NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 2009: As the manufacturer of the high-end vocal microphones that have been integral to the voiceover industry since its inception, Neumann is pleased to announce its endorsement of Joan Baker.

In an amazing career that now spans two decades, Joan Baker has been “the voice” for hundreds of programs, promos, and commercials in TV, film, and radio. Her clients include ABC News, American Express, and ESPN, among countless others of equally high profile.

However, Baker is more than one of the most sought-after voiceover artists in the country, she is also an educator. She regularly shares her insights and techniques with students just breaking into the business, and she authored the voiceover artist’s bible, “Secrets of Voice-Over Success.”

Baker is also a long-time Neumann devotee, who learned her preference for the nuance and power of Neumann large diaphragm condensers through trial and error early in her career.

“I used to use whatever mic they put in front of me,” she recalled. “Usually it was a Neumann, and on those rare occasions when they gave me something else, I noticed the difference. It was very disappointing.”

Baker learned the importance of asserting herself. She always requested a Neumann so that she and the client would be assured of a satisfying finished product. When the time came to build her own personal vocal booth, she built it around a Neumann U 87, arguably the most famous microphone in Neumann’s contemporary line. In addition to jobs, Baker uses her vocal booth for voice coaching, where students benefit from hearing both the pleasing nuances of their voices and the flaws in need of improvement.

“A microphone can make or break a voice,” Baker said. “It’s one of the most important aspects of voiceover work. With an inferior mic, an otherwise powerful and resonant voice loses the fullness of its range. This causes the speaker to sound one-dimensional. With a high-end microphone like a Neumann, the voice sounds full and natural. The speaker’s complete range of expression can be faithfully rendered. Importantly, the high-end mic will cut through a mix of other sounds, whereas anything else has a tendency to lose or muddy the nuances.”

For better or for worse, Baker recognizes that today’s voice talent must possess a somewhat sophisticated understanding of audio, and the subject is touched on in “Secrets of Voice-Over Success,” the second edition of which will be released by Sentient Publications this June. The book takes a chapter-by-chapter approach to gain the perspective of twenty-one of the industry’s best-known voiceover artists and thus contains within its pages literally centuries of hard-won experience and practical steps for breaking into the business. In honor of Joan Baker’s father, a hundred percent of the royalties from the book go to The Alzheimer’s Association.

Baker’s vocal booth is expecting a new resident in the coming weeks - a Neumann TLM 67. The TLM 67 features the K 67 capsule from the classic U 67 along with some of Neumann’s latest technological advances.  “I’m always looking for new ways to bring out the colors of my voice,” enthused Baker. “The new mic adds buttery goodness to my spots and will find a welcome home next to the U 87!”

Noted Christopher Currier, Associate Product Manager for Neumann USA, “Neumann has always been an integral part of the voiceover industry and, now for the first time, we’re taking that relationship to a new level with the endorsement of Joan Baker. I’m thrilled to have her on board and can’t wait to get started on some of the creative projects we have planned.”

ABOUT NEUMANN
Neumann’s award-winning line of microphones has set the standard in the industry since 1928. In 1999, Neumann received the prestigious Technical Grammy(r) for its 70 years of innovation in microphone design and contribution to the music industry. A continuing commitment to provide innovative, technically-refined products and engineering solutions of proven quality ensures that Neumann’s stature will remain unassailable.

Neumann is proudly affiliated with the Sennheiser Group, which also encompasses Klein + Hummel (renowned sound reinforcement solutions) and Sennheiser Communications (technologically advanced headsets for PCs, offices and call centers). Neumann products are distributed exclusively in the United States, Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean through Sennheiser Electronic Corporation, located in Old Lyme, Connecticut.

www.sennheiserusa.com

Source: Joan Baker

Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place-he’s the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians’ time as well as their timely ghostly teachings-like the ability to Fade. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? And then there are things like ghouls that aren’t really one thing or the other.

This chilling tale is Neil Gaiman’s first full-length novel for middle-grade readers since the internationally bestselling and universally acclaimed Coraline. Like Coraline, this book is sure to enchant and surprise young readers as well as Neil Gaiman’s legion of adult fans.

Source: Voices.com / NeilGaiman.com

In his acceptance speech, Lee gave a heartfelt thanks to teachers and librarians everywhere, people to whom he acknowledged and credited tireless, unwavering dedication to instilling a love for reading and literature into children everywhere.

While on stage, he produced two very special items, his very first library card as a child and also his current library card from his neighbourhood.

Teachers and librarians are often the most ardent champions of the written and spoken word.  Thanks to people such as they, narrators, including John Lee, have been able to give back to their communities and the world by bringing the written word of the page to enjoy and cherish using storytelling as the vehicle for enriching the lives of all who listen.

Source: Voices.com

Narrator Katherine Kellgren is at it again in the Bloody Jack sequel, “Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady”, authored by L.A. Meyer, winning 3 Audies in all for her creative portrayal of Mary “Jacky” Faber and as an integral member of the Live & Listen Audio production.

Stephanie Ciccarelli of Voices.com referred to Kellgren’s work, sharing that the “Classically trained, sophisticated and sonorous Katherine Kellgren narrates stories from the depths of her soul, combining talent and skill with pure passion infused by a love of the spoken word, uplifted by her father’s devoted ears.”

Honored by the nominations and humbled by her win as Solo Narration - Female, Teens and Distinguished Achievement in Production, Kellgren couldn’t have been more gracious or deserving of the awards.

Source: VOX Daily

Hosted by Tony Roberts, with presentations made by narrators Simon Vance, Kathleen Kellgren, Carrington MacDuffie, Bronson Pinchot, Tavia Gilbert, and Bobby Cannavale, the gala was filled to the brim with excitement and humor.

Audiobook of the Year was won by Neil Gaiman, writer and narrator of “The Graveyard Book”; HarperChildren’s Audio.

Distinguished Achievement in Production was won by Live & Listen Audio for “Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady” by L.A. Meyer, narrated by Katherine Kellgren.

Solo Narration - Male was won by narrator John Lee for his work on “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas; Blackstone Audio.

Solo Narration - Female was won by narrator Katherine Kellgren for her work on “Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady”, a novel by L.A. Meyer; Listen and Live Audio.

Narration by the Author was won by David Sedaris for “When You Are Engulfed in Flames”; Hachette Audio.

Multi-Voiced Performance was won by “Mudbound” by Hillary Jordan, read by Kate Forbes, Joey Collins, Peter Jay Fernandez, Ezra Knight, Brenda Pressley, and Tom Stechschulte; Recorded Books.

Special Achievement Awards were won by Michael Snodgrass and Eileen Hutton of Brilliance Audio.

Judges Award - Politics was won by “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” by Thomas Friedman, read by Oliver Wyman; Macmillan Audio.

Humor was won by “The Learners” by Chip Kidd, read by actor Bronson Pinchot; Blackstone Audio.

Spanish Language was won by “Por in Dia Mas/For One More Day” by Mitch Albom; read by Jose Manuel Vieira; FonoLibro, Inc.

Teens was won by “Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady” by L.A. Meyer, read by Katherine Kellgren; Listen & Live Audio.

Children’s Titles Ages 8 to 12 was won by “The Graveyard Book”, written and narrated by Neil Gaiman; HarperChildren’s Audio.

Children’s Titles Ages up to 8 was won by “James Herriot’s Treasury for Children”; James Herriot, read by Jim Dale; Macmillan Audio.

Original Work was won by “Louis Vuitton Soundwalk: Beijing” by Stephan Crasneanscki, narrated by Gong Li; Louis Vuitton.

Audio Drama was won by “The Odyssey” by Homer, narrated by Tim McInnerny, Amanda Redman and a full cast; BBC Audiobooks America.

Audiobook Adaptation was won by “English Majors: A Comedy Collection For The Highly Literate” written/read by Garrison Keillor and cast, with special guests Billy Collins, Roy Blount Jr., Robert Bly, Donald Hall, Allen Ginsberg, and Calvin Trillin; HighBridge.

Package Design was won by “Founding Fathers”, written by Arthur M. Schlesinger, read by Ira Claffey and Richard Rohan with package design by Margo Goody; Macmillan Audio.

Classic was won by “Great Expectations”, written by Charles Dickens, read by British narrator Simon Vance; Tantor Audio.

Romance was won by “The Dark Highlander”, written by Karen Marie Moning, narrated by Phil Gigante; Brilliance Audio.

Thriller / Suspense was won by “Child 44″, written by Tom Rob Smith, read by narrator Dennis Boutsikaris; Hachette Audio.

Science Fiction / Fantasy was won by “Calculating God”, a book by Robert J. Sawyer, read by Jonathan Davis; Audible, Inc.

Mystery was won by “Voice of The Violin”, authored by Andrea Camilleri, read by narrator Grover Gardner; Blackstone Audio.

Short Stories / Collections was won by “Armageddon in Retrospect” by Kurt Vonnegut; intro read by Mark Vonnegut; read by Rip Torn; Penguin Audio.

Literary Fiction was won by “Elmer Gantry”, a novel by Sinclair Lewis, read by narrator Anthony Heald; Blackstone Audio.

Inspirational / Faith-based Fiction was won by “Prague Counterpoint”, written by Bodie and Brock Thoene; read by Sean Barrett; FamilyAudioLibrary.com.

Fiction Audie was a tie! This award was won by “The Duma Key”, written by Stephen King, read by John Slatter; Simon and Schuster Audio. This award was also won by “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, read by Paul Boehmer, Susan Duerden, Rosalyn Landor, John Lee, and Juliet Mills; Books on Tape.

Personal Development was won by “You Staying Young” by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz, read by Johnny Heller, Recorded Books.

Inspirational / Faith-based Non-Fiction was won by “The Word of Promise: Next Generation New Testament” read by Sean Astin and cast; Thomas Nelson Inc.

Business / Educational was won by “The Little Red Book of Selling” written and narrated by Jeffrey Gitomer; Simon & Schuster Audio.

History was won by “Gandhi and Churchill” by Arthur Herman, narrated by John Curless; Recorded Books.

Biography / Memoir was won by “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow, narrated by Erik Singer; Hyperion Audiobooks.

Non-Fiction was won by “Hot, Flat, and Crowded”, by Thomas Friedman, narrated by Oliver Wyman; Macmillan Audio.

The competition this year was incredibly stiff, as was acknowledged by the Audio Publishers Association, and congratulations are in order for all of the nominees on their achievements in pursuit of excellence.

Source: Voices.com

Have you seen the most recent Star Trek movie?  If you have, chances are you noticed dashing good looks, the almost eerily similarities between the original cast and their younger counterparts, and their updated starship, but did you hear anything of note in particular?

The new cast of J.J. Abrams Star Trek is filled to the brim with outstanding talent that not only look the part and act the part, they sound the part.

Voice has become one of the more important elements in casting on-camera roles of late, demonstrated by the vocal qualities cast in leading roles, for example, Chris Pine’s exuberant take on James T. Kirk, Zachary Quinto’s amazing work as Spock, an adventurous dialect switch for Simon Pegg’s Scotty, and the dead-on Bones McCoy voice performed by New Zealander, Karl Urban.

Canadian actor Bruce Greenwood, who played Captain Christopher Pike, was also a hit. His voice was splendid in the trailers when used and gave a warm, authoritative presence to the film in a fatherly way.

Quinto, using his voice talent for more than just the film, recorded the Star Trek movie novel adaptation written by Alan Dean Foster, based on Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman’s screenplay, an 8.5 hour long audiobook.

Suffice to say, attention to casting where voices are concerned in film has come a long way, baby!

Source: VOX Daily

Wayne Allwine

Although the two made quite a pair voicing the Disney icons (named as Disney Legends in 2008), they never lost sight of the fact that they were merely the stewards of a legacy, entrusted with taking care of Mickey and Minnie, humbly doing their work in the service of others to keep Walt Disney’s dream, and the spirit of the characters, alive.

Allwine was the voice of Mickey Mouse for 32 years, and enjoyed working on all kinds of projects with the voice cast, including the “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse“.

Russi Taylor, said of her dearly departed husband, Wayne Allwine, “Walt [Disney] used to say, he put the heart and soul into Mickey Mouse,”

She noted that while Allwine was certainly proud to be the voice of Mickey Mouse, he was never boastful or arrogant. The couple, in fact, made a point of not using their Minnie and Mickey voices in public out of respect for the characters.  One exception was when Allwine saw a boy crying in a park, and without the lad seeing him, gently consoled him in Mickey Mouse’s voice.

Taylor relates, “Wayne came up and stood behind him and in Mickey’s voice, asked him not to cry,” she said. “Then Wayne said ‘Where’d he go? He was here just a second ago.’ But there was no more crying.”

Allwine also placed calls to ill children and spoke to them in Mickey Mouse’s voice.

Taylor also shared, “We’ve always said we were the caretakers of these characters.”

Voices of Mickey Mouse (years shown in duration of time as Mickey’s voice):

Walt Disney (1928-1947)
Jimmy MacDonald (1947-1977)
Wayne Allwine (1977-2009)

To further the point of characters being their own people, in honor of his 50th Anniversary (November 18, 1978), Mickey Mouse became the first cartoon character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star is located on 6925 Hollywood Blvd.

Source: VOX Daily

Although this article follows Earth Day, published today on Thursday April 23rd, it doesn’t hurt to be sensitive to the environment every day of the year, not just on one day of global observation.

Kara Edwards blogged about a number of ways voice actors specifically can contribute to a greener, cleaner world.

Edwards cites that several items on the following list came from the book “1001 Little Ways to Save Our Planet” by Esme Floyd.  Edwards also added some of her own thoughts to the mix.

1. Add a potted plant to your studio for each piece of electric equipment you own. It will help counter the negative effects of radiation while freshening the air you breathe.

2. Use a fan. Our equipment is hot, so add an energy conserving fan to your studio to avoid having to crank up the AC.

3. Add a fresh bowl of warm water to your studio each morning… this will help maintain humidity that is depleted by electronic equipment.

3. Set up near a window if possible. This way you can use natural light during the day instead of turning on a light. It is good for your eyes and your spirits to look outside!

4. Power down. Turn off your mic and pre-amp when not in use. Shut down your computer at night. If possible, unplug as well. Even when items are turned off, 5% of electricity is still being consumed.

5. Use envelopes from junk mail as scrap paper for your notes. Conserve paper.

6. Dust and vacuum! Keeping your equipment and vents clean will increase their overall efficiency.

7. When possible, buy used equipment. Just make sure it is in proper working condition!

8. Don’t throw out old equipment. Sell it or find a place that will recycle it.

9. Did you know it can take hundreds of years for a compact disc to degrade? By sending audio through e-mail, you are saving our planet!

Source: Kara Edwards’ Blog

The writer and producer, Kris Henderson said, “Because of the nature of the voice-over industry it was decided that we keep the long running tradition of ‘actor who does not appear on camera’ and produce the documentary without picture.

The Voice That Rocks is based on real-life stories about the voice-over industry in the United Kingdom, France, New Zealand and the United States. It is written and produced by Kris Henderson and stars Alan Bainbridge, Arthur Burton, Claire Dodin, Darren Altman, Finley Woods, Ian Pinnell, Bryan Cox, Bobbin Beam, Carl Welden, and Sini Manner. It has a proposed release date of 20th May 2009.

Source: Kris Henderson

A contest is going on right now where people can vote for the favorite game show announcer, among other categories, in the 2009 Game Show Awards.

The list includes announcers whose presences have made a significant impact on the program they are working for, ranging from inter-generational favorites to newer shows airing within the last decade.

Announcers on the list include:

Joe Cipriano, Deal or No Deal
Rich Fields, The Price is Right
Johnny Gilbert, Jeopardy!
Charlie O’Donnell, Wheel of Fortune
Burton Richardson, Family Feud
Mark Thompson, Don’t Forget the Lyrics!

To vote for your favorite announcer, make sure that you visit this link:

2009 Game Show Awards

Source: Ron Levine