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
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!