In the world of voiceovers, some people can do a handful of funny or interesting voices, but then there are true “Masters of the Craft” who can embody the essence of different personalities. Eliza Schneider is a prime example of the latter.
Since her foray into acting and voice-over work 30 years ago, Schneider has solidified her role as the “Woman of a Thousand Voices” — and an expert on dialects. Her illustrious career has centered around her love of sound and her particular ear for regional English dialects.
Schneider’s ease in creating voices for countless unique characters comes on the heels of deep research into dialects — research that took her around the world and into the minds of thousands, extracting stories and feeding her insatiable curiosity and thirst for knowledge.
An ear for voices
Schneider has always had a keen ear for sound and a near-photographic memory. These two attributes have served her well as she has made her way from voicing some of the most recognizable female voices on “South Park” to creating legendary video game characters.
Her interest in dialects can be traced back to her childhood growing up on a Chippewa reservation with her German theater teacher father and an early exposure to music.
“I am a Suzuki-trained violinist since age 7,” she told Oregon Public Broadcasting, “and that is an ear training method, so my brain started applying that to languages — everything sound — so that anything I hear I like to mimic.”
In the early 1990s, Schneider pursued an acting career, landing a role on the popular ‘90s show “Beakman’s World.” However, she wanted to make a better connection with people and help her fellow actors at the same time.
“There were no materials that existed for dialect training for actors,” Schneider explained. Her idea was to buy an old ambulance, pack up her fiddle and recording equipment, and hit the road — seeking people to interview and dialects to capture.
What she thought would take a month has been a personal project for Schneider for the past 30 years and has led to more significant pursuits.
“Freedom of Speech”
Since the 1990s, Schneider has covered thousands of miles and multiple countries, conducting over 7,000 interviews to capture different dialects — everything from the distinctive Southern drawl of Mississippi to the Liverpudlian English reminiscent of the Beatles.
Schneider has parlayed her years of research into a dialect coach venture and has worked with Oscar winners, politicians, and studios, getting them to perfect their sound. Not only has her research led her to become a subject matter expert in the dialect world, but it has also exposed her to thousands of incredible stories.
“As I cruised around the world collecting dialects, my welcome committee was the people living on the streets — they’re the people you meet when you first get there,” she shared with Oregon Public Broadcasting. “It just became so painfully evident, especially in the Western world: the moment you look somebody in the eye who normally gets ignored, you’ve made a friend.”
These stories — from people who were not A-list actors or powerful political figures — became the centerpiece of Schneider’s next idea. Originally a one-woman show featuring 25 distinct characters, “Freedom of Speech” made a splash at the NYC Fringe Festival, taking home a prize for Best Solo Show.
Not ready to let go of her deep dive into dialects and what makes people different — and the same — Schneider has recently turned “Freedom of Speech” into a podcast. Taking her research to the next level, each episode of the podcast deep dives into why people speak the way they do.
Through these studies and with the help of special guests, Schneider hopes to uncover common threads between all people. “I am seeking to get unsung voices heard,” Schneider explains.
The “Freedom of Speech” podcast launched on January 6, 2024, and acts as an extension of her one-woman show and the decades of painstaking research that Schneider has given to dialects.
Tasting impact of dialetics on voiceover and culture
Throughout her career, Schneider’s work has allowed her to emerge as a modern-day Renaissance woman. Whether she is crafting new sounds for cult-favorite cartoons or the latest in video games, she has created a name for herself with each interest she pursues.
Having collected dialects from across the United States and most of the English-speaking countries in the world, what started as Schneider’s pet project is now a testament to the importance of preserving history as much as it is a way to craft expertise in the voiceover world. As she says in her one-woman show: “What do you mean America doesn’t have a culture? Check it out! What if dialects — residual phonemes — are the only archeological dig the kids of America have?”
Exploring that “what if” has become Scheider’s life’s work, and the world of sound, voice, and dialect is better for it.
Published by: Aly Cinco
