“I created a pseudonym for romance because my brand is most associated with literary fiction, nonfiction, and middle grade/YA,” said Ron Butler. If you think the voice of a new-to-you narrator sounds familiar, you might have stumbled upon a secret identity. I’m so, so grateful for editors and engineers. “I’m a pretty good proofer but editing…ugh. “A lot of narrators start out (or continue) to do all aspects of post-production: proofing, editing, mastering,” said Cindy Kay, who has narrated audiobooks by bestselling authors like Chloe Gong and Ryka Aoki.
AUDIOBOOK VOICES HOW TO
“You’re running a small business, auditioning, hustling, bookkeeping, calendarizing, reading, making notes, developing characters, studying dialects, looking up words you don’t know or know how to say properly, narrating (and self-directing) in a tiny, hot, padded box (or closet) for hours and hours each day, every day, and then, if you’re not sending off your raw audio to engineers for post-production, you’re also doing the audio editing and mastering before uploading it for publication,” she said. Kimberly Wetherell pointed out that, in addition to all the characters they play, narrators also perform a lot of jobs. If you think audiobook narrators walk into a booth, read a book out loud, and call it a day, you’re massively underestimating all the work that goes into their job. …And Sometimes They Have to Wear a Lot of Hats “Then an opera producer and director - which required knowledge of multiple languages and honed my ear for the musicality of dialects, and has proven to be wildly good training for narration - and then as a filmmaker, which shaped my cinematic storytelling abilities, also ever so important when narrating an entire book.” “First as a classically trained actor,” she said. Kimberly Wetherell’s narration skills come from a lifetime in the entertainment industry.
I’m also a singer/musician, and I think every author has their own rhythm and musicality, and that’s often how I ‘plug into’ a book,” said Butler. “Being an experienced actor really helped with my transition into narrating, understanding story, and how to develop and sustain character performance.
AUDIOBOOK VOICES SERIES
Ron Butler had just finished the series True Jackson VP on Nickelodeon when he was cast in his first audiobook project. I also definitely credit acting and singing classes with the voice support and control necessary to read aloud for hours a day without losing my voice!” “It was a match made in heaven! My acting training has been such an asset for creating a variety of characters, as well as preparing accents. “I have always been a voracious reader and, as an actor, of course I want to play all the parts,” said Hope Newhouse, who worked on stage in France for a decade before transitioning to narration. But acting wasn’t the only creative talent they found useful. Many of them cited their acting experience as great training for their audiobook narration careers. Of the six audiobook narrators I interviewed, five mentioned a background in acting on the stage and/or screen.
0 kommentar(er)
