VB's 2008 Demo

[veebee]

Haven't done one of these in a long time.

[STREAM]

Credits:
Mixed by me
Music by az
Special thanks to fairuza (intro voice)

Older Stuff: Here

[Sheepy]

tl;dl

But seriously, the demo was really good, but it felt a little on the long side, even if it might not have been. I also would have loved to hear some over-the-topness with some of these voices. It almost felt as if you were holding back, which was a little saddening, since I think if you wouldn't have, it would have been absolutely amazing. Not saying that this isn't good.

You do have a wide array of voices in here, though!

[veebee]

tl;dl

But seriously, the demo was really good, but it felt a little on the long side, even if it might not have been. I also would have loved to hear some over-the-topness with some of these voices. It almost felt as if you were holding back, which was a little saddening, since I think if you wouldn't have, it would have been absolutely amazing. Not saying that this isn't good.

You do have a wide array of voices in here, though!

With all do respect, I've read your previous comments and you've said the same thing about three different demo reels. And from my understanding a demo reel shouldn't exceed over a minute. If you take the little intro and outro bit out you'd have less than a minute. So I'm not sure if I agree with your "on the long side" comment.

I'm not sure what you mean by "over-the-topness" either. I always thought over-the-top was a bad thing. :/

[Mrwest16]

That was pretty freaking awesome! A lot different then other demos I've heard in the past. And I noticed you used one from FS, cool.

[Z-Che Chan]

Before I get to mine.

The lengthy comment, demo reels are (so i've heard) supposed to be 1 minute long, no more. Yours is a 1:28. You may have to take a few out (the ones that sound similar).
And if you find that you can't take some out, try grouping types and make more than one, the other with a different format.

~~*
I thought it was different, which i'm sure you were going for. I don't know if others would find the effects and what not distracting, but I thought it was a fun piece. I would have liked to hear more emotions portrayed. Maybe sadness, attacking, screaming. You had a few, but there was a lot of flat lining as far as emotion went. It seemed more about range. If that's what you were going for, then...Great job xD

But as a demo in and of itself. It should showcase not just your range, but your talent as an actor.

If this demo was just for showcasing your range, then, BETTA ZEN MAMMA xD

[sonicmega]

I find this demo rather "interesting" compared to most of the others I've heard over the months, as while it seems they either are REALLY good or REALLY bad, yours contains segments from the less obvious of both realms, although unfortunately the latter opinion occurs more often.

On the good side, you definitely have potential in some of your lower voices, as well as the soundings of inflection development necessary to really put the OOMPH into them that you'd hear from characters like Spike from Cowboy Bebop on a regular basis. Perhaps the best samples to hear this in your demo are the lines "Allow me to cure" and "It's nothing but a mere walking...", and those are definitely the ones I would point out as your strongest out of all the voices you gave, although "So, you like games?" Also had a tinge of that necessary "tude".

The "suggested improvements" section, however, delves into two different categories in this review: The literal (based on vocals) and the indirect (based on presentation). Focusing on the literal first, your strength with lower voices is countered by a weakness in younger male voices; too often you went into a "falsetto" approach that never really sounds natural with male characters, although I suppose this could be still useful in offhand comedic situations. Note that sounding older does not necessarily mean sounding weaker, as your older male voice was hard to discern in terms of power. This was also one of the flaws keeping your "like to play games" voice from truly standing out, as while the attitude was spot on, there was no muscular power behind it to make it jump out of the demo and into my ears. I suppose the single most apparent suggestion to garner from this, then, would be this - attitude's fine, but work on the delivery. There weren't too many different emotions portrayed here due to the favoritism towards "neutral" lines, so I couldn't get a grasp of how you would fare on lines containing sadness, surprise, or even extreme anger.

On the indirect side, most of your opening statements in your demo actually served a negative purpose, because most of them could easily be viewed or considered conceited or even discouraging. Statements like "I can do all sorts of", "I don't know how he does it", and ESPECIALLY "I'm just blessed with a cool voice", while certainly giving people higher expectations for what they're going to hear, also opens you up for severe criticism if that demand isn't met, so I'd actually suggest not using statements like that at all unless your demo is going to blow people out of the water (and even then, I don't think Blum would choose to say such things). Statements like "You have to be BORN with these abilities", however, are just downright discouraging no matter who listens to them, and you're more likely to incite anger and disappointment in your choice of words than responses of awe and appreciation. I won't comment on the little tidbits such as echoing and name introduction that are viewed as needed by some and redunant by others, but please consider the target audience listening to this when you decide what "lines" to use for your samples.

That's the gist of what I can garner from this, and with 2009 coming around the corner I hope you'll have learned enough new information to come out with a more impressive demo to help you in your quest to land roles!

[veebee]

I find this demo rather "interesting" compared to most of the others I've heard over the months, as while it seems they either are REALLY good or REALLY bad, yours contains segments from the less obvious of both realms, although unfortunately the latter opinion occurs more often.

On the good side, you definitely have potential in some of your lower voices, as well as the soundings of inflection development necessary to really put the OOMPH into them that you'd hear from characters like Spike from Cowboy Bebop on a regular basis. Perhaps the best samples to hear this in your demo are the lines "Allow me to cure" and "It's nothing but a mere walking...", and those are definitely the ones I would point out as your strongest out of all the voices you gave, although "So, you like games?" Also had a tinge of that necessary "tude".

The "suggested improvements" section, however, delves into two different categories in this review: The literal (based on vocals) and the indirect (based on presentation). Focusing on the literal first, your strength with lower voices is countered by a weakness in younger male voices; too often you went into a "falsetto" approach that never really sounds natural with male characters, although I suppose this could be still useful in offhand comedic situations. Note that sounding older does not necessarily mean sounding weaker, as your older male voice was hard to discern in terms of power. This was also one of the flaws keeping your "like to play games" voice from truly standing out, as while the attitude was spot on, there was no muscular power behind it to make it jump out of the demo and into my ears. I suppose the single most apparent suggestion to garner from this, then, would be this - attitude's fine, but work on the delivery. There weren't too many different emotions portrayed here due to the favoritism towards "neutral" lines, so I couldn't get a grasp of how you would fare on lines containing sadness, surprise, or even extreme anger.

On the indirect side, most of your opening statements in your demo actually served a negative purpose, because most of them could easily be viewed or considered conceited or even discouraging. Statements like "I can do all sorts of", "I don't know how he does it", and ESPECIALLY "I'm just blessed with a cool voice", while certainly giving people higher expectations for what they're going to hear, also opens you up for severe criticism if that demand isn't met, so I'd actually suggest not using statements like that at all unless your demo is going to blow people out of the water (and even then, I don't think Blum would choose to say such things). Statements like "You have to be BORN with these abilities", however, are just downright discouraging no matter who listens to them, and you're more likely to incite anger and disappointment in your choice of words than responses of awe and appreciation. I won't comment on the little tidbits such as echoing and name introduction that are viewed as needed by some and redunant by others, but please consider the target audience listening to this when you decide what "lines" to use for your samples.

That's the gist of what I can garner from this, and with 2009 coming around the corner I hope you'll have learned enough new information to come out with a more impressive demo to help you in your quest to land roles!

That was probably hands down, the best critique I've ever received. But I have to defend myself a little bit here. I may be overconfident but I'm not conceited. I admit to saying lines that would make me appear that way, but they were more to be humorous than anything--almost poking fun at myself and my ego. None of it was meant to be taken so seriously. For example, I say, "I'm just blessed with a cool voice" and in the background you hear, "Yeah, well, my guns bigger than yours". I say, "You have to be born with these abilities in order to control them" and then quickly combat that with, "Don't listen to him sire!" The whole reel is a clash between myself and my alter ego. I meant no disrespect nor did I mean to belittle anyone else's abilities as a VA and I'm sorry if it appeared that way.

[sonicmega]

The whole reel is a clash between myself and my alter ego. I meant no disrespect nor did I mean to belittle anyone else's abilities as a VA and I'm sorry if it appeared that way.

Completely understood, and know that I took no offense whatsoever to what was in the demo. My only statement was that not everyone listens to the ENTIRE THING before making assumptions, and good intentions can sometimes be misinterpreted. Thanks for taking my review into account!

[Sasuya]

You never cease to amaze me dude! *A* Erm, I'd critique, but some of the stuff would be pretty much reiterating was mega said D:

You have a good diverse display of voices from what I could hear. I liked how the reel was mixed, but at the same time I felt it was a little bit distracting. It sounded like a conversation between lots of different people, which I thought was pretty cool =D But, the voices came out like rapid fire =0 And (it might just be me) but I felt like the voices were coming out so fast that I didn't really have enough time to register the type of voice or anything in my mind (I hope that makes sense o_< ) But even so, I still liked how it was put together =D

Eh, sorry for the short critique ^^; But great job VoiceBox =D I really liked listening to it. Definitely a new fresh take on the usual demos I've been hearing.

[veebee]

You never cease to amaze me dude! *A* Erm, I'd critique, but some of the stuff would be pretty much reiterating was mega said D:

You have a good diverse display of voices from what I could hear. I liked how the reel was mixed, but at the same time I felt it was a little bit distracting. It sounded like a conversation between lots of different people, which I thought was pretty cool =D But, the voices came out like rapid fire =0 And (it might just be me) but I felt like the voices were coming out so fast that I didn't really have enough time to register the type of voice or anything in my mind (I hope that makes sense o_< ) But even so, I still liked how it was put together =D

Eh, sorry for the short critique ^^; But great job VoiceBox =D I really liked listening to it. Definitely a new fresh take on the usual demos I've been hearing.

I'm always trying to reinvent something. Maybe I should stick to the fundamentals?