I mainly wrote this to show that you can start from zero; you don’t need to be born with talent to do something you love. It takes time, effort, and practice.
I’m not a professional voice actor. I intend to keep voice acting as a hobby. Still, if anyone is interested in what this shy, normal girl has done so far, please keep reading! ^o^
My auditions on BTVA
May 2015
I signed up for BTVA after Megumi-chan told me about her Wadanohara casting call project... 5 months ago. *facepalm*
My first audition on BTVA was for a singing role as Rin Kagamine for the song ReAct. Didn't get it, which motivated me to do my own cover of ReAct.
Megumi-chan told me that there were still a few roles for the Wadanohara project, including DJ Met (who she forgot to add). I auditioned for DJ Met (but off-site) and got the role... well probably because no one else could even audition for her. I also auditioned for Hanon's singing voice of Mermaid Melody in another of Megumi-chan's projects. That didn't work out and the audition disappeared...
Sept 2015
I was pretty active with BTVA for this month! Near the end of summer, I determined that I couldn’t voice The Gray Garden by myself, and created my first-ever casting call! Well... that's a whole other story. xD The Gray Garden project got me back up on my feet!
(More info about the casting call: Part 1 Part 2)
I learned a lot from The Gray Garden casting call alone. Even something small like: I learned to submit mp3′s in Mono instead. In my audition for Rin Kagamine, the quality was terrible. Why? It was saved in Stereo. ><
I randomly auditioned for hinano kurahashi from assassination classroom (sic), which was a big fail. Note to self: Avoid projects where the owner can't even write proper English (or capitalize a single word)...
Then I auditioned for Tana from Fire Emblem Sacred Stones, and got my first proper non-self cast! ^-^ Although I think I lucked out, as the competition for her role wasn't too high. I'm working on improving my voice for Tana and want to do my best!!
Next was Vocaloid English Chorus. I auditioned for Len and IA. ...Another big fail. I couldn't even audition for Miku and Rin when the deadline was still two weeks away. The project owner seems to cast the first person they hear, and (imo) most of the auditions were not worthy of such an instant cast. This feels unfair, not giving others a chance... and I feel like since they didn’t cast me instantly, I feel like I’ve already been passed and never being considered again. T-T Another type of project to avoid...
I snuck in an audition for Rise Kujikawa from Persona 4. I wanted to do a high-pitched voice like the Japanese version but it just sounded weird. What I learned doing that audition was that my voice has a weird accent that I can't seem to get rid of, which hinders my enunciation. (Most noticeable in Rise’s audition. Or see Yosafire's voice - compare it with my other auditions such as Penny Nichols) Also my voice is weak and I do not have a pleasant voice.
Alright so those sound like terrible things! But it does deviate from the norm, and boy do I like unique voices! (See The Voice) Well, I may not have a strong, beautiful, professional-sounding voice, so I’m already at a disadvantage, but I'm trying to discover how I could use my quirks to some other advantage. Everyone has certain “types” of characters they can voice. You just have to discover what those types are! I like changing my voice and discovering new types of voices that I can do!
Some people have a “main character type of voice” and nab all the main characters. So what? The supporting cast is just as important!! I believe every voice actor is equally important to the project.
I also snuck in a last-minute audition for Hatsune Miku's speaking voice. That was a better idea, as I think I should start small. Mw-hee!
Oct 2015
I auditioned for Chihiro Fujisaki in Danganronpa Game (retry). It was a lot of fun! I know I have some tough competition for the role, but I actually want this part a lot because I love Chihiro. I also really like spice for some reason, she’s cool. c: I would love to be in one of her projects!
Then I auditioned for a few characters in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy. I was surprised to be casted so quickly as April May! She’s not the type of character I normally go for, and I wasn’t sure if I could pull off her angry lines. Well, I shocked myself by discovering something new I could do: YELL LIKE A CRAZED DEMONIC LADY. LOL. The one character I really wanted to voice (and think I can voice) would be Maggey Byrde, as I like her a lot! But I don’t want to mess up her audition, and I’m thinking carefully about how her voice should be... Last but not least, Dahlia Hawthorne is a very interesting character. I might audition for her, but I don’t think I could do her justice.
Something I had just brought up earlier were instant casts. However, I feel it is justified in the Phoenix Wright project because there are a LOT of characters available. Also, I feel that these instant casts were more worthy.
Umm... David?! The first few casts were fine, but now I think you’re casting WAAAAAAAY too fast! Please wait for more auditions first, and give others a chance, even for the characters I had auditioned for!! T___T Ahh, this better not turn out like that Vocaloid Chorus project. DX
I had some good auditions and some bad ones. But you know, when I didn’t get a part, I tried to figure out why my audition was not picked, where I went wrong and/or learn how I could improve my audition for that character. Or... I may discover that my voice was simply not suited for that type of character. I wouldn’t know unless I tried!
So far my two biggest inspirations on BTVA are FakeTsuki and LocoVoco. Yes, they're both casted in The Gray Garden. These guys are just amazing at voice acting!! I love both of their voices! :D
I mainly wrote this to show that you can start from zero; you don’t need to be born with talent to do something you love. It takes time, effort, and practice.
I’m not a professional voice actor. I intend to keep voice acting as a hobby. Still, if anyone is interested in what this shy, normal girl has done so far, please keep reading! ^o^
Nov 2011
I started my voice acting journey with... singing! Well, I guess it really started with me being curious about the crappy $20 headset intended for webcam use.
Meltdown was the first Vocaloid song I ever heard. I fell in love with the song and tried to sing it in a lower pitch. I also tried imitating Rin (and Len). The result: I SUCKED. I sounded extremely nasally, my pronounciation and pitch were off, and my voice was weak, lacking strength and confidence.
I didn’t give up however, and continued to sing Meltdown throughout the years.
2012
After finding the game ‘Ib’ and later, ‘The Witch’s House’ on Jayisgames, I started becoming a fan of vgperson’s translated works and would check once in a while if she had translated new games.
Meltdown singing for this year: Weird Tempo Version. I decided to only try to imitate Rin. Sang at the right song pitch this time. But I actually sang the song at about half the speed of the song and then sped the tempo up. Doing this, I could hit the notes easier, especially the high notes, but it’s not really the right way to sing a song... It does sounds like a Vocaloid though. xD
Later I tried to make a Vocaloid bank version of Meltdown. I recorded my a/i/u/e/o’s and played them in Mario Paint Composer. It was... very interesting. LOL!
2013
I practiced voice acting (did not record anything) for random manga that I read, and for some of vgperson’s translated games: ‘The Crooked Man,’ ‘Re:Kinder,’ and ‘Alice mare’. I was still an amateur at that time, of course. xD
I could not find a recording of Meltdown for this year. :(
Dec 2013
I started recording my first voice acting... series? by voicing the game ‘Standstill Girl’. Needless to say I was still a beginner at voice acting. I just slapped on the first take of each line I recorded and didn’t edit out any background noise. My favourite voice to do was Tiska, hehe. This project however did give me the practice I needed to start my next voice acting... series? Guess I could call it ‘project’.
2014
I sang all sorts of random songs that I liked. I still sound nasally however...
Meltdown singing for this year: Sang at the right pitch and tempo. It’s not bad. My voice sounded a little bit more like Rin, though it could have used more work and have more confidence. One of the biggest drawbacks was the crappy mic...
Feb - July 2014
My second game that I voiced, and the one that you guys know about, was ‘The Gray Garden’.
When I first started The Gray Garden project, I had no idea what this game was about and no idea what I was getting myself into. I just thought it looked like a fun game! xD So I was still learning about Yosafire and Froze and all the other characters. Over time, I started to develop my voice to fit the characters more. In the first part, Froze sounded TERRIBLE. Also, the volume of the voices were unbalanced (Yosafire’s voice was too loud). I was able to potray Froze better in the second part once I started getting a feel for her character. And the same applies for all the other characters. I experimented with my voice, discovering new types of voices I could do!
Aug 2014
And then... I discovered the Ipod Touch’s mic.
All of a sudden, BAM! The quality of Part 16 was a huge improvement over the previous parts! I still use the Ipod today. XP
One disadvantage though is that I record onto the Ipod, and then need to sync and re-record the file into Audacity, because I can’t open mp4 files. I also don’t think it can be used as a mic directly connected to the computer.
Early 2015
Meltdown singing for this year.
The most “successful” thing I did to date (with total earnings of $0.00! Wow!!!) was ‘The Gray Garden Fan-made Song’. While voice acting the game, I ended up really loving it, so I wanted to do something to show my appreciation for the game. After doing my ‘Song of Trust’ Cover, I was like “Why not make a song for The Gray Garden?”
The last part of The Gray Garden that I would voice all by myself was Part 18, in March 2015.