YuriQ - Voice Actor 🎙️

So this is it. The final week.

Well, "final". I actually joined the STOP program because I'm deadly serious about getting exposure, experience, and opportunities.

But back on the topic at hand.

Juggling work and life and the projects that CVAP's been putting on my lap for our batch rehearsal is hectic. I'm dealing, but life's also been besetting me on all sides so it hasn't been the smoothest ride. Again, I'll deal.

Despite all of this, I'm excited to see the fruits of our labor. I'm excited to see the final product of our batch recital. I'm excited to compare myself to my past self to see how much I've improved over these four weeks.

Most of all, I'm excited to dip my toes into professional voice over work.

Life's been showing me a huge, gilded door, and I'm sticking my foot in the door frame, my best foot forward, just so I can keep it open and show the world what I've got.

This week's lesson was probably some of the most impactful for things I needed to learn about production and managing a project, especially since my work on a personal voice acting project is in full effect.

Learning about how to properly document which voice actors have submitted which files has been an invaluable boon! Learning to take care of your voice has also been helpful, since the night before Saturday's lesson, I ruined my voice doing that week's homework. Funnily enough, I don't have to change up my daily routine much; I've already been drinking almost 3 liters a day every day for the past few years, so I've apparently been living a lifestyle that's conducive for vocal health.

Homework's probably the easiest it's been so far. Tongue twisters are a breeze to go through, and our Zoomarte presentation almost went off without a hitch. Thankfully, my voicemates all pitched in and helped what I started with recording and cropping.

I'm excited to do my monologue. I've been holding myself back for a while, actually, 'cause I know it'll be extremely emotionally charged. I hope I impress some of CVAP's mentors with it.

Oh, and lastly, I've volunteered for directorial duty for our batch recital. That on top of the personal project I'm doing will make things a bit frenetic for me for the next few weeks, but I'll deal. It's gonna be chaotic but exciting.

So despite week 2 of the program having less overall submissions to do, it was more hectic than the first week. All the collaborating and writing and re-writing we had to do for our Zoomarte script was honestly exhausting, but it was also really fulfilling getting to collude with like-minded voice artists in my BR.

I put off doing any of my homework until the end of the week because I was expecting my new Alctron acoustic filter to arrive some time within the week. Unfortunately, it got delayed. I was expecting to begin doing work Friday morning, but I got an email saying that it'll be delivered on the day, so I ended up delaying everything even more! Yes, I'm putting a lot of unnecessary pressure on myself, but after trying my mic with the Alctron PF8, I'd say the hassle was worth the wait. Everything sounds so good!

Then there was the issue of me overdoing my character voices. I wanted to do a certain voice, but it also involved a lot of screaming. After around four takes, I realized that my throat was beginning to hurt so I had to actually stop doing anything involving my voice. It hampered my recital for our Zoomarte, but my voicemates and mentors were thankfully understanding.

All of this is on top of worrying and sweating bullets about a voice acting project I've written and am directing, and am currently in the process of casting for.

What is a voice?

Filipino: A voice is society.

British: A voice is elegance.

Scottish: A voice is freedom.

French: A voice is art.

German: A voice is efficiency.

Italian: A voice-a is-a emotion.

Russian: A voice is strength.

Finnish: A voice is culture.

Patois: A voice be bout belongin’.

Chaos: A voice is about drama.

But most of all, a voice is about finding yourself in all the facets you identify with.

For posterity, I've joinec CVAP, Certified Voice Artist Program, to improve my voice acting skills. This is a big step in pursuing my dream as a voice actor, and I'm not going to be taking it for granted.

A few of the first week's lessons were stuff I've learned from another VA training workshop I've attended before; use closets to muffle noise, maybe a blanket, just because your voice is great doesn't mean you're guaranteed to be a VA, that sort of deal. However, I've learned a lot of things that are unique to CVAP. Community is a huge part of the program, and I'm glad this program fosters it, because building your brand is so, so difficult when you're alone. In a way in here, even while I'm doing things by myself, I'm never truly alone. People are willing to help.

Ever since I joined CVAP, I've been a lot more active with voice acting activities. Heck, I've even started an actual voice over project. People actually auditioned for it! That's crazy to me. I know that's the norm, but having people actually approach you for a role feels like I've already made it to the big leagues, even though I logically know that any VO project has auditions.

The week's been a bit quiet, but hectic at the same time. Quiet, because I actually moved from my home city for a bit, and hectic, because I'm living alone and having to handle my own chores and errands. Cooking for yourself is satisfying, but also exhausting.

I've honestly been slacking on a bit of my CVAP homework, but that's just part of the process. This'll pile on more, and I'm going to have to learn to manage my time and efforts properly. But I'll trust the process.