I just finished up class #1 (it's really class 2 but ignore that) of my voice classes at Radio Garage in Urbandale, IA. These guys are the real deal and wow...what a cool thing to be "In Studio".
We spent a good portion of the class reading a script in normal voice, and in "character voice". That character voice was different for everyone. Some sounded completely different than themselves (think Valley Girls and Brooklyners). What I found most interesting was the nervousness and tension that many of us felt "letting go" with our characters. We didn't plan for this and unless you've been practicing an alter ego for most of your life or doing impressions, you had to figure out who you wanted to be on the spot. We read in regular voice, then character, then back to regular to notice what "carried over".
Then, we went into the recording studio. This part was so COOL. There I was standing in front of a multi-thousand dollar microphone with studio quality head phones on. I could HEAR MY BRAIN WAVES! Every wrinkle of my shirt was audible and even the slightest dry mouth resonated through the mic like a cow chewing its cud. But even more magical was the transformation that I underwent. The separation from the others and the isolation of the room seemed to unleash my inner monologue voice...the one that I annoy my wife with. Until I have post-able MP3's, let me lay it out for you visually.
What do you get when you mix the following?
+ 
+
+ 
Don La Fontaine Bill Shatner Bill Curtis Stone Phillips
You get my alter ego and voice over king of all media:
Doug LaShatStonis!
"In a worrllllld where space and forensic evidence combine to form a truly cosmic tv show."
I'll just leave you with this and count the hours til the next class.
