Johnna Gottlieb VO Class Now Available Online at UCLA
March 26, 2009
Johnna Gottlieb is no stranger to the classroom, and this new step to promote voice over excellence and inspire her students through the Internet is no exception.
Gottlieb’s new online course is scheduled to take place this spring through UCLA, entitled, “How to Become a Successful Voiceover Artist”. Starting April 9th, 2009, students can join one of America’s most innovative voice acting consultants, studying from the privacy and convenience of their own homes using the Internet. The course covers voice over technique and essential knowledge that makes a world of difference in the career of a voice over talent from the unique perspective of a former voice over agent.
Topics include:
- Developing a marketing strategy
- The different categories of voice overs and their rates of pay
- Standards for a competitive voice over reel
- Signing with the right agency
- Understanding contracts
Instruction also covers the future of Internet voice casting, unions that govern voice over work and how to become a member, union vs. non-union work, the use of celebrities and the impact they have on the industry, and the basics of creating a home recording studio.
Guests include top voice over talent, agents, casting directors, and producers. Enrollment is limited but from recent reports, there are still some spots remaining. Classes run from April 9th through May 12th, 2009, six meetings in total.
Source: Johnna Gottlieb
Greg Phelps Reviews Lauten Audio Microphones
March 26, 2009
I’ve recently been on the hunt for a new microphone. The last one I had made for me hasn’t turned out to be the best choice I ever made. I started to look. Talk about choices. There are so many new great microphones out there, where does one even begin the search?
My investigations lead me to this company; Lauten Audio. This is a company not many have heard of yet, but you will… trust me!
Now before I go any further I should mention that I have no affiliation with Lauten Audio. No one is paying me to write this. I am doing it simply to share my experience. There is an old saying I remember…goes something like this. “A job well done, though seldom complimented is never criticized.” This is one of those seldom occasions.
Some background about Lauten Audio and Brian A Loudenslager. Brian at one time worked for IBM and did a little work in the video gaming industry amongst other jobs. He also represented an Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) and Contract Manufacturer (CM) of microphones, where he worked with some of the biggest microphone brands in the world.
Brian, along with Dr. Charles Chen, Chief Engineer, and Michael Terry, Sound Designer set out on a mission to be different. They succeeded. It seems like around every corner some one is making a new clone of this or that old school microphone. Lauten Audio decided to take an approach of their own and have created their own unique sound.
I first talked to Brian a couple months ago. I wanted to demo his microphones. I chose his new Oceana, a tube mic, and the Clarion, an FET mic. Within a couple of days of talking with Brian, I had the Oceana and the Clarion on my desk. YES the service was very fast.
On with goods Greg, what do these things sound like. The first thing you will notice about these mics is that they are BIG, and I do mean big. This is a good thing. They are built like tanks and I believe they could handle just about any abuse you could give them. I have to tell you I am blown away by the sound and versatility of these microphones. The Clarion, my favorite of the Lauten mics, has several settings. First it offers a -10 pad that lets you get up nice and close with out having all the proximity problems with other mics. The sound is clear and warm and very present. On the opposite side of the switch is a +10db boost…this thing will really allow the voice to pop….it has a presence unlike anything I have heard…it’s a very in your face sound but at the same time it’s not harsh or heavy. The normal or “0” position on the switch is also great; again a nice clear warm sound that can make any voice pleasing. It seems to lack the presence the other two settings do but this is not a bad thing and I have found it also to be very useful. The Clarion also has a setting for Omni, Figure of 8 and cardioid.
The next microphone I tried was the Oceanus. For me this is more of a singers mic than a voice work microphone. Although with the right voice and the right preamp this could be a great microphone for voice over. It is extremely smooth and warm yet still has the ability to add a punch if needed and at the same time maintain that upper “airiness” sense as well. I would highly recommend it for singers to try. I really loved how smooth it is and I am told by people who sing that this microphone is one you have to hear.
The next microphone in the line is the Horizon. This is the tube microphone in the Lauten Audio line up. Again another winner! Lauten Audio has captured the essence of the “tubey” sound and feel. However the Horizon is not a one trick pony, it is also has the ability to give you that classic clear warmth that seems to be so popular today and at the same time giving you it’s own unique sonic signature. This one also has a -10 and a -20 pad should you need it.
To tell you that I have been impressed with Lauten Audio and Brian Loudenslager would be somewhat of an understatement. This company is going to go a long way. They are developing a new classic sound, and that sound works and works very well. Normally I wouldn’t mention this but it will help you understand the dedication Brian has to delivering exceptional customer service. I wrote to Brian the other day. His response (within the hour I might add) was that he was bed ridden with tonsillitis. Yet here he was taking care of his customers. It doesn’t get much better than that. Take a look at their site and demo their sound. You’ll like what you hear.
If your looking for that rich, lush sound of yesterday based on those clones of the past. These are not your microphones. If you want to stand out and differentiate yourself from the crowd Lauten Audio Microphones are the new classic sound. Visit the website, talk to Brian. www.LautenAudio.com
Source: Greg Phelps
Michael J. Schoen Narrates “Tide of Tears”
March 26, 2009
Voice artist Michael J. Schoen narrated the documentary “Tide of Tears: The Collapse of the Cajun Coast”, a film that was featured as part of the New York International Film and Video Festival.
As the documentary’s website indicates, Tide of Tears isn’t just another documentary on Louisiana’s land loss. Tide of Tears is the one story that has not yet been told. Once called “the promised land”, South Louisiana is a now a land of broken dreams, a place where faith is fading fast. The dire consequences of what may be the greatest man-made disaster in America.
As the wetland washes away, so does the true charm of the region… the Cajun culture. A way of life that has survived more than three hundred years, as distinct and colorful as the landscape itself.
Directed by Stephanie Kovac, and filmed in high definition, Tide of Tears is an in-depth look at a culture teetering on the edge of extinction and a somber expose of what America stands to lose if nothing is done to save it.
To learn more about this documentary, visit:
Source: Michael J. Schoen
Voice Actors Shine in 3rd Annual Voicey Awards
March 26, 2009
Voice actors around the world are taking note of news hot off the press, released on Voices.com’s blog, through an article indicating who the winners are of the industry’s coveted Voicey Awards. Voice overs are spoken word recordings performed by voice actors, perhaps better known to the world as unseen narrators, breathing life into every digital medium imaginable.
The Voicey Awards pay tribute to works and contributions made over the year by individual and collaborating voice talent.
Connie Zimet Voiceover Artist Loses Battle with ALS
March 13, 2009
Sometimes sultry, sometimes snappy, sometimes over-the-top Noo Yawk shmoozy, jingle-singer and voice-over artist Connie Zimet promised that Coke was the real thing, that Honda wants you to be safe and that Norwegian cruises are “as far from the everyday as a ship can take you.”
In word and song, Zimet pitched thousands of products in her long career, including Apple computers, Fresca soda, Pall Mall cigarettes, Ajax scouring powder, Chevrolets and Godfather’s pizzas.
In the end stages of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease — she contracted bronchitis and died at home in Plantation on Tuesday. She was 67.
The versatile performer acted in Off-Broadway plays, sang in nightclubs and made records. She was the voice of Lucy on an album version of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and in 1971, as ”Connie Z,” narrated The Way to Become the Sensuous Woman for Atlantic Records. Published in 1969, the book — a first-person erotic manual by ”J” — was a classic of the sexual revolution.
Zimet grew up in Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, the daughter of a traveling salesman and a one-time dancer. Her only sibling, a brother, drowned in childhood.
She began acting in local productions and summer stock theater at the age of 8, then went to New York at 17.
She studied interior design and acting, and signed with Colpix, Capitol and Todd record labels, according to Zach Ziskin, of Fort Lauderdale, her only child.
She was married briefly to composer/pianist Victor Ziskin, a Leonard Bernstein protégé.
When Zimet moved to South Florida in the mid-1970s, ”there was not much of a market here for voiceovers,” said Zach, a music producer who also does voice-over work.
“She was a pioneer who helped build the market. . . . The more she did it, the more opportunities opened up for her. And before she knew it, it was 20 years later and she was considered an expert in the field.”
Zimet led the Miami chapter of AFTRA — American Federation of Television & Radio Artists — from 2003 until last year. In 2004, at a workshop in New Orleans, she described the voice-over artist’s mission:
“You’re an actor when you’re doing a voice-over. So, find your character, your attitude, answer what your condition is, and the voice will come out the way it should be heard. Focus on intention.”
She suggested that hopefuls in the field “read everything aloud — magazines, newspapers, recipes. Yeah, it may bug your significant other or your pets, but they’ll get used to it. . . .”
Herta Suarez, AFTRA’s southeast regional director, said that “everybody I know here on both sides, producers and performers, claimed she really built this market. She was very busy herself, teaching voice lessons and doing voice-overs.”
When she taught, Suarez said, “people would just not want to leave because she was so entertaining.”
Zimet had a wide repertoire of tones and accents, all with a reassuring warmth: naughty to sweet, chirpy to silky, peppy to languid. She could do almost any character: little old lady, confidential gal-pal, shrieking harpy, Southern charmer, reassuring voice of authority.
”Whatever something called for, she was up for it,” said Zach, though at home, ’she was never really `on.’ ”
Two years ago, Zimet began to stumble and fall, which she chalked up to bad knees, but replacement surgery didn’t help. In rehab, she couldn’t walk at all.
By early 2008, Zimet began losing functions in her arms and hands. In her final months, ALS stole the voice that made her career.
An Internet fundraising campaign enabled the family to buy a sight-recognition communications device that Zach said ”was truly a godsend” when his mother could no longer speak.
“She had it for the last month and was able to communicate with her eye movement.”
Zach plans to complete the the book his mother left unfinished: Connie Zimet’s Voice-over Tool Box. He also plans a celebration of her life in the coming months.
Source: The Miami Herald
