2022.12.01 – 0700 – Post-Dialogue Attributions In Audiobook Narration Mark any ‘post-dialogue attributions’, where the name of the person who just spoke is written after their statement, (“ Merlin said ”, “ Trayvon interjected ”, “ Marsha replied ”, “ Neville whispered ”, “ she said with a tremor in her voice ”), so you know which voice to use for the preceding comment, and how to read it. You may also need to be aware that on occasion there may be a discrepancy between what someone says and how...
Dec 01, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 700
2022.11.30 – 0699 – Preparing a Text For Audiobook Narration Preparing the text Since you’re reading a long piece, it’s essential to skim the book beforehand. Mark unfamiliar words and check their pronunciation (imagine a character called Romè, but because of how your screen is set up, you have recorded the whole book calling them Rome, like the city…). Fantasy and science fiction books will inevitably have invented words and even languages within them. Work out how you will say these, consisten...
Nov 30, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 699
2022.11.29 – 0698 – Story-telling For A Young Audience Story-telling for a young audience For younger pairs of ears, think particularly about the storytelling journey. Children’s books are often very much about emotion and change: the lonely girl who finds friends with seven dwarves; the poor boy who climbs a beanstalk and escapes from a new land with a pot of gold and so on. So play with those feelings and colour the changes which help the story arc: make the princess sound lonely, make Jack so...
Nov 29, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 698
2022.11.28 – 0697 – Potential Problems When Voicing Audiobook Characters A potential problem - When you create a very distinctive voice for a minor character, who then has a greater role than you’d anticipated! Maybe you’ve developed a deep, gravelly, heavily-accented voice for a few lines, and then in book two of the series, that character is the lead… your vocal health is in trouble! Male and female voices - Don’t worry too much about reading a male role if you’re female and vice versa. Nothin...
Nov 28, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 697
2022.11.27 – 0696 – Voicing ‘Minor Characters’ in Audiobook Narration Minor characters - You don’t need a totally unique voice for each character. Listeners know you are telling a story, not pretending to be different characters or that the production has a cast of hundreds. Have changes in your voice, but don’t worry about creating 30 or 40 different characters, some of whom will only have a line or two. Similar characters - When the book calls for several similarly-sounding characters talking ...
Nov 27, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 696
2022.11.26 – 0695 – Audiobook Character Voices Character voices (This is in addition to the in-depth look at character voices in the ‘animation’ section previously.) The main character – Create a voice that you can use in various emotions and one not so strong that it exhausts or hurts you. Individuality – having said that, each main character’s voice must be somewhat distinct from each other (and from you as ’narrator’), and consistent from page to page, matching any ‘character clues’ in the te...
Nov 26, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 695
2022.11.25 – 0694 – Projection And Pace For The Audiobook Narrator Projection – we have looked at loudness before, but as a quick reminder that with audiobooks especially, people will be listening alone perhaps through headphones, so talk to them with a one-to-one volume. A ‘big’ narration will be exhausting for everyone. Pace – don’t read too fast. Allow the listener to ‘see’ the scene you are painting with the words. Obviously, the speed goes hand-in-hand with the content (you will read the de...
Nov 25, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 694
2022.11.24 – 0693 – Impartiality For The Audiobook Narrator Be interested, invested and informed …– only read the genres you enjoy to be more emotionally connected to the text and to draw the listener in. You are the knowledgeable guide on the journey through these characters’ lives; don’t mislead the listeners and even though you may surprise them, you should not be surprised yourself at what happens in the text. … and impartial – you are watching the scene from the sidelines, have a full view ...
Nov 24, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 693
2022.11.23 – 0692 – Analysis and Agility For The Audiobook Narrator Analysis – be somewhat of a student of literature. Understand what makes a story, a story and how one moves through a sequence (the characters, the setting, the plot, the conflict and tension, and the resolution) and the six common themes in literature (good vs. evil, love, redemption, courage and perseverance, coming of age, revenge) and how a story arc can develop. Having basic knowledge will help you with your delivery in ter...
Nov 23, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 692
2022.11.22 – 0691 – The Audiobook Narrator’s *Own* Character The narrator’s own character Depending on which POV you are reading the story from, your ‘character voice’ will be different. If you are one of the characters (First Person POV), be careful not to have such a strong accent characterisation that it becomes annoying to the listener and awkward for you to perform for any length of time. If you are the ‘author’ (Second Person or Third Person Omniscient or Limited), then you need to have a ...
Nov 22, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 691
2022.11.21 – 0690 – The Narrator’s Various Points of Views Narration - First understand who you, the narrator, are in the story. That is, whose point of view (POV) is the story told from? [1] · First Person POV – when you as narrator say “ I ” and “ we ” (it’s how we all speak in real life). It is a more personal viewpoint (and so used in memoirs, romance and young adult fiction), but can suffer from feeling a bit too introspective. “ I was furious as I tore at the thick undergrowth with my cane...
Nov 21, 2022•10 min•Season 2Ep. 690
2022.11.20 – 0689 – Fiction Audiobook Narration Skills Fiction skills for an audiobook narrator First a few definitions: Solo narration – when a reader either differentiates between each character with their voice (different pitch, race, gender, accent and so on), or, when they do not, and presents a ‘straight’ narrated read with no variation between the different people in the text. Narrator – the person telling the story as written by the author, and also the word used for you, the person who ...
Nov 20, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 689
2022.11.19 – 0688 – Non-Fiction Audiobook Narration Skills Non-fiction for an audiobook narrator Recording a non-fiction text is considered by some to be more straightforward than recording fiction. That’s because you’re delivering information, instruction, or facts, rather than navigating a narrative of characters and conflicts. Others say that’s just why non-fiction is difficult: the text can be flat and featureless and was usually not written to be read aloud. Indeed, the ‘read’ may include f...
Nov 19, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 688
2022.11.18 – 0687 – Vocal, Physical and Mental Health For Narration Good vocal, physical and mental health – you will be spending a lot of time by yourself in a booth, concentrating, so you need to be mentally strong. A lot of reading will require a lot of vocal strength: warm-up exercises, hydration and built-in rest breaks. In the booth itself, you need to have everything set up ergonomically so you are not under too much stress physically as you read. You need to build in breaks at natural pa...
Nov 18, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 687
2022.11.17 – 0686 – Clarity, Consistency and Concentration in Voice Acting A clear voice – people will be spending a lot of time with you, so you need to have a voice that will not jar or grate on their ears. Consistency – consistency in the style and energy of your read, and for fiction books, each character’s voice and accent. Concentration - In non-fiction especially, this could be content-rich and technical texts with long and unwieldy sentence structures, and with fiction books you may need...
Nov 17, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 686
2022.11.16 – 0685 – ‘Punch And Roll’ Voice Recording VOICE BOX Learn the ‘punch and roll’ technique to save recording time This is when you mark (‘punch in’) the point in your recorded audio where you made a mistake. The DAW (Digital Audio Workstation recorder), then plays back a few seconds of you speaking before that point (the ‘pre roll’), at which moment it starts recording again. This enables you to make your correction and continue recording. Doing this will speed up your editing and becau...
Nov 16, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 685
2022.11.15 – 0684 – Voice Over Eye>Brain>Mouth Control Eye-Brain-Mouth Control – you have to be good at reading accurately, just sticking to the text. You will probably have skim-read the text before you start [1] , and in the studio, you need to be able to scan ahead as you read: more mistakes mean more editing time, leading to a disjointed read and less money-per-minute for your work. [1] You’re unlikely to have time to go through the book in advance, marking it up sentence -by-sentence....
Nov 15, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 684
2022.11.14 – 0683 – Narration Stamina Stamina – you will need to read a lot of words in a short period of time: 4-6 hours in front of a mic each day is not unheard of for an audiobook narrator. So, you need committed energy and the ability to sound the same at the end of the day as you did at the start. Performing a 30-second spot is like running a 50-yard dash; a 60-second spot is like a running 100-yard dash; an audiobook is like running a marathon. Marc Cashman, backstage.com [1] [1] https://...
Nov 14, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 683
2022.11.13 – 0682 – Natural Narration Foundations Natural Narration Foundations In the main, we have been looking at short reads, commercials and news stories and the like, but sometimes you may have a longer read to perform, such as an audiobook. Longer reads need to be approached in a slightly different way than shorter ones. Instead of a series of short sentences about the attributes of a car for a commercial, or the misdemeanours of a politician in a broadcast news story, there are several s...
Nov 13, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 682
2022.11.12 – 0681 – Audiobook Narration Audiobook narration Audiobooks have become increasingly popular [1] as people consume books while commuting, exercising or doing chores and with the ease of listening via smartphones and Bluetooth. There are broadly two different types of books: non-fiction and fiction, each with different skills required of the voice actor and also some cross-over themes. Narrating your memoirs Memoirs are not quite fiction or non-fiction, and it makes perfect sense for y...
Nov 12, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 681
2022.11.11 – 0680 – Voice Acting In Gaming Games Voice acting in the video game business is similar to doing animation work, although the portrayals have to be more ‘realistic’ than say, those ‘cartoon-caricatures’ of people or animals. In fact, gaming actors are more like those in movies – they just can’t be seen on screen. Your skills Adaptability - Although you may read as a cast ensemble together (so each actor ‘works off’ one another, because it may be easier to direct everyone ‘live’ and t...
Nov 11, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 680
2022.11.10 – 0679 – Concatenation Concerns Character creep can cause particular problems when combined with concatenation . This is where a voice-over has to read a short list of incomplete sentences, and then a long list of places, numbers, or other ‘options’. You will have heard examples on transport services, telephone booking systems and sat navs: the original sentences are completed by the computer selecting the appropriate word or phrase from the second list (“ The train now standing on pl...
Nov 10, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 679
2022.11.09 – 0678 – Character Creep Character creep If you try and be someone who you’re not [1] , then there is a chance that over the course of a contract or studio session, your ‘persona’ might change. It may mean that you cannot keep up the voice that you created for the role, perhaps because it is too demanding vocally, or you forget how to create it. Maybe it’s not a specific decision, but the voice may lose its edge, vitality or accent, which is why it is called ‘character creep’. This ca...
Nov 09, 2022•2 min•Season 2Ep. 678
2022.11.08 – 0677 – Keeping In Character When you have developed a voice from scratch and you’re comfortable with it and do it well, keep it and add it to your cast of characters, and then build another character that builds from that one. Merge the ‘evil witch’ with the ‘young woman’ say, to have another voice. Aim for quality not quantity of these voices. Write a few notes describing their voice, their personality and how they hold themselves (because the voice changes depending on the shape o...
Nov 08, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 677
2022.11.07 – 0676 – Vocal Exaggeration In Animation Vocal exaggeration in animation [1] You must have the muscular strength to host the vocal gymnasium that is required in animation. Work on the instrument daily to achieve vocal strength. The voice you use will, for much of the time, be more, well, animated in animation. More ‘over the top’, energetic, projected and with greater variety and intensity. So you need to be physically fit – it’s virtually a sport as you ‘inhabit’ the part. Because yo...
Nov 07, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 676
2022.11.06 – 0675 – Using Props To Get Into A Character Properly Using props As well as holding yourself in a certain way to get into your character’s voice, some voice actors also hold an appropriate prop. Your voice may sound more authentic if, when playing an elderly person, you not only stoop but also hold a walking stick. A better ‘bossy voice’ may come from you standing on a box in the studio, the more dominant position making you sound more authoritative. Wearing a certain hat or coat may...
Nov 06, 2022•5 min•Season 2Ep. 675
2022.11.05 – 0674 – Be A ‘Moody’ Voice Actor So, develop various attitudes in your voice: the tone, volume, speed, and energy. And remember that a character is more than one ‘mood’ and will go through various situations that you need to show in your voice. They may usually be fun, but then on occasion, frustrated, confused, or concerned … confident or shy, determined, silly, serious or self-important … and a million other attitudes. So you have to be able to think how your character will vocalis...
Nov 05, 2022•4 min•Season 2Ep. 674
2022.11.04 – 0673 – Animation Attitudes Animation ‘attitudes’ You should be good at reacting as well as acting, be able to read a situation and know what your character would do in that situation. This is not slow-turnaround theatre, TV or movies with lots of rehearsals and retakes and time to find your motivation. The characters may be drawn already, and you have to not only read the words that they will appear to be saying, but also react to what it has already been decided they do … and do wi...
Nov 04, 2022•3 min•Season 2Ep. 673
2022.11.03 – 0672 – More Non-Verbal Sounds in Voice Acting · The performance may also require you to bring more physicality to your voice: your character may be out of breath, or I dunno, calling to someone in a tunnel. Obviously one of those will require more breath, the other more projection, perhaps with a tone of concern, so consider how your character may react with different moods and emotions as a story develops or in subsequent episodes. · Linked with this, when recording a fight scene [...
Nov 03, 2022•50 sec•Season 2Ep. 672
2022.11.02 – 0671 – Non-Verbal Sounds in Voice Acting · What is the rest of your body doing? The face obviously, but also your back and arms… Physically become your character, how they stand, how they use their hands: hands in pockets, upright, chin out, hunched over, shaky hands… · Personality and colour will come from your addition of ‘non-verbal sounds’, all of them in your character’s voice of course: an “ eek ” and an “ ahh ”, a “ huh?! ” and a “ hmmm ”, a “ pffft ” and a “ tssk ”, gasps, g...
Nov 02, 2022•5 min•Season 2Ep. 671
