Posted On: Aug 2, 2019 Written by: Abe
If you’re a video producer, editor, animator or director you’ve probably got a shortlist of your favourite Australian voice over talent. Casting an unknown voice for a script might seem risky especially when you’re under deadline pressure - but sometimes using a different voice can really make your project stand out.
Over the last 15 years recording technology has changed dramatically and made it easier for new, upcoming voice over talent to enter the industry. For example, voices now don’t need to spend tens of thousands of dollars on microphones, preamps and mixing consoles to set up a professional voice over booth.
However, regardless of the developments in this new (and cheaper) studio equipment, there’s no shortcut for both a) talent and b) experience. Honing the craft of delivering engaging voice overs takes years to perfect, as the best voice artists have an equal mix of both a unique vocal tone and the ability to get ‘inside’ a script and give it meaning.
Here are 5 Australian voice over talent that we think tick all the boxes.
Sometimes described as ‘early-30s fresh and sassy’ and other times as ‘modern, refined and smooth’, Abbey is one of the best female Australian voice overs you’ll hear. Her tone has a real depth resulting in her corporate narrations and relaxed commercial reads having a smooth, refined yet modern feel
The mark of great talent is their flexibility, and Abbey has that in spades. Equally at home with a high energy, excited delivery, it’s as though she can effortlessly change gears in an instant. Whether she’s being directed in the booth or recording an unsupervised session, Abbey is a real asset and one of our most popular female voices.
Beginning her career in her late teens recording educational textbooks for visually impaired students on cassette tape, Abbey soon moved to the promotions department of a radio station. She quickly took to recording voice overs for the production team (leaving the Black Thunders behind,) and since then has carved out a very successful career as a fulltime voice over artist.
Geoff has a unique tone that can be hard to describe - and even harder to find! Often he’s cast for projects that include the words classy, rounded, deep, refined, smooth and ‘velvety’ in the brief.
With a deliciously deep and rich baritone quality to his voice, Geoff is often cast for projects that require a level of gravitas. Equal parts empathy and authority, he conveys a real sense of authenticity and strength.
Geoff was a professional stage actor for the first 15 years of his career, and has considerable experience in both Shakespearean work and contemporary drama. We think it’s this acting experience that has really helped him to perfect the delivery of emotive, heartwarming reads.
Jay is a true conversationalist. One of our most requested voice overs for narrations large and small, Jay has a true authentic quality about his voice that works extremely well for corporate narratives, eLearning courses and explainer videos.
His voice has a modern, believable tone that bodes well when an engaging delivery is required. However, his quirky and genuinely enthusiastic reads are also often requested. Going far beyond just ‘reading’ a script, Jay is expert at really getting into the true meaning of the words resulting in a read that engages with the viewer.
Beginning his career in commercial radio during his late teens, he was mentored by a long line of radio legends. Today, he records voice overs full time from his home studio.
Easily one of Australia’s best over-40s female voice over talent, Julia really doesn’t need much said about her voice. Often cast for scripts that brief the voice to be ‘classy, refined, caring, quirky, a great actress, authentic, real, excited, gentle or mature’, her demos speak for themselves.
Julia’s vast studio experience shows with every script she records. Her experience as a writer gives her a greater level of insight when she’s in the booth, and her fun-loving personality and willingness to push her own limits often result in a fantastic final production.
A mid-30s sounding voice (just don’t ask him when his 40th birthday is!), Garth would have to be one of our most popular male Australian voice over talent. With a huge repertoire of styles under his belt, Garth has the ability to read both authentic corporate narrations and excited, insanely pumped radio commercial scripts in the same session.
He has a high quality level of depth to his voice that is not often heard in mid-30s talent and is able to walk the fine line of delivering an authentic, engaging voice over without sound bored and lifeless. Also a very talented audio producer, Garth uses this skillset to ‘get inside the mind of the producer’ when he’s in the booth.
Growing up, Garth always wanted to be ‘that guy on TV that did all the big announcements’. In high school he used his voice a lot (what kid doesn’t?) and was encouraged to work in radio by his teachers. Garth then signed up to a course at the Academy Of Radio - and since then has built a successful career recording ‘all the big announcements’.
If you haven’t cast any of these 5 Australian voice over talent in a previous project - we think you’re missing out! Have a listen to their demos, and contact our team to book them for your next session.