Students past and present share their experiences and wisdom...
Then one day, when I was working on some scenes with friends…someone mentioned voice-over work. I had never heard of it. So I went home and looked it up. There was one place in town that helped people "find their voice," so to speak. It was called Voicetrax.
I signed up to take a class…an introductory class. The first words out of the ladies mouth were: "Voiceover is acting for the ear."
I have never forgotten those words. Nor many of the other ones that Sam sent my way as I started working in the incredible world of voice-overs over the coming years. I still think about them every day as I sit in front of the microphone and prepare to read copy.
I am grateful to Sam and her crew in many different ways, but in the simplest way, I am grateful for those words.
Because as I think back to that first class, I can see, laid out before me like a map, how those words encompass so much of my life for the past 17 years.
-Chopper Bernet
I will always look back on my experience at Voicetrax as eye opening. Ned Lott told me about you and recommended that I audition and take some classes. I was already doing some studio work through singing, but I wanted to do more.
Voicetrax helped me realize that I couldn't get away with less than my absolute best effort. You weren't afraid to tell us the realities of the business and what it took to land a job—including moving past a lot of rejections.
Thanks to you, I've landed a few nice gigs. With some of the acting skills I've acquired through Voicetrax, I've even gone back into the theatre and have enjoyed frolicking with my fellow thespians in shows like "Flower Drum Song" and the "King and I".
Thanks, Sam, for your encouragement and prodding. You done good! Congratulations on this milestone and keep up the tremendous work you are doing.
Blessings and Love
-Irene Trapp
AKA "Dot the Dog" for LeapFrog
I am writing to say a long overdue "Thank you" for all that I’ve learned and applied in my voiceover career. Classes that I have taken over the years have really helped me a lot in my quest to work in Animation voiceover. I can be heard in the animated features, "Killer Bean Forever," (directed by Jeff Lew, lead animator for the "Matrix Reloaded") and "Kung Pow, Enter the Fist."… If it wasn’t for what I learned at Voicetrax, I know I wouldn’t have been as successful. In summary….NONE of the above would have ever been possible without Sam’s vision and drive to create a place where VOICES could gather and learn the techniques of the spoken word that would make them…and me…a professional.
I still have a lot of work to get to where I need to be, but I wanted to take the time out to say something that I should have said to you in person years ago!
Thanks a lot Dude!
-Bryan O. Session
When you first come to Voicetrax, it is often because you have been told that you have this voice that just has to be heard…and you think that if you take a couple, maybe three, classes…you’ll be off and running. But you soon learn that whatever area you decide to focus on, there are specific techniques you need to learn if you are ever to participate in the real world of voice work.
Some of most valuable lessons I’ve learned along the way…
Always
-Butch Engle
I came to Voicetrax to find out if getting back into voice acting, after many years away, was a good idea. I didn’t know what to expect.
I found more than a good place to take classes. I found a welcoming community of interested students and inspiring, encouraging teacher-professionals that is helping me discover what it takes to be a successful voice actor today.
After a year and a half at Voicetrax, I was thrilled to book an audio book contract.
Voicetrax has made my journey back into the world of voiceover a great idea!
-Polly Stone
I want to thank Voicetrax for allowing me to become a harmless schizophrenic. I guess I need to explain what I mean by that so people will still sit next to me in class.
You see, until my first class at Voicetrax, I considered myself a very boring but pleasant enough person. In my professional life, I was relatively serious and level-headed. Jokes, or worse yet, speaking in a funny voice were pretty much out of the question. Working a lot with kids, both my own and on a volunteer basis, I was very much the "adult." I enjoyed watching them play and have fun; however, I rarely joined in. Instead I maintained a distance—except when I read to them…then I would let myself go a little bit.
For the most part, my life was good; however, there was something that made everything seem not quite right. The times I found myself alone, such as when driving, I would suddenly begin speaking in a strange voice and would even think in the same way I thought that the person with this voice would think. This was a bit frightening because I began to suspect I had a split personality. Yet, I was very happy when I could allow myself to experiment with these voices. In some ways, it was like passing gas: it felt good, but I did not want to be around anyone when I did it.
Then one day someone told me about this school in Sausalito where you could study voice acting. A day rarely goes by when I am not grateful for receiving that information.
From the moment I walked in the door and met Al Bedrosian—one of the many fine teachers at Voicetrax—I felt as if I had found a second home. And it was also comforting to find so many other people, all of whom are (and remain) quite supportive and positive. Like me, I think they all suffer from, and enjoy having, a bit of a split personality. I have seen many shy and quiet people suddenly turn into forceful and powerful characters the second they face the mic. Voicetrax allows each of us to uncover the part of ourselves that is fearless, fun-seeking and maybe even fanatical about voiceover. If this really is schizophrenia, I wish everybody had it. The world would be a better place.
Of course, Voicetrax is based on a wonderful group of instructors. Sam, you are one of the finest teachers and people I know. You challenge us and inspire us – thank you so much. To all the other instructors, and to [the staff], I also want to thank you for your continued amazing work. I'm grateful to each of you.
I received a compliment the other day that I want to share (at least I took it as a compliment). I volunteer at my daughter’s school, and one of the kids, came up to me and said that I was "weird." I asked him why. "You are like a giant kid," he said. "You are always messing around with us and talking in these funny voices." I realized as soon as he said it that if it were not for Voicetrax, I would have been watching these kids from the sidelines, too restrained to allow myself to play like a kid.
Thank you, Voicetrax
-Mark Barbolak
I went to Voicetrax in search of my long, lost imagination, and that's exactly what I found! I had to dig fairly deep to find it, but I knew it was there somewhere…that it had just gotten buried under heaps of academic, although worthy, books in my head.
The Voicetrax crew was right there from the beginning, giving me the tools, the colors, the cheers, the red leather and the yellow leather, and the map to find me own treasure.
And find it I did. Aye.
-Angela Harrington
Every time I go to Voicetrax I learn something new and that makes my life more enjoyable.
There are other places that teach voiceover, and they are good. But at Voicetrax I've learned voiceover, acting and so much more in a supporting environment that you can't find anywhere else.
The best is learning to appreciate myself.
-Brenda Paupst