Prentice’s VO #TBT 2015

Posted on December 31, 2015 by purrrentice

Is it really almost 2016 already?! Wow! What a year 2015 was. Well, I want to treat this NYE like an extreme Throwback Thursday and take a look at some VO highlights of my year. I may as well take advantage of NYE being on Friday Eve, right?

Pandora

I’ve been with Pandora for quite a while now, and no ad or brand is too big or small for me to tackle with them. If you listen to Pandora, chances are VoxyLadies_logo_new_Fullyou’ve heard me between your favorite tunes!

Voxy Ladies

This year I was accepted into the Voxy Ladies, an all female, professional VO group. Being a part of this prestigious sisterhood has been awesome. It’s brought new opportunities, and I’ve made tons of new VO BFFs! I absolutely can’t wait to go to the Voxy Summit here in Atlanta next month! It will be insane, Yo.

Peg Heads

I booked my first animated role this year on a show called Peg Heads. It’s a cartoon seriDrone ones based off of the Laser Peg toy line. I play the part of Drone, the sassy, hovering robot assistant to Professor Laserus. She is a sarcastic, floating cube with a robo-heart of gold who begrudgingly helps the Peg Heads save the day. She only has a couple lines in the pilot, but worry not. I will get to drone-on quite a but in the upcoming episodes planned for season 1! I will link the pilot episode below!

My Little Pony: Friendship Celebrationmaxresdefault

This is a new app from MLP that is basically an extended play experiencefor the line of dolls that came out over the summer. With the click your tablet or phone camera, you and your ponies can go to parties hosted by characters on the snow. I am the voice of Pinkie Pie! So, anytime you party with Pinkie in Friendship Celebration, you are also partying with yours truly. As Pinkie says in the game “I’m so excited, I can hardly stand up straight!”

New Digs

I mentioned this in an earlier blog post, but I still want to share here in my 2015 highlights. I gave my setup a technological makeover! It’s only made my recording studio more effective and fun. Here’s a link to the original post if you want details.

What’s Coming-Up in 2016???

Well, I don’t know! That’s part of the fun of the freelance life (and what makes it scary as hell sometimes. Lol). Anything is possible, so I gotta be ready to roll with the punches and seize any opportunity that comes my way.

Thanks to all of you: My friends, family, clients, and new visitors!
Let’s enjoy this New Year’s Eve, and here’s to a fabulous 2016!

CHEERS!

NYE 2016

 

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VO To-Go: Prentice is Now a Traveling Act

Posted on October 4, 2015 by purrrentice

This time a week ago, Nick and I were coming home from a family vacation to St. Augustine, Florida, and a little getaway for our seventh wedding anniversary. I didn’t want to miss out on a week of work, so for the first time ever, I decided invite my equipment along! Now I can have my VO to-go, not just dine-in only! Hooray!

This is how I packed my equipment! Lol.

This is how I packed my equipment! Lol.

At first I was looking to purchase a travel setup. I researched and talked to colleagues about their favorite choices. It ends-up lots of the better USB mics are BFFs with Mac products, and I wanted to make sure whatever I bought would be good buddies with my PC and Adobe Audition. After being mansplained at a local shop, I asked myself “Prentice, why are you trying to buy a travel setup, when you can travel with your current digs?” To which I replied “Dude, you’re right, Prentice. We are staying in the same condo we’ve visited many times, and there is a perfect space for me to treat and use. Besides, Mr. Prentice and I are driving down, and devoting one small suitcase to my work won’t be a problem.” Then I added “GOOD THINKING, PRENTICE! We can shop online later for a second setup. No need to stress myself out over this right now.” I have great conversations with myself.

Anyways, it ended up being a slow week (I only did paid work that just needed me to record and send. I didn’t want to commit to auditions because they can be a time suck.), and I was kinda okay with that. As much as I adore busy, profitable weeks, slow ones happen from time to time, and if the stars are going to align and make a not busy workweek while I’m out of town, cool. I still got to test the waters of traveling VO and then hop in the waters of a pool and the ocean.

Running logoIn case that wasn’t being productive enough, I decided to join my Voxy Ladies in their Pretty in Pink Virtual Marathon for Cancer Research! I was able to knock out about half my 26.2 miles while doing beach walks and exploring historic St. Augustine! Way to multitask, Prentice!

I do realize someday I will want to invest into a smaller, simpler setup that reduces the risk of my at-home equipment getting messed-up or lost on an airplane or in a cramped packing space. Do you have a travel setup? What do you like best? I’d love to hear more about your favorite equipment for doing voice work on the go!

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Celebrating My Unconventional American Dream

Posted on September 1, 2015 by purrrentice

pet-cat-dog-1-1496989-639x960Today marks a pretty big milestone for me. For the first time in over a decade, I will only have ONE JOB. That’s right. I have officially retired from promotional and demo work and am focusing solely on my voiceover…and it’s a full time job…like…that pays the bills! This is not a case of choosing to be a poor struggling artist either. I have work. It’s legitsies!

I have had at least two jobs since 2003, and I’ve balanced between 2 and 6 part time, freelance and full time jobs during that time. For a few years, I was also a full time student. Talk about juggling your life around! The juggle struggle was real, and my post-graduation journey was nothing like I thought it would be.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI couldn’t find grown-up work, tried a receptionist job to get my foot in the door, hated the job and couldn’t get anywhere (as plenty of you heard about when this site was “Receptionist on the Verge.”). I started voiceover training on the side, experienced being laid-off for the first time, felt pressured and took another front desk job that underpaid me but at least brought forth great connections in VO, and experienced another layoff before embracing unemployment and looking at things differently.  I stacked multiple gigs on top of each other to make ends meet, until now. Now I have enough consistent VO work to do just the one thing I love! Yay!

I’m so happy I found this awesome industry, where being me is what I do! There are so many wonderful people who helped me get to this point, and I am truly grateful for them and for every opportunity I found and grasped. I gotta say though, old fashioned, bootstrappers’ “logic” and tactics didn’t help me find success. It was not that simple and untrue equation that failure = you didn’t try hard enough. Not so say that working hard and not giving up isn’t important, but I think this pie chart gives a more accurate slice of career life…at least from my perspective!
Success Chart

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Got My Eye on You, My Kaotica Eyeball that is!

Posted on June 28, 2015 by purrrentice

IMG_0064As you may or may not recall, I acquired a Kaotica Eyeball last fall (Oooh! That rhymed!). Needless to say, I was pretty stoked. I’m always down for finding ways to improve my audio. The only problem was the Eyeball would not fit over my microphone. Bummer! So, the little guy just sat in my study until I did a complete studio makeover! It’s been a few months since I upgraded my equipment and added the Kaotica Eyeball to the mix, so let’s talk about it!

For those of you who don’t know, the Kaotica Eyeball “is an acoustic treatment device that isolates and channels sound directly to your microphone. By isolating and channeling sound, the Eyeball is able to accurately capture the pure vocal tone while greatly reducing room reflections and ambient noise.” So yeah. It’s this rad looking sphere that goes over most any microphone. It’s lightweight, has a built-in pop filter, and requires nothing more once slipped over your mic. But the real questions you may have are A) Does it work? And B) Is it worth purchasing? Well, here is my honest opinion:

Bad audio? Ain't nobody got time fo dat!

Bad audio? Ain’t nobody got time fo dat!

The Kaotica Eyeball does work. There’s science behind it! Anyways, I do believe it makes my studio sound cleaner, and it exceeds my expectations for lowering my noise floor. I wish I had recorded some before and afters, but ain’t nobody got time for that.

Is the Kaotica Eyeball worth buying? It does cost about $200. If you have the budget, I say go for it! If you are looking for a way to improve your recording space but don’t have the resources for a complete sound treatment, the Eyeball can help immensely. I also hear the Eyeball is great for travel set-ups. I’m looking forward to testing that out. It makes sense to me. Since travel spaces can be inconsistent, I would think adding the Eyeball to the travel line-up would easily improve less than ideal recording scenarios.

I do want to throw something out there though. I blogged about this years back when writing beauty reviews for a cosmetics app. People can have unrealistic ideas of what a product can do. You have to have reasonable expectations, People. No mascara is going to make stubby lashes suddenly be a mile long. No fad diet is going to make you look like Heidi Klum in one month. No skin cream is going to literally make you look 25 years younger. And…the Kaotica Eyeball is not going to magically make a crappy recording space and setup sound like a professional studio. Like, don’t stick your iPhone in this thing while at a red light to quickly record something and expect oohs and ahhs over the pristine quality of your audio. Because…that is ridiculous. Just stop. Like actually just stop and Prentice Silly - croppedenjoy some tunes on your radio at that red light. Or have a sip of that iced latte and calm the eff down.

That being said, I love my Kaotica Eyeball, and I think it makes a wonderful addition to my studio. I would definitely recommend it. Heck. I like mine so much that I didn’t remove it for my Voxy Ladies profile pics. This thing rocks.

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Heeeeeeeey, Voxy La-day!

Posted on May 31, 2015 by purrrentice

11377236_10204073455180287_2146861306850542323_nI know I’m a little late in posting this, but I’m still excited…so it’s still relevant! My Memorial Day weekend was pretty rad. I went to the Ghibli film festival and watched My Neighbor Totoro, and then I got to see my brother be a dancing flamingo man at Zoo Atlanta’s Brew at the Zoo. I even got some boat time in with my folks before eating some barbeque. Good stuff.

You know what I did as the cherry on top of this long weekend sundae? I went to the Voxy Ladies Swap Til You Drop at Doppler Studios. The amazing gals with Voxy Ladies held a clothing drive, benefiting Atlanta Mission. And since we were all together, we got to talk shop and introduce ourselves to new, awesome, voiceover gal pals. It was cool, and we got a bunch of donations, too!

22184_10155591695210080_1325976759804171364_n

Oh, did I fail to mention I am a Voxy Lady? Well, I am, and I’m loving the sisterhood so far. They are a very talented group of women, and I can’t wait until their Women’s Voiceover conference in Atlanta next year! Until then, feel free to check out my profile!

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Fry Aye Aye!

Posted on March 31, 2015 by purrrentice

Today, I want to talk about fry…and I don’t mean the delicious, fried potato kind.

Fries

Mmmmmmmmmm….

I’m talking about vocal fry.

Glottalization, or a glottal scrape,  is a creaky sound people sometimes make, usually at the end of phrases. It occurs when their vocal folds completely or partially close. This is more commonly known as Vocal Fry, and it is commonly known because of  an overblown media  piece inspired by a small study about the occurrence of vocal fry in college girls. The “news” segments accused young women of ruining their voices to sound, hip and cool, like it’s a new fad that must be stopped before it becomes a linguistic shift that destroys our women and our language!!! THE HORROR! (Was that dramatic enough?) Since this classic case of sensationalism, people are suddenly noticing glottalization and shaming it, particularly in teen and young adult women. What a surprise! The media making a big deal over nothing to get viewership? That never happens.

This click-bait-esque news gave people something new to complain about. We can always use something new to nag about on the internet, right? Even wonderful, young adult female, on-air personalities on NPR get flack for the way they speak, not for their research or material, but for how words actually come out of their mouths. This American Life put this into perspective, and I absolutely loved this piece:

Here’s The Link to The Segment on This American Life

See, I’m a millennial, female voiceover talent, and the sudden negativity towards fry made me insecure about what I was offering for a while. I mean, I don’t recall ever choosing to have a little rasp. I don’t sound like the modern valley girl caricature to which vocal fry is associated (unless it’s a character that is supposed to be that way), and I don’t sound inarticulate or dumb…at least my coaches and clients don’t seem to think so.

This American Life debunked a lot of stigma behind fry. For instance, there is no reason to believe fry is a modern, linguistic anomaly that popped out of nowhere and into young girls’ mouths. It’s not some harmful speech impediment or vocal plague that needs to be eradicated, though older people feel this way much more than younger generations. Natural fry does not ruin vocal chords. It’s not a telltale sign of ignorance or lack of class, and as Ira Glass so eloquently pointed out in this piece, men do it, too:

“Ira Glass: It’s funny. Until we started talking about it for this story, I never even noticed it in your voice.
Chana Joffe: And now you notice it every single–
Ira Glass: Yeah. Have you noticed that I do it too?
Chana Joffe: Not until right now.
Ira Glass: Yeah, yeah, even as I say these words.”
Like...omg, you guyyys! I like totally just freakin' talk this waaayyyy. Gahhhhh!

Like…omg, you guyyys! I like totally just freakin’ talk this waaayyyy. Gah!

Honestly, the treatment of vocal fry in women is not much different than past criticisms of phrasing with upward inflection or the use of “like” as a hesitation in speech. It’s a weird mix of sensationalism, sexism and ageism, and it not only causes young professionals to second guess if they “sound right.” It also causes unnecessary discrimination against a sound that is oftentimes perfectly natural. I’ve seen many auditions where I was a perfect fit…until I saw in quotes and all caps “ABSOLUTELY NO VOCAL FRY.”

Does this  mean they don’t want the modern valley character that the media told them is vocal fry, or do they literally want no rasp, gravel or creak, even if it naturally occurs in speech? I’m sure there are girls out there who do speak outside of their register and creak more on purpose (Why, Girl? Love YOUR voice!), but if I’m speaking with healthy placement and have a little fry, is that a deal breaker? Would auditioning be a waste of my time, or am I exactly what they wanted but won’t apply because they accidentally excluded talent with their poor choice of words?

Now that I have a better understanding of A) What vocal fry actually is, and B) How the term has been misused, mutated and abused in media in recent years, I feel confident again with how I speak and where I fall into the voice over equation. Some people are going to just keep hatin’ on vocal fry, but I’m just gonna make like a Tay Tay and shake it off. I mean, discriminating against people because some stupid news show told you to seems way worse to me than a little fry. Fry aye aye! Talk about having egg on your face (See what I did there? Fry? Fried egg? Being embarrassingly uninformed about fry?).

Egg on Yo FACE

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Date Knights Twitch Channel Update

Posted on February 21, 2015 by purrrentice

For those of you who don’t know, Nick and I run a Twitch channel called Date Knights, where we film ourselves playing games and talking to people in our chat LIVE, and it’s been entertaining to us and growing strong. For those of you who do know of Date Knights, you’re likely here for the Nick Update. Here it is!

Hiatus Channel Page

About a week ago, Nick was in a car accident. A women made an illegal left turn in front of Nick while he was driving through a green light. He tried to dodge her, but he still ricocheted off her car and into a guard rail. Her car then bounced into a stopped car at a red light. That lady really effed up, because she is legally at fault for the whole thing. Derp.

A00393F01The crash impacted the side of Nick’s right knee, shattering a part of his leg called the Tibal Plateau. The Tibial Plateau is the upper part of the shin bone. It is one of the most important weight bearing areas of the entire body. Because Nick’s was rekt, he had to have a plate and screws surgically implanted. This ain’t your grandmother’s knee surgery, unless she had a displaced Tibal Plateau fracture. Then that’s exactly what it is.

We got to leave the hospital late on Valentine’s Day, and this has been one of the hardest weeks of Nick and my life. Once the meds from the hospital left Nick’s system, it took  days to properly manage his pain. He can’t really do anything on his own, so that has been difficult for Nick and exhausting for me. Simple things like getting out of a chair, walking down a hallway, getting dressed, etc, are anything but simple. I literally carried him into the house after an impromptu doctor visit yesterday, because he was in too much pain to hop. Nurse Shawty is strong. She totally lifts, bruh.

Eeew! Look at that boo boo! There is one more small incision near his ankle, too.

Eeew! Look at that boo boo! There is one more small incision near his ankle, too.

Nick’s job has been beyond supportive during this hard time, and almost all my clients have been as well. I can also do all my Voiceover work at home! We miss all kinds of things right now though, like going out, sleeping in our bed, our normal routines, and of course, our stream! You would think all this recovery time would mean more streaming, but here are a few things getting in the way:

Seating Arrangement

Right now, Nick can’t sit upright. He had to sit in a wheelchair yesterday for that doctor visit, and he was in serious pain. There is no way we could sit in our computer chairs like normal. His leg needs to be elevated and supported, Also, it would not fit under our desk.

Equipment

We have been brainstorming ideas to move the stream to our living room, but that is also a challenge. Our setup would be difficult to move from our study, and building a temporary setup will prove troublesome, especially with  additional spacial issues involving our living room arrangement. It’s not out of the question, but there are lots of questions to be answered first.

Energy

This first week has been physically exhausting and emotionally draining for Nick and me. Nick’s been adjusting to his immobile, more vulnerable lifestyle. He is adapting and struggling simultaneously. It’s hard to go from being young and healthy to immobile and helpless in seconds. Poor thing. Also, I have always been prone to depression, and if I said all the stress from Nick’s pain, my caretaker responsibilities, bits of drama, physical fatigue, and lack of sleep has not triggered some mind-blowing bleakness, I’d be lying through my teeth. Things are starting to look-up a little, and I know with that will come higher, more ambitious spirits, and hopefully after that, the power to bring back Date Knights!

 

We have been amazed with how much you, our followers, care about us. Your concern, kind words, generosity and eagerness to watch us stream again make Nick and me so happy! We never thought on that Halloween night when we started streaming that we would have 700+ followers and new online friends who would care so much about our wellbeing. Thanks so much for your love and support! We will keep our Minecraft server up and running for you guys, and we will keep you posted on Nick’s progress through our social media.

And when we stream again, we will Kitty Disco like we’ve never Kitty Discoed before!!!

Dj_cats

MEOW!

 

 

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Kickin’ Off 2015 With a MakeVOver

Posted on January 31, 2015 by purrrentice

I want to update this blog more in 2015. Like, that’s gonna be my resolution, Y’all: At least one post a month, and I get bonus points for more! I sure did wait until the last minute to start this, huh? Oh well. What better way to kick off the new year than with a studio makeover?!

That’s right. I was finally able to save some money and update my voiceover studio. Here is my new equipment lineup:

4The Rode NT1-A

Here is my new mic. I enjoyed my Blue Yeti, but it was time to upgrade. Also, Nick and I started a Twitch channel in the past few months, and I was having to drag the mic back and forth from our setup to my booth. It’s such a relief that I can just leave the Yeti with our gaming setup permanately.

IMG_0064Kaotica Eyeball

Another reason I got a new mic was because I’ve had this baby sitting in my house. It was a gift. The Eyeball won’t fit on my Yeti, and I can’t wait to use it. The Kaotica Eyeball is this rad little ball that goes over my mic, and it acoustically treats the space inside by isolating and channeling the sounds I want and keeping ambient noise at a minimum. I hear it’s great for barebones setups while traveling, and I can’t wait to use it to further sound treat my recording space.

M-Audio M-Track Plus with Pro Tools Expressm-track_front2_large

Since my new mic is not a USB, I needed an interface to complete my setup. This one came highly recommended, and it also comes with Pro Tools Express. That will be fun! I can’t wait to check it out and compare this software to Adobe Audition.

So yeah. That’s my newest setup. I haven’t gotten to record anything yet, but I know this combo will raise the quality of my recordings. It also makes me feel even more legit and professional. I also updated my E-Learning and Training demo because it needed a makeover, too. I’ll post it below!

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Cilant-YO! The (Dis)Likability of Cilantro

Posted on October 20, 2014 by purrrentice

As my Facebook friends may know (and others may not), I want to start another poetry challenge. What I mean by that is I miss the old school challenges of my fridge poetry days. I’m one of those weird writers who would rather have rules, themes, constraints, etc, so writing freely is not really a thing for me. So, I did what any logical person would do… I went to Facebook for help. “Tell me what to write about,” I said. I would pick a subject from the comments, put it to form, and voila! Poem time.

This week, I picked this poem idea:

I liked the parenthesis and thought the idea was funny.

I liked the parenthesis and thought the idea was funny.

And I decided to make it a Tanka:

A classic form of Japanese poetry, traditionally called a Waka. It is 31 syllables, broken down in a 5-7-5-7-7 meter. In Japanese, these poems are usually one continuous line, but when translated or written in English, they are written in 5 lines.

One man's Yum is another man's Yucky

One man’s Yum is another man’s Yucky

The  (Dis)Likability of Cilantro

The nature of taste
a genetic tendency
to love cilantro
or think it’s like eating soap:
The (dis)likeability

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the idea! What should I write about next? Leave a comment or hit me up on Facebook or Twitter!

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Pirates of the Career-ibbean: Why Freelancing is Like Being a Pirate

Posted on September 24, 2014 by purrrentice

Pirate PrentassAhoy, me Hearties! Pirate Prentice here.  Last Friday was Talk Like a Pirate Day, and the fact that I did not finish this article in time for the occasion made my heart walk the plank. But, I’d be a son o’ a scurvy-ridden scallywag if I don’t tell ye why being a freelancer is just like being a pirate. So grab your mead, and gulp your grog. Sit right back and read me blog!

The Adventurous Spirit – Pirates of the Freelance Sea have a strong sense of adventure. Oftentimes, occupational land lubbers ask “Why don’t you just get a normal job with normal hours and normal pay?” To this, we just sing “Yo Ho! Yo Ho! A freelance life for me!” We would trade an office job in the blink of an eye patch covered eye for the chance to taste the salty, entrepreneurial breeze of the open seas! We celebrate life’s uncertainties…actually…we celebrate everything because pirates like to party.

Never met a pirate I didn't like.

Never met a pirate I didn’t like.

Seizing All Opportunities – Whether we find an under secured ship full of booty or a great job opportunity, the freelance pirate must jump on any profitable prospect. We’re always searching for the next chance to earn some dubloons, hone our skills and build relationships with colleagues and clients.

Networking – Speaking of colleagues and clients, a badass buckoneer networks like there’s no tomorrow. We know that who you know can be even more important than what you can do. “Oh, we need __? I know a guy!” We build strong relationships and utilize our social resources. Even the best pirates depend on their fellow sea dogs, sutlers, lookouts, sailors and that gruff black market dealer with a heart o’ gold.

Resourcefulness – Life has a way of throwing you curveballs, especially on the fiercest freelance seas, and sometimes you have to swashbuckle with a banana, swab the decks with single ply toilet paper, or plug a hole in the hull with nothing but some gum and paperclips. And when that doesn’t work…

Abandon Ship! – I have been told I am a muster station master. With freelance work comes contracts, and with contracts comes chaos. Budgets get cut, businesses die, jerks with cannons blow up your dreams, layoffs happen, and if you’re a proper pirate, you better know how to swim… or your finances will be swimming with the fishes.

Jack-of-All-Trades –  A pirate does not just wear one hat. Well, I guess technically they do, but what I mean is we have to be multi-disciplinary. We must wear ALL the metaphorical hats for our trades: accountant, marketer, talent, captain, talking parrot, engineer, navigator, etc! The more skills you have, the more valuable a pirate you are!

Space Pirates – Aye! Not even the sky is the limit for Freelance Pirates, for we think outside the boat! We dream big, aim high, fire a rocket, and soar through the sky!

And if I had my choice in the matter, I would want my space pirate spaceship to be a cabbit.

And if I had my choice in the matter, I would want my space pirate spaceship to be a cabbit.

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