What I really think about: Voiceover Soho

If you’re a voiceover artist thinking of recording your voicereel in the near future – look no further than Voiceover Soho. Read below to see my personal experience and how I found the experience from start to finish.

I’m first and foremost an actor but I managed to get a foot in the door to the voiceover industry as I left Drama School in 2015. I was encouraged by seeing other people’s success and thought it was a smart way to sharpen my skill-set and make some much needed extra cash. I also quickly became to realise that my USP was my South African accent that I could quickly turn on or off. Bonus!

Voiceover work is such an exciting profession and it can take the form of commercials, audio drama, corporate, medical, gaming, character voices or drama and documentary to name just a few. It also happens to be an incredibly lucrative industry, which of course is the cherry on top.

In order for you to get noticed as a voiceover artist its a non-negotiable to have a decent voicereel. By this, I don’t mean finding a quiet corner in your house and recording yourself speaking eloquently into your iphone 11. I mean putting in the hard graft and investment by finding a professional studio with a quality sound engineer who knows just what they are talking about.

My last reel was recorded in 2015 and I knew it was time for me to get an updated one as I felt not only had my voice slightly matured (thank you, age) but my accent has distinctively become more British since living in London for over 7 years. Marrying a Brit could also be a contributing factor to my distinctly balmy British reads.

After hours of scrolling through the internet and typing in “good quality voicereels” I came across Voiceover Soho.

I had heard the name a few times before as they are major players in the industry, and run a voiceover agency called Soho Voices. After rummaging through their website and having a good old laugh at their very creative video, I decided to have a look at the different options on offer. After writing down a list of what I was looking for, I decided to settle on the Premium Voice-Reel Service.

The Premium Voice-Reel Service Includes

• NUMBER OF SCRIPTS: 6
• CATEGORIES: commercial, corporate, documentary, narrative, video game, promos etc
• TURNAROUND: Same day
• IN ADVANCE: We will send a selection of original scripts for you to choose 6 from
• ON THE DAY: Directed over a 60-minute recording session with an experienced voice-over director in a professional voiceover studio
• ON THE DAY: Followed directly by a 90-minute production, mix & mastering session with innovative music and sound design
• ON THE DAY: You will have a 6 piece reel ready to be sent to clients as soon as you leave the studio, all in just 2 ½ hours

I did a pricecheck and once I was happy that their rates were market standard, I jumped right in and decided that they were for me.

After paying a £50 deposit over the phone to Anna in accounts, I was booked in and due to record in just 2 short weeks. They sent over a +- 100 page strong PDF booklet full to the brim with current scripts – ranging from every genre under the sun. It was up to me to pick my favourite six.

Life got SO busy and I hadn’t had a chance to rehearse so I frantically sent over a panic email asking if we could reschedule my session and push it out by a month. Within 15 minutes I got a response and a new date was confirmed. Capiche.

Recording day arrived and after spending all morning reverberating from my solar plexus and saluting to the sun I knew I was as ready as I would ever be. I arrived at Goodge Street Station and took the short walk over to Voiceover Soho with my vocal chords warm and my throat well lubricated.

On arrival, my temperature was taken and a dollop of sanitizer was plopped on my hands. I immediately asked for the bathroom so I could have a nervous wee and while I was on the bog, I could hear voices on either side of me in the vocal booth doing their thing. Far too afraid to flush (I know, I know) I silently sank myself into the plush seating area with my prepared scripts and rehearsed them in my head. I checked my fitbit and saw my heart rate was at 120 bpm so I consciously calmed myself down by doing some breathing exercises. Just a few minutes later, a lovely gentleman called my name and said the sound engineer was ready for me. As I got up to begin the short walk down the stairs into the studio, a woman with a voice like creamy caramel greeted me and wished me luck. She was clearly doing a paid gig and I was oh so envious of her resounding resonance.

I was introduced to Rolf, my personal sound engineer for the next hour. He gave me a warm welcome from a distance and showed me into the vocal booth. Once he had made sure my earphones fit correctly and my seat was positioned close enough to the microphone, he popped on the computer screen in front of me which had my pre-saved scripts ready to go. He jumped back into his own booth just next door, and through the glass window he gave me a massive thumbs up. We were ready!

Sensing my nervousness, he took the time to chat to me and then asked how I wanted to structure my reel. As I had paid for The Premium Reel Service I was reassured we could make it as bespoke as I pleased. I had a choice of six scripts in total, so I had decided it was best if I chose one corporate read and five commercial reads. Therefore, I could leave the studio with TWO shiny reels – ready to take on the world. We both agreed that was a good choice and decided to jump right in.

I sailed through my corporate read and Rolf was so happy with it, he decided we didn’t need to do anymore than 3 takes. Yes Please! Next up was the commercial scripts and after spending a few minutes being given just the right amount of guidance and direction, I was set. I was really impressed with the perfect balance Rolf struck – challenging me in just the most subtle way to try new things and then playing my reads back to me to suss out how I felt about them. The time literally flew by and before I knew it – I was done!

Rolf gave me a long distance high five and promised my reels would be ready by the end of the day. Clearly he was the king of mixing because true to his word, by the time 5pm rolled around, into my inbox arrived a notification from WeTransfer, where I downloaded my TWO finished reels. I was so surprised to see that Rolf had also included separate mp3 files of all my edited single reads so that I could re-order my reel at any time, should I wish. A bonus and unexpected little treat was a PDF document of voiceover agencies who I could apply to. Snazzy!

My experience at Voiceover Soho was all round fantastic. From the moment I enquired about the right service for me, to recording my reels and then making the final payment over the telephone, they were so helpful, informative and accommodating. Most importantly, I felt very safe recording at their studio in the midst of a global pandemic. I was so impressed with their Covid19 protocol.

So the verdict is in – if you’re looking to record your voicereel, look no further than Voiceover Soho. And don’t forget to message me and let me know how it went.

You are welcome to hear my commercial reel right here and my corporate reel right here x