Dave Wittenberg

@huzaifa_ahmed Agreed 100%. It's a shame that Dave's gone relatively quiet in the last 3-5 years in terms of voice over work, outside of continuing voicing his role as Kakashi in "Naruto", doing incidental background voices in video games and some pre-lay animation shows, and having a role in the upcoming "Mighty No. 9".

I am still optimistic he gains a lot more major voice over work sooner than later regardless of the medium he's doing it in (pre-lay animation, video games, anime).

@huzaifa_ahmed I would definitely love Dave to get more voice work because in the video game sector, he's kind of getting sidelined to the background voices. He's not getting enough primary or secondary roles (I would love for him to have been Kung Jin in Mortal Kombat X since he would make a better fit than Johnny Yong Bosch, who, coincidentally, is now one of his "successors").

Maybe we could see Dave pull a Ban Diskin where he starts to get into more anime dubs (no one expected Ben to appear in Bang Zoom dubs but now he's a regular), though he would face competition from the likes of Johnny Yong Bosch, Erik Kimerer, Robbie Daymond and Grant George.

I can name some roles Dave would have appeared in if he got the chance

* Uzu Sanageyama (Kill la Kill)
* Tuxedo Mask and Artemis (Sailor Moon)
* Issei Ryuudo (Fate/Stay Night 2014)
* Ryuunosuke Uryuu (Fate/Zero)
* Alibaba (Magi)
* Jin Kazama (if Bandai Namco can't get Brad Swaile to reprise then Dave can make a good Jin)
* Jonathan Joestar (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
* Amuro Ray (Mobile Suit Gundam 1979)
* Dearka Elsman (Gundam SEED)
* Setsuna F. Seiei (Gundam 00)

@Domayv So...Brad, JYB, & Dave all sound the same to you?

Though I must say that Dave for Jonathan wouldn't be bad, as he's a buff guy voiced at a lower pitch, by a lower tenor...a bit like Kakashi actually, just younger-sounding.

It's just that Dave I believe would be classified as a baritone, Brad a tenor, & JYB tenor as well, but much lighter than JYB's.

They really don't sound much alike.

This is pretty subjective, though, when there is in fact objectivity involved in the detailed pursuit of this discovery. Audacity & some other audio programs can measure notes.

Until some group gets ahold of speaking recordings & measured depths & heights of VAs' characterizations...this isn't really the way to do this.

I mean, Troy Baker's voice in 2004 was much, much weaker than it is today. Training as a VA should bring out the best of your vocal abilities.

@huzaifa_ahmed not completely similar (there are variances in their voices) but similar enough that they can practically fill in each others' shoes (keep in mind for Dave, I'm referring to Dave's default and higher pitches).
Besides, how else would Dave have been able to voice characters who were voiced by females (Henry Wong and Takuya Kanbara in Digimon, Osamu Kawaguchi in .hack, young Kakashi) and tenors (Yoshitsune in Appleseed, Kei Kusanagi in Please Teacher, Toshiya in Mahoromatic) in the Japanese track

I would put Dave somewhere between tenor and baritone. (on a scale from lower to higher: Dave, Brad, Bosch)

@mweloo I'd say most of us are going by ear here, so I'll keep it short & say that Dave is the deepest out the five, & that Johnny's seems to be the lightest (he can voice little boys like a woman)

There's a difference between tessitura (where your voice sits) & timbre. I'm no expert on the subject, but I believe that not everyone with the same voice SPEAKS the same way.

Trevor DeVall has a timbre comparable to say Nolan North or RAD...but the inflections in his voice are much higher. Same goes for Matthew Mercer

It comes out in the characters he tends to play.


...Though I'm not sure that most people are going by "what they sound like IRL".

(I've listened to WAY too many VA interviews for my own good)

@Domayv Well, partially because Saban/Tokyopop, & often just foreign-dubs in general, use different-gender actors from the original version.

When Dave voiced Takuya & Henry (what I've seen) I can TELL it was a guy.

JYB as Renton sounds like a *real* woman.


"somewhere between tenor & baritone"

"Baritenor", while I'm not well-versed in opera or musical theatre..is a term which is used to describe this.

Roger Craig Smith is this. (coincidentally, they shared Chris Redfield)

I believe Josh Keaton & Will Friedle may also be this, though they tend to mostly book (or audition for, I dunno) the higher-note stuff.

@huzaifa_ahmed for the baritenor thing, that's about right.
For RCS, he did voice Batman (definitely a baritone)

how does Erik Scott Kimerer sound as Haruyuki Arita. does he sound somewhat like JYB as Renton
Also, Brad did voice some characters who were voiced by females in the JP track (Lan Hikari, Kyouyusuke from SoulTaker, and Quatre Rabera Winner)

@Autovolt Ditto man!!

@Autovolt Even with the increase in unionized anime dubs as of recent (i.e. Durarara!! X2 series, Fate series and Expelled from Paradise), I'm not sure if Dave's wanting to appear in them. Besides, we have Johnny Yong Bosch, Sam Riegel, Orion Acaba (Dave's closest successor, though he hasn't appeared in too much anime but I hope he starts appearing in more of them, since he has appeared in J-games), Grant George and Erik Kimerer taking over his niches. Our only bet for him appearing in Bang Zoom! dubs again is if he goes FiCore (kind of like what Mary Elizabeth McGlynn did as of recent, which could explain how she appeared in the Viz dub of Sailor Moon and GITS:Arise, both of which are non-union)

@Domayv

Why, exactly, would lessening his union status make him more likely to work at Bang! Zoom? I mean, both Naruto & Durarara/FSN are both union projects, for the same awful wage. By the union standard, technically, DRRR & Guardians of the Galaxy are the same. So what makes the difference between Studiopolis union and B!Z! union?

@huzaifa_ahmed Well, I'll tell you this. From the 1990s until the early 2000s, Animaze was THE anime dubbing studio in LA. At the same time, however, it was expensive (Dave himself often appeared in Animaze dubs). Once Bang Zoom! got its first anime (Rurouni Kenshin), companies started to use the studio more and more because they found it to be cheaper and better-affordable than Animaze (though this came at the cost of paying somewhat less). Dave hopped on to do many Bang Zoom! dubs in the first half of the 2000s. However, he was a union-only actor, and many of the dubs were non-union, so he used the alias Dave Lelyveld. By the mid-2000s (2005 to be exact), he suddenly stopped appearing in as many Bang Zoom! dubs and decided to focus more on video games and pre-lay, which paid more. Also, the anime dub recession virtually killed off his interest in anime dubs in general (he, at most, only appears in dubs from Studiopolis (which is considered by many to be the successor to Animaze, and is pricier than Bang Zoom!), which even then is following the way of Bang Zoom! dub in becoming non-union thanks to Sailor Moon). Additionally, Bang Zoom! couldn't afford to use as many big-named talents like Steve Blum, Kari Wahlgren and Crispin Freeman as they did in the past so they hired cheaper, more affordable "home-grown" substitutes (such as Cristina Vee, Lauren Landa, Kaiji Tang, Kira Buckland and Erik Kimerer), many of which probably got into voice acting through those Anime Expo voiceover idol contests, alongside with FiCore veterans like Michelle Ruff, Steve Staley, Derek Stephen Prince, Tony Oliver, Patrick Seitz, Johnny Yong Bosch, Doug Stone and Wendee Lee.

As I've stated before, the only chance of him appearing in more anime dubs (most of those LA anime dubs nowadays are done at Bang Zoom!, and many of them are non-union) nowadays is if he goes FiCore, and I'm not sure if he's willing to do that.

@Domayv You do bring up good pointers regarding as to why Dave Wittenberg hasn't been in anime in recent years
regardless of the increase of union dubs in the last 2-4 years. There are some pointers that I am going to cut you off here:

1. Dave actually started doing anime voice over work around late 2000 or 2001. While it's true he did used his pseudonym Dave Lelyveld in most of the non-union dubs for Bang Zoom! he did used the name in a few non-union dubs for Animaze (The Adventures of Mini-Goddess, Black Jack), PCB productions and Studio E (Studiopolis).

2. It actually was 2007 when he stopped appearing in anime dubs for Bang Zoom! Entertainment, with the last title being "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya".

3. As far goes as Studiopolis, even though they dub a few non-union anime titles (Bleach, Sailor Moon) I doubt that most of the future anime titles they will dub will become non-union, since unlike Bang Zoom! Entertainment they have closer ties with Hollywood, which would explain whay some of the anime titles they dub like "Naruto", "Tiger & Bunny", the "Stitch!" anime series, "Zatch Bell", Afro Samurai (even though that was an
American-Japanese prod.), just to name a few are Unionized.

Now, for my conclusion while not trying to beat a "dead horse"on you here and have the comment be removed, yes I don't doubt he will appear in any Union anime titles for Bang Zoom! anytime soon, due to the anime recession, the rise of new up-and-coming voice actors and that the pay-scale for anime is relatively lower compared to video games, pre-lay animation and commercials,
which provides more freedom and get to work with the cast members compared to the former. Although it's funny
that he says he has no preference from the three mediums and enjoys all of it for the work, according to an interview with ShinyShiny at
3:57 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UickGt-Q9FE)

Yet, according to a Kana's Korner interview from the radio station 91.8 the fan, he does give insightful reason
as to why the anime industry became "contracted" in the early to mid 2000's due to online streaming (legally and
illegally), fan subbing anime titles, and not buying/purchasing the title from the local store. It's sad but
Dave does bring up a good point. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIi_8612DgE) - at 13:28-18:10

I am still optimistic he gains more major voice work sooner than later, regardless of the medium he's working in (Pre-Lay Animation, Anime, Video Games), it doesn't matter to me, but I don't want him to become overlooked and underused.

@Autovolt I am still in love with Solomon, he's suave and romantic af. Dave's voice contributed hugely to it, can't imagine anyone else. Are there any other characters he did in a similar style, other than Kakashi?

He's the only VA I cared to know about IRL. Most people prefer Japanese voice because emotions are often portrayed better. While that is often true, Dave's voice is one that I won't trade for any others.

@coolgeek176
Not to mention that Kakashi also translates to scarecrow.