Lost Voice Guy finds his Geordie accent

Lost Voice Guy Lee Ridley has found his Geordie accent.

After putting out an appeal to replace the automatic voice in his communication device, the comic has chosen voiceover artist Dan Pye for the job.

He was picked almost 500 potential ‘donors’ from across the Newcastle area read a short extract from his book, I’m Only In It For The Parking to see which best suited his regional and family accent. Dan’s voice fitted the bill perfectly.

Pye, who grew up in Whickham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is currently living in Hunwick, County Durham, said: ‘I spend much of my life lending my voice to fictitious characters for a range of projects, the idea of being able to lend my voice to an actual human is just such an honour at the best of times, but when that individual is as inspirational as Lee, it’s an even greater one. 

‘Being able to help Lee communicate in a tone which is more personal to him is fantastic. Being a Geordie has a very distinctive, nationally recognisable tone which I am very proud of. Sharing that with Lee, I hope will give him a sense of identity that the rest of the North East are famed for.

‘Tone of voice accounts for so much of our ability to communicate, I’m so thrilled to be able to help provide that element of effective communication to Lee. I’m happy that being a donor in this sense means I don’t have to be cut apart, and I get to witness Lee’s performance using my voice. Which is going to be strange I must admit.

‘It will be nice to hear myself tell jokes that are actually funny…’

The vocabulary in Ridley’s voice software will be adapted by software firm CereProc to incorporate phrases he uses often, as well  Geordie slang such as: ‘Whey Aye Man’.

Pye will spend around six hours in a studio recording  all the sounds in various emotions that he might need.

Ridley said:  ‘I’m very excited to finally be getting a Geordie accent, so I can sound more like my family and friends.

‘I had a great response to my request for a voice donor. In fact, the number of people willing to help out blew me away. So, it was hard to choose the voice that I thought suited me best.

‘But, in the end, Dan’s voice was the one that I kept coming back too and listening to over and over again. Thankfully, my family agreed with my choice too.

‘I look forward to you all hearing my new Geordie accent soon’

Published: 2 Apr 2021