Two Voice-Over Veterans with 250+ books between them talk about merging the music and voice over industries, the similarities and challenges presented, and their favorite projects!
How Music and Voiceover Meet?
Ilyana Kadushin: How did these businesses first crossover for you?
Carrington MacDuffie: It took a while for these two strains to meet in my professional life. I co-wrote and co-produced an album of spoken word, sound, and music that was released as an audiobook by Blackstone Audio in 2008. The pieces were based on a manuscript of poems I’d written, and in recording the voice I used certain techniques I’d developed in my narration work—while deliberately avoiding other, smoother techniques. My partner and I produced it in our project studio, it was mixed by Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, R.E.M., Neko Case, Mudhoney etc), and it was a finalist for two Audies in 2009. That project connected those previously separate careers in an exciting and satisfying way for me. I had always incorporated spoken word into my song performance, but this recording opened that up to the voice acting industry in original product that made it onto the market (esoteric as it was!).
Carrington MacDuffie: How did you get into voice acting?
Ilyana Kadushin: After meeting an agent in New York City who loved my voice, I made a demo and started auditioning. I started doing national television & radio commercials and then a big break came when I booked a job being the promo voice of a channel, Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr., which I adored. I worked with these fabulous women television producers and loved talking to kids all over the country! And actually nickelodeon was also one of the first songwriting for t.v. gigs that we did when I was also doing voice over there.
How Voiceover and Musical Skills Work Together
Ilyana Kadushin: What skills from voice-over and music cross over and help each other?
Carrington MacDuffie: Having a musical ear is tremendously helpful for phrasing, timing, climax, and the nuances of storytelling, as well as for the inflections and rhythms of different dialects. From all the books I’ve turned into audiobooks, I’ve brought a keen sense of storytelling, and simply the flow of how a story unfolds, into my songwriting.
Carrington MacDuffie: Has your experience in the studio with music affected how you produce voiceover, and if so, how?
Ilyana Kadushin: I think good production is good production, whether we are making an album, scoring a movie or recording an audiobook or vo for commercial; it all takes the same skills and professionalism. James Harrell, my husband and music partner in Lythion Music, has this fantastic work ethic that carries though both areas. When producing, you need that attention to detail and willingness to create what works for each project.
Carrington MacDuffie: Do you think music is effectively incorporated into audiobook productions, and do you compose for audiobooks?
Ilyana Kadushin: I have heard music and sound design used in audio books in cool ways and some really cheesy ways. The cheesy ones sounded like canned stock music and the cool ones sounded like more thought had been put in and maybe even some original music! We do compose music and sound design for books. We did a cool kids audio book as an iPad app and did the sound design, music and voice-over for it
How Challenges Between Music and Voiceover Relate
Ilyana Kadushin: What are your challenges in both music and voiceover, and do those challenges relate?
Carrington MacDuffie: The two pursuits present very different challenges for me. Long-form narration becomes a test of endurance, and voiceover in general is a much more technical endeavor for me. Music is more intuitive. Character work probably has the most similar challenge to the writing and performance of music in that you have to really let yourself go for it to succeed.
Favorite projects
Carrington MacDuffie: What was your very favorite voice over job, and why?
Ilyana Kadushin: I have done some fun commercials and promos, but the Nickelodeon sessions were a highlight, as was narrating the audio book Scholastic Dear America Series- Cannons at Dawn (The Second Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart)- which was historical fiction for kids and adults.
Carrington MacDuffie: What has been your favorite music project, and why?
Ilyana Kadushin: I particularly love scoring films and television with my husband, James and I singing on the soundtracks. Also, I am pretty proud of the documentary film “Separate, But Equal” (2011 HBO Doc.Film Award), that we scored and I sang on. I also directed the director’s voice-over narration on this film, which felt pretty full circle.
About
Carrington MacDuffie is a recording artist, writer, and voice actor who has narrated over 200 audiobooks and received numerous AudioFile Earphones awards and 8 Audie finalists. She has narrated everything from Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot by Masha Gessen to Conquered by a Highlander by Paula Quinn. Her original audiobook of poetry and music, Many Things Invisible, was published by Blackstone Audio, and was a finalist for an Audie in two categories. Her recent release of Only an Angel, which has been in the top 25 on the Americana charts for the past couple of months.
Find her at: http://www.carringtonmacduffie.com
Ilyana Kadushin is a recording artist in the band Lythion and she is the voice of over 60 audio books for various publishers including the entire Twilight series (which has brought her cult-like fame in certain circles). She was a finalist for a 2014 Audie Award, for multicast audio book of short stories called “Rip Off,” and a winner for “Dune” by Frank Herbert, which won best Sci-fi Multi-cast audio. She co-produced and scored 2011 HBO Documentary “Separate, But Equal”.
Find her at: http://www.ilyanakadushin.com
Ilyana Carrington