FAQ
Do I have to write my own scripts?
- No, we have a team of dedicated professional script writers with decades of experience between them across all genres of voice over / voice acting. Our writers create completely bespoke scripts tailormade to showcase your talents across all genres of voice over. You can meet our writers by visiting: ioaudio.co/meet-the-team/
What is the process for script writing?
- We do a lot of fact finding prior to writing your scripts. We send out a check list that asks questions about you and your voice, we also ask that you send any relevant audio / video to help our writers gain a better understanding of your voice.
- When creating character driven voice demos like gaming and animation, you’ll have a consultation with our script writers to talk about character types you’ve played or would like to play as part of your demo.
- You can collaborate with the writers during the creation of the scripts, so we make sure we cover everything you need for your voice demo.
- You can hear Frankie Wakefield talk about her creative process here:
- You can hear Rachel Kershaw talk about writing commercial scripts here:
- You can hear Sarah Hart talk about her creative process for scripts here:
- You can hear Dian Perry talk about writing animation scripts here:
Do I need to have experience as a voice artist / voice actor before I record my voice demo with you?
- Yes, the one thing we don’t do is to coach you through your voice demo as it’s a waste of money on your behalf and will quickly become outdated if you decide to have further coaching. We can provide the correct training to help you build towards recording your voice demo.
- If you have a lot of experience in voice over but not voice acting, we can offer guidance and support as to what you may need to do before creating a character driven voice demo such as gaming or animation. Doanld Pirie, Dian Perry and Emily Jardine all offer 1-2-1 coaching in this area.
When do I need to send the check list and relevant audio to you?
- As soon as we have all your information, we can assign a writer and schedule Zoom calls with Frankie and Dian for the gaming / animation voice demos.
Do you record multiple demos on the same day?
- We normally recommend recording demos on separate days especially if you’re having a gaming / animation voice demo made. These sessions can be quite intense and if you’re recording a commercial and narration voice demo with us too, it can be a lot for your voice. We want you to get the best out of your investment with us so spreading the demos over multiple days will help you.
- Having said that, we understand that people have responsibilities that may mean they cannot record over multiple days. If you have a lot of experience and can handle the workload then recording two demos on the same day is a possibility but we would take a break between them. I would only recommend this if you were recording say a commercial and narration demo.
- If you decide to spread the demos over multiple days we can help with accommodation local to our studio and we can also record remotely.
Do you provide voice direction during recording?
- Yes, we have a team of voice directors who each specialise in their own areas of the industry from commercial, narration to gaming and animation.
- You’ll work with Doanld Pirie, a gaming voice director who casts and directs voices for games daily. Dian Perry, an animation coach with many years’ experience in the animation world. Emily Jardine, a successful voice artist and coach. Justine Harrris, a narration and commercial expert. And myself, Rich O’Donoghue, commercial / radio imaging producer and award-winning producer / sound designer.
- All our recording sessions are very collaborative and lots of fun with the aim of bringing out your best performances. We are very thorough with all direction and won’t let you leave until we have what we need from you.
Do you have recording facilities, and do I need to be able to record myself? Where is your studio?
- Yes, we have a professional recording studio with sound engineer.
- Our studio is based in Alsager, Cheshire and we are easily accessible from the M6 and by train. Our local train station is Alsager, and the cheapest train gets in around 11:15am. You will be picked up from the station and dropped back off after your recording session.
- If you decide to record remotely all we ask is that you send a dry studio recording test from your studio so we can asses your studio quality, that you have a very good internet connection, preferably direct into your computer and that you can record at your end to broadcast quality and send recordings in WAV.
- If you are having a character driven voice demo made then it helps if we can direct you via Zoom.
What is the process for recording a gaming and animation voice demos?
- If you don’t have any experience in voice acting, then we can introduce you to Donald Pirie and Dian Perry to assess where you’re at with your gaming and animation voice acting. They will provide guidance and support as to what you need to do prior to recording your reel.
- Prior to script writing we’ll ask for a deposit for your demo and send out a check list to gain all the information we need to send to Frankie or Dian for script writing.
- You’ll receive a consultation with the writer and discuss character types and what you would like to achieve with your voice demo. You can collaborate with the writer on the creation of the scripts via a Google Doc and email. I always give the writers a minimum two period from consultation to establish characters and to writer scripts. Once we have an ETA on scripts, we can be looking at recording dates to suit you, the voice director and studio time.
- Once you have your scripts you have the option of having a 1-2-1 with the director prior to recording (premium package only) and this is to be take a few days prior to recording.
- During recording day you’ll be working with one of voice directors, in the studio or remotely along with Rich O’Donoghue on directing and engineering duties. These sessions are very collaborative, and we aim to bring out your best performances.
- After recording we go into postproduction and you’ll expect to receive you finished demo either the same week or 1-2 weeks after recording during busy times.
- You can hear Dian Perry talk about her creative process here: