I’ve been thinking a lot about routines as they relate to voice over: you know, that methodology that gets you into a good physical and mental state, prepared to deliver the best read of your life.
Surprisingly–if you know me–it’s not something I’ve given much thought until recently. I’ve been thinking about routines because I had a couple private voice over coaching sessions that just weren’t optimal. One so-so session is acceptable, but two? Let’s figure out what the issue is!
Even as I was doing it, I have been keenly aware of rushing from point A (work) to point B (VO locale) so that I would get there in time. Granted, my coach provides a chunk of time to settle in and prepare scripts, but I’ve never intentionally given myself time to prepare both my mind and body for an hour of rigorous practice.
Recently, I discovered Voice-Over Voice Actor: What It’s Like Behind the Mic, a new voice over book by professional VO’s Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt. The husband and wife team have also produced The Warm-Up, available in CD or mp3 format. I haven’t yet read the book, but I scooped the mp3 and so far so good.
For less than five bucks, Lowenthal and Platt lead you in complete full-body, facial, vocal, and breathing exercises, as well as tongue twisters. What I love most about The Warm-Up is its four-minute “Condensed Complete Warm-Up”–perfect for those days when I’m rushing (but trying not to) from work to practice.
I also queried colleagues in Facebook’s Voiceover Central group about their pre-session routines. Here’s what they had to say:
Jacob Ekström: I brush my teeth. Takes care of mouth noise. Also, I don’t drink coffee before recordings.
Robert T. Leach: I take a couple of Sudafed for my sinuses, brush my teeth, rinse with Alkohol mouthwash, sip hot water with a little lemon and honey, and lastly sniff out of a menthol inhaler tube. I did not realize until just now what a diva I have turned into…I also do the cork exercise first with tongue twisters, then the alphabet then the copy.
Tj Terry Jones: My daily routine is this: Wake up. A half a grapefruit, work out, hot shower, gargle while I’m singing scales low-to-high, high-to-low, brush the teeth, a few tongue twisters, tea with lemon and a touch of honey while I break down the copy, a run-through doing James Alburger’s cork trick, a spritz of Entertainer’s Secret, and roll. And lots of room temperature water throughout the session. After the first one , I’m pretty warmed up, so just the Entertainer’s Secret and water.
And my personal favorite…
Paul J. Warwick: dropping to my knees in prayer?!? Does that count?!?
What’s your routine before a voice over session?
totally depends on the script,…but generally: get hydrated, get loose, say “arnold palmer” 3 times really fast, pay homage to “fusilli, you crazy bastard”,….and go
I’m one of those who if I think about it too much it effects the read, so I try and stay as spontaneous as possible, meaning very little warm up, compared to what I’ve seen when I went to auditions, and in classes.
cool site meghan, nice to see you applying all this
Break a Lip!
this has me wondering – what the heck is this “Entertainer’s Secret” and why is it so popular? perhaps a good topic for a future post? would love to see a review of it and learn more. also – what the heck is the cork routine!? please enlighten me. thanks for the great blog, got me thinking i need some sort of routine, too. keep em coming, mrs. weimer!
Check out James Alburger’s book on the shelf; I’ll bet you can find out more about the cork routine in it.
Entertainer’s Secret is a throat spray. Comes in 2.5 oz. bottles, and is awesome. Eliminates dry mouth, mouth noise, is soothing after a long session, and unlike a lot of throat remedies, doesn’t sound or taste horrifying. (Hornet tea?!?!?) It’s a honey apple flavor and is very nice. I don’t work for them, I just love and use the stuff!
http://www.entertainers-secret.com/
Thanks for enlightening us, TJ. Y’all will be glad to know we’re going to give away a sample of Entertainer’s Secret in the next week or so. Stay tuned!
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Looking for a spray that will relax chords. My voice tends to climb after a stressful session. In home studio, I go to the shower and steam myself for 15 minutes. It helps, but I’d like an easier way to relax the chrods.
Thanks for any info.
Hi, John. Voice actor Terry Jones recommended Entertainer’s Secret to me a while back, so I tried it and wound up writing a rave review about it for the site. Shortly thereafter, it was also recommended by voice actor Bob Bergen, aka the voice of Porky Pig! I still use Entertainer’s Secret when I’m working on longer projects, and Grether’s Pastille’s are also a nice aide; they’re made with glycerin and really soothing. Check them out here: http://www.pastillesforless.com/. Good luck–let me know how it goes!
I knew it!! When we were warming up at the small group and I was like, “who is this?” It was Yuri Lowenthal! He’s a big name in the Anime community because he has done so many popular Anime characters, and he’s done them quite well.
Anyways, I will be picking up this warm-up for myself. Thanks for the link.