Hey all, I've recently started a new campaign with some IRL friends of mine and we all decided that we would do voices for this campaign. I'm playing a Kobold Rogue, and decided/ended up doing a voice similar to Spurt from Critical Role.
A few problems I've found (felt) after the first session.
1. That voice is really difficult to maintain without concentrating hard on it. We usually end pretty late, so I'm somewhat tired by the end of our sessions, and in the last hour or so I can feel the voice slipping from "scratchy kobold voice" to "crappy high pitched voice".
2. The voice really takes a toll on the vocal cords. Even though I wasn't doing it through the entire session (see 1), I still felt sore afterwards.
So basically I'd like to hear from anyone who has any advice on how to mitigate these two problems, firstly working on performing the voice more consistently and second mitigating the stress on my body from doing it.
Also, yes, the more taxing accents are more fatiguing to your voice. (And yes, overdoing it can lead to injuring your vocal cords.) Especially taxing are the scratchy / vocal fry effects - you could try just dropping those and adjusting to just a less-crappy high pitched kobold voice :)
You could try telling people I can’t do this voice for long, but this is how I sound. This isn’t critical role, no one expects you to be able to what they can can do. They’re professionals after all. then bust out the voice at important RP moments, instead of just doing it the whole time.
Hi Persuasion, and welcome to the wonderful world of silly D&D voices! As a DM who tries to use a variety of voices, as well as a player who uses some vocal fry in their 2 hour stream game, I completely understand the desire to have a fun character voice to use!
My first and biggest suggestion is to not hurt yourself! In the end this is just a fun game, and most of us are not professional voice actors. You having a good time and not being in pain during or after the game are the most important things!
Account256 starts off with my same suggestion: go to YouTube and look up some basic vocal warm up tutorials for your voice type. 3-5 minutes of a general warm up will help you stay relaxed no matter how strenuous a character voice you choose. Stick with a general warm up, not something tied to a character voice. It will be awkward the first time you bust out some lip buzzing and sirens before a game but just like all the silly things we do for D&D after the first time everyone will be fine with it!
My other suggestion is to play around with the voice to see if you can find something that is both comfortable AND easy to drop into without having to focus on it. My favorite places to experiment are the shower and the car, places I have time to try stuff out without being self conscious! Do a warm up and then play with your voice. Make noises and sounds in different ways to see what feels easier or more natural. If the current tone you're making is too strenuous and takes too much effort, find something that is CLOSE but doesn't cause those problems. Since this is a new campaign everyone is still settling into their character, and your friends will forgive you if your kobold doesn't sound exactly the same as it did last week. But once you find something you are comfortable with and can drop into it without effort, that will become the voice!
Also think about things that are not related to the timbre of your voice that can help define the character without needing to strain your vocal cords. Things like accents, speech patterns, and common phrases can help define your character voice just as much as your tone. You might discover that you naturally take on a different vocal tone when trying an accent, and that can help find the voice you want.
At any time when I feel my voice going out, which it does, I stop and tell the players what is going on and then I just don't use a voice. So tell your players when it starts to happen. They will it at least should understand.
After that it just takes time to get used to the voices. Your chords will get better and it'll get easier over time. So be patient with it. It'll get there.
I'm definitely a proponent of taking a few sessions to really nail down your character voice. Don't feel married to the voice you used season 1 if it physically pains you. Tweak it as needed, tone it down at times, get it to a place where you can consistently, comfortably do it. It might take a couple sessions.
One thing I do, which I'm glad nobody has ever heard me doing cause they'd think I'd went crazy, is when I'm alone I try to talk to myself in my character voice to really nail it down.
Hey all, I've recently started a new campaign with some IRL friends of mine and we all decided that we would do voices for this campaign. I'm playing a Kobold Rogue, and decided/ended up doing a voice similar to Spurt from Critical Role.
A few problems I've found (felt) after the first session.
1. That voice is really difficult to maintain without concentrating hard on it. We usually end pretty late, so I'm somewhat tired by the end of our sessions, and in the last hour or so I can feel the voice slipping from "scratchy kobold voice" to "crappy high pitched voice".
2. The voice really takes a toll on the vocal cords. Even though I wasn't doing it through the entire session (see 1), I still felt sore afterwards.
So basically I'd like to hear from anyone who has any advice on how to mitigate these two problems, firstly working on performing the voice more consistently and second mitigating the stress on my body from doing it.
In short, singing lessons.
There are vocal coaches for heavy metal bands, or you can look up related videos on YouTube.
More Interesting Lock Picking Rules
Also, yes, the more taxing accents are more fatiguing to your voice. (And yes, overdoing it can lead to injuring your vocal cords.) Especially taxing are the scratchy / vocal fry effects - you could try just dropping those and adjusting to just a less-crappy high pitched kobold voice :)
You could try telling people I can’t do this voice for long, but this is how I sound. This isn’t critical role, no one expects you to be able to what they can can do. They’re professionals after all.
then bust out the voice at important RP moments, instead of just doing it the whole time.
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
InsiderHi Persuasion, and welcome to the wonderful world of silly D&D voices! As a DM who tries to use a variety of voices, as well as a player who uses some vocal fry in their 2 hour stream game, I completely understand the desire to have a fun character voice to use!
My first and biggest suggestion is to not hurt yourself! In the end this is just a fun game, and most of us are not professional voice actors. You having a good time and not being in pain during or after the game are the most important things!
Account256 starts off with my same suggestion: go to YouTube and look up some basic vocal warm up tutorials for your voice type. 3-5 minutes of a general warm up will help you stay relaxed no matter how strenuous a character voice you choose. Stick with a general warm up, not something tied to a character voice. It will be awkward the first time you bust out some lip buzzing and sirens before a game but just like all the silly things we do for D&D after the first time everyone will be fine with it!
My other suggestion is to play around with the voice to see if you can find something that is both comfortable AND easy to drop into without having to focus on it. My favorite places to experiment are the shower and the car, places I have time to try stuff out without being self conscious! Do a warm up and then play with your voice. Make noises and sounds in different ways to see what feels easier or more natural. If the current tone you're making is too strenuous and takes too much effort, find something that is CLOSE but doesn't cause those problems. Since this is a new campaign everyone is still settling into their character, and your friends will forgive you if your kobold doesn't sound exactly the same as it did last week. But once you find something you are comfortable with and can drop into it without effort, that will become the voice!
Also think about things that are not related to the timbre of your voice that can help define the character without needing to strain your vocal cords. Things like accents, speech patterns, and common phrases can help define your character voice just as much as your tone. You might discover that you naturally take on a different vocal tone when trying an accent, and that can help find the voice you want.
I hope this all helps!
Find me on Twitter: @OboeLauren
At any time when I feel my voice going out, which it does, I stop and tell the players what is going on and then I just don't use a voice. So tell your players when it starts to happen. They will it at least should understand.
After that it just takes time to get used to the voices. Your chords will get better and it'll get easier over time. So be patient with it. It'll get there.
I'm definitely a proponent of taking a few sessions to really nail down your character voice. Don't feel married to the voice you used season 1 if it physically pains you. Tweak it as needed, tone it down at times, get it to a place where you can consistently, comfortably do it. It might take a couple sessions.
One thing I do, which I'm glad nobody has ever heard me doing cause they'd think I'd went crazy, is when I'm alone I try to talk to myself in my character voice to really nail it down.
Thanks so much for all the advice! I'll be sure to give all of your suggestions a try in preparation for the upcoming session!