What and Who is Crocodilian Audio?
First and foremost, Crocodilian Audio, what and why? Crocodilian refers to all the creatures that belong to the Crocodilia Order. Neat, but why did I name my company that? Well, once upon a time, in 2022, I was listening to a Vox Production podcast called Unexplainable. The episode was called What did dinosaurs sound like? In sum, it deconstructed how the film makers of Jurassic Park created the sound for a dinosaur when no human has ever heard a dinosaur. The short answer is they overlaid some fearsome sounding mammals. The episode then covered what, based on current archaeological evidence, sounds they should have used instead. The answer, modified growls of modern day crocodilians would be more accurate.
This was my first encounter with the word crocodilian. My immediate thought was, “Woah! that’s a cool word”. What compounded the significance of this word to me was this Jurassic context. My partner will call me a raptor because when I am upset or mildly frustrated I will plainly say, “Roar”. When naming this business I thought of all sorts of names I felt spoke to some truth about who I am and had something to do with audio and voice over. Having learned the word crocodilian while listening to a podcast about the true sound of a captivating but long extinct beast and being (endearingly) called a raptor on occasion I felt that this word fit my aim perfectly.
Fun extra fact, I wanted to call the business Crocodilian Oddio. In order to make it abundantly clear that you are dealing with a complete dork or oddball. It would have also achieved the fun coincidence that the business’ initials would the same as my own and it could be CO‘s CO Co. However, a wise advisor suggested I make it easy for those trying to find me via a search engine and have the name be real words that can be intuitively be spelled. Therefore, now it just lives on as this behind the scenes bonus fact. Note though, I nod to it by having my logo-dile holding a mug of coco.
As fascinating as the tale of the business’s name may be, it does not provide the answers you likely came here in search of to questions like: Who am I? What’s my story? What’s my sound? As already illustrated I am something of a dork. In conversation I get by on movie quotes, puns, and tangents involving loosely tied-in random facts. My blog may provide some more insights for answering this weighty question. If not, explaining why I am here may also work well to expand on the notion of who I am.
In the interest of breviloquence, I am here because I am a multi-passionate individual. I have worked many important, serious, and meaningful jobs over the course of several years. Frankly, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I am studied in the fields of behavioral neuroscience and international political science, and dream of getting a masters in psychology. If I could, though, I would study all-the-things. But that’s expensive, time consuming, and there is no all-the-things profession. I have decided then to pursue fun, and learn some-of-the-things as I go (and still get that masters). Which that is exactly what I have found voice acting to be, and what I strongly suspect it would be. Since well before getting to this stage in my pursuit of a more enjoyable profession, I have found great humor in reading billboards in unique or unexpected voices and accents, and on nights when my partner has struggled to readily find sleep I have genuinely enjoyed reading really dense scientific or legal material aloud to them (knowing it will knock them right out, with myself not far behind). Even building this website has been an unexpectedly gratifying creative outlet.
As for the biggest question of them all, what is my sound? To start, it is not as odd as my personality or as varied as my interests. It is maple brown sugar oatmeal, it is vibrant autumnal colors, it is a banana seat bike, it is your favorite soft t-shirt. All of which is to say that my sound is warm, friendly, clear, and a little bit cute. If you’re still not sure what I mean, you are welcome to listen to my demos and let me know if I’m on the money or not with this description.