I have a great time dubbing for NETFLIX Spain

Dubbing has always fascinated me.

That is why I decided to make the leap from just SINGING to the mic to TALKING TO IT also,

I studied dubbing at several academies in Madrid and José Padilla’s was the one where I spent most time in. Later I went on to study public speaking with Carlos Infante, a fascinating guy.

The most common mistake when we start dubbing is that we unconsiously tend to think that dubbing means “imitating” the pitch and cadence of the actor’s voice that we dub.

We still are unaware that the “melody” of a language HAS NOTHING TO DO with the “little musicality” of another one.

Picture for a moment a person wanting to speak Spanish with a Chinese rhythm/intonation and wanting to sound natural…that is impossible!

If the actress we have to dub has a squeaky voice and we have a lower pitch range, if we are aiming to COPY it, it will never sound NATURAL because it is not our natural vocal range.

We MUST try to keep our natural tone when speaking, as much as we can. If we are working with comedies or cartoons where “sounding natural” is not the aim then, “anything goes!

Each culture expresses emotions in a different way … in some  they can exaggerate when it comes to expressing surprise or joy and in other cultures people do not express emotions in the same way.

Moreover, we must take it into account when adapting the acting to our traditions. Otherwise, it always sounds unnatural and strained.

A good dubbing actress does NOT imitate what she hears from the original source but interprets what she sees and what the actor feels , in a way that sounds credible and natural for the voice and culture that she has to dub it into.

Once you are fully aware of that, you start enjoying dubbing.

** I will tell you about some surreal anecdotes of my dubbing work some time in the future, but today I bring you this interesting exercise to test yourself and practice.

1 Find a scene from a movie in a language and culture very different to yours.

2 Observe closely everything that is happening in the scene and memorize the dialogue of the “take” to avoid having to read.

3 and then act it out using your voice tone  and way of expressing so that when you dub it out, your voice and THEIR gestures match as best as possible and feel credible.

You will find that there will come a day when something clicks and you understand that you DO NOT have to IMITATE them… but that you can be YOURSELF within them