Demo-reel without music?

[Tinari]

So I am working on a demo-reel right now. I am putting together a list of voices I want to go into it and all that. So the legwork is done.

My question is that I see so many demo-reels that have music or pictures or even FMVs that they're speaking the lines of from anime or shows. Is any of that really necessary to be a demo-reel? Should I just focus on getting voices and letting them decide on what they want?

I feel like I need to learn how to do that kind of stuff if I want to actually have my VA get some attention... hrm.

Just curious.

[x3Ren]

Hm, you can always have pictures and background music to go along with your voice work. It's more like eye candy mix with epicness to make it more appealing or to let people see the potential your voice could offer. Well if you're going into voice acting as a career option, it wouldn't hurt to learn and such. You can use your youtube account as a sort of resume and such. Better videos would equal more views, more views could equal more chances and opportunities to show what you can do. Remember, it's just a demo reel. So just be natural, do your best, take your time with it. No rush.

Being on this forum, I realize a lot of people would make a demo reel after a few months or after a year of experience. And if you really do need help with making a video, just ask some of the members here to help. :]

[Tinari]

It is more of a hobby I want to pursue.

Between two jobs, most of my voice acting is with my H2n when I am in a quiet area I can just cut loose and have some fun with.

Most of the demo-reels I have all do things that aren't... well... things I figured the "voice actor" themselves would do. If it would be useful then I guess I could learn to try to match up music with the words to give a better setting or backdrop. I just felt that it seemed... cleaner to have the voice being unaltered, unmixed, unhindered and more pure.

Maybe I just don't know what's good for me, eh? :3

[x3Ren]

Well if you don't plan to be scouted, you don't really need a demo reel. If you do, demo reel. Though I understand where you're coming from about the pureness of it but it sort of helps the people who are looking. It helps them much easier imagining your voice in their anime/projects and such.

Lol. Maybe you don't want to put too much effort into learning how to make videos? Well think about it this way if that's the case, if not voice acting, maybe something else? Like maybe in the future you'll need to make videos. So why not learn now? It's usually a minute and a half for demo reels. Sometimes less. So it won't take too much time and since this is just a hobby, just take your time. Explore it and who knows, maybe in the end you'll end up liking it.

[Tinari]

As I said, it's more of something of a hobby I want to do. I want to just try my hand at voice-acting and getting a feel for what it's like and about and offer my voice for free for any sort of project that people may need a free voice for. I am not trying to be scouted for commercials or a golden radio voice or even scoring big time in anime or anything.

But yeah I can see the flip side of it to as you say, adding music between the voices to give them the sort of setting they'd work best with. Hrm. I have the voice clips put together at about 1:40. I could space the voices out a bit and give them some music to go with but I actually don't watch anime or movies or...TV much really. I guess that makes it a weakness of mine then, mm?

[x3Ren]

Lol. Having a weakness is what makes it all the more fun. Challenging yourself and becoming better. But yeah like I said, just take your time. Hobbies are meant to be enjoyed. :]

[topleka]

A demo reel "proper" is a compilation of clips of things you've been in. The reason a lot of people put music and sound effects in is to give the impression that it was lifted directly from a TV show or other production. You don't need music. I've heard plenty of good demo reels that don't use music or sound effects. As long as it showcases what you can do as an actor, that's what matters most.

That being said, it will give your demo reel a little more polish if it's mixed well.

[CatSinger]

It's definitely not necessary, sometimes it takes away from the voices, I just posted a demo reel with no background music (Cartoon character reel) . you could check it out if you want, I also have several on youtube that do have background music. If you want you could go to my youtube channel (XBubblesXPPG) and watch some of my videos i have all of those options and you could just choose which kind you'd rather do. I've mostly stopped adding the bg music cause I'm lazy now, but i also don't think it's necessary Hope that helps

[Tinari]

Thanks for the info. I'm still kind of at square one with the music.

As far as the "demo-reel" I made I think I did too much noise removal on and left the voices with a tinny quality that I notice. I have had average to mildly positive feedback. Maybe it's just my own paranoia about it. I have all the original clips though so I -can- redo it from scratch when I have time. Ah, stuff...