What Is A Voice Reel?

A voice reel is your calling card as a voiceover actor. It is a short piece of audio that demonstrates the range of your natural voice, your vocal tone, timbre and its dexterity. If you’re thinking of becoming a voiceover actor or you want to leverage your voice to generate extra income, you’ll need a voice reel.

Types of Voice Reels

Often called a voice tape or voice demo; a voice reel is a 60-120 second piece of audio that demonstrates your voice within a range of different contexts. Think of it as a catalogue or brochure for the range of your voice. A voice reel might be particularly focused towards reading copy for TV or radio commercials for example: cars, chocolate, hotels, travel etc. It might also demonstrate your voice whilst reading literature as a pathway to reading audiobooks professionally. If you get excited by the idea of playing characters in cartoons or video games, you’d need a voice reel to show off all the silly voices you can do. To learn more about the types of voice reels we create, click HERE.

a voice reel is more than just a piece of audio with your voice on it. It is a digital CV.

Nonetheless, a voice reel is more than just a piece of audio with your voice on it. It is a digital CV. It’s the shop front to your voice. The more time, effort and energy you put into it, the more you will get something out of it; and this doesn’t just apply to it’s creation. Simply having a voice reel isn’t enough, you have to push it.

Why do you need one?

To get work as a voiceover actor you need to get representation from a voiceover agent. Like any industry, the voice industry is tough to break into with a variety of different gatekeepers at every level. Voiceover agents are the first gate keepers. They are the middlemen between your work as a voice actor and the commercial/corporate clients who need your voice.

Standing out

Voiceover or Voice Agents listen to a myriad of voice reels, and often. They represent lots of voice actors, each with unique aspects to their voice, which the agent needs to be able to recall in order to put them up for the opportunities that arise.

So your voice reel needs to be good. It needs to stand out. Your voice reel needs to be an exciting representation of your voice AND demonstrate why a voice agent needs you on their books. This is why you’d pay someone like us to create it. We can quickly determine what your voice offers that others don’t and how your voice solves an advertiser’s/casting director’s problem.

But fear not, each voice is genuinely like a fingerprint. There is no voice just like yours out there and there is no one voice type when the voiceover market is cornered. There are gigs out there for every single voice, including yours.

Should you choose to create your voice reel with us, we’ll work together to figure out the most unique qualities of your natural voice, the edges of your range and how best to demonstrate the value of your voice.

You need to be thinking, what does your voice offer that other voices don’t?

Breaking through

When you do finally break into the world of voiceover however, it can be very rewarding creatively, professionally and financially. Usually, the only thing standing between you and beginning your voiceover career is your voice reel. Once you break through, you will start to develop a portfolio of work that will become your calling card, and build relationships within the industry. But, the first step?! Make your voice reel.