More about Sad Voices
There is distinct inauthenticity to simply stating that you feel sad. Explaining how upset something makes you lacks the weight of sadness that can be detected in someone's voice. Being able to feel sadness in the speaker's tone of voice is more potent than a thousand words describing the feeling.
True sadness invokes empathy and compassion in others. Similar to listening to sad music, a sad voice has the potential to instil sadness in others. As a viewer, your heart breaks, but you cannot pull your attention away. Sadness, despite its painfulness, is engaging and relatable.
What is a Sad tone?
Sad voices can sound low, weak and small – like a whisper. Voice actors reading a script sadly must learn to sound devoid of positive characteristics. The performance should be low-energy, with the speaker struggling to enunciate words, potentially even to the point of a monotonous delivery.
A sad voice-over must convey a plethora of subtle connotations in their performance. The context of the sorrow will heavily inform the way that the performance is expressed.
There is no singular way to be sad. Shame, guilt, envy, bitterness; these all go hand-in-hand with despair. Entwining these emotions with sadness creates a unique blend that will inform the precise performance of the tone.
Is your character on the verge of tears? The voice may struggle to speak without the words breaking. Maybe the sadness is more subtle; in these cases, an unenthusiastic undertone may be more appropriate.
Sadness is often a helpful human emotion. If your audience feels upset by something, then that means that they care about the message. This can be an effective means of motivation.
The range of performances that can be used in this tone is huge. An inexperienced performer may overdo or undersell their voice which can result in the result seeming insincere. A professional voice actor can be the golden ticket to plucking the heartstrings of your audience. Make sure to check out their entire repertoire of material to get a good understanding of their vocal range.
