Is It Time for a VO Conference in Australia?
The Pro Audio SuiteJune 09, 2025x
18
00:10:5420.12 MB

Is It Time for a VO Conference in Australia?

This week, it’s just AP and Robbo flying the plane—and they’re kicking around an idea that’s been brewing for a while:
👉 Should we launch a voiceover conference right here in Australia? We know there are VO events in the US and UK, but barely anything for Aussie or Kiwi talent. So… what would it look like if we ran one? Who would show up? What would we cover? We chat about:
  • The gap in the local VO scene
  • Robbo’s Home Studio Rehab webinar (coming up June 12th — $30, and 5 attendees get their audio personally reviewed)
  • Remote recording tools like Source Connect and Twisted Wave
  • Whether George Whittam and Robert Marshall would make the trek down under
  • What agents used to do… and what they don’t anymore
  • And some early demo distribution tactics involving mini SD cards (true story)
🎧 Plus, here's that link Robbo promised in the episode—a quick test we did using Twisted Wave on iOS, recorded in the car:
📱 https://youtu.be/cWcLKq215-Q 📣 Tell us what you think! Would you be interested in a VO conference in Sydney? Take 2 minutes to fill out our quick interest form:
📝 https://forms.gle/KQ5YxHkLJyqcrjKK9 🧰 Robbo’s Webinar – June 12 Home Studio Rehab – $30 for 90 mins of live guidance, plus 5 attendees get their audio reviewed
🔗 www.justaskrobbo.com/home-studio-rehab 🎙 Presented by: The Pro Audio Suite – with Darren "Robbo" Robertson & Andrew Peters
Proudly sponsored by Tribooth (use code TRIPAP200 for $200 off)
and Austrian Audio – Making Passion Heard 💬 Join our Facebook group, subscribe to the show, and get in touch at:
🌐 www.proaudiosuite.com

A big shout-out to our sponsors, Austrian Audio and Tri Booth. Both these companies are providers of QUALITY Audio Gear (we wouldn't partner with them unless they were), so please, if you're in the market for some new kit, do us a solid and check out their products, and be sure to tell em "Robbo, George, Robert, and AP sent you"... As a part of their generous support of our show, Tri Booth is offering $200 off a brand-new booth when you use the code TRIPAP200. So get onto their website now and secure your new booth... https://tribooth.com/ And if you're in the market for a new Mic or killer pair of headphones, check out Austrian Audio. They've got a great range of top-shelf gear.. https://austrian.audio/ We have launched a Patreon page in the hopes of being able to pay someone to help us get the show to more people and in turn help them with the same info we're sharing with you. If you aren't familiar with Patreon, it’s an easy way for those interested in our show to get exclusive content and updates before anyone else, along with a whole bunch of other "perks" just by contributing as little as $1 per month. Find out more here.. https://www.patreon.com/proaudiosuite George has created a page that is strictly for Pro Audio Suite listeners, so check it out for the latest discounts and offers for TPAS listeners. https://georgethe.tech/tpas If you haven't filled out our survey on what you'd like to hear on the show, you can do it here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZWT5BTD Join our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/proaudiopodcast And the FB Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/357898255543203 For everything else (including joining our mailing list for exclusive previews and other goodies), check out our website https://www.theproaudiosuite.com/ “When the going gets weird, the weird turn professional.” Hunter S Thompson

00:00:00
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Y'all ready to be history?

00:00:01
Get started.

00:00:01
Welcome.

00:00:02
Hi.

00:00:02
Hi.

00:00:03
Hi.

00:00:03
Hello everyone.

00:00:05
To the Pro Audio Suite.

00:00:06
These guys are professional.

00:00:07
They're motivated.

00:00:08
With Tech the VO stars.

00:00:10
George Witten.

00:00:11
Founder of Source Elements.

00:00:12
Robert Marshall.

00:00:13
International audio engineer.

00:00:14
Darren Robbo Robertson.

00:00:15
And Global Voice.

00:00:16
Andrew Peters.

00:00:17
Thanks to Triboo.

00:00:18
Austrian Audio.

00:00:19
Making passion heard.

00:00:20
Source Elements.

00:00:21
George the Tech Witten.

00:00:22
And Robbo and AP's international demos.

00:00:25
To find out more about us, check theproaudiosuite

00:00:27
.com.

00:00:28
Line up, man.

00:00:30
Here we go.

00:00:30
Sound good to me.

00:00:32
And welcome to another Pro Audio Suite.

00:00:34
Thanks to Tribooth.

00:00:35
And don't forget the new Tribooth.

00:00:37
The Tribooth Memo.

00:00:39
You can also use a code for the

00:00:41
Tribooth Classic.

00:00:42
That's T-R-I-P-A-P 200.

00:00:44
To get 200 US dollars off your Tribooth

00:00:47
Classic.

00:00:48
And Austrian Audio.

00:00:49
Making passion heard.

00:00:51
Now, Robbo, you're being heard and seen on

00:00:55
socials.

00:00:56
In fact, I saw a post of yours

00:00:58
about doing a webinar.

00:01:00
Yeah, I thought I'd dip my toe in

00:01:01
the water, you know.

00:01:03
As you know, I started doing demos.

00:01:05
Well, you and I started doing demos a

00:01:07
while ago.

00:01:07
And I'm still going doing them and having

00:01:10
a lot of fun doing that.

00:01:11
And something that sort of occurred to me

00:01:13
as I was doing them with people was

00:01:15
at the same time as we were recording

00:01:17
demos, I was getting asked a bunch of

00:01:19
questions about, you know, what's my room sound

00:01:21
like?

00:01:22
You know, do you think I could do

00:01:23
anything to improve it?

00:01:24
Rah, rah, rah.

00:01:25
And I kind of thought, well, you know,

00:01:27
there's obviously a lot of people who want

00:01:28
that information out there.

00:01:30
So let's slap a nominal fee on it

00:01:33
and sort of see who would like to

00:01:36
see what I've got to say about it.

00:01:38
So, yeah, so for 30 bucks on June

00:01:41
the 12th at 7.30 p.m., you

00:01:43
can jump online and look at my ugly

00:01:45
mug for an hour and a half and

00:01:46
we'll talk about home studios.

00:01:49
And five people who pay a little bit

00:01:52
extra will get their audio cleaned up and

00:01:56
listened to and talked about by me and

00:01:59
they can take all that stuff away and

00:02:01
make the changes for themselves.

00:02:04
Cool.

00:02:04
Because it's like, you know, all these voiceover

00:02:07
events, which we don't have in Australia or

00:02:09
New Zealand for that matter, and they're really

00:02:12
big in the States, of course.

00:02:13
That's the main body.

00:02:15
But I did see there was one just

00:02:17
recently in the UK with Gravy for the

00:02:21
Brain.

00:02:21
They had their one.

00:02:22
I can't think what it's called, though.

00:02:24
But we don't have one here.

00:02:27
And I'm wondering whether it would work in

00:02:31
Australia or New Zealand if we did a

00:02:32
voiceover conference event.

00:02:34
I reckon it would be good to have

00:02:35
one, wouldn't it?

00:02:36
I mean, you know, I know we're not

00:02:39
the United States, right?

00:02:41
And I remember some statistic George came out

00:02:44
with.

00:02:44
This was years ago.

00:02:46
But they did some census in California or

00:02:49
something.

00:02:50
And I wish George was here, he could

00:02:52
tell us.

00:02:52
But they did some census.

00:02:54
I know it.

00:02:54
I actually told you.

00:02:55
I think I told you this one.

00:02:56
Oh, was it you?

00:02:57
It was like just in California alone there

00:03:00
was some ridiculous amount of people who identified

00:03:02
as a voiceover artist.

00:03:04
250.

00:03:05
Yes, there you go.

00:03:07
Just in California.

00:03:09
Right.

00:03:10
But if we were to do one, I

00:03:11
know we've talked about this and we actually

00:03:13
talked to George and Robert about would they

00:03:16
be interested in coming to Australia, for instance,

00:03:19
as part of an event.

00:03:21
And they seem pretty keen to do it.

00:03:23
So I guess we should just put it

00:03:25
out there.

00:03:26
I think so.

00:03:27
The Just Ask Robbo thing that I do

00:03:29
as well, which is like a home studio

00:03:31
help thing, I mean that's slowly getting a

00:03:34
bit of momentum.

00:03:35
And there's certainly plenty of people out there

00:03:36
who may already have a home studio and

00:03:39
they move and they'll sort of jump online,

00:03:42
you know, make a booking with me and

00:03:44
jump online and we'll have a listen and

00:03:46
make some changes and stuff.

00:03:49
And I think I've saved a few people

00:03:51
from embarrassment along the way because there's some

00:03:55
that you sort of go, yeah, you need

00:03:57
to have a bit of a better listen

00:03:59
to that.

00:03:59
Maybe put some headphones on and have a

00:04:00
listen back to that one.

00:04:01
Yeah, exactly.

00:04:03
And stuff like that.

00:04:04
So, yeah.

00:04:05
So, look, I mean I guess what I'm

00:04:06
saying is I think there's definitely a taste

00:04:09
out there that people will want to make

00:04:12
their audio sound as good as they can.

00:04:13
And let's be honest, I mean the home

00:04:14
studios aren't going away, you know.

00:04:16
We're only going to go the way of

00:04:17
the States where, you know, you may not

00:04:20
have to leave home.

00:04:21
Well, I don't.

00:04:22
No, that's right.

00:04:22
You're a hermit.

00:04:23
Yeah, I look like a hermit and I

00:04:26
act like a hermit now.

00:04:28
Yeah, so I mean someone asked me how

00:04:32
often I travel into Melbourne and I had

00:04:37
to really scratch my head.

00:04:38
I was there once probably in three years

00:04:42
and that was earlier this year.

00:04:45
I think I went in for a session.

00:04:47
But that was the first time in years.

00:04:50
Yeah.

00:04:51
What kind of things do you reckon?

00:04:52
I mean you'd have to talk about Source

00:04:55
Connect and all that sort of stuff given

00:04:56
the conversation we've just had, you know, about

00:04:59
how it's not going to be that long

00:05:01
and you won't be leaving home.

00:05:02
So Source Connect would have to be there.

00:05:05
Source Connect, I think also if you're talking

00:05:07
about working remotely, I would definitely talk about

00:05:12
Twisted Wave because the good thing about Twisted

00:05:14
Wave, it works on iOS and so if

00:05:17
you're, you know, out of, away from the

00:05:20
studio and you get a job or someone

00:05:23
wants you to audition for something, I just

00:05:25
use iOS on my phone and sit in

00:05:29
the back of the car.

00:05:29
And remember we did that as a test

00:05:32
a few months back.

00:05:34
Yeah.

00:05:34
And it sounded pretty good.

00:05:36
It was more than a few months ago.

00:05:37
It was about a year or so ago

00:05:39
or even longer.

00:05:40
But yeah, it was great.

00:05:41
Actually, I'll stick the link in the notes

00:05:44
for this episode because that's great.

00:05:46
So we've got Twisted Wave, we've got Source

00:05:47
Connect.

00:05:48
Got to talk about home studios clearly.

00:05:50
Yeah, definitely.

00:05:52
Obviously, getting those set up.

00:05:53
So maybe, you know, George will have to

00:05:55
be, if you were going to do it,

00:05:56
George might have to come out.

00:05:58
Yeah.

00:05:58
I don't know.

00:05:59
I mean, I wonder, it's got me thinking,

00:06:02
you know, whether there's a taste for that

00:06:04
sort of thing here.

00:06:05
And I kind of feel like there is.

00:06:07
I kind of feel like that people would

00:06:09
sort of put their hand up, you know.

00:06:11
Let's face it, if you did it, where

00:06:14
would you do it?

00:06:14
Sydney probably.

00:06:15
That's the most central.

00:06:17
Yeah, you'd do it in Sydney.

00:06:18
Well, it's just easier, I think, Sydney.

00:06:20
Yeah.

00:06:20
So if you did it here, there's a

00:06:22
good excuse for a weekend away.

00:06:23
Do it over a couple of days.

00:06:25
Yeah.

00:06:25
And if you're not from Australia and you

00:06:27
can write it off on tax, if you're

00:06:29
US-based, you get yourself a bit of

00:06:31
a vacation.

00:06:33
That would be good.

00:06:33
That would be another good reason to do

00:06:35
it.

00:06:35
All these listeners from the States that you

00:06:37
and I keep talking to on email and

00:06:38
Facebook and stuff, actually meet them face-to

00:06:40
-face.

00:06:40
There's a good enough reason to do it

00:06:42
in the first place.

00:06:42
Yeah, yeah.

00:06:43
Yeah, exactly.

00:06:44
So I reckon it would be like you

00:06:46
do breakout rooms as well.

00:06:47
So you'd do home studios.

00:06:48
You'd do gear.

00:06:49
You would do Source Connect.

00:06:52
And just, you know, maybe you have agents

00:06:55
turn up and they can talk about what

00:06:57
they want, casting directors, that kind of thing.

00:07:00
And then you can get down into the

00:07:02
weeds with a lot of audio stuff, which

00:07:04
if Robert came up with Source Connect, he

00:07:07
can get right down in the weeds with

00:07:08
audio engineers if they're from studios around the

00:07:12
country.

00:07:12
Imagine what he'd – those poor voiceover artists,

00:07:16
you'd have to give them a stiff scotch

00:07:18
before they go into the session.

00:07:20
Get their head around it.

00:07:21
But I reckon, you know, we talk about

00:07:23
voiceover artists, but I also think, you know,

00:07:25
like audio engineers could be interested as well.

00:07:28
Yeah, I would think so, especially that sort

00:07:30
of stuff.

00:07:30
Yeah, totally.

00:07:32
Yeah.

00:07:32
I mean, just thinking about it, you could

00:07:33
also do business stuff.

00:07:35
I mean, you know, there's plenty of Australians

00:07:36
who are doing well in the States at

00:07:38
the moment and overseas in certain places.

00:07:41
It would be good if you could get

00:07:42
a guest speaker like that maybe to come

00:07:45
and have a bit of a chat.

00:07:46
Just talk about business.

00:07:47
Yeah, absolutely.

00:07:48
Because that's a big side of things these

00:07:50
days, isn't it?

00:07:50
I mean, let's be honest, agents aren't exactly

00:07:52
proactive in getting out there and promoting people

00:07:55
on their books.

00:07:55
You've kind of still got to get out

00:07:56
there and do it yourself.

00:07:57
So if you're a bit like me, you

00:07:59
might be scratching your head about how you

00:08:01
do that.

00:08:01
Well, it's certainly a mix.

00:08:03
It's a mix of your agent promoting you

00:08:04
and you promoting – because you've got to

00:08:06
feed your agent as well.

00:08:07
I mean, they're not going to – you

00:08:08
know, they literally don't have time to be

00:08:12
digging around trying to find stuff.

00:08:13
So like for me and – But do

00:08:15
you know what, AP?

00:08:16
I was talking about this the other day.

00:08:18
I remember – and this is a while

00:08:20
ago now.

00:08:21
So this was when I was at George

00:08:23
Pat.

00:08:23
So we're talking late 90s, early 2000s, or

00:08:26
at Take-Two even.

00:08:27
It used to happen.

00:08:28
You know, if an agent got a new

00:08:29
person on their books, they'd do like the

00:08:32
record company thing.

00:08:33
They'd do the rounds of the studios.

00:08:35
Oh, can we make a time to come

00:08:36
and see you, Robbo?

00:08:37
You know, blah, blah, blah.

00:08:38
And they'd turn up and, G'day, Robbo, this

00:08:40
is Andrew.

00:08:41
He's new on our books.

00:08:42
You know, he's really versatile.

00:08:43
Here's his demo.

00:08:44
Let's have a listen.

00:08:46
You know, blah, blah, blah.

00:08:46
And they don't do that stuff anymore.

00:08:49
No, it's funny, isn't it?

00:08:50
We used to do the rounds.

00:08:51
I remember doing the rounds myself, you know,

00:08:54
not necessarily with an agent.

00:08:56
I'd just go, you know, contact people and

00:08:58
hit all the ad agencies and studios and

00:09:01
stuff.

00:09:03
And that was, oh, God, that was like

00:09:05
nearly 30 years ago when I used to

00:09:08
go door knocking.

00:09:09
That was in the days of cassettes.

00:09:10
In fact, I remember I was probably one

00:09:12
of the first guys to do a CD

00:09:14
demo.

00:09:15
I remember I did demos when those little,

00:09:20
what do you call it, the little micro

00:09:22
SD card things, just as a bit of

00:09:25
a gimmick, I chucked my demos on those

00:09:27
and I dropped them around places when I

00:09:29
was looking for a job once, just to

00:09:31
do something a little bit different, make you

00:09:33
stand out in their heads.

00:09:34
So maybe what we should do, if anybody

00:09:36
is slightly interested in us putting together an

00:09:40
event, a conference in Sydney at some point

00:09:42
in the future, next year or maybe, maybe

00:09:46
just shoot us a note.

00:09:49
I'll tell you what I'll do.

00:09:51
I'll build a quick little form that'll take

00:09:53
you two seconds to fill out, maybe just

00:09:54
a couple of quick questions and a few

00:09:56
multi-choice yes or no's and I'll stick

00:09:58
a link.

00:10:00
I'll stick it everywhere.

00:10:01
I'll stick it on the website and I'll

00:10:04
stick it on our socials and I'll stick

00:10:06
it in the show notes if they're here

00:10:08
and jump on there and tell us what

00:10:10
you think if you've got any ideas.

00:10:12
Yeah, cool.

00:10:12
I love it.

00:10:13
There you go.

00:10:14
All right, we'd better go and start preparing

00:10:15
for our conference.

00:10:17
There's no business like show business.

00:10:20
Well, that was fun.

00:10:21
Is it over?

00:10:21
It's over with me.

00:10:23
The Pro Audio Suite.

00:10:24
With thanks to Triboo.

00:10:25
And Austrian Audio.

00:10:27
Recorded using Source Connect.

00:10:29
Edited by Andrew Peters.

00:10:31
And mixed by Robbo.

00:10:32
Got your own audio issues?

00:10:33
Just ask Robbo.com.

00:10:35
With tech support from George the Tech Whittam.

00:10:37
Don't forget to subscribe to the show and

00:10:39
join in the conversation on our Facebook group.

00:10:41
To leave a comment, suggest a topic, or

00:10:43
just say g'day, drop us a note at

00:10:45
our website.

00:10:46
The Pro Audio Suite.