Once I finish recording the raw audio, it goes to a proofer who checks for misreads, mispronunciations, inconsistencies with voices, and so forth. If I am very efficient, I can record one finished hour in 2 – 2 1⁄2 hours.
Audio book narrator plus#
It takes five to six hours of work for each finished hour of audio, plus the time it takes to prep a script.Īfter annotating the script with pronunciations, making character notes, directorial notes, tone, and so on, I get in my booth and record. Making an audiobook is not just sitting in front of a microphone and reading.
What might people find surprising about audiobook production? If there’s a required accent I’ve never done, I research it, call my dialect coach for one-on-one work, and practice! And there’s always researching names and terms to make sure pronunciations are spot-on. I do not impersonate an actor in my read, but knowing who an author might have in mind for a character helps me capture the essence of that character. (There are horror stories of narrators who did not prepare thoroughly, only to learn six hours into recording that the main character is Scottish and lisps!) When possible, I ask the author to provide information about the character’s voice qualities, if this minor character could become a main or recurring character in later installments of a series, their dream casting for the character. When starting a new project, how do you prepare?įirst rule of narration: READ THE BOOK! This is the only way to understand the author’s intent and style, suss out character traits and motivations, and find out if accents are required. The instructor sent me info for a class through ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange) taught by a local Chicago actor/director. I took an entry-level voiceover class at a local acting school and asked questions about narrating audiobooks. Being a performer myself, and a lover of reading and ofĪudiobooks, I wondered how I might do such a thing. I am a voracious listener of audiobooks and eventually realized that most narrators were actors. We caught up with local voice talent Anne Marie Lewis to give audiobook fans a peek behind the curtain: a look at how a narrator transforms words on a page into an immersive world in your head. Like many other things, reader behavior has changed radically in the past two years, including a surge in the popularity of audiobooks.
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