How to Do Impressions 

He's finally making it!

Hi Fellow voice actor and voice impressionist here. And it's most definitely important for to take care of your voice especially if the character is a really gruff and deep voice. If you experience any pain in the throat I definitely suggest stopping especially if your voice isn't use to it. And drinking plenty of water helps, also Tea with cinnamon I definitely recommend with a little bit of honey as well. But research is definitely important when it comes to getting into character it helps you think the way the character does also playing with the tones and accents. Great tutorial video on the subject Brian.

Thank you Brian for finally making this video! This is really helpful for anyone who wants to learn how to do impressions! I bet all of us cartoon fans would love to be voice actors someday! And you make it sound like a lot of fun!😃

Hello! Fellow voice actor here, whenever someone asks me how I do my voice impressions, I genuinely don’t know what to say other than I look at what I want to do and just try until I get it. But you made me want to get into voice acting I enjoyed your Disney impressions so much that I started doing them myself. Thank you!

If you ever want to do more videos specifically about vocal health, I would love to check those out! That's something I've always been interested in, even though I don't do anything professionally with my voice. I'd be curious what sort of tips or tricks you got that would be relevant to a lot of our daily lives.

Thanks for the video! I know I can do a few impressions like Jillian from Despicable Me and Cheese from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, but I always felt like I could push a bit futher to really make the impression more convincing. This helped!

For someone who's been doing voice impressions online for the past 3 years. All of these tips are extremely accurate. Like it's so true that you've got research on how the character sounds and reacts, whenever you hear the character's voice. Also, It's true that you gotta take some rest whenever your vocal chord feels burned or damaged from the impression. Including on the idea for getting into character easily is that muscle memory is indeed the key. If anyone here is interested to here all of the voice impressions I can pull off. Here's a playlist that you'll hear my voice impressions from. ru-vid.com/group/PLSEd1TXhIpOTQYeqNUX4YyI6eaI1nwSKB

I never knew that was so much work, you do a really great job and you always put a smile on my face

The way I was able to do impressions was from you. The very first video I ever saw of yours was the let it go video and I first saw it 4-5 years ago and I questioned myself “huh what if I tried doing this. So I had 1 ear bud in and 1 ear bud out and I payed very close attention to your throat, checks, tongue, and lips. Also for me having a good ear and listening to 1 voice and listening to it over and over again till I got it right then moved on to the next voice. Some I got on the first try others it took some time and practice. And also since I loved the let it go video I decided to watch all you impression videos from your playlist and did the same thing I did to the let it go video. I also looked up other impressionists channels and see how they do it. I also looked up some voice actors to get there side of how they do there voices. And man even though it is tough sometimes it is A LOT OF FUN. Another reason why I wanted to become a voice actor was the laughs. I love doing impressions in front of people and seeing people smile and laugh. I am not in it for the money or fame. I do it cause it is fun, makes people laugh, and also inspires kids and people to try to become voice actors/impressionists as well

I’ve been doing impressions for years and this video is a real eye opener and helps so much. A lot of these are great amazing tips

I love your voice acting! I’ve been doing impressions of existing characters and my own original characters for fun and you’re a huge inspiration to me!!!

Loving all of your amazing content Brian and I Love all of your amazing impressions ❤❤

Also one for kids and maybe some teens and adults is reading out loud especially with the dialogue if you imagine what that person sounds like, it’s a big one that helped me as a kid when learning how to manipulate my voice for different characters and part of the reason why in school I was normally the kid that my teacher asked to read to the class if they needed to deal with something outside of class.

Great explanation! Coming from a musician your method for impressions is very similar to my method for creating an original arrangement of a song. I would love to see a video that documents your process in real-ish time as you try to learn a new impression.

Great tutorial on voice acting hun! Keep up the great work Brian 😄

I have been pretty much doing all of the steps in the past few months and some of my impressions are improving and I'm glad you made a video about it and thank you ❤👍

I swear you're an awesome voice actor❤ you need to do movies and TV shows

Thank you for the years of amazing content. And i think my first impression i was teached was scooby doo and i never let go of the voice impressions and learning new ones. You are one of my big inspirations and i thank you.

What a fantastic actor and person in general.

Even though I'm not a voice actor, but I do two different things for voices based on what i'm reading. If i'm reading a manga I create the voice based on the characters name or image. If i'm reading a book then I just used the description of the scene to create the voices. For instance I was reading pet sematary once; and as I read the scene where Louis and his wife Rachel are arguing about their daughter learning about death (apologies for the spoiler) I switched from my voice as Louis to the crying voice I did for Rachel as the scene got more intense.

I loved the part about acting towards the end!! You have to know how to sell the character to make the character believable. Also, curious, does your voice ever hurt when doing a character that growls or screams a lot? Would love to see a video on tips to take care of your voice while doing a growly voice. I was recently doing Sheen impressions from Jimmy Neutron, and it sounds like a voice that can be damaging to the vocals if not done carefully haha. Kind of reminds me of Bobo the Bear with the growl feel

Thanks Brian, that was really helpful and informative. You have really come a long way in achieving you dreams and I think it's great that you want to share your craft with others. You Rock Man 🤘😝🤘

Wow! I’ve been wanting for a video like this! You’re a legend, man!

So, in taking your Frankenvoices series into context, how careful do you have to be with them to not damage your voice, when you pull the individual voices from muscle memory?

Can you do a video explaining on what part of the mouth, throat, etc. that they use when doing the other voices? Great vid though really helpful

Hello Brian Sir, I am a big fan of yours. I got inspired by you and I have learnt 20 voices (Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Dr. Doof, Perry the Platypus, Prof. Von Drake, King Louie, Colonel Hathi, The Mad Hatter, Jack Sparrow, Ray, Zazu, Merlin, Master Yoda, Oogie Boogie, Jafar, Prince John & Mickey Mouse) and I talk like them and amaze my friends all the time. But I feel that I still need to improve the voice and make it better. These tips that you gave would really help me out to do better. Thank You Very Much Sir.

Thank you so much for that tutorial. I do impressions as well but never thought to implement the steps you covered. Unless I have been and just didn't realize it 😅. Would love to maybe work with you someday maybe. Keep up the amazing work. You're awesome! 😁👍

Also its good to remember that the focal folds themselves cant feel pain, what hurts is the rest of the system. They will tell you they are hurt thru hoarseness, but then they are already pretty beat up. take care guys 👌

Wow Brian this really helps! I really want to learn how to do impressions and want to become a voice actor one day! This helps so much! Also I have a question how do you keep up with imitating characters without even knowing that your doing it?? ❤❤😊

I was literally telling myself, “Brain needs to make a how to do impressions video” and here it is

Yeah, now I know how to do exactly what you are going to do Brian Hall

This video was amazing and so helpful! If you haven’t done one already, I would love to see a vid on some tips for making your voice higher pitched/lower pitched! Especially for extended periods of time!

I haven’t watched your videos in, I think over a year, but I saw this pop up in my notifications and decided to watch. Thank you Brian, this will definitely help me out. 😁

That's nice, Brian! 😀👍🏽 This is for people who's into voice acting like me with a lot of tutorials on how to make cartoon, anime, video games, and other types of media (like in commercials and promotional material) voices! 😀👍🏽

Hi Brian, the voice character that I can do is Japanese pop star, hatsune miku, & I also know enough Japanese now that I can actually be her, plus the fact that I have EVERY one of her concerts on blu ray, & being autistic, I know how to mimic her. 😃

I tried to do Pooh's voice and I accidentally made him British XD

I've been practicing impressions for a long time, and I've been trying to practice Janja the Hyena's voice from The Lion Guard, voiced by Andrew Kishnow. And I always go to Disneyland and Universal studios most of the time so I can show off of what I got to share, and I gotta say, you've inspired me Brian Hull. I loved your videos a lot, and I want to share the impressions to the characters one day.

I don’t do voice impressions. But animal noises on the other hand, I’ve kinda mastered four animal noises so far: dog bark and growl, wolf howl, cat meow, and cheetah chirp, (or bird chirp if you want to call it that) I’m currently working on dove sounds. Edit: the best I can do is cheetah chirp, because all I do is make my voice go as high pitched as I can and make a bird sound. My worst is probably dog/wolf growl because I can’t get it to be louder, so I guess i wouldn’t consider that one mastered yet.

THATS CRAZYYYY… I had no idea you voiced as Dracula in Hotel Transylvania 4

Thank you for making this video! I’m starting a little course which includes impressions classes and this will help for sure!

Thank you

I love the part at the end of the video where you talk about doing the impressions without thinking. That reminded me of last night when I was at an improv show. One of the hosts was asking for someone to do Cardi B as a warm-up. I immediately got up and started doing her voice, resulting in everyone in the audience cracking up. I was so happy.

Ah yes the ultimate question with the ultimate man with the ultimate answer

Awesome!

This was a very inspirational video, even for someone like me who's not particularly interested in becoming better at impressions. That's why I would add a prerequisite step: get past the embarrassment😂 I feel like I'd be able to put in more practice if I wasn't so afraid of sounding goofy

A nice video for a nice day like today. Happy friday Brian , take care and God bless you, hope i see you soon for more. Greetings from Colombia.

Thank you so much your a legend

This was so helpful:) I have always wanted to try doing a character voice like Mickey Mouse but never knew where to start! Thanks Brian :)

Could you do a more in-depth video on vocal placement for impressions and how it is determined? Is it possible to watch the person as they speak and pick out where they place their voices? I'm glad that you made this video. I watched the first one that you did on this subject and was kind of bummed that you never did a follow-up.

Great video as always brian I've learnt about you impressions😊😊👍👍👍

This is really solid advice. Although I'm skilled in dialects mostly I wouldnt mind increasing my impression skills of characters I can kinda do a Mickey voice but holding onto that falsetto range is quite challenging but I'm not gonna give up. 😊❤📚

Greetings from Canada!

Nice

I love what you do

I love doing impressions as well

I actually learned how to do an impersonation of Mickey from your videos

Awesome video Brian!!!!!

I can do pretty decent voices of Mario characters, and I'm pretty proud of that😁

I love watching your videos. My friends love it when I do impressions, and sometimes I wish I could find other people near me who also do impressions cause at times, I feel alone on it. Haha. They're a lot of fun to do but I would imagine it's even more fun with others who do them as well 😊 Side note: when I started doing impressions, I did forget how I did them because of my nerves. I was concerned about how people would perceive me when doing them. I ended up voice recording and saving them so I could reference them in the future so I could get the correct pitch. Video recording also helps for more difficult ones and telling yourself in the video how you're doing it so that you remember what you're doing with your tongue etc. It may also help to remember that if you're doing multiple at one time, you will confuse yourself, especially if you're trying to master going back and forth between characters as if you're having a conversation with each character, which from experience I can assure you it is a lot more difficult than it seems; especially if one character is simple to mimic but the next is using your tongue or other methods. It may also help if you start off with a character that is within range of your vocal chords. For me, singing was helpful in this aspect. I could gage the highest pitch I'm able to reach and the lowest. From there, I started learning to sing in a particular characters voice then listen to myself and figure out which other characters sounded similar in pitch. If you don't know which character to start off with, I picked mine because I could relate to the song in my own way, so I knew I could put just as much emotion into it. Without emotions, it may come off flat. It can be a frustrating process but don't give up. Disclaimer: the information above is only from my own experiences. It does not necessarily mean they will work for you as everyone learns differently, but hopefully they will help 😊

My voice will be in the channel I’m part of now that will be popular in the future and I mentioned it in my community

I understand the jump between characters, half the time I try to do Vader, if I don't get low enough I start with Mufasa "everything the light touches" speech. I always try Vader first, I need to get down there first try instead of using Mufasa as a steeping stone

That amazing job dude it take lots of practice

This was really good advice, buddy. I loved it. also, I would LOVE to see Impressions of Wander Over Yonder.

Thanks for making this. This will definitely be helpful, I do impressions in my spare time and I think some of them are very good, but some need more work.

I’m love your videos

Bruh... The way you freely switch expressions is INSANE!!!!

I love when you do Goofy's voice because that's my nickname

I was just watching some of your videos this morning and wishing you'd walk through where to place the voice for some of them...and then this pops up! Thank you Brian; I was actually able to follow along and finally get Stitch, Gollum, and Gurgi!!! Still can't figure out Winnie the Pooh though 😂

Your new nickname should be The Man of a Thousand Voices, since you are literally the next Mel Blanc! Being able to do so many different voices! And ironically enough, you do all the Looney Tunes perfectly! You should also be known as That Guy Who Can Do Donald Duck and Winnie the Pooh Perfectly!

I’ve actually been doing a Captain Hook impression. One day tho, forgot how to do it. But I got more into it by just studying the character again

Thank you for making this! I am just getting started so it’s super helpful! I think we always want more info like that’s where the success is but I get the feeling it’s all in the doing

Wow! Great video, Brian! I'm sure this will help many aspiring VAs and impressionists! I admit, one thing that's a little hard for me is I can't read how certain character's voices are done. I know there are people that have that talent while some people like me don't have that ability. Like with doing Winnie the Pooh, for example, I can see how you stretch your mouth to the sides, but even when I try doing that, it just doesn't sound quite right. It still sounds too much like me, just with a slightly different voice. Are there good techniques to being able to read how other people speak and being able to replicate them besides doing research?

i am happy that there is a more in depth video now. even though I'm not necessarily interested in voice acting

Thank you so much Brian before this I was able to do: Mickey Mouse and wacko Warner now I have learned 5 more and I’m currently working on tuh mater without the tuh

I also love to do impressions & do about the same process, but sometimes for fun I in the spur of the moment I will do a random voice with a character that pops into my head which a times I am surprised to hear a voice that may sound like a character I never tried before

I loved your Dracula impression in the movie.

Since I wanna be a Voice Actor, I’m doing my Impression of my own characters for my future animated movies and different characters from any animated movies like Disney, DreamWorks, and Illumination, and I’m good at telling stories, making impressions with the characters, and someday I wanna make my voice so funny. Thank you for teaching us for impression voice.

Thank you Brian. I just want to say, you are one of my favorite RU-vidrs, and you have inspired me to make my own character, and to create a voice for him. I use him a lot in my classes, and with my friends, and he has his own decorations now that I make. You were the one who inspired me to make a voice for him, and to make him a big part of my life. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! In fact, my RU-vid user name, BC, that’s his name. BC.

Amazing mate. Love this. Subscribed

Hi, my name is Oksana, I'm from the city of Yaroslavl. Thank you for everything. I love Disney and everything from their companies. My most favorite movies are The Lion King and The Lion Guard. I love all your videos. I love watching you. I really like you. I love your voice and imitations. Thank you. I wish you health, happiness, good luck in your work and all the best. I love and embrace.🌺

Bro, going from 1 really good stitch impression to adding 3 more to the roster is crazy😂😂😂

Hey 👋 found you through Jonathan Tilley, and I'm so glad 😁 You're always so happy and it brightens my day. I'm going to try these steps out with Gaston, Stitch, Ace Ventura, Oogie Boogie, and Skeleton Jack, the Pumpkin King 🎃👑💀

It took alot of years to completely mastering Goofy's Voice, and my friends know how well of a impression that I do, but also how identical it sound. It's scary good.

that was cool ill say it again your pooh bear makes me smile every time its the best

Hi, I was work I've when I started watching you and I'm at but I started watching you at a really? You made me want to be like an actor and a voice actor and stuff like that. So thank you, so you've been a big part of my life. I remember sitting in my room like a middle, not in the middle of the night but like just watching your videos. Oh, yeah, thank you. So, yeah, thank you. I know you're never gonna read this but I just wanted to try

Thank you for the video Brian i love your videos and impressions. I listen to your impressions much as i can i sometimes sing your impressions of let it go and Hello at work try doing the Voices while singing believe me its hard sometimes for me cus i am not a Expert as you. Greetings from the Netherlands your biggest fan Darwin

Thank you brian for teaching me😊I love your vids😊❤

Same.

Now I'd like to see a evolution impressions video. Can you do them Brian?

Oh thank you!!!!

I'd be very interested in hearing your vocal care tips. Do you have a pre-care and/or post-care routine? vocal warmups? throat remedies?

another dreamlight valley update is coming out july 19th 2023

Thank you so much Brian!

Brian Hull was going to Pixar Animation Studio, Brian Hull wants to perform Fantastic Beasts and Brian Hull is gonna be in PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie

So im a Voice actor myself and i really Think you talked abort everything important and also did it good so Well done

So, I write fanfics that involve characters from different universes, and I can impersonate 5 of them, not including myself. I can impersonate • Princess Peach • Toad • "Princess" Rosalina (she's a princess in my book) • Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer (his first voice actor was a woman) • Jibanyan from the show Yo Kai Watch (his voice actor was a woman)

Oooh, this should be fun to study

Hi Brian Hull, I did some voice impressions from some characters from two shows, Phineas and Ferb and Regular Show!

I really getting into it and have been working those I have figured out from yours and Brizzy’s videos and what I’m already close into my vocal range Wveryome has to have a starting point and figured that was the best place to start so I can do Elmo- Annabelle from “ Eek the Cat”- Baby Sinclair- - Alpha Dog/ from “ Up” - Meowrh from Pokémon Going ober what I know from those I’m looking at what more I can do and am getting more into it and trying to see what I can do every day

Thanks for the helpful tips on how to do impressions! :D I absolutely love your dracula impression it's so good and you sound exactly like Adam!