start over with a new voice actor someday. I feel like i under delivered on the twist aspect of the thread so . Here goes. I saw my voice actress nude giving birth by accident. Not sure thats a twist.. Oh well

She was giving birth by accident, was nude by accident or you were nude by accident when you saw her giving birth? Need some clarity here.

 

[Ash Sparrow]

LOL she was nude, giving birth. I saw her by accident. I was not nude. I don't think. Nah

 

[eot]

Thanks I really appreciate the compliment Happosai.

Had not really thought about two versions. I had actually sort of left this idea in the past and started on the second book. I think I might revisit but start over with a new voice actor someday. I feel like i under delivered on the twist aspect of the thread so . Here goes. I saw my voice actress nude giving birth by accident. Not sure thats a twist.. Oh well

 

[Glip_Glop]

I’m in no way an expert on this, but I do some VO work for animations and other fun things. I want to start with the positive stuff. She has talent and a sweet, interesting voice. Now, there are a few things she can work on, which can be easily fixed. 1st is a good mic. If this is a field she wants to pursue, she will eventually need to get a better mic/setup. She has vocal sibilance, which leads me to believe that she probably is newish in the field, possibly hasn’t worked much with a VO/dialogue coach. They would pick up on the sibilance immediately. It also seems there wasn’t much post work involved. They make De-Essers that soften the sharp “s” sounds. This is actually something you can fix yourself, just to take away some of those hard “esses“ she has. I want to make it clear that I’m not shitting on her work, she can do well in this field, even watching a few hours of VO artists on how to make VO work sound Much better through post tweaks.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Still better than anime dubs

 

[SirTerry-T]

I don't think a posh bird would say "bloke" like that, maybe "chap" or "fellow" but the use of bloke sounded a bit forced.
Her accent was okay...a few suspect vowels here and there but nowhere near the worse English accent I've heard.
That prize still goes to Keanu...bless 'im.

 

[Kamina]

LOL she was nude, giving birth. I saw her by accident. I was not nude. I don't think. Nah

Honestly, you need to give us some more details here.
You were in the hospital when she gave birth and walked in on her?
Or you are the father and were with her?
Or she accidentally sent you a birth video together with her voice acting files?

 

[Ash Sparrow]

Thanks Glip Glop. Appreciate your post. TBH I never really considered much about the voice acting side of things, have learned some things in this thread about the process.

Sir Terry, that is a very good observation, I'm an American trying to write the queen of England. Maybe she'd never say bloke. I should have thought about that.

I'm sorry about the details. I was not in her vicinity. I was searching for her online after we had not had contact. I was looking on social media and through the search engine, when I happened upon a website where she had posted pictures of herself giving birth nude. She is Canadian I'm American. I did not have a personal relationship with her or know her outside of this project. But i was surprised to see that. Just in that she had told me about her life, but not that, the website is like a big part of her life. I guess thats really none of my business tbh. Though I did wonder why the work seemed to take a back seat and I just think she had so much going on.