How Can Someone Make A Voice Like Zach Mcgowan?

Zach Mcgowan is a notable American actor who has also earned immense fame as a voiceover artist. His prominent voiceover works were for the Scream Awards show, Animal Planet channel, in the popular video games Iron Man, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. He is a highly talented voice actor, with a versatile voice that perfectly suits in all types of dramas, including comedy, horror, and action drama. As he can speak all types of accents very fluently, he has lent his voice for many voicemail messages, additional dialogue replacements, and podcasting, wherever voiceover jobs are needed. 

Vocal Cords makes a real difference

Vocal cords are also called vocal folds, which are thin membranes stretching across the larynx in a horizontal direction. The vibrations of these cords due to the air expelling from the lungs create the sounds while speaking or singing. The voice pitch of a person depends on the resonant frequency of these twin vocal cords. This frequency is averagely 300 Hz in a child’s voice while it decreases to 210 Hz for an adult woman and 125 Hz for an adult man.

Pitch Control

In a male, voice changes as he reaches puberty and starts transforming from a boy to a man. His voice will crack and undergo certain noticeable changes at the age between 12 and 16. Likewise, a girl also experiences certain changes in her voice at the age of 10 – 14 years. If the desired change in voice does not occur in a growing boy or girl, there must be some defect in his/her vocal cords that should be addressed immediately by a doctor.

Pitch control is very important for every voice over artist. A deep voice has more demand in the profession of voice artists but unfortunately, it is not possible to make one’s voice permanently deeper. So voice actors need to learn how to modulate his voice from the high pitch to a lower pitch. There are experienced vocal coaches who can teach aspiring artists how to control their voices and sound deeper as required. A person should listen carefully to his own voice while speaking and stand in a straight posture before a mirror, to practice voice modulation. The correct uses of the tongue, jaws, throat, and neck are the key areas that play a role in pitch control.

It is essential for a voice actor to have excellent observation power, to make the best use of his voice while recording in a studio. The position of the microphone is a vital factor for the voice artist and ideally, the microphone should be placed at a distance of 8 – 12 inches from the mouth of the actor. He should stand or sit in a straight posture so that his voice sounds clear and strong enough. It is better to read the given script aloud before recording, to make sure that each word is pronounced clearly.

A headphone is an essential device needed for monitoring one’s own voice while recording in a studio or at home. Without a headphone, the voice may sound louder than required and that may hamper the nature of the script. A voice actor can hear in real-time what is recorded with the help of the headphone fitted over his ears.