Listening to myself…

As a narrator, listening to myself with an objective critical ear is perhaps the most difficult part of the work. Getting my ego out of the way and evaluating the performance is not easy. The second most difficulty task is trying NOT to be a perfectionist. I heard Scott Brick say in a recent ACX University session that “perfection is the enemy of good”, and I agree completely. I could change and re-state lines in a million different ways and still not be 100% satisfied. Knowing when to stop polishing the work is important.

My voice changes through the day, in the morning it’s deep and resonant, in the afternoon it’s a bit raspy and higher pitched, and while I love the morning sound, the opposite is true later in the day. I have no control over this, and it determines the time of day I can use to record. I can do characters at any time, but I can only do myself in the morning, so if I have to do a retake of “my” voice it usually has to wait until the next morning. Strange (and frustrating) but true.

Constructive criticism from authors is a valuable resource and always welcome. Regardless of whether an audition is successful or not, I want to know what they thought of it. What did they like? What did they dislike? What do they think I could do to improve? Feedback like this, in addition to receiving mentoring from other successful narrators, are valuable tools for constant improvement, and as such I welcome it.