I WEREN'T SO SMART YESTERDAY!
Published April 16, 2010
“Guys my age shouldn’t have to learn anything. And yet I find myself learning more now than ever before.”
Famous words by my Dad from a few years ago. Dad, 85 years old, is now really irritated that his computer isn’t fast enough or powerful enough to do some of the things we wants to do on it. He’s decided it might be time to get a new one. One with a really big screen so he can see it.
“No point in having a computer that could run a small country if you can’t see what you’re doing,” he tells me. “And no point in having a bigger computer if you can’t learn something from it. The smartest people in the world are those who are aren’t smart enough.”
I guess I inherited his hunger for knowledge.
That certainly was true today!
I was in a session with Matt Smith and after we were done he schooled me…SCHOOLED ME…in a couple of new mic techniques.
And the light came on!
I had been taught wrong. Not that what I was doing was wrong for everyone, but I was doing a couple of things that I had learned from some great engineers and some great studios…things that weren’t right for me and my voice. I don’t need to go into all the details but mostly it had to do with a combination of proximity and mic gain. Really, it had to do with being smart enough to realize that I’m not smart enough.
Now, I’m no slouch in the voice booth. I’ve been doing voiceover work for 25 years. It’s been very good to me and I make a decent living at it. And I know how to work a mic. I know about the sweet spot and how to avoid pops and sibilance, and acoustics. I know how to build a great signal chain. I know about mic placement and bass traps and reflection. I built my own studio and sound booth. I know stuff, you hear me?
But there is always more to learn. And today was one of those special days! It was exhilarating! I couldn’t wait to get out of my sessions so I could play around with my newly learned techniques.
That’s the beauty of this voiceover business! It’s a combination of art and science. It’s the marriage of creativity and technical know how. It’s the passion and determination to outperform yesterday.
Today I am a better voice talent because I learned something new.
I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow!