The Voice · 5:28am Aug 18th, 2015
The Voice...
Memory, as students of the field will tell you, is not a solid thing. It changes and is updated on a regular basis. What we remember is that which we have constructed as a memory over time. Eyewitness testimony is often the least reliable of evidence.
Children’s earliest memories will change over time, being updated with newer revised "earliest memories."
I have older earliest memories than most of the people who will read this. My very earliest memory for example (most likely apocryphal) is holding my father's hand at night staring up into the sky and watching the very first "moving star" in the heavens, the Sputnik satellite which had just been launched. I would have been about three. More than likely I am remembering seeing some other satellite later on, and simply have a memory of holding my father's hand late at night (tightly, I would imagine).
My father died just a couple years after that and so all my memories of him are from early childhood. There is one however which I can attest to being true, as I have proof that it happened just the way I remember it.
My dad was an electronics buff and experimenter. He built our first couple television sets and our stereo system, which began its life as a monophonic hi-fi system (as such things were called back then, high fidelity being a buzzword) and was turned into a stereo system by the addition of a second preamp and amplifier. He also built a reel to reel tape recorder from a Heathkit. This was shorty before he died. I was about 5 years old and I was utterly enthralled by this magical machine. You held this big lollipop looking thing (the microphone) and you made sounds into it and when you pressed a few buttons and the wheely thing spun around (the tape) it played the exact same sounds back to you! I was hooked. Nothing could be better. I was a noisy kid. I made a LOT of sounds. And this machine LIKED the sounds I made and it would keep them and play them back whenever I wanted them. Wow. Astonishment. Not speechless astonishment mind you, but astonishment.
And so the first true memories I have forensic proof of are those of sitting with my father at the microphone and jabbering away into the mike. I still have the tapes. I pull them out every ten years or so, just to see how my memories are doing. They were also the last memories I have of my father, and a true treasure to own.
My mom did not know a lot about electronics and the equipment and so, not wanting us kids to destroy dad's creations, would not let us "play" with it after he died. Probably that was a good plan. I could be fairly destructive as a kid. But boy I wanted to. I wanted that magical ability to hear sounds being repeated. And I lobbied for the privilege. A kid down the street got a toy tape recorder for Christmas and the revelation that such a toy could be had was like a sentence for my poor mother. And for the kid down the street's mother, as I was always down there hounding him to drag the thing out so I could make noise.
Finally when I was nine years old I got one for christmas. It was made by a company called Juliette and it had those magical new transistors instead of the vacuum tubes in my dad's recorder. It was very small and I lugged it all over the place recording various sounds (with very low fidelity but with just as much joy).
While mom carefully preserved my dad's old tapes with us kids on them, I was not so careful with all the tapes I made as a kid. They were eventually tossed out as I got bigger and better machines.
In all the years of my life I have never been without a microphone and a means to record sounds. By the time I was 16 I had inherited my dad's old Reel to reel and also had accumulated various other recording devices. I have had about 20 different cassette recorders of various quality, several 8 track recorders and a host of nicer reel to reel machines. Most all of them are sold now, or thrown way or out in the garage somewhere. Except for my rack-mounted Pioneer RT-707. I will always have that. Some things you will always love. There is just nothing quite like digging out a 50 year old reel to reel recording of Antonio Carlos Jobim and chillin with a single malt.
What I mean to get at by way of all these musings is that I have always been very comfortable and happy in front of a microphone. I like to sing (though my efforts be quite amateurish) and I like to read things (which I am marginally better at). I have done some live singing with local bands (cringeworthy I am sure) but I do not like live performances. They are noisy uncontrolled things and I am not comfortable on a stage. I like studios, home or professional.
By the time I was nineteen I had met a friend whose dad made demo tapes for people to send off in hopes of recording contracts or gigs. He had a nice studio setup in his basement and I spent hours and hours in the thing playing with his multitrack reel machines. He was a very kind man (still is) and always let me and his son play around with the equipment to our heart's content. That was my first contact with fairly decent gear.
About that time a funny thing happened. I was working at a local grocery and the local radio station was doing a promo which involved the store butcher going down to the station to record a segment about some upcoming meat market sale. You would hear these things all the time on the radio and they were atrocious. People who do not work in radio shouldn't. It is not pretty. Awful voices and half of 'em can't even read copy. I had a reputation in the store for working with recording equipment and cutting goofy little songs and stuff. So the butcher, whose name was Charles Mitchell, came up to me one day all nervous and practically pleading with me do pose as him and go down to the radio station and cut his spot. Are you kidding? Be happy to. So that was my first professional gig, a meat commercial. I did it for free, but the station was thrilled with my voice and the fact that I could time the copy to the exact second, and got me to sit in and do a few other things with them. Their pool of talent was their DJ's and they were good voices, all of them, better than me, but they liked having a new one in there now and again. They asked me to apply for a job as a DJ, but being an engaging personality is a far cry from reading copy. I am still no good at that. Scribbler is kind enough to have me on as a guest reviewer on The Heroic Review but I am the quiet guy. I have opinions but about as much personality as a brick.
These days I own a small screenprinting firm. I bought it from the bank who took it over from the company I used to work for that went belly-up about the turn of the century. They were a full service advertising agency. In the latter days of that company I had discovered digital recording and gotten used to using a couple programs that were becoming popular, one of them Cool Edit (now owned by Corel I think) which was what a couple of the local radio stations was using to edit commercials. So as well as running their screenprinting division I was also made the guy who ran their ad-on-hold service, recording those annoying advertising spots you hear when people put you on hold on the phone. The company did not have anything like a decent studio so I would go to local radio stations (where I knew some folks) and record my ad-on-hold spots in their studio in exchange for recording some commercial spots for them.
Now we come full circle to the crux of this post.
I have known a lot of radio guys and NONE of them cut commercials the way they talk in conversation. They brighten their voices to sell the product. They want to sound interested in what they are selling. The truly fascinating ones to me were the women we would occasionally hire as talent when the customer wanted a female voice. Their voices did not brighten in the same way as the men. When professional women broadcasters get in front of the mike they just sound sexier. I have no idea how they do that. But it is what the advertisers want and the pros can do it, can switch it on in an instant. I would take those recordings home and almost melt as I was editing it.
I did not read ad copy the same way as I talk. I do not read stories the same way I talk OR the way I read ad copy. One of the highest compliments I have ever received and one I hold dear to my heart is one given to me by Present Perfect. He said "Illya Leonov has a singular talent, a deep, rich male voice with a cultured English accent." I do have a fairly deep male voice, but the accent is one I created specifically for the purpose of telling stories. The first time I ever sat down in that studio when I was nineteen years of age, I nailed the copy on the first try, hitting the clock at 59 seconds. I managed to find an old recording of that a few months ago and I present it here. That was pretty much my ad copy voice as long as I read copy. I had spent my whole life with a mike in my hand and I knew how I wanted to sound. Here is a radio spot I made about 25 years later. Basically the same sound. My conversational voice is typical midwesten American English. I brighten it a bit for ad work.
Then came audiobooks. Several things happened. First is I had an operation on my vocal chords. After the operation, when I recovered my voice I found it was somewhat deeper and also somewhat more prone to fatigue. If I was going to record long audiobooks I was going to have to speak more quietly and closer to the mike to go the distance. Eternal (my first effort) was probably 23 hours long. For those who do not do this sort of thing that means probably recording 30 or 40 hours. It is a lot of work. My aging voice needed help to go the distance.
Also the ad voice was not going to cut it. Imagine THAT in your ears for 20 hours. You would hunt me down and kill me in my sleep. So I set about developing a "storytelling voice" that would be easy on me, easy on the listener and act as a sort of lure to those who might want to hear a story. I had listened to lots of audiobooks though I had never made one. Some of the readers were pretty good, but not all of them. I tried to imagine an old man (which I sort of am) sitting by a fire and telling stories to young children. I tried to imagine what that would sound like, ideally. And over the course of recording "Eternal" I created it. It serves me well I think. It is a habit now. I can no longer sit at a microphone without that voice coming out of me. I even absentmindedly slip into it occasionally at work and have to catch myself. It has changed my normal voice somewhat. I talk a bit more like a storyteller now.
Now before you go rapping my knuckles and chiding me for not being a genuine "cultured English gentleman" as PP said, remember that many of you have enjoyed my presentations and that I do "genuinely" enjoy telling stories this way. So it IS real, for me. I never set about to sound English or conceal my origins but only to tell stories in such a way as they can be enjoyed. A few kids have told me they think my voice is too deep, but THAT I actually cannot help. That is just who I am. So there we have it, all things truly confessed. I will continue to tell as many stories as I can. I hope people continue to enjoy listening to them. -Illya
This was a magical read.
I heard this entire post with your "storytelling" voice.
Wait are you telling me you aren't British ;_; You're destroying my entire world!
I had no idea you grew up doing vocal work. That's really impressive, I've got even more respect for you now. :D And those radio spots are a hoot! "That's a lotta meat, man!"
Also, you're a good bit younger than I imagined. (You've only got yourself to blame; you once called yourself "a very old pony", after all. >:B)
A few of this fandom's amateur voice actors have gone professional, but I can think of no other professional who graced us with existing talent--especially not so many years of it. You're the best, I.L.
3328798 Another compliment.You have called me young! I am writing this down to show all of my friends.
3328620 Exactly as I would wish. Thank you Georg.
3328798
"That's a lotta meat, man!" "Yeah and it's all top quality too!"
This reads like it's a speech for an episode of the Moth. I would love to hear this read aloud by you.
Thanks for sharing so much of your life experiences with us.
By the way, I just finished listening to your reading of Eternal. And it was amazing.
3330708 Thank you Chinchillax!
"Top Sirloin steak for 1.59 a pound"
Too bad that sale isn't on anymore...
Damn.
The moment I heard hifi, I just looked at my system... not good enough lol.
Two class AB monoblocks for the mains, a DAC and a preamp. The loudspeakers are DIY and I’m working on new ones, along with some 8 inch mid bass woofers.
I love your readings, man! I didn’t know you were a pro.
You know... Thats honestly quite a background, one I never expected, but probably should have, heh. A touching story, no, history. And to be fair, I dont think any of us but present have heard your true voice. You know, id have to say, there are truly many things I'd love to hear you read. Oh so many stories ive heard could be told with that voice youve created. As young a person I am, i dont quite know why, ive always wanted things I was never able to grasp, a beard, grey hair, and the one thing above all, a deep, booming voice. Things I always idolized because they were signs that those who had them had wisdom, and a story to tell. To tell the truth, I didnt have the best childhood, so it may or may not surprise you, but There were times when I was younger, and you were what actually helped me sleep, especially on the rougher nights. But, Oh look at me ramble. All this is to say, well, I dont know really. I'd love to tell you the impact youve had on my life, or how id love to learn your voice instead of just envy it, how many stories id love to hear you read, much like a kid asking their grandpa for one more story. But posh to all that. But just know this, that no matter what, there'll always be at least one person listening. Because i do fear that. That one day, there wont be a new upload, or story, and you'll just be gone from social media. Its a day I loathe. Because much like everything else, we have to know where the rainbow ends. But until then, I will await any and all you do. And I thank you for all youve done for me, though you know it or not - James Earl Hohenheim Zongker