Back to Blogging!

I've been absent from my blog for some time now (scroll down and you will see my last blog was posted over a year ago). However, I've recently felt inspired to pick it back up again. The main reason? I love my job. I love talking about it, writing about it, and sharing my joy with others. I realize how blessed I am to make a living as a voice actor, and keeping this blog updated is one small way I can hopefully help others reach their voice over goals.

In the past year, I've received hundreds of e-mails from people wanting to get into voice over. Unfortunately, I just haven't had the time to answer all of them. And that really bothers me. I hate leaving questions unanswered, especially when I know I can help! So I've been thinking that this blog might be a way for me to answer many of those questions, in a larger forum, and hopefully reach more people.

My original goal for this blog was to give an honest picture of what it is like to be a full-time voice actor. Hopefully you've learned from my successes and failures, and will continue to do so.

This past year has been quite an adventure! I moved back to Texas and settled into a great new place that I plan to call home for a little while. I knew when I moved that I really wanted to find a good deal on a vocal booth to make setting up my new studio a breeze. I put word out with several of my producer friends, and one of them let me know about a booth that was for sale here in Dallas. After several e-mails and a few months going back and forth on the price, I became the owner of a pristine 3.5 x 5 x 8' double walled Whisper Room! Turns out, finding it was the easy part...moving it was a whole different story!

I wanted to be present when the booth was taken apart so I could see how to put it back together. I went to the studio and spent 3 hours tearing it down. Then, (with the help of some very nice and very strong men) I loaded it into a 10' moving truck and drove it to it's new home. 2 friends helped me lug the heavy pieces up a flight of stairs...and a dear engineer friend helped me put it together. I'd love to say it went off without a hitch, but I'd be lying. My friend Kevin and I were 4 hours in (and almost finished) when the last few pieces would not fit in properly. It turns out we had put the floor in upside down, which meant a complete tear-down and rebuild. 8 hours...and a few swear words later...I had a gorgeous vocal booth :)

The room that I am using is about 12 x 12, so I knew I wanted a large wrap-around desk for my computer, printer, and speakers. I found the perfect desk at Office Depot (I believe it is part of the Christopher Lowell collection). Once the desks were in place, I brought in my file cabinet- a few special pictures...and the studio was basically complete! Since I've moved studios many times in the past, setting up my equipment was no problem at all. For anyone wondering, I use a Neumann TLM103 mic (I have a LAwson L47FET I use at times too), a Focusrite pre, Mackie mixer, Telos Zephyr (ISDN), Samson studio monitors, and Pro Tools 9 on my 27" iMac.

As for ISDN, if you've followed my blog in the past- you know all about my trials and tribulations in previous studios. I'm happy to report that this time there were no issues at all! A local producer friend set me up with all of the people I needed to contact to install my lines, and in under 2 weeks everything was working great!

While moving is never fun, I will say that setting up a new studio always renews my energy for my business. This is, by far, my favorite studio yet...and something must be working right because business has never been better!

So if you are looking at a big move, or a major life change...hang in there. It may take a lot of work, and you may feel discouraged from time to time- but there will be light at the end of that tunnel!!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Look for more regular updates in the future. I plan to tackle some of the many questions I've received recently about breaking into voice over, and establishing a successful business. Not everyone's path will be the same, but hopefully we can learn a lot from each other.

-Kara