Alisa Amador

Latin Music and Bilingual Voiceover – a Marriage Made in Heaven

October 10, 2019 by Brian Amador

You may know that Rosi and I were professional Latin musicians long before we began our careers as bilingual voiceover actors. Music used to be our full-time gig, but these days it’s mostly voiceover work that puts food on the table and supports our music habit.

We recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of the band we founded, Sol y Canto, and the 35th year that Rosi and I have been playing together. To acknowledge these important musical milestones, we held a concert and live recording in Boston. See the preview below!

We were overjoyed to be joined by our very talented daughter Alisa. The last time she recorded with Sol y Canto was over 15 years ago, and Alisa was a small child, singing along with her twin.

Sol y Canto 25th Anniversary Concert Photo collage

Music, Meet Voiceover

In the 1990’s, circumstances conspired to give us a taste of bilingual voice over work, and we liked it. It had quite a few advantages over making a living as musicians. We could live at home instead of on the road. We weren’t constantly organizing tours and rehearsals. And we had our first experience of something else we’ve come to appreciate a great deal: using our voices for a business that’s creative and sustainable for our family!

But the music wasn’t going to let us get away that easily. We’ve never wanted to give it up altogether, and it’s still a huge part of our lives. And now there’s an extra-special benefit. After spending much of her childhood touring with us, our daughter Alisa has grown into a phenomenally talented singer/songwriter. (She’s also become a great voice actor, which is a great way to make ends meet as she develops her musical career.) In the last several years, we’ve had the good fortune to be able to sing with her, both on our repertoire and on her beautiful songs. The recent anniversary concert highlighted the family trio, and it was powerfully moving.

Voiceover, Meet Music

I’m not going to lie. Sometimes there’s a tension between our musical and voice over careers. Sometimes I wish I could spend more time composing and practicing. But there’s also a lot of happy overlap. I get to compose and record music for a lot of projects, especially many of the children’s audio books we’ve narrated. Recently I was commissioned to write a Puerto Rican style holiday song to be “sung” by a puppet (in Alisa’s voice) for a video produced by a national food and entertainment chain. That’s the kind of job that makes me pinch myself to believe I’m getting paid for having that much fun!

Aside from the direct music work that sometimes accompanies voiceovers, music has also seeped into our work as voice actors in subtle ways. All the years of singing have made both of us very aware of our voices, how to modulate them, and how to take care of them. The vocal warmups we do for singing are also great preparation for a voice over session. I also find that awareness of melody and rhythm definitely applies to the spoken word as it does to music. Tuning in to the melody of a character’s speech or accent helps me in developing character voices.

Our voiceover and music careers are a bit like our marriage. Sometimes there are little disagreements, but both sides support and love each other, and we work it out.

Musical Epilogue: The Next Chapter

Our Sol y Canto anniversary concert in Boston was a huge success! We’re documenting it with what we anticipate will be a wonderful CD. The recording captures a very special moment before Alisa’s career takes off and she leaves the nest.

I invite you to listen to our music and consider taking it a bit further. We’ve launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for this album, and we’ve reached more than half of our goal!

We hope you’ll join our musical journey by sharing and contributing to our campaign. For your support, we’re offering some fun perks including your own copy of the music (CD or digital download).

Please help us raise the $10,000 we need to make this dream a reality!

Donate

Thank you – gracias – de todo corazón – from the bottom of our hearts, in advance!

Voice Acting and Songwriting – All About Discourse, by Alisa Amador

July 27, 2018 by Alisa Amador

Musician and voice actor Alisa Amador — She’s joined the family biz full-time!

I have a confession to make. I am 22 years old and just graduated from Bates College, but it wasn’t until last week that I completed my driver’s ed certification. (Which made it all the more comical when we all got hired for voice acting in English and Spanish radio ads for the Massachusetts Registry of motor vehicles by MORE Advertising. I played the beginning driver and my dad played the slightly nervous father. It didn’t require much acting on either part, LOL, but I digress.) I passed my license exam a year ago, but then had to go back to college. As it turns out, passing your license exam does NOT equal a discount on insurance! Only completing driver’s ed does! So, it was back to driving school for me during the first month out of college.

Driving Lessons, Prying Questions

Those of you for whom driving lessons are a distant memory may not recall that they can be a very social, kind of intimate experience. You sit in a car with a stranger for an hour or so. You drive them around and try your hardest not to run any red lights or generally make the passenger feel unsafe. When the instructor is not telling you where to turn, they tend to ask you questions. I was an older student who had just graduated college with a degree in Gender and Sexuality Studies. So the constant question was, “So, what do you do with a degree in that?”

At first, I’d break into a sweat as I searched my brain for a respectful, yet firm response about the importance of a GSS degree while also keeping my eyes on the road. After many driving lessons, and many of the same questions asked, the answer now flows more easily.

Voice Acting and Songwriting: It’s All About Discourse

To the friendly driving instructor, and well-meaning question-asker I say: I am a musician and voice actor. My degree in Gender and Sexuality Studies pushes me to point out where power and oppression are. It helps me see how individual and collective discourse (written and spoken thought) resists or reinforces these injustices.

My work in voice acting and songwriting goes straight to the source: discourse. Expressing yourself in order to shift people’s ways of thinking about a subject. In the last few weeks alone, I’ve been able to voice some great projects:

combating childhood obesity
teaching kids good heart health habits
being the voice of an ACLU call to protest against Trump’s horrendous actions towards immigrant families (see the compelling video below)

That’s not all! I recorded an original song about toxic masculinity and rape culture with Loïca, a fantastic Chilean feminist-environmental activist songwriter. Stay tuned for the video! I also performed live alongside my band, Loïca, and my parents (a/k/a Sol y Canto). The performance included Brian originals like, “Olor a chiles,” about respecting and honoring immigrants, and “Love Wins,” about marriage equality and the power of love.

Breathe In, Speak Out

As I learn to (quite literally) navigate adult life, I feel so blessed. I have incredible parents who raised me to believe in the power of the human voice to open hearts and minds, to break down barriers, and to catalyze a community that cares.

In the words of Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux,

“Sacar la voz que estaba muerta/y hacerla orquesta/caminar, seguro, libre, sin temor/ Respirar y sacar la voz” To project the voice that was dead/and transform it into an orchestra/to walk, secure, free, without fear/to breathe in and speak out. (Ana Tijoux, Sacar la voz)

I love voice acting, and I am proud to be able to do it professionally. And I am so grateful for the caring community of e-learning producers, medical and health writers, animators, activists, and non-profits who have chosen my voice to carry their transformative messages.

For more about using voice acting and music for a better world, check out these links:

https://amadorbilingualvoiceovers.com/puerto-rico-voiceover-music/

https://amadorbilingualvoiceovers.com/amador-family-la-familia-verde/

And if you like music, perhaps you’ll enjoy my submission to this year’s NPR “Tiny Desk Concert” contest and a beautiful song by my father, Brian Amador, “Olor a chiles”.

Sol y Canto – Olor a chiles

Raising our Voices for Puerto Rico – Voiceover & Music

March 21, 2018 by Rosi Amador

After Hurricane María hit, my family and I decided to use our voices for Puerto Rico, to help in any way possible, as soon as possible. I believe, as do many of my closest friends who’ve chosen to remain on the island, that as devastating as this experience has been, what’s next for Puerto Rico represents a huge opportunity.

Through creativity, open-heartedness, and hard work, my fellow Puerto Ricans can create a just recovery, one that doesn’t enrich the privileged and ignore the rest. And we on the mainland have a historic opportunity to help our brothers and sisters in ways that our government has failed to do. Here are some of the things we chose to do to support Puerto Rico’s recovery:

Voces Pa’ La Isla: Singing For Puerto Rico

While I no longer have relatives on the island since my parents and abuelita passed away, I still have many dear friends that I consider my extended family in Puerto Rico. My friends are all doing okay considering the devastation on the island. Their work as creatives allows them to work globally. Many others are not so lucky, and hundreds of thousands of people have left the island for economic reasons. I felt so incredibly sad and angry for all my Puerto Rican compatriots who are still struggling, many of them sick and without resources during this crisis.

Hoping to help my island, my husband, fellow voice actor and musician, Brian and I produced two fundraising concerts with our Latin music ensemble Sol y Canto, along with special guests including our daughter Alisa. The first concert was on October 20th of last year, and the second happened just recently on February 18th. Between the two fundraisers, we raised over $12,000 thanks to the remarkable generosity of those who attended and others who sent a donation anyway. We sang our hearts out and people gave in kind! Photos and videos of the concerts (if you’re curious) are on our Sol y Canto Facebook page. (Incidentally, here’s the story of how we transitioned from music to full-time voiceover.)

PSA’s Promoting Vetted Recovery Funds for Puerto Rico

While planning our first fundraising concert, I also wanted to put my voiceover talents to work for Puerto Rico. I approached my friends and longtime clients, the award-winning Boston-based agency MORE ADVERTISING, an expert cause-oriented business whose mission aligned with ours. I asked them if they would partner with me in producing a bilingual public service announcement to raise awareness and funds for my Puerto Rico. MORE came through with flying colors, writing copy, setting up the media buy, and working with me through several iterations until we nailed the PSA’s – all pro-bono! On our end, our fabulous engineer Steven Hopkins then produced the spots, I voiced in English and Spanish, and Brian added beautiful music (yes, he’s also a talented composer).

The PSAs we created highlight the Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico Fund (MA United for PR) and aired throughout Massachusetts over many months. The fund was created under the umbrella of the Boston Foundation, and it has raised over three million dollars and counting for grassroots community organizations in Puerto Rico. While Puerto Rico has slowly been rebuilding since the hurricane first hit, funds are still desperately needed. If you’re interested in donating to help Puerto Rico, you can give to MA United for PR easily by clicking on this link. More donation options are listed below.

Sí Se Puede: How To Continue Supporting Puerto Rico

In addition to raising money at our Sol y Canto concerts (join us – concert schedule here!), we encourage everyone to donate online to continue helping the people of Puerto Rico. Sadly, thousands remain without access to electricity, food or proper medical care.
You can help by supporting NGOs such as Grassroots International’s “Just Recovery” Fund, which supports the “Comedores Sociales” (soup kitchens) and other community-based projects in Puerto Rico. You can also send a check to Grassroots International, 179 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02130 with “Just Recovery Puerto Rico” in the subject line. Your donations make a difference, we promise!

A third option is our good friend cultural promoter Benjamín Muñiz’s Saravá Foundation, which brings live and recorded music to Puerto Rico’s children as a badly needed source of healing and joy. Go Fund Me: Música Para Niños Campaign

Yet a fourth option was brought to us by our close friend in San Juan, Emmy Award-winning public television and documentary producer Caridad Sorondo, who is helping the non-profit, Puertorriqueños con Morovis, (Puerto Ricans with Morovis (town), to help with the town’s reconstruction. Caridad is producing a documentary honoring the town’s bicentennial (1818-2018). Still, only 49% have electricity and potable water is intermittently available. A check can be mailed to: Puertorriqueños con Morovis at Condominio El Centro I, 500 Ave. Muñoz Rivera, Suite 216, San Juan, PR 00918.

Through Grassroots International, the Massachusetts for Puerto Rico Fund at the Boston Foundation, the Saravá Foundation and Puertorriqueños con Morovis, donations bypass the bureaucracy and get to the people who need them.

Favor de regar la voz. Please feel free to share widely. ¡Y gracias, de todo corazón! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

A Game-Changer for Hispanic Content Producers: The Revolutionary Accent-o-Meter!

January 31, 2018 by Brian Amador

Finding the Right Accent

Producers of content for the Hispanic market often rely on Hispanic-accented English voiceover to reach their target audience. But finding the right amount of Hispanic accent can be a challenge. Well, we’ve just made that job easier with[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Want Hispanic-accented English voiceover, but you don’t how MUCH accent you need? Just use this nifty little tool to find exactly what you’re looking for! Don’t stop before you reach Level 6.

The Revolutionary Accent-o-Meter™!

Readers of this blog probably know that a large part of our voiceover work is in Hispanic-accented English. While we love doing this work, the process of determining just how MUCH accent the client wants can be rather time consuming. I love figuring out ways to solve problems, so one day I put on my thinking hat to work on this one.

Necessity – the Mamá of Invention

I thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if our clients could hear the same copy read with varying levels of accent, and choose the level they want?” From that came the idea of creating an audio player for that purpose, and the Accent-o-Meter was born! Now anyone interested in hearing the different types of Hispanic-accented voiceover we can provide simply has to click on a name, a level and the play button. They can hear varying levels of accent in the voices of Rosi Amador, Alisa Amador, and yours truly, Brian Amador. Try it at
accent-o-meter.com; it’s fun! Make sure to keep listening through Level 6!

Aside from making our website more interactive and engaging (and who doesn’t love that?), this is a very practical tool. It allows producers to:

zero in, with their clients and creative team, on how much accent is appropriate for their project.
communicate clearly with voice talent how much accent they need. (Note to producers: although of course we’d love it if you hired us, feel free to use the Accent-o-Meter as a reference any time you use Hispanic-accented talent.)
save time and labor for both producers and voice talent.
hear and compare different accents in male, female, and young adult female voices.

But it Wouldn’t Have Happened Without…

Like many of my ideas, for quite some time the Accent-o-Meter existed only in my head. It wasn’t until I reached out to our friend and colleague Joe Davis of Voice Actor Websites that it began to move toward fruition. Joe put me in touch with his colleague Karin Barth, who did a phenomenal job on both the design and the functionality, creating an easy-to-use widget that looks great on our site. Kudos to them!

Using Our Voice Overs to Make a Difference

October 13, 2017 by Rosi Amador

The Amador family, Brian, Alisa, Sonia, and I, have always enjoyed doing work geared toward making the world a better place. That’s why we were thrilled to provide voice overs for both the English and Spanish versions of La Familia Verde, an environmentally-themed PSA campaign.

Amador Bilingual Voiceovers - The Green Family - La Familia Verde PSA Want to find out how to save money on your energy bills? Want to learn how to stay healthy in a changing climate? Meet the Familia Verde, The Green Family! Their enthusiasm for saving energy may seem a little exaggerated, but they’d love to be your guides to a green, healthy lifestyle.

On this project, we had the pleasure of working for the first time with ChavoBart Digital Media. They’re a media production and distribution company specializing in short-form environmental and educational content. ChavoBart created the delightful Familia Verde segments as part of a campaign sponsored by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.

Hear La Familia Verde in English:

Hear La Familia Verde in Spanish:

All in the Family

As a family of bilingual voiceover artists, we love being able to work together. This is especially true when we get to record meaningful content in both English and Spanish. We hope to be able to lend our voices to many more projects like this – projects that connect our skills with our values. Given the current tendency to ignore science and promote environmentally-damaging energy policies, it’s especially important that we do all we can to protect our planet.

One-Stop Voiceovers

As a family business, we pride ourselves on providing our clients with a one-stop shop for a wide range of voices and languages. Improving the voiceover experience for our clients is something we always strive for! Producers often need to search far and wide to cast their commercials or PSA’s. Not when they come to us! At Amador Bilingual Voiceovers, we can provide all the voices they need in one location. Let our avatars tell you all about it.

Our NEW Voiceover Website for Producers of Hispanic Content!

July 31, 2017 by Rosi Amador

Meaningful Content For the Hispanic Market

¡Bienvenidos a Locuciones Bilingües Amador! Our brand new Spanish voiceover website, www.locucionesbilinguesamador.com, created for producers of Hispanic content, is now online! ¡Estamos encantados de anunciar que finalmente hemos lanzado nuestra nueva página web completamente en español, www.locucionesbilinguesamador.com!

Honoring our Mission

Amador Bilingual Voiceovers‘ mission is to be the foremost provider of Spanish and English voiceover services for clients who create content related to Hispanics and the Spanish language, and who serve Spanish-speaking markets. Being a one-stop voiceover shop for commercials and narrations in perfect neutral Latin American Spanish or North American English, our goal has always been to make our clients’ lives easier through every aspect of our business.

Getting the Word Out – Twice!

One of the most important pieces in building a voiceover business is making yourself known to the people who are looking for your particular skill set. Our new Spanish site enables us to connect with Spanish-speaking content producers in the language in which they’re most comfortable.

Paired with our new whimsical animated, 90-second explainer video, “Somos los Amador – La Familia Latina de Locutores Bilingües” (gracias to the talented team at the Boston University AdLab!), the new site lets us introduce our family of voices to anyone in the U.S. or Latin America looking for voiceover services in North American English, Hispanic-accented English, or neutral Latin American Spanish.

We’re also excited to announce that we’ll be posting the same informative articles you find here on our bilingual voiceover blog in Spanish on the new site moving forward.

It’s All About the Client

Having a wide range of services, languages, and voices to meet our clients’ needs is our raison d’être. Our fully bilingual staff (our studio manager, engineer and social media director are all bilingual, too) are always happy to help make your customer experience a pleasant one.

Let us know what you think of the new Locuciones Bilingües Amador website! Whether in English or Spanish, we invite you to read the latest blog post by Brian, Making Lemons into Limonada.

Haz clic aquí para leer este artículo en español.