Meet Al!
Al Kessel is a full-time narrator and voice actor from the (at times too!) sunny state of Arizona, where he works from his professional home recording studio. For Al, performing is a passion, and audiobook narration was the most logical career path for him, since, from his earliest memory, he’s been a voracious reader, often acting all the characters out in his mind (and to the dismay of many, out loud!). Al prides himself on his ability to breathe life into any character, because, as anyone who knows him will tell you, he’s quite a character himself!
Al’s home studio is built within industry standards, which basically means every project he takes on, is recorded/edited and mastered in pristine, crystal clear audio that you’d swear was recorded in a ‘high end’ studio. His vocal booth (which he affectionately calls the Monsters, Inc. T.A.R.D.I.S. because of his love of all things Disney and Pixar, and of course Doctor Who) was painstakingly built by Al and his amazing wife Joyce. The Monsters, Inc. T.A.R.D.I.S is a labor of love, because it was built to withstand the harsh auditory environment of modern life, is bright and cheerful, matches his obsession with everything Disney (including a mad love for Star Wars), and just plain FUN to be in!!
When not creating in he studio, Al loves to hike with his wife, garden (when it’s not like, a THOUSAND degrees outside), and bake homemade sourdough bread.
Studio Kit and Coaching
For the curious, here’s a breakdown of Al’s studio equipment, and a list of coaches/training and of course, some of his ‘skills to pay the bills’!
Studio
*The aforementioned Monsters, Inc. T.A.R.D.I.S vocal booth, 6 feet long, 4 feet wide, 6 1/2 feet tall, with 6 inch thick ceiling and floor, 5 inch thick double-walled sides, and ‘bullet proof’ to most external noise!
*Shure KSM 44/A Large Diaphram Condensor Microphone (affectionately named “Mic”)
*Audient iD14 Audio Interface
*Apple Mac Computer
*Apple’s Professional Logic Pro X Editing Platform
Coaching/Training
Although Al has been performing in one way or another pretty much all his life, he HAS obtained some ‘formal’ teaching that has helped him hone the craft of ACTIIIING!
+ Audiobook/Narration
* Sean Allen Pratt – Nonfiction Audiobook and Business Coaching: A rigid course designed to develop and hone non-fiction book narration (creating interesting and thought provoking performances for the non-fiction genre).
* James Fosters’ Fostering Characters – Character development taken to an entirely new level. By applying some incredible psychology concepts (‘tweaked’ for acting), combined with a modified Meisner Technique, creating and voicing highly convincing REAL, relatable characters is second nature.
* Johnny Heller – Award winning narrator and coach. Johnny teaches the fine points of acting for audiobooks – how to ‘dig deep’ into the meaning of the text; pacing (not too fast-not too slow).
* Samuel L. Jackson’s MasterClass- “Samuel L. Jackson Teaches Acting” – Through a ‘pre-recorded’ lesson plan, the art of creating memorable characters and understanding what motivates them in any particular scene, how to breakdown a script and prepare to perform it.
+ Voice Acting
To enhance his animation and video game skills, Al trained with the incredible and versatile Fred Frees (The VoicePeddler!). Fred has voiced everything from cartoon characters to audiobooks!