Look, it’s not that I don’t think some people can benefit from formal training or coaching; it’s just not my thing. Just like playing jazz, running a restaurant, or having sex, I think the best education comes from doing it. Doing it a lot. Doing it poorly, doing it well. Just doing it.And… maybe it’s because I’ve been immersed in music my entire life. I already understood the mechanics of sound, mics, and gear. Having sung my entire life, I was able to draw upon words and lessons from teachers throughout my life in the arts—insights that had been laying dormant in corners of my mind—to my benefit. Also, I have an irrational bias against people who claim to know something I don’t. What kind of training or coaching? Well… none, really.
With that said, I took every comment to heart from my buddy who produced my first demo (he’s not just some dude; he was the audio engineer and demo producer for Such A Voice for years and now he mixes audio for CNN and NatGeo specials, among a ton of other projects) which instantly helped. After I got hooked up with my Chinese partner, turns out his degree and hobby is voice instruction. Working with him for over three years has been like the definition of continuing education. I don’t know what I’d sound like without him.
In fact, when I was starting out and resolving to do like 20 auditions a day for work that seemed like long shots, I started answering calls on Facebook. Then it hit me: I need practice. I need to figure out my workflow. I need material to use for samples. I need at least a little income. Then, I took a YouTube channel job for peanuts and won my first ACX (Audible) book for $50/PFH. Boy, was that book an education, lol. I was still playing around with plugins and all sorts of things to de-hiss, de-noise, de-vibe, and de-everything because I didn’t know better and hadn’t really figured out how to use my Audient i/o and my lovable Aston Origin mic.I needed experience. So, that’s what I did. I figured I’d be better off getting paid to practice instead of just shooting in the dark on Upwork and Voices all day. And practice I did… ended up doing 4 books with two authors, a couple of cheap hits on Upwork, and a smattering of bottom-feeder gigs from Freelancer. Never joined Fiverr and only paid for one membership in four years (Mandy.com… it’s crap). Some of these platforms are wonderful tools for certain individuals, but I’ve just never been much of a joiner. Anyway, my training came from doing, listening, and really being self-critical. Maybe someday I’ll meet the “right” coach for me, and I’ll finally be doing the scripts I want to be doing. Maybe someday some platform will suit my every need... but the voice in the back of my head says, “Get real.”