Here at Such A Voice, we bring together some pretty incredible professionals from all different parts of the world to provide our students with a top voice-over education. Our staff members have such a wide variety of backgrounds and unique personalities. From working VO actors starring in movies, video games, and national TV commercial campaigns, to producers spending their days working on voice-over demos as well as broadcast voice-over work, to copywriters, casting directors and many other industry skills in between! We genuinely love bringing our expertise and our experiences together to create the best programs for our students.
For this week’s staff spotlight, we’d like to introduce you to one of our coaches, Nick Kaiser.
SAV: Hey Nick, thanks for letting us interview you today! We’d love to hear more about the man behind the successful coach. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Kaiser: First, I’m a dad to a great pair of kids. My son, Jason, has his master’s in Meteorology and he helps students at a small college learn how to integrate computer sciences with weather and climate studies. My daughter, Claire, directs her church choir and oversees house and box office operations for a college performing arts center in central New Hampshire. I’m active in my church but I also derive my spiritual and physical energy from the great outdoors. I enjoy hiking, biking, skiing, and kayaking. I’m pretty outgoing; I make friends easily. I’m naturally curious and I keep busy writing, performing, and learning and listening to new music. I tend to push my own limits, whether it be physical, mental or emotional. I encourage friends, family and students to do the same!
SAV: You play a musical instrument, right?
Kaiser: Acoustic guitar has been my primary instrument since my teens and I guess others would say I’m fairly accomplished at this point. I started out on Suzuki violin at age three and I still have that original instrument. I grew up in bucolic New Concord, Ohio, home to Muskingum University and John Glenn. My first music teacher was Professor John Kendall, who was on the music faculty at Muskingum University. After doing his doctoral work with Shinichi Suzuki in Japan, Kendall became one of the early proponents of the ear-training method in the US in the 1960’s. When I was a child learning how to speak, I was also learning the language of music studying Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi, etc.
Performing “Wedding Song” in Salida, CO
I took the violin with me to Interlochen, Michigan at age ten, “graduated” to cello for a couple years, then my family moved and classical string studies gave way to 6 and later 12-string guitar. I’ve written around 50 songs, recorded a couple home-studio CDs layered with vocal harmonies and various instruments, and performed over the years with friends or solo. I’ve also sung tenor/baritone with numerous a cappella groups in several languages.
A few years ago, I bought a fiddle with the idea of seeing if I could resurrect any of that original talent. This past spring, I found a wonderful fiddle teacher who encouraged my interest in learning how to play Celtic fiddle music. It was back to practicing and expanding my repertoire while attending traditional sessions in local pubs and preparing for concerts. It hasn’t been easy, but I’m having a blast!
SAV: How did you get your start in voice-over?
Kaiser: My first real exposure was at a community college in Colorado Springs where I took a course that introduced me to live radio. I had a shift where I could play almost anything and make plenty of on-air mistakes. I was immediately hooked and that experience led to my degree in Communications at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts.
SAV: What is something most people don’t know about you?
Kaiser: I’m adopted.
SAV: What are your top three favorite books?
Kaiser: Great question, that’s hard to pinpoint. Peers in my high school thought I was nuts to read Shakespeare, but I found it fascinating and frustrating. Years later, my brother gave me an incredible gold-leaf, hardbound book of everything the Bard ever wrote. Keepsake.
I think you could say I’m drawn to three genres of literature:
1. Spiritual texts from a range of disciplines that challenge, inspire, and reveal how to get in touch with our better selves and listen to the Great Spirit.
2. Biographies and studies of composers/songwriters: Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Jimmy Page, Schubert, Paul Simon, Chopin, Gershwin, Haydn, Bernstein, Arlen, Mussorgsky, Jimmy Webb, Joni Mitchell, Dvorak, Lennon/McCartney, Tchaikovsky…limitless.
3. Historical literature, good writing of a particular period. On the nightstand is “Churchill’s History of the English-Speaking Peoples” arranged by Henry Steele Commager. Weighty but worth it.
SAV: Out of curiosity, if you could go back in time, what year would you travel to and why?
Kaiser: I think it would be fascinating to live in the time of the great classical composers when they were overlapping. Imagine what it would be like to be there when Mozart first heard Beethoven. Remember, there were no recordings back then, so a good way to hear music was in live performance in acoustically-pristine concert halls. Fantastic!
SAV: Do you have any efficiency tricks that you use in the studio when you’re recording?
Kaiser: When recording voice-overs, I’ve found that my second take is usually the one I go with. I really exercise my listening skills during playback of Take One, qualifying pace, tone, inflection, dynamics, breathing, diction, etc. I might play something back three or even four times before deciding what and how to fine-tune. Then, I mark the script with symbols representing changes for Take Two, re-direct my vocal delivery, and see if I’ve got it. On rare occasions, I might cut a third take, and pay close attention to one particular phrase or section and give myself enough breathing room so I can “lift” that portion and edit it seamlessly into one of the earlier takes. I find that the delivery starts to fade emotionally past Takes Four or Five, at which point it’s time for a glass of lemonade.
SAV: Where can we hear your voice?
Kaiser: I was heard for 13 years on the CBS affiliate in Burlington, VT, then eight years as a live announcer for Vermont Public Radio. Today, my work as a full-time coach meeting and talking with students from around the country keeps me plenty busy!
SAV: Tell us one person in voice-over industry that inspires you?
Kaiser: I don’t mean to be cagey but when I hear one of my students really nail a read, I’m there!
SAV: What’s the best thing you’ve learned as a voice actor?
Kaiser: Practice your craft.
