Who is the best male voice actor?
Defining the best will always be a subjective exercise. The best voice for what exactly? You may prefer the sound of someone older, a specific style such as an audiobook narrator, or the dulcet tones of a ‘Scottish’ accent. Perhaps you will base your decision on the accolades or awards the voice artist has received. Or a specific project they’ve worked on, such as a Disney animation. ‘They must be the best because they were in Toy Story. We work with hundreds of male voice actors every month and our definition of ‘best’ is quite simple: They did a great job, the client was delighted, and they were easy to work with. And with that in mind, here is a selection of Voquent's Top Voice Actors of 2020.
How to choose a male voice actor?
Whether you’re casting a male voice for a video game character, explainer video, a documentary or more, there are three common steps involved in choosing the best voice talent and getting the performance recorded professionally.
Step 1 – Casting
Casting the best male voice actor for your project is about finding a voice with a combination of the following:
- the best vocal characteristics for the role
- within budget
- available in your timescale
- able to record at the location required
It’s quite common to seek help with casting. Even for a seemingly straightforward corporate video project, the logistics of working all of this out with a selection of voices can be extremely time-consuming. Therefore, many customers will choose to work with an agency (like us) that will do this work on their behalf, providing recommendations based on the project brief. Here at Voquent, we encourage you first to shortlist voices you like and contact us for pricing and availability. Our team is always available to provide recommendations for your project. Contact our team now.
Step 2 – Recording
Many of the best male voices don’t have professional home recording studios. They may be actors or comedians for example and are only doing voice acting work as a side hustle to supplement their income. We work with anyone who has access to a professional studio. Depending on your requirements, the voice recording will either be scheduled:
- at the voice actor’s home studio
- a local studio partner we’ve selected
- a studio of your choosing, convenient for you and the voice talent
Once a recording location is agreed upon and if you’re participating in the session, you’ll be provided with the studio address or dial-in details (if you’re attending remotely) and the start time. If the audio needs to be synced with visuals or animations this can also determine how the recording is done. For example, a video game character being voiced with strict time constraints or a corporate training film being dubbed in another language. Read more about the post-production of audio
Step 3 – Post-production & delivery
Unless you’re taking away a raw session file, it’s usual for there to be some audio post-production work scheduled to clean up the audio (de-breath, removing unwanted noises etc.) and then chop it up into the desired number of audio files. This is normally scheduled straight after the session, but if there is a lot of audio it could take longer. Common delivery formats include .mp3 or .wav, but we can also put the audio back onto a video, embed it in a presentation or encode it in more unusual audio formats e.g. for telephony or electronics.
How do you become a voice actor?
Unless you already use your voice frequently in a professional capacity, to become a sought-after male voice, you will first need to get expert vocal training. Choose a vocal coach locally or get coaching online. With daily practice and criticism, you’ll strengthen your voice and improve your performance. The next step is to show off! Record your voice at a professional studio reading a variety of material including commercials, corporate B2B communications, narrations and characters. Choose scripts that give you the opportunity to read in a diverse range of styles and tones. This is critical. Without these sample recordings, you won’t be taken seriously. Next, you need to ideally build a home studio or alternatively locate a good quality (affordable) studio local to you. Build up your experience. Consider getting gigs via general freelance websites and when you’re ready sign up to Voquent and other non-exclusive agencies.
