Voice Artist Q&A Sessions: Helen

Helen is a fantastic English voice artist who has worked on a broad spectrum of projects over the years with Matinée Multlingual. With over 14 years’ experience within the industry, Helen’s capability to adapt her voice to a client’s needs is second to none.

We have asked Helen a few questions on what it’s like working within the voiceover industry, her top tips for success and her day-to-day life as a voice artist.

How did you get started within the voiceover industry and what is it that you enjoy most about it?

I was working as a professional actor in the West End and I thought voiceover might be a good way to add another string to my bow and earn some money during the day when I wasn’t performing. I bought a very cheap microphone and I cringe now at the setup (!) but it got me started and it grew from there.

How would you describe a typical day of a voice artist?

Auditions, emails, recording, more auditions, a few more emails and plenty of cups of tea! Sometimes it’s really busy and I’m working flat out and then in the quieter periods I’ll tweak my demos and do all those boring admin tasks that have slipped down the ‘to do’ list…

What has been your favourite project that you have worked on with Matinée so far?

I honestly just really enjoying recording with Matinée, whatever the project. Finding a voice for a new cartoon character is always fun or recording something for a great repeat client and enjoying catching up. We’ve had more than our fair share of laughs in the studio over the years!

What is the best kind of project brief to receive? Is there any information that you find particularly helpful to be included before a project takes place?

A clear brief with a well thought out script is always appreciated. How we write is often so different to how we speak and you’d be amazed the difference just reading a script out loud can make. It’s always useful to know the target audience and also the feeling the client would like to get across. If there’s a scratch video of the work so far that can really help me tune in to where the project is going. But, really, I can work with anything.

How do live-directed sessions benefit you as opposed to recording independently?

Aside from it just being great to connect directly with the client, having them in the session either in person or remotely can really help to hone in more quickly on the exact feel and tone the project needs. This is especially useful if it’s either very specific or a bit unusual! We can record short sections and adjust as we go. It’s also invaluable for medical recordings and the multitude of complicated medical words to pronounce!

Why do you like working with Matinée Multilingual?

I’ve worked with Matinée ever since my first foray into Voiceover 14 years ago! Everyone is so lovely; the projects are well organised and managed and as someone who records from my own studio a lot it is a treat to have an engineer in the room and to ‘just’ be a voiceover artist for once (they’re also the pros, so I end up sounding even better!) Most of all there is a real sense of being a valued member of the team, I hope to be working with them for many years to come!

You can listen to Helen’s demo’s here!

Here at Matinée Multilingual, we have a vast database of talented voice artists who specialise in everything from explainer videos to interactive toys. Whichever language you require a voiceover in (we offer over 80!) and whatever your next project is, let us help you bring it to life with our expert voiceover services.

We’ll help you connect and engage with your audience with the perfect voiceover, all the way from offering a selection of hand-picked voice demos, to recording and editing the final audio file. Why not get in touch with us today and find out more about how we can help you?

Call us on +44 (0) 118 958 4934

Or email project@matinee.co.uk