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Happy New Year! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Why My Ritual of A Word Of The Year?

December 28, 2023 by Rosi Amador

Updated from a previously published post.

Instead of making a New Year’s resolution, for many years I have picked a “word of the year” to guide my decisions each year. My Word of the Year last year was ASPIRATION, and I’m happy to say that I definitely brought that word to fruition. I studied and advanced my learning with coaches in both my voiceover and singing careers. I studied online with an amazing VO coach in Madrid and another in the U.S to make my auditions pop and to book more work. And I studied with several expert vocal improvisation coaches throughout 2023, both online and in person, which filled my heart with more joy than I can express in words.

Unintended Consequences

Along with all this growth, guess what happened? I was overcommitted, ran around a lot doing so many things I loved and found I had too little downtime (big surprise, right?!) so my new word for 2024 is EASE. Oddly enough, when I was looking at my blog post from 2020 about my word of the year it was… EASE. I had completely forgotten! This is clearly a recurring need for me, as my family could tell you.

So here’s what I’m thinking: I will continue to study and take working vacations, but at a more relaxed pace. That way I can enjoy my life more fully and keep working on that never ending life/work balance! My hope is that all of my choices next year will be guided by this word. Do me a favor and email me every now and then to see how I’m doing. 😉 Who knows? Maybe it will help you, too.

A LITTLE UPDATE ON OUR FAMILY’S VO’s LAST YEAR

Fabulous Museum Audio Tour Narrations

We are thrilled to share that museums around the country invited us to narrate audio guides and audio descriptions. Some of our favorites this year were: MoMa, The Getty Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Miami Institute of Contemporary Art, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Seattle Art Museum and The Jewish Museum. You can hear some examples and videos here.

We were so fortunate in 2023 to guide thousands of visitors through various exhibits and travel destinations. Whether it’s in English, Spanish, or even Hispanic accented English, we thoroughly enjoy recording this type of work. It feels as though we are exploring the world, all from the comfort of our studio!

Brilliant Health-Themed Narrations/eLearning

We also worked on a wide variety of health and medical projects, recording spots for hospitals, health insurance plans, medical products, and health-related educational programs.

Health-medical commercial voiceover should exude warmth and reassurance. It should also demonstrate expertise in a confident and authoritative manner. The voice should bring to mind a knowledgeable doctor who not only excels in her field but also possesses the bedside manner that makes you feel at ease. That is what we had the privilege of doing for clients such as: JSI, MCD, Mount Sinai Hospital and Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Check out this playlist to see and hear for yourself.

Inspiring Public Television Voiceovers

Public television and radio have always played a significant role in our family’s life. We have been enthusiastic advocates and dedicated viewers/listeners for many years. That’s why we love recording promos, educational narrations, pledge drives and community outreach media for many stations around the country and are grateful for their trust in us to help them with their projects.

Last year, we had the joy of working with our new clients Oregon Public Broadcasting and North Carolina PBS, and some of our cherished regulars like Maryland Public Television and WNET Thirteen in New York City. Here are some samples for you to check out.

Overdubs and Translations

Overdubbing into Spanish is an art. It requires skill and patience because there are about a third more words in Spanish than in English, and making it sound natural is one of our specialties. We love the challenge. Check out our playlist of overdubs if you’re curious.

Other Genres

As always, we cherish the opportunity to work with our clients and welcome new ones who may want us to work in different genres from the ones I highlighted above.

Happy 2024 to all! Contact us by clicking here and tell us how we can help you. ¡Feliz año nuevo!

Our son Zia is more available than ever for voiceover

Zia Amador is now fully done with college and now can help you with his gender-fluid/younger male voice. Some of the projects he did this year include Central Park Conservancy, MoMA, JSI and WNET Thirteen,

Our family looks forward to collaborating with you this year. Let us know (hyperlink) if you have any bilingual projects in mind.

Two Sides to “Bilingual”

September 14, 2023 by Brian Amador

Updated from a previously published post.

The growth of the Hispanic population in the U.S. (around 18% of the population in 2023) has led to increased demand for audio content targeted to that demographic. All genres of voiceover work, from commercials and explainer videos to e-learning, corporate narration, promos and more, are incorporating Spanish and bilingual content. And the increased demand has brought an expansion of VO talent offering their services in Spanish, from fluent native speakers to those who learned a little Spanish in high school.

I think anyone seriously involved in Spanish or English-Spanish bilingual voiceover work would agree that it’s not a good idea to sell yourself as a Spanish-speaking talent if you are not able to speak the language fluently, expressively and with an impeccable accent. In this regard, there are obvious advantages to hiring talent born and educated in a Spanish-speaking country.

But it’s not an absolute necessity. There are U.S.-born Spanish speakers who are completely bilingual – native speakers who can speak both English and Spanish and switch effortlessly between the two languages.

Full Bilingualism = Value Added

In my career as an English/Spanish bilingual voice actor, my standards are exactly the same for both languages: perfect, native pronunciation and expression. Surprisingly, I’ve found that sometimes being a native English speaker is just as important as being a native Spanish speaker. Being fully bilingual has advantages:

It’s important to recognize errors in translation and be able to make suggestions to correct them. Sometimes English expressions are translated directly into Spanish; if you are familiar with the colloquial expressions in English, it may be easier to find the best Spanish equivalent.
Some translation problems are due to grammatical errors or ambiguities in the source text. If you have a complete command of written English, you can more easily identify and correct these errors.
In overdubs, errors in translation may be due to the translator misunderstanding spoken English words because of the speaker’s accent or dialect. As a native English speaker, I am able to understand many different accents (although I admit I still watch “Masterpiece Theatre” with the subtitles on!)
For recordings of a specified duration, mastery of both languages makes it easier to adapt translations to fit in in a given time without sacrificing the meaning of the source copy.
It’s an extra perk for the client to be able to use the same voice talent in English and Spanish and have both languages sound natural and conversational.

Quality is What Matters

Given the growing importance of the Spanish language in the United States, and just as a matter of principle, the standards for Spanish and bilingual voiceover should always be as high as they are for English. It is as important for creators of content in Spanish, as it is for English-language creators, to find speakers who have a perfect command of the language, whether they are “native” or ”imported” speakers. There are two sides to “bilingual”. In some cases, mastery of English may be just as important as mastery of Spanish.

Amador Bilingual Voiceovers Brian Demos

2020: Let’s Do It! Reaching Your Business Goals!

January 28, 2020 by Rosi Amador

We hope you enjoyed wonderful holidays with loved ones. We had a truly delightful holiday time with our family and friends in Argentina. (Check out my Instagram for some highlights!). We’ve hit the ground running in 2020 and we can already feel the potential for this year!

I don’t know if you share this tradition, but for years now I have chosen a “word of the year” to guide my decisions. This year my word came to me effortlessly. It’s “EASE”. I am using it to help me make wiser choices to achieve my 2020 business and personal goals. I’m a rather driven entrepreneur, small business owner, singer and voiceover artist. I want to do everything I’m excited about all at once. Sometimes I get overly ambitious, which makes it hard to bring ease into my life. Now I’m learning to spread out my projects throughout the year. I’ve lined up a great team to help me with each step so I can be more intentional as I aim high to reach these ambitious goals. (Do you have a word of the year? Just curious – I’d love to know what your word is.)

Have you set your 2020 business goals?
Perhaps you’d like to expand your audience. Maybe communicating in a new language is the key? (Hint: There are over 41 million native Spanish speakers in the US!)

Thinking about elevating your content to differentiate yourself from your competitors and engage with your audience in a more authentic way? An original music composition might be that extra special touch you need. Yup, we do that too.

Let us help you achieve your goals! Here’s a reminder of some of the services we offer. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, just ask. Don’t hesitate to reach out to connect live and see how we can collaborate!

Voiceovers – Our experience ranges from commercials to social causes, promos, corporate narrations and beyond. The right voiceover will not only communicate what’s in the text but it will also bring it to life. We can add a level of emotion and a natural delivery that will help you better connect with your audience. Remember, we provide female or male voiceovers in English, Spanish or Hispanic-accented English. All flavors!
Audio tours – Our voices have guided thousands through exhibits and travel destinations, in English, Spanish, and Hispanic accented English. We love this kind of work – it’s like traveling around the world without leaving our studio!
eLearning narration – There are many benefits to eLearning. It can be used to teach when more traditional methods of learning are unavailable or impractical. When recorded by seasoned educational narrators, it can also be highly engaging, resulting in a better learning experience. We’ve been honored to narrate hundreds of hours of educational narration for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (gracias AudioLink for our decades long association!), the National Fire Protection Association, Teaching Strategies, NASA, and many other educational companies and governmental agencies.
Translations and overdubs – We love bringing people together, and one of the ways we do it is through translations. Translated, your content can reach an even broader audience. As we’ve said before effective translation is not as simple as using an application to swap languages. You have to make sure your content is properly localized for your audience. We’re happy to be your language and cultural consultants, and we truly enjoy that role. We did just that for a recent national campaign of video PSAs on family preparedness for FEMA.
Original music composition – In addition to baking the most amazingly delicious granola, Brian is a very talented musician and composer. If your project requires a special tone, original music might be the answer! It can set your project apart from those with canned music, and it can save you from paying music licensing fees. Plus we have some ready to go original music beds right on our website under “Services”.

Whatever your project looks like, we’re here to help! ¡Nos encantaría ayudarle!

Are You Set Up to Reach the Largest Minority in the US? Here are some things to keep in mind in 2020!

December 12, 2019 by Rosi Amador

Can you believe we are on the brink of a new decade?! This year has been full of great work and for that, we are very thankful. We not only get to work with amazing businesses, but we also get to use our voices to build cross-cultural bridges and support important causes that are near and dear to our hearts. That is a huge honor for our family.

As we head into not just a new year, but a new decade, we wanted to share our thoughts regarding trends to watch in 2020, especially as it relates to our business… and likely yours too!

Multicultural is not going anywhere and you shouldn’t be surprised! In the last decade alone, the number of Hispanics in the U.S. increased by 43%. In 2020, Hispanics will account for over 50% of the U.S. population growth. Not creating content that connects with this important population is a big miss for any business. As we said in a previous post you want to make sure you know exactly how to reach Hispanics, as there might be some cultural nuances that differ between subgroups (i.e., Mexicans vs. Puerto Ricans) but we can help you navigate this!
Make great content work even harder for your business. The new year is the perfect opportunity to revise your content strategy and as you probably know, video is key. Not only is Google ranking video higher than text-based content, but with such a competitive content world, video offers an opportunity to truly connect with your audience… especially when you do it with the right voice! Make your content work harder for you by considering overdubbing to reach broader audiences.
Sustainability and responsibility, we’re all involved. No matter the industry your business is in, we all play a role from a sustainability standpoint. If you haven’t already, take a moment to assess the social and environmental impact of your business and look for ways to improve in 2020. Where can you make the most positive impact? Can you get your target audience involved? Do you need updated messaging to help achieve this?
Integration is the future, don’t stay behind. Whether it’s diversity in the workplace or having your different creatives/marketers collaborate, integration will be key in 2020. When it comes to creating engaging content, you want to make sure you have an integrated team that not only relates to your audience but are also experts on what they do. With that come efficiencies and it’s always great to have partners that can do multiple things for your project. At ABVO, we offer more than just voice-overs, we can also provide translation services, original music compositions, and other related services. We love that we can contribute to our client’s great campaigns in multiple ways!

What other trends do you see continuing or emerging in 2020? We’d be delighted to know.

Let’s work together and make 2020 the best year yet! And by the way, Happy New Year! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

More Than Just Spanish: What kind of Spanish voiceover does your project need?

September 24, 2019 by Rosi Amador

So you’ve decided you want a Spanish voiceover for your project? Good news! You are in the right place! As English and Spanish bilingual voice actors, we often receive inquiries and quote requests for Spanish voiceover of already-existing recordings in English. So, what’s next?

Two things to consider: translation and accents.

Consider translation the backbone of this project as this can impact your ultimate project goals. Here are some considerations when it comes to professional translations:

Google Translate is not always right. While this technology is improving, it’s still a long way from being able to produce a natural, intelligible translation. One of our co-workers once used Google Translate to help her understand an email in Spanish. The person writing explained that she had been on tour with her father’s band, which Google translated as: “I’ve been of tour with my potato’s orchestra.”
Get ample vocabulary, fitting your business needs. We’ve seen translations done by someone, perhaps a co-worker or employee of the client, who speaks Spanish, but not always very well. Many Americans of Hispanic descent grew up speaking Spanish at home, but being educated in this country, they never learned to write correctly in Spanish. Often their vocabulary is limited to what they used as kids speaking to their parents and can significantly impact how well your message is delivered.
Word count matters. Did you know? A straight translation of English to Spanish often yields as many as 1/3 more words. When it comes to voiceovers with a set video timing, this makes a difference in our voiceover speed. Economy of language is important to make sure we are not racing through text and match the video perfectly.

We always encourage clients to have their copy translated professionally. It makes our job much easier, allows us to be part of a quality product that we can be proud of, and keeps them from wasting money on a professional recording of an unprofessional translation.

What kind of Spanish is right for your project? Think about the goal and objectives of your project and of course, your audience. As in English, throughout the Spanish-speaking world there are many regional accents and dialects.

Mexican Spanish is widespread, especially in the Southwest, California and Texas. Mexicans and people of Mexican descent comprise most of the Spanish speakers in the U.S.

In South Florida, most Spanish speakers come from a Cuban background.
In the Northeast one is more likely to hear accents from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Central America.

Looking to target a national or international market? Recordings, especially commercials, targeted to a limited geographical area, may feature regional accents reflecting the majority Hispanic population of that region. In the commercial and entertainment world, however, producers long ago figured out that to reach a wider audience it made sense to use Spanish that was not regionally-specific, but more universally understandable and acceptable. This is often referred to as “Neutral,” “Neutral Latin American,” or “Standard” Spanish. I avoid the term “standard”, as there’s really no such thing – what’s standard in Latin America can be considered wrong in Spain, and vice versa.

A “Neutral Latin American” variant has the following characteristics:

Steers clear from regionally-specific vocabulary* in favor of words understandable to anyone from the Spanish-speaking world
Avoids regional accents
Tends toward a less inflected read, avoiding the “sing-songiness” that characterizes many regional dialects.

While there are appropriate uses for regional Spanish in voiceovers, the advantages of using Neutral Spanish for reaching a wide audience are clear.

With a professional, Neutral Spanish translation, and a professional recording, you maximize the impact of your message allowing it to appeal to a broader audience. And for those of us in the communication business, reaching people with an effective message is what it’s all about.

Now here’s a twist, what about having a Hispanic accent in your English voiceover?

We can do that too! In fact, we recommend you use our Acent-O-Meter to better gauge what level of accent makes sense for you. These levels of accent may make sense if you are wishing to appeal to a Hispanic audience that predominantly speaks English or if you are working on a project that requires accent variety for creative purposes.

Whatever your voiceover need is, we would love to help you!

A Great Year For Our Bilingual Voiceovers! 2018 In Review

December 2, 2018 by Brian Amador

Rosi Amador won the 2018 Voice Arts Award® from the Society of Voice Arts & Sciences

Thanks to all our fabulous clients and staff, Amador Bilingual Voiceovers has grown so much! 2018 was our best year yet, and we would like to take a moment to reflect on some of the highlights.

1) 2018 “Best Commercial Demo” Award From The Society Of Voice Arts And Sciences

We were thrilled that Rosi won in the category of “Best Commercial Demo” from the Society of Voice Arts & Sciences! This is her first voiceover award since becoming a full time bilingual voiceover actor eight years ago. The SOVAS Awards are frequently referred to as the “Oscars” of voice acting. Click to hear the prize-winning bilingual political voiceover demo.

Society Of Voice Arts And Sciences

2) Yo Te Apoyo – Brian & Alisa on-camera

Usually when you hear us, you don’t see us. But this year Brian was cast in an on-camera spot for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, and Alisa got a non-speaking part as…wait for it…his daughter! We were fortunate this year to be able to lend our voices to many causes we believe in.

3) Alisa – Amazon Prime Spotify Ad

What can we say? We’re a wee bit proud of our little bundle of joy. In 2018, she

graduated from Bates College
got a lot of well-earned recognition for her beautiful music, including winning the first annual Rock the Hall talent competition at Tarrytown (NY) Music Hall
kicked her voice over career up a notch, recording several high profile VO jobs, and getting on the rosters of some great agencies, including the Umberger Agency, DiSanti Talents, and TAG Talent.

4) One Heart – all three of our voices

It’s always a joy when we get to work together on a project, especially when we get to play using our character voices and overdubbing into our neutral Latin American Spanish. Here’s one the three of us did for The Hospitals of Providence. Yes, the voices are all us!

5) The Debut of the Revolutionary Accent-o-Meter!

2018 saw the launch of an idea that had been percolating for a long time – The Revolutionary Accent-o-Meter™!

Much of our work is in Hispanic-accented English, but we often found that our clients didn’t know exactly how much accent they wanted until they heard some examples. This little gadget allows them to hear our voices with varying levels of accent and choose what they’re looking for, saving a great deal of back-and-forth and streamlining the production process.

Best Wishes to You for 2019!

We hope that 2018 has brought you many successes and beautiful memories, and that 2019 brings you and yours even more! ¡Feliz año! Ojalá que el 2018 haya sido un buen año y que el 2019 traiga aún más felicidad y éxitos para usted y sus seres queridos.