Following your passion: Becoming an artist using your voice
The Business Standard looks at people who have chosen an alternative approach at work and followed their passions, instead of running with the crowd. This week we speak to Bartman who has made a profession out of doing commercial voice-overs
Only last week The Business Standard looked at an audio engineer who treats tunes and voiceovers (VO) of VO artists as his primary mode of earning a living. This week we have with us a VO artist, whose voice you cannot have missed on the telly or the radio.
A man of many talents, 42 year old Bartman Nandit Areng, is a professional VO artist, the bassist for prominent bands like Indalo and Ajob, a self-taught graphic designer and unsurprisingly, an audio engineer as well. All in all, Bartman is in no way a Jack of all trades; he has painstakingly mastered every one of these trades and built a life around them.
But today our focal point shall be his life as a voiceover artist.
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How it all started for Bartman
"Back in 2009, I used to work for Sisimpur as a music coordinator. I had to dub, make songs and translate for them. Since my work revolved around studio work, a day came when a voice was needed for a TVC and I was given a shot. The rest is history…" Bartman recalled.
With a voice that resembles Groot's, yet has a warm timbre about it, Bartman is the first call for television commercials (TVC) where a reassuring voice is key. The famous beverage lineup Mountain Dew has its motto 'Bhoy er pore joy' etched in the minds of the audience in his voice.
But sadly, doing VO projects alone he cannot sustain a proper living for himself and his family. "Unfortunately, I have to say that it's quite impossible to sustain a life economically, depending only on being a voice-over artist."
However, there is a silver lining here. Because Bartman has acquired skills in the aforementioned trades, he has always had his hands full doing exactly what he loves doing, VOs being chief among them.
The routines to follow to become a voiceover artist
Talking to a friend or colleague is one thing. Talking about something while being recorded changes everything. Every little up and down in the voice needs to be on point, while sounding nice. That is the overarching theme of voiceovers.
What was Bartman's routine?
"Watch/listen, read, mimic and repeat. Since I had no one to teach me how to become a voice artist, I followed these methods.
Apart from that, watching documentaries, movies and reading books, and newspapers are all very rudimentary practices. Start with the famous movie one-liners. Read it aloud and record it, listen to it and get rid of your mistakes and be confident about yourself," he explained.
As a stand-alone profession, this line of work comes with respect and recognition. Although the market for it is a niche one, really learning the art of voice-overs in commercials can take anyone far.
