Michael Masumoto

Accents: Western; British (upper class). I can also do comic/campy French and German accents. Characters: Fop; Pirate; Mad-Scientist; Henchman; Comic Ancient; assorted villains, demons and other deep-voiced theatrical heavies, comic or dramatic.

So, here's how I got my start. During the dot-com boom, I was a professor at San Francisco State University's Multimedia Studies Program. Because I was an excellent cold-reader with a lot of performance experience, I became their go-to voiceover artist, doing online course narrations, interactive widget spots, website audio clips, even an entire interactive talking children's book; they used to call me the One-Take Wonder. My colleagues were particularly amused by my Monster Truck Rally Announcer voice, so, for many years, SFSU MSP website visitors were greeted with my over-the-top snarl of "Welcome Welcome Welcome!" Earlier in my career, when I was doing unrelated contract work for companies like VISA and Adobe, everyone wanted me to record their outgoing voicemail messages because I could coo in low, seductive tones that made their office phones sound like a sex hotline, but with sufficient restraint so that everything stayed clean and corporate! I'm a sweet, gentle person by nature (which seems to come through in my voice), so I can often get away with edgy material. I also used to do a lot of improv comedy with San Francisco's Renaissance Faire and Dickens Faire, so I have good comic timing. In the years that followed, I segued into videos, mostly documentary narrations with some on-camera work; you can see examples online at http://www.masumotoherd.com/video/. In 2016, I developed significant vocal problems, which I managed to correct early in 2017. I actually moved around the cartilage in my larynx, which changed the way my vocal cords met and improved my breath support. This also radically changed the sound of my voice; I went from bari-tenor to my current flexible basso. So, if you were wondering why my current recordings sound so different from my older ones, you now know the reason! That vastly improved sound and range was also why I decided to move from part-time to full-time voice acting. My education as a voice talent never stops. I obsessively hone and improve my skills at every opportunity, so that I can offer my clients the highest possible value for their money! I have a Master's Degree in Music Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where I minored in voice; I composed and produced six operas by the age of 30. I then trained as an opera singer with two Heldentenors, Jess Thomas and Stan Norsworthy. Today, I teach voice as a proponent of the Melocchi Method, an Italian voice-building method championed by singers like Mario Del Monaco and Franco Corelli. I studied opera composition with Conrad Susa and screenwriting with Fielder Cook. I did all the coursework for a Multimedia Certificate from San Francisco State University's Multimedia Studies Program, but never bothered to complete the certificate because the school hired me full-time as a Professor straight out of the program; I thought that was sufficient proof of my excellence! I have a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley. I have a fully outfitted professional studio, and am capable of delivering quality tracks on demand. I also offer copywriting services, music composition services, and sound engineering services. I am always open to live collaboration with clients who wish to direct during recording. My background is in digital Multimedia. I was the principal Professor of Web Programming at San Francisco State University's Multimedia Studies Program during the dot-com boom. I was an online education pioneer, producing and writing many of the earliest online courses. I did contract advertising gigs during that time, making online widgets for major agencies. I also helped students from virtually every notable company in the San Francisco Bay Area to hone their company messaging for presentation over the Internet. I've performed in many operas, musicals and straight plays over the years; I've directed, music directed, and/or acted as pianist/conductor for musicals/operas. I'm also a self-taught filmmaker and sound engineer. I'm a good graphic designer. I've won top prizes for my art furniture collaborations with my husband, Kai Herd, from every major competition in California.