Welcome to Guest Blogger and  my friend Julie Williams who posts this entry.

Vacation? What’s that?   by Julie Williams

One of the appeals of being a full time VO talent in today’s global marketplace
is that you can pretty much make your own hours.  Yes, there are times that clients want to direct you
via ISDN or phone patch, but most often I find myself voicing jobs at my convenience and sending them
to the client by a certain deadline. But I also find that the work is so much fun, and so easy, that I tend
to do it no matter where I am. It’s become routine to take the studio with me when I travel. Who’d
have thought even ten years ago thatwe’d be able to take our studio with us?

 

But these days all it takes is a few easy to pack things shoved in a suitcase and you can voice auditions or jobs in a hotel
room, in your car (it’s surprisingly quiet there compared to some hotel rooms) or at a relative’s home.

 

Here is what I normally take:
-Laptop (w/audio software)
-USB Mic (Snowball by Blue)
-Harlan Hogan Porta Booth (pictured below)

 

I recently participated in a bike ride from Seattle to Portland. Because I have family in Seattle, I flew there a few days early to visit. In the above photo, I am voicing an audition from voices.com, on my Blue Snowball (USB Microphone,) in my uncle’s home office,into Adobe Audition. I must admit, I may sometimes bring my mikey for auditions, now that I have one,because it’s so easy to record quality auditions on my iPhone… it’s a studio in a purse!!!  One thing I love about the snowball  (I have Rode USB mic as well) is that it comes on a little stand that folds up easily for travel, and fits perfectly into the porta booth.

On this particular trip I did not take the Harlan Hogan Porta Booth, mostly because I was camping out along the bike route and wanted to save space. But it is also recommended because, as Harlan says, it  really doesn’t matter how dead the room is, acoustically, it’s how dead  the space surrounding the mic is that matters!  Harlan has full   instructions on how you can contruct your own porta booth on his web  site, www.harlanhogan.com. It will cost you around $20 to do that. I  found it easier just to buy one that he already constructed!

One more note… be sure to bring some CD demos with you on vacation, to drop off at an agent’s office. You may land an agent, but even if you don’t, your CPA can advise you–that may be enough to write off your vacation!