Here’s what we provide over at the friendly environs of Voiceover Studio Chicago.
Voiceover Exploration Session — $75, for one and a half to two hours
In this voiceover exploration session, we’ll meet and I’ll hand you some pages with copy. I’ll have you work on the microphone, coaching you through various pieces. You’ll get an idea of what it’s like to work on the microphone and be pushed around (verbally) by someone who will show you what it takes to achieve a good, usable recording of a commercial. Then you’ll have a seat and ask any questions you like about the voiceover business in general and in Chicago in particular, get my recommendations of where you should go from here, anything you want to know. I hand you a cd with the best takes from what we recorded, and you hand me a check. If you’re confident enough and skilled enough to make a demo with me, I will deduct what you just spent. Your full voiceover demo will now cost $675.00
Voiceover Demo Production — $750
The audio calling card of the voiceover business: a commercial voiceover demo, from a minute to a minute thirty seconds in length. You must take the Voiceover Exploration Session, OR prove that you’ve had considerable experience OR be recommended by someone I know. This price includes everything: copy edited/written specifically for you, recording with coaching, finished spots with backing tracks/effects, six copies on cd and an mp3 version sent to your email address. This includes minor adjustments and tweaks, but don’t get nuts about it — tt’s just a voiceover demo, and they are not eligible for the Grammy’s. If you continue in the business, you’ll make other demos, updated with work you’ve done. If you don’t continue in the business, you’ll have a nice souvenir from a time when you went a little crazy, but you won’t have paid the price of a decent used Toyota. After recording, wait about two weeks for delivery.
Voiceover Demo Updates — $150 for each spot
Want to freshen up an old demo? Then you should add some new spots. This includes copy, recording and production. Give me a week to get them done.
Voiceover Demo Edits — $150 – $200, depending on how much you’re adding
Want to add produced spots to a current demo? Bring me your old demo, and I’ll cut in your new material while you wait. We’ll sit together and listen to what we have, arrange it the way we both decide makes the most sense. I hand you a cd with your updated demo. You leave. Drive safe, now.
Home Studio Set-up and Guidance — $300, two to three hours
Today, you must have a home studio if you want to be in the voiceover business. Most agencies require that you have the ability to record and submit auditions via email.
We talk on the telephone about your current computer setup. I advise you about what hardware and software you need to start recording on your home computer. I come to your house and install everything, and give you a basic lesson in how to do home recording: how to create an audio file, adjust your gain (volume), record and edit audio, save the file in different formats, and send to agents or talent buyers by email.
Home Studio Set-Up and Guidance, Advanced — $500, three to four hours
All of the above, but you want a more complex set-up, which may or may not include purchasing a computer, and installing an audio interface. This allows you more flexibility, and a greater ability to upgrade and add other components later, but is more complex, with a greater learning curve.
