So... I've been running around trying to find proper software and whatsits. Ubuntu loves all of us, possibly with fists and fire. Getting some things to work is a piece of cake, others... not so much.
In the mean time, I've decided to do a little work on a new voice. Orson Wells was always one of my heroes and I thought he had a truly fantastic speaking voice. We rarely here anything like it. Most people would know the name from Citizen Kane, a movie I'm ashamed to admit I haven't seen yet. No, I revere him for the work he did in radio. Orson Wells caused a panic in the 1930s for a radio presentation he did for War of the Worlds. I found a Mercury Theater on the Air site once and downloaded it. Decades after its recording, it is still one of the best interpretations out there. So, I'm embarking on a quest to learn that particular voice. Maybe I can apply it to a monologue someday soon.
Aside that, I'd also like to begin working on an accent I've never tried before. Since I've done virtually every Caucasian accent out there, it's time to pick something new. Hispanic would be interesting, but probably too easy. I'm thinking Southeast Asian or South African.
As a warning for aspiring voice actors, people tend to take truly great offense when you just interpret what you hear or stereotypes. In my college voice classes, I was told to use the International Database of English Accents. It's a truly amazing website that deserves more attention than it gets. Another resource, especially for voice actors, is your ears combined with keen logic. See, an accent is developed from a person's brain and tongue thinking and speaking in a different language. The mouth is taught to make sounds and syllables in a different way. Some languages don't even use the same sounds or even ways of making sounds. So, if you're looking into trying a new accent and want more than just the IDEA Website, I'd recommend checking out a number of different things. After figuring out a general pattern for what the English accent sounds like, look up the type of native language, some audio samples, and try to reproduce some common words. Even if your sentences sound like gibberish, this can be very helpful in accent work.
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