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Voice Acting & Accents

Started by la dame en noir, September 30, 2014, 02:59:06 PM

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la dame en noir

I have recently dabbled in voice acting and I'm trying to expand my range as far as performing other age groups and cultures. I was wondering if anyone had any tips on accents?

There are quite a few that I want to get down and not sound like I'm trying.
Cajun/Creole
New York
Boston
Bronx
Tennessee
Irish/Scottish
British/Cockney

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Annisthyrienne

I'm not sure I can offer any insight as to your question, but I can tell you this much.  I noticed you had Tennessee on your list, and being form the South I can tell you there is a distinct difference, generally speaking, between various so called Southern accents.  Georgia is different from Tennessee, Mississippi is different still from those two, and of course you already singled out Louisiana accents as being different.  It's funny, because most people not from the South tend to think of all Southern accents being the same.

I was wondering, if you don't mind my asking, how you got into voice acting and what advice you would give some young person trying to get into that field.  My niece is very interested in it, but hasn't really got any idea how to go about it.

Oniya

My advice would be to listen to native speakers of those accents - as many different ones as possible.  Record yourself imitating the accent and compare the two.
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Xurtan

There are a lot of amazing voice actors on YouTube, too. Check there, especially the ones going through the different types of accent from various areas. After all, there are a good dozen different British accents alone. *grin* Basically, like any medium it comes down to practice, practice, practice!

la dame en noir

Quote from: Annisthyrienne on September 30, 2014, 03:27:52 PM
I'm not sure I can offer any insight as to your question, but I can tell you this much.  I noticed you had Tennessee on your list, and being form the South I can tell you there is a distinct difference, generally speaking, between various so called Southern accents.  Georgia is different from Tennessee, Mississippi is different still from those two, and of course you already singled out Louisiana accents as being different.  It's funny, because most people not from the South tend to think of all Southern accents being the same.

I was wondering, if you don't mind my asking, how you got into voice acting and what advice you would give some young person trying to get into that field.  My niece is very interested in it, but hasn't really got any idea how to go about it.

Well, currently i'm just submitting demos for parts in fan-made stuff and even professional things over at http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/casting-call/ . This way I can get some kind of resume going for bigger companies. I know that one thing I've noticed is that making your own demo reel with different voices/accents/personalities also works really well, it shows the employer your range. So starting at http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/casting-call/ have her create an account and if she already has a nice mic, tell her to download Audacity.
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la dame en noir

Yeah, I've definitely tried the suggested above, I just wondered if anyone had any experience themselves.
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Annisthyrienne

Thank you for the advice. I'll pass it on to her.

consortium11

Quote from: NubianPrincess on September 30, 2014, 02:59:06 PM
I have recently dabbled in voice acting and I'm trying to expand my range as far as performing other age groups and cultures. I was wondering if anyone had any tips on accents?

There are quite a few that I want to get down and not sound like I'm trying.

British/Cockney

The first thing to note is that there's not really such a thing as a "British" accent; a Geordie sounds very different to someone from the West Country to someone with a Home Counties accent to the aforementioned cockney. Even within those accents there will be vast differences depending on background and class... the home counties example linked to above is a distinctly posh one.

As for cockney specifically, one of the key things is to largely ignore the idea of rhyming slang. While some terms have entered the general lexicon rhyming slang in and of itself is pretty much non-existent these days. Key points for cockney include:

1) Drop the "h"s at the start of words. "Hotel" becomes "otel" etc.

2) "Th" at the start of words is pronounced as "f". So "three" becomes "free"

3) "Th" in the middle of words can become a "v" sound... but this isn't universal.

4) "Er" at the end of words tends to become "ah"; "bother" becomes "bothah" (and in extreme cases "bovah")

5) "G"s at the end of words are almost always dropped: "seeing" becomes "seein"

That said, a key point is not to overdo it. Cockney as a general rule is somewhat "easy" to speak; it's about dropping letters where you can and turning harsh individual sounds soft. It should role, flow and sound pretty natural. Trying too hard and putting too much effort makes it sound like a theme-park version of the accent.

Morrowclaw

I learned to do an Irish accent by speaking really fast while trying not to move my lips. It ended up working for me after some practice and tweaking.
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la dame en noir

Quote from: consortium11 on September 30, 2014, 06:29:26 PM
The first thing to note is that there's not really such a thing as a "British" accent; a Geordie sounds very different to someone from the West Country to someone with a Home Counties accent to the aforementioned cockney. Even within those accents there will be vast differences depending on background and class... the home counties example linked to above is a distinctly posh one.

As for cockney specifically, one of the key things is to largely ignore the idea of rhyming slang. While some terms have entered the general lexicon rhyming slang in and of itself is pretty much non-existent these days. Key points for cockney include:

1) Drop the "h"s at the start of words. "Hotel" becomes "otel" etc.

2) "Th" at the start of words is pronounced as "f". So "three" becomes "free"

3) "Th" in the middle of words can become a "v" sound... but this isn't universal.

4) "Er" at the end of words tends to become "ah"; "bother" becomes "bothah" (and in extreme cases "bovah")

5) "G"s at the end of words are almost always dropped: "seeing" becomes "seein"

That said, a key point is not to overdo it. Cockney as a general rule is somewhat "easy" to speak; it's about dropping letters where you can and turning harsh individual sounds soft. It should role, flow and sound pretty natural. Trying too hard and putting too much effort makes it sound like a theme-park version of the accent.
Thank you for this! :)
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