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Transcription
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?
My name is Christy Harst, and I’m based in Cleveland, Ohio. I am a voice of actor, and I most commonly get hired for commercials, explainer, corporate narration and e-learning.
How did you get into voice acting?
Actually, when I was 12, I saw Barbara Walters, and I said, That’s gonna be me. I’m going to do that. You just watched.
How did you get into voice acting?
Actually, when I was 12, I saw Barbara Walters, and I said, That’s gonna be me. I’m going to do that. You just watched.
And so I went to college and I majored in broadcast communications. I started working at the radio station there, and I did internships at local TV stations. I realized that TV wasn’t necessarily what I wanted to do, but I wanted to do something with performance and I knew I had a good voice.
My first internship in college was at a classical radio station, and during the interview, the owner of the station said to me – You have a good voice, come with me. He took me to the recording studio and he had me say something like the pledge of allegiance. And he goes, You could do voice overs. And I said, What are voice overs?
I had no idea this about this whole new world, and actually through that internship, I did my first voice over ever, which was a tag at the end of a commercial. Back then, technology was different, I’m dating myself, but my parents had to drive 45 minutes one way in the car, until they could turn the knobs and hear me on the end of the spot.
Ever since then, it’s always been something I wanted to do, I did as a hobby for a while, and then it started to become full-blown, so I decided to start my own voice over small business.
Before you got the booth, what problems were you facing in terms of your recording, what was your work life?
So for seven years prior to obtaining the Studiobricks, I had a studio in my basement, it was made of moving blankets on all four sides, and it was connected by PVC piping and it served my purposes pretty well.
I recorded a national campaign down there, you know. I would say that the biggest issue is I have two young children. Typically, when I would record, my kids were used to the fact that I would jack them up with candy and iPads and tell them you can’t move, you have to be on the couch, you can’t walk, you can’t talk. Don’t do anything.
But when the pandemic hit and they ended up staying home to do remote learning, that was no longer an option, there’s not enough candy in the world to keep them quiet for that long. So my husband and I were talking about solutions to this problem, and I had seen other people in my industry get a Studiobricks, so we started researching and learning more about the product. I have to say that since we’ve got this in the house, it’s made a huge difference.
Where did you start your search?
I had watched videos of my colleagues, they would post on their social pages like, I’m so excited, I got Studiobricks.
My husband and I called it adult Legos. They’re just adult Legos that you build a sound studio with, and I watched Joe Cipriano, who is pretty well known in our industry, he does a lot of promo work, you probably hear him 10 times a day and don’t even realize it. When he got his I was like, wow, well, Joe’s getting one, then these things must be pretty legit… When the pandemic happened I thought – well, it’s a no-brainer, I should really do it.
Did you do any comparison with other options? If you did was there a reason why Studiobricks stood out?
Actually, no, I don’t even know of any competitors of Studiobricks, I mean, I don’t know anybody that does what you guys do, and the way you do… Now, I’ve heard of Whisperrooms, I’ve heard of to-go boths,, but they don’t even compare to yours. It’s a totally different system. So for me, this was the only option.
Was there anything that made you the happiest about the booth?
I will say it’s one thing to look at a Studiobricks on your computer, to watch somebody else in their environment put it together or recording in it, but when you have one in your house and you look at it, you’re like – Oh wow, this is all… Is this mine? No, no, no, I need to go back to the basement, I need to go back to the dungeon. This isn’t mine. This is too nice.
And it’s funny because when I walk into it, actually, when anyone walks into it, my mom, my dad, my kids, my husband, my sister-in-law, they say it smells like a new car. It has the new car smell.
I will say as a bonus, when I go in there, and I shut the door, and it vacuum seals you in… I love that part.
What’s even better is that it’s really addressing the challenges that we had, which is my kids can now walk around the house, they can talk normally, the TV can be at a normal volume, and life is not inhibited for the rest of my family.
Have you found any alternative cool ways to use the boot beyond your recording work?
I joke with my husband all the time like, if you can’t find me, I’m in there with an adult beverage, that’s where you’re gonna find me, and sometimes I do have to go record and I’ll be like, Alright, I have to go record, and then I find myself being done with my work a little faster than what I normally would, and I just end up staying in there for quite some time on my own.
My dog loves to sleep in there with me when I record… He sleeps at my feet, he loves it. So honestly, Studiobricks has been an amazing investment for and my business. It validates me as a professional, people know that when they hire me, they’re gonna get quality sound, there’s no doubt about it. It’s helped my family life and me working at home, it’s really just been a great. A Great addition to our day-to-day lives here at home, and especially for me, for my business.
Do you have any advice for anyone who’s starting out or is considering getting aStudiobricks booth?
Yes, I would say that you should seriously investigate and research what would work best for you in your space, for us, this might not be our forever home, and so to invest a ton of money in building out a studio in our basement really didn’t make much sense. Because if we moved, that’s a total waste of money, I would have to do it all over again. In another home, if you have an apartment, if you have a smaller sized home and you don’t necessarily have the ability to build out a studio, I highly recommend considering a Studiobricks and seeing if the size works for your space, because the sound quality is there, there’s no question.
When you have one of these in your house and you record, the sound quality is amazing, I think my noise floor is negative 66, there’s no doubt that you are going to have amazing sound, so if you can save money, I would start researching it now, saving and make it part of your business goal for the year, because it’s 100% worth it, and because it is adult Legos, you can take them down and go to your next place…
It’ll be with you forever. It’s the one-time investment in awesome quality sound and reassurance that when you go in there, you’re gonna sound amazing, no matter what.
Is there any exciting project or any fun fact about you that you would like to share?
It is a little bit of a brag on my part, I am currently recording a national campaign for TV, radio, streaming and online, I am the first female ever to voice for John Deer. It’s quite an honor to work for such an iconic brand, but then to be the first female to ever do it… It’s pretty darn cool.
In this short video, Voice Actor Christy Harst shares her experience of getting her Studiobricks and how it was benefited her business and family life, while working from home.
