voiceover

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!

Rosi Amador’s Pro Theater Debut in “In The Heights”

November 16, 2017 by Rosi Amador

From the voiceover studio to the acclaimed Wheelock Family Theater stage in Boston, I’m thrilled to share that I’ve made my live theater premiere in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s (of Hamilton fame) first Broadway musical, In The Heights, playing Camila, one of the principal roles. This is a dream come true!

With "Vanessa" (actress Iliana García, my "husband, Kevin" (actor Luis Negrón) and "Nina" (actress Laura Lebrón) — With “Vanessa” (actress Iliana García), my “husband, Kevin” (actor Luis Negrón) and “Nina” (actress Laura Lebrón)

This 2008 Tony Award-winner for Best Musical centers on an ensemble of characters in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. My character is a strong Puerto Rican mother – kind’a, sort’a who I am! This extraordinary play addresses themes of immigration, Latin culture, connection, love, unity, community and home. It ranges from poignant to hilarious, and the songs (all in great Latin rhythms) and choreography serve the story line faithfully.

Rosi Amador with "Daniela"(Yewande Odetoyinbo in) in "In the Heights" at Wheelock Family Theater. — With “Daniela,” actress Yewande Odetoyinbo.

I haven’t performed in a musical since my days at Bryn Mawr College. During my adolescence it was one of my passions, so you can imagine how honored I am to have been given this opportunity by the award-winning Wheelock Family Theater, where our family saw so many fabulous topnotch musicals when our twins were little, and where they studied theater in the summer.

I cried when I was offered the role and I’m very happy to say that it has been a wonderful experience! We’ve had responsive full houses in the gorgeous 660 seat theater since the show opened. The 16 show run (plus 6 packed shows for middle and high school students) turned into an 18-show run and the last 6 shows have completely sold out! That coupled with a string of standing ovations has made this experience something I will never, ever forget.

Rosi Amador and Johanna Carlisle Zepeda, "In the Heights", Wheelock Family Theater — With “Abuela Claudia,” actress Johanna Carlisle Zepeda

What am I most grateful for? How much this stretched me as an actor, of course! As a voice actor I have continuously studied to improve my skills with fantastic casting directors and coaches. But add in the blocking, the interaction with other actors and the way the audience responds differently each night, and it’s a whole other ball of wax. I have had to continuously respond to the stimuli in the moment. Fun!

With my husband on stage, "Kevin Rosario", actor Luis Negrón — With my husband on stage, “Kevin Rosario”, actor Luis Negrón

I’m reminded of how much I’ve grown since studying with my talented friend Rebecca Haugh’s “Love That Improv” online voiceover improvisation classes, which have helped me become a more creative voice actor.

Of course, I feel tremendous gratitude toward the other talented actor/singers and dancers in the show for their inspiration and patience as I learned all about the theater world and lingo.

The experience has challenged me, but I believe I rose to the occasion thanks to good direction and stewardship from those around me. Gracias de nuevo – thanks again to the Wheelock Family Theater, for choosing me. Lastly, I’m also deeply grateful to all the friends who traveled from all parts of the country to see me perform. I’m so blessed.

I’m reminded of how fortunate I am to make my living from my voice and creativity. From music, to voiceover, to singing and acting on the stage, this experience reminds me of how we transitioned from our full-time music career into voiceover, years ago. I’ve loved every minute of it, but I so look forward to helping my clients once again at my voiceover studio, once we take that final bow on Sunday night!

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.

Hispanic-Accented English Voiceover: Turning Lemons Into Limonada

May 10, 2017 by Brian Amador

“What? I have an accent?”

My name is Brian Amador. I was born in the great state of New Mexico, and until I moved away, I never thought I had an accent in English. I spoke like most of the people around me.

It wasn’t until I moved to the East Coast that I discovered that yes, I do in fact speak with a slight Hispanic accent when I’m not thinking about it.

After having this pointed out to me by too many people to ignore, I concluded that my accented English might be affecting my ability to land voiceover jobs. I decided to try some accent-reduction coaching.

My coach gave me specific feedback about which letter sounds gave me away, and I worked on being able to neutralize my accent. But one of the things she told me, which I’m glad I heeded, was “DON’T lose your accent! It will come in handy sometimes.”

How right she was! As we broke down last year’s voiceover work by genre and language, it became clear that Hispanic-Accented English voiceover represented a small but significant share of my work.

Work with what you’ve got.

It turns out that there is a market for Hispanic-accented voiceover, and it’s quite broad. We’ve been hired for accented English VO for Commercials, eLearning, medical and corporate projects. There’s never been a greater demand for voiceover that reflects the diversity that is the U.S.A.

About the time that I decided to learn to neutralize my Hispanic Accent, I also decided it would also be a good idea to learn to emphasize it, or to vary it. There are many types of Hispanic accents, and someone born in the U.S. won’t speak like someone who immigrated.

How much accent, and which?

While being able to faithfully reproduce all the Hispanic accents in this country would be impossible, it made sense to study certain characteristics of a few of the more common ones. I listen to the differences in speech patterns between East Coast Hispanics of Caribbean descent and Chicanos from California, and how those are both quite different from the accent that I heard growing up in New Mexico.

It’s an ongoing study that’s become kind of a game. When I get an audition or job request in Hispanic-accented English, I consider whether to use my Rubén Blades, my Cheech Marín, my Grandma, or something else.

Meanwhile, my wife Rosi and my daughter Alisa have also been able to parlay accented English into profitable work. Rosi’s big discovery was how just a touch of British accent can make a Hispanic accent sound more Chilean, and for Argentine, she just channels her Papi.

The Payoff

While Hispanic-accented English voiceover doesn’t represent a huge percentage of my work, I have to say that it has brought some of my most fun jobs, and even some recognition in the Industry.

I recently got to do a commercial for a major sandwich chain in the style of a soap opera, playing a Latin lover type. Then a colleague notified me that I had won a prestigious Earphones Award from AudioFile Magazine for an accented read of the beloved children’s book THE STORY OF FERDINAND. These are two really fun, rewarding projects that never would have come my way if I had lost my accent!

Bilingual Voiceover and Marketing to Hispanics

March 19, 2017 by Rosi Amador

Our good friend and super-talented voice actor Doug Turkel recently shared this insightful article with us, “The Importance of Marketing to Hispanics Online in Spanish” by Walter Godinez, which ties in beautifully with our experience in our bilingual voiceover profession.
bilingual voiceover marketing hispanics
As Godinez explains “By the year 2017, the U.S. Hispanic buying power in the United States will equal $1.7 trillion dollars and by the year 2020 the population will represent almost 20 percent of the entire U.S. population.” These statistics show the increasing power of the Hispanic consumer and the increasing need for advertisements and e-learning materials to be in Spanish.

A Bilingual, Bi-Cultural Generation

As the Hispanic population in the U.S. continues to grow, the Spanish language remains important, both culturally and linguistically, to every Hispanic generation. While most Hispanics are bi-cultural, constantly shifting between English and Spanish, marketing that is authentic to Hispanic culture is the most effective way to reach the Hispanic population. However, authentic Hispanic marketing is more than just adding tacos and llamas!

As fluent or semi-fluent Spanish speakers, the Hispanic population in the U.S. appreciates accurately translated and voiced advertising that reflects their culture and identity. Making truly bilingual content targeting Hispanics requires an emphasis on quality in both language and content.

Growing Need for Content in Spanish

Producers of commercial content for and about Hispanics in the United States often hire us to voice ads that promote services and products to the Latino population. In addition, we’re frequently asked to overdub web videos, as well as voicing e-learning content for a Spanish-speaking audience. As the Hispanic population in the United States increases, the importance of educational materials in Spanish becomes necessary for the advancement of future generations. This growing group of people express themselves in both in English and Spanish. Nurturing their bi-cultural identities through bilingual content is a win-win for the producers and consumers.

Bilingual Voiceover Works Both Ways

Here is a bilingual TV commercial I voiced for Nevada Health. (Spanish spot immediately follows English spot.) In this instance our Spanish translation expertise also came into play to help the producer move away from a literally translated script to a more colloquial read that reflected the original English – one that matches how the Latino viewer actually speaks. Sometimes we’re asked to overdub from Spanish to English to make the message accessible to a U.S. audience. Either way, we’re honored that our work helps increase the reach of important messages.

To read more about the importance of bilingual content, check out Brian’s blog post “Two Sides to Bilingual“!