Category Archives: Studio

May 09 2019
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Radio Drama, Studio, voice acting Image

#InspectorChen

Inspector Chen

Daniel York Loh, Jamie Zubairi, Dan Li and Sarah Lam, regular cast members of Inspector Chen

 

Inspector Chen is a fictional police detective who has risen in the ranks of the Special Case Bureau in Shanghai because of his unusual way of solving cases. He was a poet and academic before becoming a police inspector and his commentary on China, post-Tiananmen, combined with his love for classical Chinese text as well as knowledge of modern Western poets, makes for a very popular and enlightening read. The series of books were written by Qiu Xiaolong, a Chinese writer living in the US. The BBC have dramatised all 9 of them for radio drama, now available through Audible. I was lucky enough to have played Chen for them. We’re about to embark on the 10th book. Here is a link to the recording session at the BBC of Series 3 (books 7-9)

from JamieZubairi.com

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May 02 2014
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Audiobooks, Audiobooks, recordings, Studio, voice acting

High audiodrama on the set of ‘Dark Shadows’

Emma Carter & Jamie Zubairi photo by Joseph Lidster ©Dark Shadows 2014 ©BigFinish Productions
Emma Carter & Jamie Zubairi photo by Joseph Lidster ©Dark Shadows 2014 ©BigFinish Productions
and for the camera! Emma Carter & Jamie Zubairi photo by Joseph Lidster ©Dark Shadows 2014 ©BigFinish Productions
Jamie Zubairi reading for Dark Shadows – The Darkest Shadow. Photo by Joseph Lidster ©Big Finish Productions
Jamie Zubairi reading for Dark Shadows – The Darkest Shadow. Photo by Joseph Lidster ©Big Finish Productions

On Bank holiday Easter Sunday I made my way to Camden in north London for my first ever audio drama recording. I was pleased that Joe Lidster and Big Finish asked me to come in and voice a character called ‘Sketch’ for this Dark Shadows a long running series on television in the 1960s and 70s. It’s now been re-written as audio drama as starring Quentin Collins and Doona McKechnie.

This was my first recording of this kind since my days with Roger Norwood at LAMDA when we did some training at a studio in Primrose Hill somewhere. It was great watching the smooth toned Emma Carter at work, moving from characters and voices effortlessly. It was thanks to Emma that I felt at ease with the technique and just got down to doing what I do best: character voices.

 

The character I was voicing was interesting in that he had to transition from being  quite a low-status character with a foreign accent (Indian accent) who is a runner on a tv show and then reveal himself slowly to something more sinister. Going from one to the other in very few lines during the reveal was really fun and I’m glad that in my acting work because I work quite physically going from one physical characterisation to the next (and sometimes by degrees!) it was something that didn’t phase me.

But what happens to him? Who knows? Perhaps we’ll find out in other episodes!

I really wish I had snuck my smartphone on to record the transformation scene where Emma had to voice the sequence. No real spoilers there but it was one of the funniest things I’d seen. The things we do!

I had lots of fun working with another voice actor. Even though we had very little dialogue together, it is refreshing to do actual drama amongst all the corporate work that I have been doing lately.

It will be available later on in the year from the Big Finish website.

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Mar 25 2014
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Studio, voiceover

#voiceovers Do you get the belly gurgles?

Cake!

Cake!

When you’re in a studio doing a voiceover, do you often get the engineer querying a deep rumbling in the studio? I’ve used to be too embarrassed to admit that it was my belly gurgling. After about 30 minutes into a session, my stomach will start to rumble! I soon got over my embarrassment and started buying snacks to munch on the way to a session. I think it’s gotten so bad that whenever I have a voiceover session booked, my immediate thing is to buy croissants for the journey.

I was in a particularly long session at a studio the other day and I have gotten so used to this, I came supplied with croissants. About 4. It was a 7 hour session in the studio and, sure enough, after the first 45 minutes, I got the first rumble but we carried on.  Stefano, the engineer, must be used to this by now, we’d been working on this project and others for a while. We took a break after the first hour, as expected, so I was able to stuff my face with croissant number 1.

While I was on the break, it got me thinking… does any other voiceover artist have this issue? I’m sure I can’t blame my voiceover career for my growing waistline and I get a Pavlovian reaction of thinking about croissants when I get a voiceover booking. Sound engineers? What funny stories have you experienced with voices in the booth?

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