Sound Alikes: Not your Average Job Description
When Tom Hanks can't make it back to the studio to redo a line, what do the producers do? Well, hire a sound alike, of course!
Being a professional Sound Alike falls in the territory between celebrity impersonators and the real thing. Different altogether from traditional character voices, sound alikes have the incredible task of recreating the voice and vocal mannerisms of another person... not to be someone who kind of sounds like a celebrity, but to produce an indistinguishable vocal likeness.
Why are sound alikes perceived to be the actual person they are mimicking?
Whenever you hear a sound alike recreate a famous persons' voice, you recognize and trust its authenticity, not simply based upon the total sum of their vocal qualities, but on the distinct similarities between the two voices. For instance, if a sound alike for British Prime Minister Tony Blair were to address the public via radio, a listener in the United Kingdom would perceive the information delivered by the sound alike to be true, recognizing the voice that they hear to be both familiar and authoritative.
You can think of a professional sound alike as an understudy. An understudy is a person who is assigned to a role as a backup for the lead actor, or in our case, voice actor. For instance, if Tom Hanks was on vacation and unable to attend the recording session, a Tom Hanks sound alike would stand in to record the dialog for him.
There is a large market for sound alikes, including duplicating the voices of working celebrities, media personalities, and even replicating the voices of those who have left us, including Elvis Presley, Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, John Wayne, Marlon Brando and so on.
Sound alikes have also entered into the field of music, manifesting themselves in tribute artists for popular bands and solo singers in local dance halls, stadiums, and on the big screen. In the recent movie "Walk the Line", Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are featured in the lead roles, portraying Johnny Cash and June Carter in both a visual sense and in a vocal capacity.
The most famous sound alikes are so good at what they do that you will never know that 'they' are not the real McCoy. These people are nearly always working behind the scenes, which makes their performance even more convincing, if done well.
Are you a sound alike? Leave a comment on the blog and mention whose voice (or multiple voices) you perform.
Cheers,
Stephanie
Comments
There is also a market for the "obvious" sound alike. Where the voice is a little different but captures the style, cadence and inflection of the "original".
Posted by: Paul J. Warwick | September 9, 2006 9:40 AM
Hi! Well, lets see:
Billy Connelly (heavy Scot)
Sean Connery
Posted by: Jorge Arcay | January 19, 2007 11:58 AM
Bill Paxton
Posted by: Tom Begier | May 1, 2007 9:12 PM
1. Hank Hill
2. Droopy Dog
Posted by: Darren | October 2, 2007 7:04 PM
Here they are:
1 Droopy
2 Eric Cartman
3 MR GARRISON
4 Mr Macky
5 Towelie
6 Brian Griffin
7 Glenn Quagmire
8 Carl Pewderschmidt/ that doctor in family guy.(cause its the same voice)
9 Herbert (the creepy old guy always after chris)
10 Waylon Smithers
11 Grounds Keeper Willie
12 Krusty the Clown
13 Itchy and Scratchy
14 Apu (can`t pronounce the last name)
15 Moe (can`t pronounce the last name)
16 Montgomery Burns
17 Prof. Farnsworth
18 Zoidberg
19 Hermes
20 Nixon's head
21 Zapp Brannigan
22 Kiff
23 Mustang the flame alchemist
24 Major Armstrong
25 Hoenheim of light
26 Koga (Inuyasha)
27 Patrick (Spongebob Squarepants)
28 Dehydrated Spongebob
29 Salty Spitoon Bouncer
30 Adam Sandler (not all of his characters, just a few.)
31 Little Nicky
32 Bobby Bouche
33 Billy Madison
34 Whitey
34 Iroh (avatar the last airbender)
35 Avatar Roku
36 xlr8 (ben 10)
37 Four Arms
38 Ghost freak
39 Heatblast
40 Ripjaws
41 Mutant Kevin 11/ Devin 11
42 Capt. Jack Sparrow/ capt.jack swallows
43 Johnny Depp ''Willy Wonka''
44 Jason Mewes
Posted by: Ian | January 4, 2008 9:45 AM
Hello.
I am Jim Lueck, Celebrity Voice Impressionist. I do over 60 celebrity voice impressions for radio and TV spots. This is a partial list of voice impressions I perform.
Audio samples available at manofvoices.com
* Arnold Schwarzenegger
* Al Gore
* Peter Lorre
* Sylvester Stallone
* Guido Sarducci
* Jack Nicholson
* John Wayne
* Jimmy Carter
* Richard Nixon
* Robin Leach
* Rod Serling
* Ronald Reagan
* Forrest Gump
* James Mason
* Jimmy Stewart
* Mickey Mouse
* Patrick Stewart
(Captain Picard)
* Andy Rooney
* Bill Clinton
* David Brinkley
* George W. Bush
* Indian Accent
* Michael Caine
* Sean Connery
* Walter Cronkite
* Master Yoda
* Christopher Loyd
* George Bush Sr.
* Gomer Pyle
* Ross Perot
* Tom Brokaw
* Lt. Worf
* Ben Stein
* Brian Williams
* Cary Grant
* Dr. Phil
* Ed Sullivan
* Elmer Fudd
* Humphrey Bogart
* Jack Benny
* Kermit the Frog
* Optimus Prime
* Robert Stack
* Ted Koppel
* Walter Brennan
* WC Fields
Feel free to contact me if I can be of service.
http://jimlueck.voices.com
Posted by: Jim Lueck | February 4, 2008 11:26 PM
I am a Patsy Cline soundalike. I couldn't look like her if I tried, but I sound enough like her, that when doing karaoke, people request that I do Patsy Cline songs! :)
I've even been in a new location doing karaoke, where no one has heard me, and have had people come into the place from outside, looking for the jukebox, and wondering why they couldn't find the Patsy Cline songs they had just heard! That's pretty fun, to be able to fool people like that! :)
Posted by: Darla | February 20, 2008 1:11 AM