DRE Holiday Preview Show

There's snow falling at http://www.dregold.net, so that must mean...

The DRE Holiday Preview Show

is RELEASED!!

Join ROTC's Credator as he hosts our exclusive behind the scenes look at DRE's upcoming holiday programming! Hear exclusive clips from the DBL, Botz & Holmes holiday specials! Plus, hear an exclusive interview with the CEO, Jonithan Patrick Russell. You won't want to miss this first glimpse of these amazing shows! Check it out...

http://www.dregold.net/ROTC/DREHolidayPrev.mp3

Colonial Audio Theater: Perry Mason

I'm in this:

NEW PERRY MASON RELEASE!

For the first time - the original Perry Mason novels by Erle Stanley Gardner are dramatized as full cast audio dramas in this exciting new series starring Jerry Robbins as Perry Mason, with Diane Capen as Della Street and J.T. Turner as Det. Paul Drake.

In THE HOWLING DOG, Arthur Cartwright (Kevin Cirone), an anxious man, goes to Perry Mason (Jerry Robbins) to have his neighbor arrested for his vindictive and noisy dog. He is under the belief that his howling is an indication that somebody has been murdered in the neighborhood. He demands that his will be written bequeathing the estate to the lady living at the neighbor's house. However, the will is mysteriously altered by an unknown person and Cartwright goes missing, along with the lady. It is up to Mason to investigate.

With Shonna McEachern. Hugh Metzler. Joseph Zamparelli. Diane Lind. Scott Giangrande. Phyllis Uloth. Shawn Maguire. Quent Risher.

Dramatized for Audio by MJ Elliott. Produced by Jesse Zoller. Directed by Jerry Robbins. (2009) Running Time: 77min
http://www.lulu.com/content/multimedia/perry-mason-and-the-case-of-the-howling-dog/7440176

Pseudopod 152: Hometown Horrible

Newly posted:

Pseudopod 152: Hometown Horrible
http://pseudopod.org/2009/07/24/pseudopod-152-hometown-horrible/

By Matthew Bey
Read by Elie Hirschman
“So much stays behind when a man dies,” Bestlonic says. “You could rebuild Finch from what we have left of him.”
Together we walk the three blocks to downtown Chippewa Falls, and he tells me why Finch is the greatest writer who ever lived.
We talk mainly about the “Biter” series. It doesn’t take much to get Bestlonic raving about these stories. The most cited story in the series, the eponymous “Biter,” tells the tale of a man who finds a note in his jacket pocket that prompts him to eat his own extremities, methodically avoiding blood loss and undue trauma in the process. The story is nearly 30,000 words long, surprisingly little of which is gruesome depictions of auto-cannibalism. The bulk of the text concentrates on the “unthinkable horror” written on that slip of paper. Finch never states outright what that might be, presumably because it would cause the readership to imitate the hero’s compulsive mutilation. He merely reveals that the phrase is twelve words long, and we should be very careful what we read.

Night Terrors #15

AT LONG LAST... THE RETURN OF NIGHT TERRORS!!!


Night Terrors 15: The Choice

http://www.darkerprojects.com/nightterrors.php#NT0115
(14:13, 19.5 MB mp3, released 2009.07.15)

It's a beautiful day for a walk in the park. A day full of possibilities. The only problem with so many possibilities, is that ultimately, you make have to make... A CHOICE.

Written by David Ault

Featured in the cast were:

Mike Lyons as Robert Morgan
Garry Cobbum as the old man
Kim Gianopolous as the boy
and Scott Wentworth as the rapist

The episode is produced and directed by Elie Hirschman
The series producer is Mark Bruzee
Post-production by Jon Specht
Original music by Kevin MacLeod
The executive producer for Darker Projects is Eric Busby

How do I get started in Voiceovers - part 2

I had another person ask me how to get started in voiceovers. Here is what I posted back:

I've sent my "how I got started" story to a few people, this is basically what I tell them:
I've always liked doing voices and acting and the like. My dream as a kid was to be in a cartoon.
I never really followed up on that dream as the years went by.
I saw an ad in a local community newspaper for a night class that was all about using your voice to make money, and it definitely peaked my interest. So I went out for it - it was 2 hours, $35 and it course was interesting. I could definitely see myself doing that. So I signed up with the instructor for one on one lessons, did 5 hours of voice training course over the next few months, recorded my demo, went to a marketing seminar, and got myself some business cards, made myself a website and CD labels. I also joined every single Yahoo and Google group and forum I could find that had to do with voiceovers and voice acting. I trolled Craigslist looking for vo jobs, and was able to get a few paying gigs over the years that followed. I also bugged personal friends (like the guy who started Gaslimit.com - high school buddy), acquaintances and family members, some of which materialized into paying gigs. Darker Projects and Dream Realm help me keep in practice and confident behind the mic. SO there it is - CHASE YOUR DREAM!!

Also, I sent them this Q&A I had with a friend overseas:

Q:i would imagine geographic locations to not be relevant in the international marketplace. am i wrong? can't the stuff be done anywhere to anywhere digitally transmitted?

A- You're right - for the most part. But Voiceovers is a business just like any other, and there are plenty of clients who will only do things in person and face to face. But you can indeed do a lot from the comfort of your own home or private studio. It's also the best way to keep in practice.
But the other downside to doing it "anywhere" is to make sure you don't end up with background noise, humming or buzzing in your finished audio, or just lousy audio due to using equipment that is inferior to what you might get in a professional studio. As long as you are conscious of quality, you can accomplish a lot, and make money... from those who are willing to pay and are accomodating of this system.
If you are knowlegeable, flexible, reachable and professional, you can pretty much do it all. But it also takes a lot of time to be/become all of those things.

Bloodmoon episode 3

Darker Projects Presents:
Bloodmoon
Episode 3 - Denial


http://www.darkerprojects.com/bloodmoon.php#003
(19:24, 26.6 MB mp3, released 2009.06.12)

Sam's refusal to accept the shocking news of his transformation is wearing thin as he notices more physical changes: the night doesn't seem as dark as it used to, Sam can smell things his colleagues can't, and can hunt perps in the dark like.. well, like a wolf. But what further changes lie in store with the approach of the night of the full moon?

This episode featured the voice talents of

Mark Kilfoil as Detective Sam Packer
April Sadowski as Erika Elkins
Perry Whittle as Earl Parker
Cathy Rinella as Paula Mckee
Eric Busby as Brad Bracken
Jeff Robinson as Tony Verrano
Mary Alice White, Perry Whittle, Elie Hirschman, and David Ault as Other Cops
and Kim Gianopolous as Marjorie Woods
Additional voices by Scott Stronack and Riece Ptolemy

Your announcer is Jon Specht

Produced by Waleed Ovase
Directed by Elie Hirschman
Sound Design by Matt McLaren
Original Music by Matt McLaren and James Taye, additional music used under license

The Announcer voice

I thought there was a general trend in voiceovers these days towards hiring more natural voices for commercial reads. Less of the traditional "announcer type" associated with the 1950's radio broadcasts and more of the Everyday Joe types selling you stuff on the radio. (My voiceover coach stressed this, and I think I remember specifically reading something about this in the book There's Money Where Your Mouth Is)
But lately, I am hearing all sorts of "classic" announcer voices being used - most notably in my mind:

• the Joseph A. Bank commercial, with the oh-so-over-the-top and exuberant delivery
• The relatively new sweeper announcer on WCBS 880
• Several commercials with (what sound to me like) artificially deepened voices
  

This is disheartening to me, because anyone who has heard my voice knows it's NOT your typical announcer voice, and I have run across people who were so accustomed to the typical announcer voice that they couldn't understand how I was in the VO business.
Is the trend swinging back the other way? I hope not.