Getting to Know: Darren Dunstan and His Many Talents Part 4

Please read Part 3 of the interview before reading Part 4

His Vocals

Some of you may or may not know this, but Dunstan is a vocal coach. I was looking through his website, and he was promoting his teaching skills. Based on what I read, a student of his will come out of his lessons with positive results. Even though he has 20+ years of professional and educational experience, since student abilities and learning styles varies, how does he know that the tools and skills that he has will actually prepare and improve the students’ vocal ability? According to Dunstan, within the first few minutes of listening and observing the student, he decides on what needs to be worked on. Once the decision has been made, he introduces “those concepts” to the said student. These can range from “basic vocal production concepts” to “advanced ‘tweaks’” that helps improve the performer.

Since he is a vocal coach, I was curious about what he sounds like. Not every music teacher can sing as well as they can teach and vice versa. On his site, he has demos of his singing and piano playing. Within the first few seconds, the first few notes that he sings demonstrates the beauty in his voice. I was like “Oh my god! He can singggggg.” I have to say, though, that his singing voice sounds similar to Pegasus, but not exact. Now my question to him was in regards to the song “Face Up Face Down,” where he sang in the voice of Pegasus. How did he control his voice as Pegasus without slipping into his natural singing voice, while singing the right notes? “I made sure to keep Pegasus’ same vocal tone in the Face Up Face Down record,” said Dunstan. “We had fun playing around with how ‘speak-y’ he could be (as opposed to “sing-y”), where we could add adlibs, laughs, etc that would make the song seem even more Pegasus-like.”

Afterwards

Reflecting back on his voice acting and director career, it was something that happened unexpectedly. According to Dunstan, “cartoon voice overs is something I never expected to be doing, so in a way, the whole experience has been gravy! I’d love to keep doing it and am very thankful for all the opportunities I’ve been granted.”

Although he is most thankful for his ever-growing career, there is another interest of his that he might one day pursue. “I have a passion for baking and would have opened my own bakery. I still might some day!”

Before we go, here are some last few words from Dunstan:
“Thanks for watching the shows and for your interest in the projects I’m passionate about! All the best!”
© 2011 Linda Thai

Photography by Linda Thai

Thank you Darren Dunstan for participating in the interview! Thank you for reading!

For more information, check out the Darren Dunstan website