Interview: Monika McMahon chats Noiselace Necklaces - Fashionable Earplugs for Concert Fans!

I got to meet Monika during my recent adventure out at the Firefly 2014 Music Festival with the Microsoft Lumia and MixRadio crews. She's a concert and travel blogger who created the Noiselace Necklace, a MUCH more fashionable way to protect your hearing while out at shows than traditional gummy earplugs. She joined me for a quick chat about Noiselace, concerts, and going Paleo.



Noiselace Necklaces: http://www.noiselace.com/
Noiselace on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Noiselace
Monika on Twitter: https://twitter.com/monikarun

FFC VLOG - Firefly 2014 Music Festival!

SomeAudioGuy Interviewed on Love That Voiceover - Part 1

I had a lovely sit down chat with Rebecca Michaels for her show "Love That Voiceover". Somehow she got me to talk about my childhood. I found the whole affair to be very therapeutic. I do have to caution though that this interview was conducted early in the morning, and you'll hear me say "ummm" a lot...

Listen to internet radio with LoveThatRebecca on Blog Talk Radio

The rest of the interview will be published soon!

Nolan North - "Is Voice Acting in Games Different Than Other Projects"

Caught this over at The Resnick Interactive Group blog, and I'm happy they shared it. Nolan delivers a fantastic answer to this question, and having worked with him on commercial castings, I can tell you, he knows what he's talking about.

Crispin Freeman's Interview With Voice Over Legend Jack Angel

My buddy Crispin over at VoiceActingMastery has a fantastic sit down interview with legendary voice actor Jack Angel (a man I'm proud to say I've worked with as well). Broken into three parts, Jack takes us back to the roots of VO, and delivers a tremendous oral history of the Hollywood game.

Voice Acting Mastery Jack Angel Interview 01
Voice Acting Mastery Jack Angel Interview 02
Voice Acting Mastery Jack Angel Interview 03

Though I do need to send Crispin a little tsk-tsk for not knowing who Gary Owens is...
:-P

Talking Vampires and Zombies with Animation Super Star Crispin Freeman

Crispin is genuinely one of the smartest people I know. His seminars on mythology are fantastic, so I couldn't help pinning him down and putting him on the spot for a little horror chat. Cuz I'm NOT a scholar, and I AM a zombie nerd...

Can't thank Crispin enough for dropping by. If you're interested in the craft behind VO, I would highly recommend checking out his Voice Acting Mastery site, and for more info on his classes and workshops head over to CrispinFreeman.com.

Jim Cummings and Tom Kenny Talk 'Winnie the Pooh'

I've had the pleasure of recording both of these legendary voice actors. Just knowing they were involved makes me MUCH less apprehensive about a new Winnie the Pooh movie.

Cool Press For 'Voice-Over Voice Actor'

I'm so proud of my friends.

Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt are two of my favorite people on the planet.
I was incredibly proud of them when they finished their book 'Voice-Over Voice Actor: What It's Like Behind The Mic'. It was an amazing accomplishment all on it's own, but seeing it not only in print, but for sale (and getting rave reviews) really warms the heart.

Yuri and Tara recently did an interview and a couple tutorials for BackStage.com, and I can't think of any two people more qualified to give advice on VO.

Here's Yuri's interview with Jenelle Riley:


And here's part one of Yuri and Tara's VO behind the scenes:


For more info on Voice-Over Voice Actor you can head over to http://voiceovervoiceactor.com to pick up your copy, and you can also catch my review of the book here on SomeAudioGuy (spoiler alert, I liked it).

Phoenix Comic Con 09 Panel - Voice Acting Versus Stage Acting

Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt are two of my favorite people on the planet.

They were joined by Matt Greenfield and Tiffany Grant at the 2009 Phoenix ComicCon to have a panel discussion on the differences between voice acting and stage acting. 

I thought the discussion was pretty interesting, as I got my start in theatre production and performance.

Here are all 6 pieces of the panel from the youtubes.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

SomeAudioGuy on Demo Production at Voices.com

Just wanted to drop a quick link here.
David Sobolov and I were asked a series of questions on demo production over at Vox Daily.

I was in kind of a snarky mood when I replied....


Check it out:
Producers Respond To Open Letter on Voice Over Demos

Video: Ira Glass on Storytelling

After discussing him so much with Mer of BrainDouche, I thought I'd throw down my fave Ira Glass (This American Life) interview. He has some incredible insights on how to tell stories and engage your audience.
Good lessons for us Voiceover people in here. Check em out.

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4

Before the Music Dies

This is pretty powerful stuff.

I've written before about the "quality" of modern music, but usually in the context of the technical aspects of recording, winning the "Loudness War", etc. This documentary does a very good job of examining the history of the music industry, how we got here, and where we might go.
Moving interviews with Dave Matthews, Quest Love, Erykah Badu, and scores of other performers,  journalists, and critics painfully contrast with "man on the street" interviews of people talking about their current fave pop acts.
If you care about your "art", be it Film, TV, Music, Theatre, New Media, etc, this is a great look at what happens when the BIG money rolls in.

A film narrated by Forest Whitaker, 'Before the Music Dies' lays out a cautionary story about the deteriorating state of the music business, and argues that the quality of music is going downhill. This is a must-see for anyone who cares about music. Out since 2006, it's steadily gained a following and has achieved critical acclaim.

read more | digg story

And here's the trailer:

Picking a fight with Tekzilla - Home Recording Gear Edition

This isn't like serious grudge match or anything, just wanted to throw out some thoughts, and get some feed back.

Before I jump in, I'm a HUGE fan of Patrick Norton's and Tekzilla. I'm still boycotting Monster Cables pretty much from his say so.


Now, TIME FOR UMBRAGE!


On episode 40 of Tekzilla, a viewer wrote in asking about setting up a decent dorm room recording/podcasting setup. His budget was about $1100.

Here's the episode (segment starts at the 9 minute mark):

To recap, their advice was to buy the following:
-Skype (free)
-Shure SM58 ($100)
-Pop Screen or Sock ($5 - $30)
-M-Audio Fast Track (Veronica's fave? at $130)
-Audacity (free)
-Headphones (Patrick usually recommends sub $50)
-Audio Hijack Pro (to record skype, about $35)
Total = $345 (at the high end)

My problem isn't with their advice. The SM58 is classic, and I love Audacity, can't say I like the Fast Track, but on the whole it's all pretty good...


For some one with a $400 budget, not an $1100 budget.


Some moderate stepping up to, say a Fast Track Pro and an M-Audio Nova, or even an AKG Perception 220 would be a huge improvement in sound, for not a lot more cash. It would also allow him to route audio (like a Skype interview) without needing an additional piece of software to record interviews. Total, an increase of maybe $100, or still roughly half of what his total budget is.

So what would you do?
You're starting from scratch, and you have $1100.
What do YOU buy?

My Interview with Tracy Pattin @ VoiceRegistry

Just a quick shameless self promotional plug...

Tracy and I had a chat about video games and animation a little while ago, and she decided to post it up on the VoiceRegistry blog!

It's almost like I'm becoming an authority or something.

That's much better than just being a video gaming geek who never grew up out of comics...

Check it out:

Recording Engineer Seques into Voice Directing

VoiceReg!stry's Tracy Pattin interviews Bob Souer on Blogging! Go Listen!

Hey all, just a quick note and link.
Bob Souer is the most gracious blogger I've ever worked with, and he's taken it upon himself to be THE voice over blog aggregator extordinare. His blog roll alone is an incredible resource, and I know my blog hits have increased just from being on it.

Tracy Pattin at Voice Reg!stry takes ten minutes to interview him on his history and successes with blogging. Bob is an old school "web-logger" so he brings a lot to the table. If you don't know what I mean by that last sentence, or you have ANY interest what-so-ever in starting up your own blog, I would HIGHLY recommend checking this out.

CHECK OUT the INTERVIEW HERE!

And check out Bob's blog here!
some audio guy someaudioguy voice over voice acting blogging interview bob souer career voicebank voiceregistry

Eisner says WGA Strike is over?

Michael Eisner says the strike is over.

Talking to CNBC:

“They’ve made a deal, they shook hands on a deal,” he replies. "The deal is going on Saturday to the constituents (for a vote)… I think it’s impossible that they turn it down. A deal has been made and (the writers) will be back to work reasonably soon!”

Well that's ... great.

But ya know, I think I'll believe it when I hear it from the WGA.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/23050841/site/14081545/


*** EDIT 9:45am***

Well maybe there MIGHT be something to this after all.
Driving in to a gig on Olive there were NO picketers at WB or NBC.

Dare I Get my hopes up?

"Poetry Girl" Interviewed, Reads Three pieces from "Univer-Soul Language"

Hey all!
This was originally supposed to be a monthly feature, finding authors to narrate their own work, interviewing them, talking about their influences, inspirations, etc.

Alas it was not to be.

Though before scrapping the idea, I did get this killer session with "Poetry Girl", one of the authors contributing to The Univer-Soul Language Vol 1. We spent an evening chatting art, inspiration, writing, and, well, poetry, and she was gracious enough to read three of her poems for us, very sweet and personal work.



That, and her voice is hella sexy...


The Univer-Soul Language @ Barnes and Noble

A Wild Night at Kirbys @ MySpace

David Anthony Pizzuto goes crazy during Game Zombie Interview

Crazy in a good way!
David is asked to give them some voices, and boy does he deliver!
It's been my pleasure to work with Dave in the past, and the man plays evil well ... maybe a little tooo well... hmmm...

Seriously though, Dave is a great voice actor, and has recently become a driving force in getting actors better compensation for their work in videogames.

GameZombie.tv presents a conversation with the David Anthony Pizzuto, a major voice actor who's performed in Pride and Glory, Blazing Angels 2, SWAT 4, Steel Horizon, 50 Cent: Bulletproof; Credits: Producer: Spencer Striker, VJ: Jessica Frasher, Editor: Gabe Goldstein

read more | digg story

News Sound Bites - WHOLE TON o STUFF

Yep. There's a lot of news to cover today.

Apple finally gives in on custom ringtones for the iPhone. A not so mysterious "Share ringtone with iTunes" button has popped up in Garageband. It's about time. The ringtone lock down was a stupid, ill advised, arbitrary way to milk customers for extra revenue, while simultaneously providing little to no benefit.

Seibertron.com interviews Frank Welker! Yup, the REAL Megatron. Not to say Hugo didn't do a good job in the movie, but if you grew up in the 80's, this man's voice represented everything that was evil.

It never even occurred to me that they would bother, but apparently they did get "names" for Alvin and the Chipmunks. Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney voice the rodents in the up coming movie. Why? Really, I mean, why bother? No one cares. They weren't used to promote the movie. You can't recognize the voices. The performances wont be "better" than using true blue VO people. There's no benefit. I don't get it...


The Cincinnati Post takes a look at narration in TV series. I finally saw Amelie for the first time, and Pushing Daisies totally nails the quirky yet emotion tone of that film. Good times.

CNET News has a photo gallery up of Skywalker Sound, a totally drool-worthy look at one of the most advanced post production facilities in the world. Careful clicking on the link, because if you're anything like me, there's going to be a LOT of gear lust...

And lastly (i know right?), Do you own a Wii? Have you noticed an increase in the cockroach population of your abode after your acquisition of said Wii? There's a rumor floating around "teh intarwebs" that the Wii emits a sonic frequency that attracts the little buggers. I don't think it'll stop me from trying to grab one to rock some Mario Kart.

Natalie Portman Interviewed by NYT - 'Screentest'

I usually hate interviews. I don't want to know too much about the actors I enjoy watching. I used to enjoy Tom Cruise movies, for example, but now I can't separate his characters from the nut that jumped on Oprah's couch and told Matt Lauer that he was being "glib".

That's why it's so refreshing watching Natalie Portman in this interview. She's classy cool, and demonstrates a remarkable poise for woman her age. Engendering an instant respect, I think she'll be one of the only child actors from my generation to make it out alive...

This interview is beautifully shot in black and white, creatively edited, and they ask her "What are your 5 favorite non-musical sounds".

THAT'S SOMETHING I WOULD ASK!

Warburton talks to Kotaku - has funny voice - is big guy

Reading through Kotaku's interview with Patrick "Puddy-The-Tick-Brock-Sampson" Warburton, I just can't shake his voice. It's just plain funny.

Anywho, if you haven't figured it out, Warburton is a pretty accomplished voice actor, and while the interview is pretty interesting, I found this bit to be the most telling:

"Videogames are fun to do," said Warburton. "I don't really see how you could make a living off of it. These games can make jillions of dollars, but the piece of the action that actors get is really miniscule compared to what these things do. But any paycheck is better than a kick in the pants. It's fun to work on them and be part of them."

This guy is most certainly making bigger deals than scale, and even HE thinks video game voice actors are underpaid. It really is time for videogames to start paying out residuals.

READ THE WHOLE INTERVIEW HERE @ KOTAKU

P.S.

Jerry: So, Puddy, this is a pretty good move for you, huh? No more "grease monkey".
David Puddy: I don't much care for that term.
Jerry: Oh. Sorry, I didn't know...
David Puddy: No, I don't know too many monkeys who could take apart a fuel injector.
Jerry: I saw one once that could do sign language.
David Puddy: Yeah, I saw that one. Uh... Koko.
Jerry: Yeah, Koko.
David Puddy: Right, Koko. That chimp's alright. High-five.

HIGH-FIVE!