Willem Van Den Top

Standard, common, 'official' Dutch. As spoken in The Netherlands. Please note that I am native Dutch. I was born in The Netherlands and have always lived here. Even more: I live in the area where the most pure Dutch is spoken. There is no distracting accent or dialect in my intonation and pronunciation. I hope you consider this seriously if your production is meant for the Dutch market. What may sound Dutch to you, may sound very strange to people living in The Netherlands. I guarantee you that the recordings I deliver are in proper undisputed Dutch that is spoken and understood today in The Netherlands.

Main line of international work is corporate, instructional/educational and presentations. Brands that used my voice include: Burger King, Bruynzeel, Canon, Consumentenbond, DHL, Dutch Government, Google, LyondellBasell, TomTom. The shortest script I ever recorded contained only 1 word (and it was also one of the toughest of them all). The longest script I recorded contained over 25,000 words. Started as a singer, guitarist and keyboard player. Studied musical composition at the Conservatory of Utrecht (High School of the Arts). Worked as a recording engineer and voice director in a post production studio for 8 years. Decided to concentrate on voice work from the third time a voice talent who was behind the microphone said to me: "Man, you should be in my chair". Composing music is still something I do in my free time. Beyond doubt the best way to keep the ears in shape. And believe me: for a voice talent good ears are even more important than a good voice. Apple MacPro * ProTools * Logic * RME FireFace UFX. Avid Artist Control + Mix + Transport. Sennheiser MKH-416 and AKG C414 XLII microphones. Dedicated sound booth with perfect acoustics. Adam S3H and Blue Sky monitoring. Sennheiser HD25 II and BeyerDynamic DT-770 headphones.. Dedicated ftp file server with huge capacity. I upload my recorded files to the server, then I send you an email with a link that you can click on, and downloading will start automatically. No hassle with user names or passwords, still 100% safe. I can deliver in any possible file format. MP3 (32 till 320 kbps), WAV and AIFF. From 5 kHz till 192 kHz. From 8-bits till 32-bits. Normally you would go for 16-bits and 44.1 or 48 kHz. More specific formats are also possible: Dialogic Vox, Pika, MP1, MP2, MP4 (AAC), SDII, MACE 3:1, VOC, System 7 Sound, CCITT G.726, AVR, Paris Linear... just name it. Oh... and one of the great treasures in my studio is a Wurlitzer 200A electronic piano (from 1974). Has nothing to do with voice recording, but perhaps you dig the vibe. Great experience in 'sync reading', meaning that the original (English, German or French) voice is on my headphones and I read and speak the Dutch translation along. What I consider to be one of my best qualities is the ability to speak fast without sounding rushed. Quite convenient since a Dutch translation is usually longer than the original script. I always succeed in 'making it fit'. Either by speaking faster, adapting the script or by digital manipulation afterwards. I am a member of the Foundation 'Our Dutch Language' which helps me keep a close eye on the current status, developments and pitfalls of the Dutch language. Whenever my eye meets a word or sentence that seems not totally right, I will mention this to my client, ready to discuss the matter. In my studio I do a lot of voice recordings with other voice talents. Keeping my technical and directional skills up to date.