Liz Drury Voiceovers' Blog

If you’re the sort of person that likes technical kit, then being a voiceover artist might be the kind of job you’d like. Personally I’m not really very interested in gear – I know what I need and I’ve got what I need, but I’m not someone who has to have the latest gadget! That being said, I do often get asked about what equipment I use, so I thought I would write a blog post about the various microphones and so on that I use in my business. There are a number of different types of microphone, which have different qualities depending on what they are being used for. The microphones used on stage by singers are different from those being used in a music recording studio, which are different again from those used in an television interview situation, or those used for voiceover. For voiceover, the type of microphone needed is a condenser microphone with a cardioid (heart shaped) pick-up pattern. Some microphones have a switchable pick-up pattern and can be changed, for examp...

Liz Drury Voiceovers Redundancy: Noun. The state of being not, or no longer needed or useful. One year ago this week I was made redundant. At the time it seemed to come totally out of the blue, but looking back I can see that there were signs that things were about to change. I was being given less to do, and what I was being given had nothing to do with my skills set. Being made redundant is never a nice process – you’re left wondering what’s wrong with you and asking yourself why your employer doesn’t want you any more, but for me, those feelings were far surpassed by a feeling of freedom! I had worked at Franklin college for over 11 years (apart from a couple of years in America with my husband’s job) but since starting my voiceover business it had always been in the back of my mind to leave and pursue my passion full time. There was never a good time to leave though. I only worked 15 hours a week at the college, so I still had time to work part-time as a voice...

That was what my 15 year old son said to me when I announced that I'd been shortlisted for a business award. I was pretty pleased with my achievement and his rather derogatory comment took the wind out of my sails somewhat. Now granted I wasn't running my business full time at that point, but still, he'd seen me working at home, disappearing into my recording studio at all times of the day, so if I wasn't running a business, what was I doing?! I asked him about this and he said, 'but you don't have any premises'. So, in his mind I needed to be going 'out' to work, for it to count. Bear in mind this child is taking Business Studies at school, so really he should know that businesses come in all shapes and sizes, and that a business run from home is still a valid business - but no - a business run by his Mum doesn't mean anything. Why are my children so dismissive about what I do? They are never excited by my successes or pleased that I've ...

I've been to a couple of voiceover conferences in the UK before, but nothing quite on the scale of VOAtlanta . This was the biggest voiceover conference in the world - ever! With over 600 delegates including voice actors from across the voiceover spectrum and 12 different countries, casting directors, talent agents, coaches, and equipment manufacturers, we took over an entire hotel - and then some. BUT, when you consider that some industry conferences attract thousands of people, it just shows what a niche industry we are - and that our talents are quite unique. One of the recurring themes of the conference is that we should know our worth - and given that not everyone can do what we do, we should be able to command a decent fee for our work. However, the industry has seen a downward trend in rates over recent years, with people setting themselves up on the likes of Fiverr with a cheap mic and providing voiceover services for next to nothing. However, you do tend to get what you ...

After the birth of my eldest son, my career took a different turn. When he was 9 months old I went to work at Franklin 6th Form College in Grimsby. They wanted me to help them create some staff training materials that included videos of various teachers and other staff members, talking about self-assessment reporting and development planning. I was excited to be able to make use of my interviewing skills again, and a year later we had produced a very comprehensive training package. By the time the project finished I was pregnant with son number two, and so I left the college. I spent the next couple of years at home with the children and then I received a phone call out of the blue from Franklin, asking me if I would go back. They wanted some extra interviews adding to the original training package, but one thing led to another and soon I was on a permanent contract. Over the next 5 years I did all sorts of things for Franklin. I only ever worked 15 hours a week so that I could ...

What does pre-historic chewing gum have to do with voiceovers? Not a lot on the face of it, but pre-historic chewing gum was arguably the thing that started me on the path to my current career. Let me explain… Back in 1997 I was a PhD student at the University of Bradford . My field of study was Archaeological Science, and I was looking at natural products (tars and resins) that had been used in the Mesolithic period (5, 000 – 10,000 years ago) as glues and waterproofing agents. These kinds of materials are only preserved in anaerobic conditions (lacking oxygen), such as water-logged bog sites, and so most of the material I was interested in was located in soggy Scandinavia. I spent three weeks during the first year of my research travelling around Demark and Sweden collecting samples to study, and during my travels I came across a number of lumps of tar with human tooth impressions in them – chewing gums. Quite what the purpose of these lumps of tar was, nobody really kne...