GKCFP: Vocal Auditions

[drakebloodiv]

I'm expressing interest as auditioning for Jack Highland, and can I ask why nobody has made a person with the name HIGHLAND and who responds to questions with 'aye' have a Scottish accent? My audition will have a Scottish accent.

[Casey]

I imagine that individual interpretations are more than fine, in the absence of some official word from Tom. To my recollection, no one has asked him about Jack's nationalism or accent.

[drakebloodiv]

Here is a rough attempt at an audition Please Examine And Critique Honestly. I think it sounds good, but I have no idea if thats just me.

[Ulysses]

As of 1901 the surname Hyland was concentrated mostly in Lancashire and Kent, closely followed by Sussex and London. My data doesn't include Scotland, unfortunately.
I guess people can come from all over, so personal interpretation of accents doesn't really matter.

[drakebloodiv]

To clarify, Ulysses, I meant that Highland was both a reference towards the Scottish Highlands and, in my opinion, the movie Highlander.

[p13volution]

I like the idea of a Scottish Jack, but your audition could sound a little younger. I can't tell if its a natural accent or not and I'd hate to comment on it in case I'm wrong. I'll just say that if it is a natural Scottish accent, from Scotland, I think you should working on making it more instantly identifiable as a Scottish accent, because it varies between words. If I only heard a small portion it probably wouldn't say Scottish to me.

If its a non-native accent, I think you leave it. My mind keeps wandering to thinking about whether that's how Sacha Baron Cohen would sound doing that kind of voice... Which could be a good or a bad thing based on how you feel about Sacha Baron Cohen

[drakebloodiv]

Don't worry, it's fake, glad you couldn't tell though. Scottish accents tend to vary alot in thickness and I dinnae think that I should go the Shrek/Demoman level just yet but I'll try both a thicker and a thinner one on a couple of recordings to see what youse think of the variations. Also, I'll try a higher voice, but I make no guarantees.

On another note, should I use words like dinnae, youse, aye, bunnae, and wanker even when they differ from the source material?

[Ulysses]

Tom seems to write in a dialect if he thinks he character would use it e.g. Diego's "Je je je", plus on various occasions "kinda", "gotta", "ya". If you're doing a Scottish accent I'd stick to the script, although I admit I can't remember if I did or not when I put up my audition for Donny. My guess is that I'm being a massive hypocrite, hah.
Besided, I don't think Tom has ever used the word 'wanker' in the comic.

[Mr Pitchfork]

He hasn't yet. It's one of those words that would stick out if mentioned.

[beatfox]

Hi all! Is this project still going? I sincerely hope so, because I just started reading GKC less than a month ago and I'm loving it so much that I was inspired to submit an audition of my own! It's Coyote, and I know there's already quite a few auditioners for him... but he was just far too fun a character to pass up!

I requested for Casey to upload the audition video to the YouTube channel, but until then you can view it here on my site. and now it's up!

[Ulysses]

It's very difficult to pull off a convincing Coyote laugh, but you seriously nailed it. You're well suited to the character, I think.

[beatfox]

Thanks! And I think my roommate will be calling for the nice men in white coats to pick me up any day now.

[cazador]

you have my vote!

edit: actually, it's exactly what your avatar made me think you sounded like.

[beatfox]

Okay, so i couldn't resist. I just had to do an Ysengrin audition as well.

And I think you'll have a very hard time picturing my avatar sounding like that.

jeez I totally killed my voice...


Edit: And yeah, I'm aware the accent is totally wonky. But considering Tom has only described Ysengrin's accent as "angry", I'm not sure how much it actually matters.

[cazador]

I think the word 'win' applies. I couldn't stop laughing. That's the best Ysengrin voice I've heard yet.

[Casey]

Allright, the files have been uploaded and the URLs have been added to the Master List.

[Mr Pitchfork]

Oh, oh my god. This is pretty much exactly how I think Coyote sounds. The laugh is perfect. So perfect.

[edzepp]

beatfox: That Coyote audition is almost EXACTLY how he sounds in my head. My Gosh, it's PERFECT. I would pick you in a heartbeat.

[Aricos]

Oh my, Beatfox, you do a nice Coyote! And your grumpy McTreepants is not too shabby either!

Just a note, no need to mind if you don't feel like it: Your rendition of Ysengrin raging at Annie for seeing him in his weak state doesn't sound nearly as angry as I had imagined. Are you going for the 'I am so angry, my words will chill you' effect instead?

[beatfox]

Wow, thanks for the compliments, guys!

@aricos: Pretty much, yeah. Rather than him being straight-out roaringly angry (like when he attacked her at the Court), I see him showing barely suppressed rage with just a hint of injured pride leaking through. The use of ellipses in the text, as well as the complete absence of exclamation marks, seem to support this.

[cazador]

anyone else find it ironic that beatfox applied for all the forest dogs except the fox?

[beatfox]

Haha! I would if he wasn't already taken!

Though I always envision him with some kind of English accent, and I'm not confident I could pull off a convincing one.

although a text-to-speech engine with an English accent could potentially help for practicing...

[p13volution]

Wow, your Ysengrin sounds almost exactly like The Beast from Beauty and the Beast, which was a connection I never even thought to make. I'm impressed... As someone who has also auditioned for that particular character you have made me seriously wish I had more time to redo my audition like I've been planning to.

I don't like your Coyote quite as much however. You handle the emotional scenes better than any other audition I've seen, but he sounds really young, like a kid almost. I don't hear "trickster God," I hear "giggling prankster" nothing at all like that often devious, unpredictable deity I hear in my head. I'm confident enough with my own audition not to be too worried about you as competition. I don't mean to be cocky, but I don't plan on giving up on any of these roles without a fight.

I'll still probably redo my Coyote if I have the time, but not because I feel inadequate compared to any of the competition, I just think I can do better now that I've improved as a Voice Actor.

Man, I sound like kind of a prick here... Umm... Good job on the auditions beatfox

[beatfox]

No worries, p13! I get where you're coming from regarding Coyote. Everyone's bound to have different conceptions of what a character sounds like when they're only given visual and textual cues. I think those conceptions may even be subconsciously affected by the sound of our own voices - I was surprised how close I was able to get Coyote's voice to sound like what I heard in my head while reading the comic, and yet that may be partly due to me unwittingly applying my own speech patterns to text in general whenever I read.

Anyway, nothing's a given yet, certainly. I'd love to hear you redo Coyote whenever you're able! It's always exciting to see people improve on their talents.

Edit: And yes, I did notice how much my Ysengrin sounded like the Beast after I recorded & edited it! I'm guessing Disney applied similar vocal & editing techniques for him when they made that movie.

[p13volution]

I figured there was editing involved, but I usually like to confirm these things with the source before I start running my mouth. I have my own personal feelings about using edits in auditions since I'd personally prefer to win roles with my own voice rather than how well I can use audio-editing software. Of course there's no actual rule against it... So that's just my opinion.

[beatfox]

The way I see it, it's all about how the end result comes out. Just because a voice has been altered doesn't mean it's to make up for a lack of vocal skill (except when it comes to the use of Auto-Tune in the music industry... don't even get me started on that). Voice-altering effects are simply a set of tools available for a voice actor to use in order to widen the variety of voices they can play, just like a digital artist has a myriad of brushes, filters, etc. at their disposal to increase the range of things & styles they can portray when making a picture. But it's still gonna come out sucky if the foundation of good voice acting skills isn't there.

[p13volution]

True, its the finished product that counts, but the voice actors aren't responsible for the finished project. If everyone did the finished product for what they are responsible for in this project, it would end up being an inconsistent mess when its done. As someone who has turned in lines for this project, I know that Casey doesn't even want us to send anything but the bare minimum so everything can be edited together at a later date and be consistent. My job may be done when I finish my lines, but they are far from perfect when they leave my hands.

Its definitely not my call to make, but I advise people who do moderate to extensive editing to add in what it sounds like before as well as your finished product so people realize how much is your voice and how much is audio industry pizazz. If you can show people your talents before and after, it helps everyone to decide who they think is best for each role. Its a democracy, so I personally choose to give people the best range of emotion of my own voice to show everyone how I can preform without trying to dazzle them into choosing me. That's not success for me, I won't take a role I didn't earn by purely the merits of my own voice and my own acting talent.

I'm not saying that's you of course, I understand that you aren't trying to do this to trick or dazzle anyone. If its only about being professional that's perfectly acceptable. These are just... Some things to consider, from one friendly competitor to another

[beatfox]

Totally understood! (By the way, if you really want to hear what my voice actually sounded like when recording Ysengrin, just pitch it up by 25%.)

[cheddarius]

I'd just like to say that FuzzyOne's Eglamore is incredible.

[blackboe]

What-uuup. Coyote.

zombiedog.spindash.net/gunnersound_wurds/coyote_audition.ogg

EDIT: For what it's worth, and in the interests of honesty: I used a plugin to remove the majority of the noise, and another plugin to enhance a few of the higher frequencies that the microphone did not pick up so well. Besides that, a little cut and paste work to stitch together a few fumbled sentences.