EXPLORING THE INSTRUMENT

Director: John Baron
Length: 18-hour six-week workshop
Skills Focus: Relaxation; Confidence-Building; Spontaneity;
Vocal Conditioning

In this workshop you’ll learn how to rid yourself of “blocks” – vocal patterns that interfere with your ability to speak naturally and with ease. You’ll explore how your own breath, articulation, clarity of sound, mind/body connection, range, tone, placement, vocal tension and performance anxiety can each affect the way you communicate. But it’s not all hard work and vocal diagnostics... John keeps the proceedings entertaining, fast-paced and light-hearted.

Participants will be expected to complete two hours of outside work/exercises each week. Comfortable clothing is advised for group exercises.



HOME RECORDING STUDIO TUTORIAL

Director: SF Booth Director
Length: 9-hours
Skills Focus: Critical Listening; Mic Technique; Self-Direction;
Self-Marketing; Taking Responsibility

Having a simple home recording set-up makes you immediately accessible to agents and clients all over the world, plus it significantly reduces the expense and hassle of commuting regularly to your agent’s office for auditions. Additionally, the ability to record yourself provides you with self-diagnostic tools for identifying vocal problems and fine-tuning your performances. During this class, you’ll learn how to put together your own home studio from the ground up including: selecting and purchasing audio equipment; studio wiring basics and room setup; software installation and configuration; and basic editing and file conversion. Enrollment is limited to ten participants.



IMPROV FOR VOICE ACTORS

Director: Anna Mathias
Length: 10-hour weekend seminar
Skills Focus: Acting; Character Development; Choice-Making;
Confidence-Building; Setting the Scene; Spontaneity

Get ready to play! This energetic, fun workout will jolt you out of your predictable everyday choices, free you to take chances, and find new characters, voices and approaches to copy that even you didn’t know you had! Using a variety of tried and tested theater games and improv techniques, you’ll gain confidence as you learn to relax in front of the mic.

INSIDE THE VOICE ACTORS’ STUDIO

Directors: Susan Blu, Sirenetta Leoni (moderator)
Length: 3-hour evening lecture
Skills Focus: Acting; Believability; Character Development; Choice-Making; Confidence-Building; Mic Technique; Script Analysis; Self-Direction; Setting the Scene; Spontaneity; Taking Direction

Voicetrax is proud to continue our ongoing lecture series with the very top talent in the voiceover business. These industry superstars agree to come talk to our students because they’re enthusiastic supporters of Voicetrax’s training program and are excited to be able to share their stories, experiences and insights regarding this voice acting craft that we all love so much. This semester, we are honored to have with us a truly iconic figure in the world of voiceover—actor, teacher, author and director, Susan Blu. Susan will discuss her amazing career—from ingenue to top voice actor to Emmy-nominated director of over a thousand episodes of successful cartoon series. We’ll also talk to Susan about how—through her creative, innovative directing techniques—she has influenced a generation of directors, voice actors, and voice acting coaches...including many of your Voicetrax instructors.

For Intermediate/Advanced-level and above students only: inconjunction with our speaker series, we offer special “lecture-inspired“ labs the very next day. For more information on the lecture/lab combination option, please see the “All-Day Intensive Character Lab with Cynthia Songé” description in the following Intermediate/Advanced section.



THE TAMING OF THE MIC

Director: Chuck Kourouklis
Length: 9 hours
Skills Focus: Character Development; Mic Technique; Self-Direction; Setting the Scene

If you’ve ever puzzled over how to show greater range and imagination in your voice acting, this class provides specific mic techniques that can help you breathe life and variety into your performances. From practical, technical issues — like how to minimize "p-pops" and over-modulation — to creative ideas on how to establish a sense of scene and define your characters, Chuck will share the mic tricks of the trade that he has learned during his 17-plus years in the broadcast and voiceover industries.