Throughout the hustle and bustle of a normal day many people don’t think about how surrounded they are by the voice-over industry. Everything from smartphones, digital alarm clocks, to technologies like cashier-less registers have some type of voiceover integration. Cartoons, film-trailers, even baby toys all utilize the human voice, and these are examples in only two industries: the entertainment and the toy industry. Ever heard of Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa? The more technology advances the more vocal recognition and voiceovers will be utilized. Think about it. The human voice with all its inflections, intonations, and various ways of being used is a truly amazing instrument with no equal.

This article will highlight and define the genres and types of voice-overs there are but is no way exhaustive.

Short Form and Long Form

Before getting into the bulk of what types and genres there are of voiceovers there are two types in terms of length. Short-form voice-overs are merely voice-overs that are not long and can range from a few seconds to a few minutes. Long-form voice-overs are the longer voice-overs that generally require more than one take and can range from days to months to record and produce depending on the project.

Two Main Types: Commercial and Narration

There are two main types of voiceovers: commercial and narration. Commercials are marketing and advertising based and can be found on TV, the radio, the internet, and just about anywhere. Many retailers have specific radio stations and ads specifically for in-store promotions. There are even certain companies who have their own stations just for when you are at the gas pump. Corporations may hire a voice-over artist to do a copy for an ad just for employees within the company as an incentive. Commercials may be done in a character, mascot voice, or may be done as a spokesperson for a company. There are many types of commercials as well so an ad or commercial that utilizes a voice-over may have a wide variety of range within it even if it’s only a few seconds long.

How many kinds of car commercials are there? Some are directed to come across as elegant, others as sleek, and sexy. Truck commercials tend to have a more blue-collar tone whereas SUV and off-road vehicles have an adventure quality in the voiceover.

Medicine commercials come across as informative and may have a mix of narration when discussing side-effects and cautionary uses. Remember Ben Stein’s “Dry Eyes” commercials? It just goes to show that even a monotone voice can be utilized creatively in the voice-over industry. Pesticide commercials are unique in that they may contain character and animation voiceover components along with the narrator.

Secondly, there are narrations. Narrations come in a wide variety of categories like commercials. There may be educational and academic narrations where academic terminology may be used such as a term like “anachronistic” or “historicity.” There may be terms that may be specific to an academic field. Take for example, a medical narration when visiting the cardiologist and there is narration on the pulmonary artery and how the tricuspid valve works in relation to the superior vena cava. The medical community also has vocal replacement voice-overs for the speech-impaired. Ever called the IRS about tax information? Yes, even the IRS utilizes the voice-over industry via IVR (interactive voice response) technology. Many companies utilize IVR when calling and sometimes it’s what they use predominantly.

There are also the narrations when traveling to tourist spots and museums where the narrator voices hard names, places in other languages, or gives the story behind the exhibit. Think of it, “Michelangelo” is an anglicization and is not how the renaissance artist’s name is pronounced in actual Italian. There may be a voice-over of somewhere in Italy that helps enliven the Sistine Chapel experience. YouTube e-learning vids on just about everything will have some form of narration so you can listen on how to build your own rocket ship. There are also documentary and biography narrations. Corporate narrations are typical that discuss company policies or are training videos when new-hires need to be oriented through the company’s history and culture.

A burgeoning form of voice-over narration is that of audiobooks. A narration might be in first, second, or third person and would change the dynamic of how the copy would be recorded. Is the story from a limited or omniscient POV (point of view)? In short, the different types of narrators and characters within an audiobook will have various ways of coming through to be distinguished in a voice-over depending on the genre of literature.

Character/Animation, Film, Video Games, Entertainment, Etc.

Mel Blanc may not be an easily recognizable name. Even his nickname “Man of a Thousand Voices” might not ring a bell but mention Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig and those voices are instantly recognizable. Mel Blanc voiced many animated characters and the acting component is strong in this voiceover genre. Films, video games, and all forms of media that require acting and unique character identities all converge and pass through the voice-over industry.

When it comes to character voices and animation in video games these types of voice-overs generally require more than people think. A voice-over artist must be an actor and a creator to invent a specific character identity. Mark Hamill once did an interview where he discussed how he developed the Joker and his laugh from Batman: The Animated Series. One of his comments on the Joker’s laugh was that it should be almost like an instrument that could be played in different keys and tempos. Character voiceovers require the energy and life to bring the character to life. These types of voice-overs often involve acting out the physical nature of the character behind the mic in order to get fully into character and the range of emotions necessary.

Niche

All the types and genres of voice-overs have their own nuances and challenges associated with them. When a voiceover artist/actor becomes affluent in a particular genre that is called their “niche.” Some voice-over artists may have several niches but if you think of a voice like Don LaFontaine who voiced over 5,000 film trailers, that was his niche. Only by exploring and auditioning for many types of voice-overs across many genres will a person be able to find their niche.

So next time you are out and about maybe you might want to play a game of listening to how many different voice-overs you can catch throughout your day. You will no doubt be surprised where you hear a voice-over and what type and genre it may be!