Proud Voices

Types of Male Voice Talent

There are many types of males voices. They can range from a low pitched gravelly voice like James Earl Jones, to a soothing voice like Morgan Freeman, or friendly, upbeat voices like our own Popeye V. Each type of voice may be better suited to a specific type of project. Your voice-over is part of your company’s brand. Its tone, style, and delivery should reflect certain aspects of your company.

For example, an auto parts store has a demographic of mostly 20+ year old males. In this instance a gravely male voice might be appropriate to reflect the voice of its own customers. On the other hand, an insurance office would want to project professionalism and assurance to customers. You would like the customer to feel as though you are a trustworthy and reputable business. A friendly, but businesslike voice would be appropriate in this instance.

Knowing the voice of your own customers is important to choose the right male voice for your project.

Commercial or Character Voiceovers?

When searching for an artist to record your project it is important to note whether it is a commercial or character V.O. Commercial projects would include things like phone system voiceovers or corporate training videos. In this instance, an artist who can project a clear precise voiceover which may be monotone, but is business-like and understandable. The main purpose of a voice over artist in this instance is to communicate information to the customer or employee. This type of “voiceover” does not usually require the artist to inject emotion or aspects of their personality into the project.

On the other hand, character driven voiceovers need to be created by artists that can project emotion into their voice and create a character. Character voices are similar to acting and not all V.O. artists have the ability to create this type of V.O.. Artists that create good character pieces often have a background in acting a attempt to read the piece with emotion or from a character’s point of view.

The drawback to “character pieces”, from a business perspective is that they are very subjective. The customer may have a vision of the character in their own mind. It can be difficult to exactly replicate the exact vision that the customer may have for the piece. Some give and take is required on both ends. The business must be receptive to the customers vision, but at the same time the customer needs to be flexible about what the artist produces.

The Script

When working with any type of V.O. artist, creating a great script is one of the most important elements. Working and reworking the words until they are concise, attention grabbing, and interesting, is essential. Even if you are working with amazing male or female voice talent, a bad script WILL ruin a project. It is a customers job to have the script ready, before presenting it to the voiceover company.

Reliability and Retakes

A good male voiceover artist stands by their work. This includes the drive and work ethic to do retakes and fixes in order to create a good product. Script changes may require extra “edit fees”, but any mis-pronunciations, or mistakes should be fixed as a part of product.