Recording in a hot vocal booth for 8 hours straight can certainly cause some strain on the old vocal chords. Audiobooks, in particular, can be very hard work - especially novels where character voices change in practically every paragraph.

Quite often I get asked to do a Hollywood-style, Don LaFontaine, subsonic movie trailer voice over in the morning and a high-pitched cartoon voice after lunch. This obviously takes its toll on the old voice box. Once I made the mistake of recording one of these super-deep movie trailer voices first thing in the morning, without warming up. Nasty experience, my voice was completely shot for the rest of the day. But that's what it all boils down to - experience. I have learnt not to do this style of VO without warming up for at least an hour, or better still, wait until the afternoon. If you can benefit from my experience, that's fantastic!

Anyway, for a number of years I have been using one of the best kept secrets in the voice over industry to make sure my vocal chords are in tip-top condition, and when they get a bit tired I can pep them up and get them back to full working order.

Although I frequently get asked, I don't usually endorse any particular brand of product but on this occasion, I heartily recommend Vocalzone (www.vocalzone.com).

These little beauties have saved my bacon on any number of occasions and on those days when you wake up feeling, shall we say, a little 'worse for wear' (yesterday, for example!) they can be a real life saver.

Question: How loud can one sing Auld Lang Syne as a comedy Elvis without breaking something?

Answer: I'll let you know when I've finished paying for the hangover (and the breakages).