Charles De Raedt

Neutral and unaccented English, Wide range of characterizations including but not limited to Filipino "Kanto Boy", Jovial Hillbilly, Amorous Italian or Frenchman, Cocky Brooklyn Gangster, Southwest USA "chicano", Cultured Connoisseur etcetera. I can do almost all English dialects as well as numerous Philippine Regional English accents. I am also very comfortable with the mainstream intonations of non-native English speakers from the east and west such as Germans, Russians, Indians, Italians, French, Middle Eastern Peoples, Chinese, Japanese, etc.

I have recently volunteered my services to the Librivox community and am currently reading the part of Fiers in Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard". All my other vocal experience has been accompanied by either stage or film acting; however, as a father of two I do have 9 years of experience playing the Depressed Giant, the Foppish Prince, the Boastful Toad and the myriad other characters that appear in my childrens' bed time stories (including Dr. Seuss characters like the lamentable Lorax and the grumpy Grinch). I am also the vocalist for a band that plays music from Jazz to Hard Rock and have gained somewhat of a reputation for being able to imitate famous vocalists' tonal qualities well. Besides having a Masters degree in English Literature and having been active in the local performing arts community since 1991 I have had no formal voice (or acting) training. Years ago some of the local actors from my home town would get together regularly and have informal seminars and coaching sessions although I've never attended anything that awarded certificates or anything like that. I mentioned above that I am the front man for a local band and I do have limited directorial experience and some journalism experience (as a staff writer and a contributing editorialist). I have a computer that is less than 2 years old with access to large (~300GB) external hard drives besides my own internal ones that are usually full. I have a Creative Labs internal 5.1 surround sound card with accompanying speaker set. I currently use Cakewalk Sonar Producer 8.5.4 and have been using Cakewalk software since 1997. I use a variety of microphones ranging from A4 Tech desktops and headset types to professional ones such as the Shure series depending on the quality of warmth, etc. required by the project. Other major hardware includes a BOSS 16 track preamp mixer, effects and recording console (although I usually record through music software such as Cakewalk even though I course it through the BOSS hardware). I am comfortable with both DA and MIDI recording and mastering but am more savvy with the former. If I take on a project that needs high end professional studio equipment I can go to numerous facilities right here in my home town, each no more than 15 minutes away. These facilities offer both digital audio recording (such as I have at home but with better equipment and professional engineers) and analog/line editing equipment with individual, sound proof recording rooms. If I need a studio with all this plus exquisite accoustics, those are within reach as well but I will need to travel to another city which shouldn't be a problem. Finally, I have access to virtually any sound editing software that is on the market should an employer want me to use the same program as their company does. As a writer and director I know how it feels to expect a certain standard from your talent pool. I think this will create an invaluable liaison between me working as one from the talent pool and those who hire me.