Bringing together a group of narrators for the purpose of hosting a discussion is always a joy. Recording in a sound booth all day long either in their home or at a publisher’s studio, means they don’t have all that many opportunities to just get together and chat after work. In 2011, I hosted a Narrators Forum over at Speaking of Audiobooks and the response was tremendous. Listeners thoroughly enjoyed hearing what narrators had to say about the industry or what happens behind the scenes. AudioGals has since hosted two Narrators Forums as well – both in 2013 – Charting a Path to Success and Hear the Narrators Talk.
Today’s forum is recorded and features audio narrations in general – of all genres. The discussion topics vary and, as you will see below, address several areas of the audio industry. The list of topics serves as an overview of the forum’s progression.
The Narrators
We are honored to have with us today six narrators who know their craft well and excel in performing audiobooks. Their combined years of experience in the audio industry is a little astonishing, especially when one considers just how young that industry is. Today’s forum was recorded on Monday night and not only was a great deal of information shared but lots of laughs as well.
AudioGals welcomes Simon Vance, Karen White, Patrick Lawlor, Tanya Eby, Luke Daniels, and Renee Raudman!
Our Six Discussion Topics
Topic 1 – We’ll start with the question we most often receive from listeners. Why aren’t the majority of audiobooks performed by both a male and female narrator interacting with one another while each performs the appropriate gender roles? And, as an extension to that question – what about the multi cast productions? At what point does an audiobook narration become more of an Audio Theatre type of production?
Topic 2 – What are methods you use to differentiate your characters? Are there times when you feel it is more appropriate to read a book without vocally distinguishing one character from another? And accents – when does a narrator choose to perform an accent? Do audiobook publishers prefer the use of accents or is that more of a narrator’s personal choice?
Topic 3 – Series – they seem to be everywhere these days but it must be a challenge to the narrator. How do you prepare for and continue working on a series? What are the special demands a series requires?
Topic 4 – Working with authors. It’s our understanding that at one time, interaction between the narrator and author was discouraged yet we hear that this type of relationship is often encouraged now. How does working with an author benefit each and have you made joint appearances with an author?
Topic 5 – Now to address what we as listeners assume are poor production issues or, let’s be honest, we might just be wondering if the narrator is responsible for those blunders. It’s those times that we repeatedly hear the narrator take a noisy breath or possibly there’s an annoying click. It’s the presence of a hum or fuzzy background noise. Also, it’s the obvious edits – repeated sentences or words left out all together or a clear change in background noise or volume level when a correction is made.
What goes into assuring a crystal clear listen? Do narrators make a conscious effort to avoid audible breathing or, are there techniques to minimize this effect? Is there advice you can offer to other narrators to avoid this type of problem?
Topic 6 – Our last discussion has to do with the inexperienced narrator. With the large influx of self-published audiobooks, we also discovered a large number of sub-standard performances. When we see that an eagerly anticipated book is to be performed by an unknown narrator, we now assume that the chances of a poor narration are significant. What advice do you have for the inexperienced/untrained narrator? Where can they start?
Note: We also discussed opportunities for narrator training in our AudioGals Charting a Path for Success forum in February 2013.
Listening to our Forum
In addition to listening from your computer or tablet, you may easily download any of our recorded talks to your MP3 player. Or, you can listen on your phone directly from AudioGals. I usually listen on my phone as I run errands.
Patrick, Tanya, Karen, Renee, Simon, and Luke will be stopping by to answer any questions you may have. So ask away.
Now for our forum!
To learn more about each narrator participating in today’s forum, follow the link in their name or photo to their AudioGals Narrator page. For other forums of interest moderated by Lea, check out our earlier article this week, Narrators Forum Coming This Week.
And a very special thanks to our behind-the-scenes technical Gal, Brenda, the producer of our recorded events. Also, I’m grateful to all of the Gals for brainstorming with me on topics for today’s forum.
Now, let us hear from you! What questions do you have for the narrators in today’s forum?
Lea Hensley
Comments are working!
As you can see, comments are up! Our server had some issues today which prevented commenting on our forum. We are aware that we may have missed comments already today (sad) but I hope we can get some comments rolling!
I just realised that perhaps running this on Friday the 13th might have empowered the gremlins!!
Oh geez – hadn’t gone there yet! :)
Oh, I was totally there! Friday the 13th had all kinds of crazy going on. I received about a hundred emails from Books-a-Million – all with the same content.
Oh – I had – believe me!
Thanks to Melinda for a brainstorming session this evening! HostGator took notice. ;)
Yes thanks to Melinda for the brainstorming AND to Brenda who has been searching for a fix for our server problems all day long. Congrats ladies!
AudioGals Simply ROCK! Thank you all!
First of all, thanks to everyone involved – this was a thoroughly informative and entertaining listen :)
I don’t have any questions really, I just dropped by to nod in agreement to most of what was said. What Simon and Luke had to say about single/multi narrations struck a chord; personally, I’m a fan of the single narrator, and I love settling down with an audiobook read by a single, excellent performer. I suspect that for every call for “more narrators” in each book, there will be others for “just the one is fine, thank you!”
I think it’s important to remember that we’re talking about is an audioBOOK – which is a completely different animal to audio drama. I’m a big fan of audio drama – I grew up listening to it on the BBC, and I still listen to a lot, whether on the radio or as downloads, but I enjoy the differences between the genres, if that makes sense. I’ve listened to some fantastic audio dramas but having a favourite narrator read me a book (Simon – where’s that camp fire?!) is something quite special.
Yes! Yes! This! I’ve only had a chance to listen to the first 30 minutes (dang day jobs!) but I was nodding like a fool. (and swooning a little at all the voices! HI PATRICK!)
Howdy Melinda! Happy Friday the 13th!
Caz, discussions with you inspired Topic 1. You made me realize that there is a quite a difference between an audiobook and an audio theater type production.
I like single or dual narrations but I can’t say I’ve listened to many (any?) books which have more narrators than that. I think dual narration suits a lot of New Adult and it certainly works for the Troubleshooters series and the Fever series. Most of the time I’m happy with single narration with a good narrator but single or dual is fine by me.
I just started listening and I’m already stunned. I’ll admit, I’m surprised at myself. Luke had a good point that when we read a book to ourselves, that in essence is one narrator. However, when we listen to an audiobook, we expect a completely different experience. I know I’m guilty of this. It makes me curious to know why my expectations of a professional narration are so high.
That’s something I don’t understand – why does anyone expect a radio play from a book? I totally expect it to be one narrator reading me a book, with the occasional 2-POV-2-narrator exceptions. I liked The Time Traveler’s Wife done with 2 narrators because it’s written from 2 first-person POVs. I think first-person POV totally needs to be gender appropriate. But I do not expect a man’s voice to jump in and say a line then a women say “he said” – I had that experience in one LH and it was not good.
I have no idea, Melinda. I don’t think I’ve listened to a radio play or audio drama before so I can’t say if that has influenced my preferences. I do agree with the first-person POV though, the narrator should reflect the character’s thoughts.
I don’t always notice the voice tags but I do have issues when the writer says “he/she giggled, laughed, etc.” and the narrator makes the corresponding sound. I’m not sure why it bothers me but it does.
TOTALLY AGREE!! on the “giggled” and “laughed” and my personal not-favorite “chuckled”
I’m 100% with Melinda on this one, although I quite like it when narrators follow those sorts of “stage directions”, provided it’s not overdone. I find it odd when I hear “he laughed softly” before some dialogue and the narrator DOESN’T act it.
Chiming in to agree with Melinda here. It’s super weird to me when the narrators switch rapidly. I enjoy different narrators for different POV’s, but, in my humble opinion, an audiobook is not a play. I like the experience of one narrator, or even two, telling me a story, but sound effects and narrators jumping in and out aren’t things I want in a book.
Perfectly stated Caz!
As far as I know, you’re right, Caz. Though that may change (Audible in encouraging writers to create titles specifically to be produced in audio form, which seems to be multi-cast with sound effects). The Radio Play was a small company in Boston that only lasted a few years. We recorded in a wonderful facility at the Christian Science Monitor, but the productions were expensive and this was in the early 90’s so there wasn’t a great way to sell them.
I suspect that Audible initiative is coming from the UK, too, as the two or three dramas that have been released so far all feature well-known faces from British TV, such as Andrew Scott (Moriarty to CumberBunny’ Sherlock), Emilia Fox, Freema Agerman (sp?) etc. There’s a company here called Big Finish, which puts out a lot of high-quality sci-fi and fantasy drama (they’re especially known for their Doctor Who range) and I can honestly say that some of their stories have been every bit as good – if not better – as anything I’ve seen on TV. But you made a good point about the way we’re so much more geared towards the visual than the auditory, and it’s something I see every day. In real life, I’m a teacher – trying to get kids simply to listen is a nightmare, but put a video on and they’ll sit there gawping at the screen for as long as it’s on. Unfortunately, I can’t do that for a whole lesson! But it really does highlight the way that so few young people either can or want to exercise their imaginations and wasn’t everything spelled out. For me using the imagination is one of the most wonderful things about the auditory experience.
Well. That was quite the tangent!
Hi, Caz! I listen to audiobooks all the time. (When I’m not narrating.) I love being told a story. The audio drama is such a different experience. I find that I have to be in the mood for that and it sometimes takes a bit for me to figure out all the voices and sound effects. I like both, they’re just different experiences. Not every story would benefit from being an audio drama.
Hi Tanya :)
I think you’re absolutely right – not every story would work as a piece of drama. I love both formats, but they’re completely different animals. It’s interesting that the question if “why aren’t there more audiobooks with two or more narrators?” is one that’s so often asked. What Melinda says upthread echoes my thoughts precisely – why would anyone expect a radio play from an audiobook? For all the reasons you spoke about, a move firmly in that direction is unlikely, but I’d be very sad to see the demise of the single-narrator audiobook.
Great points, Caz! I think we all agree with you. I did two radio plays as a young actor and while that was a fantastic experience, it truly is a different animal than an audioBOOK (as you say), both as a performer and a listener.
Thanks, as always to all the Gals for your support of audioBOOKS but especially to Brenda and Lea who made this happen!
I’m glad to have helped. As Lea knows, I find the whole process fascinating and am always interested in learning more about it! Out of purely personal interest, is it safe to say that on your side of the pond, audio drama is a less well explored medium? Here in the UK we are able to access a steady diet of it!
Thanks Karen – always an education (and so fun) to hear the facts found in these discussions. :)
Loved every minute of this lively, fun, and informative event, Lea. An exciting peek behind the scenes at many aspects of what goes into making audiobooks, from some of the very finest narrators in biz. Exciting to hear “the story behind the story,” articulated so eloquently by all the talented narrators, and to get a feel for the individual personalities.Thanks to you, Brenda, and all the gals for making this possible. Cheers!
Thanks Anne. The personalities do shine through, don’t they? It was a blast recording and I hope that is reflected.
Thanks Anne – it was definitely a blast (makes this AudioGals heart go pitty pat!) as Lea says. :D
You’re so sweet, Anne!
Thank you for this outstanding forum, which made me appreciate again those narrators that make a book come to life. Loved hearing about the toil and trouble of book narration!
In the end, it really is one of the best jobs I can imagine. Except for the one where I get paid obscene amounts of money to test the effects of pina coladas on snorkeling ability in the Caribbean – THAT might be the best job I can imagine.
Patrick only you could come up with this one! :D
Now everyone sees why we like Patrick so much. We never know what he’ll come up with next. LOL!
I’ll take the complement, ladies! ;) In all seriousness, though, narrating is a lot of work, and we have fun talking about the toil and trouble, as Suzanne put it, and there are hours upon hours of uneventful recording, even with the best of books, and your mouth and brain get exhausted and bla, bla, bla! But it is also extremely rewarding, especially when we hear back that we have touched, moved, pleased and/or entertained our listeners. There is a lot of fun involved. I have learned more about more things narrating books than I did in Grad school! (To be fair, I did learn a lot about the one thing I studied in Grad School.) Overall, I wouldn’t trade the job for any other, not even the pina colada thing, though it’d be close!
I think one thing in common all good narrators have is a clear love for their medium. If they don’t love it, it comes through clearly to the listener.
Narration does sound quite romantic but hearing how much work it actually is? Well, it makes me appreciate the dedication of good narrators even more. I’ve been in meetings where I’ve talked for a couple hours and come home with no voice so I can’t imagine reading for 8 hours + a day each day! How on earth do you protect your voice?
Kaetrin, to answer your last question, this is where good solid actor training comes in, which should include several years of studying vocal production. One of the things one learns is how to effectively warm up the voice so that you sound the same at the beginning of the day as you do at the end. Other techniques bring the resonance of the voice forward, which adds range and subtlety but also protects overuse of the vocal folds (aka vocal cords). One of my teachers had a list of “vocal abuses” to avoid which included some funny things like “making motorcycle noises” as well as commonsense things like avoiding smoky bars. I’ve found that I have to be very careful to tone down my cheering at my kids’ sporting events – these days that can be a good thing – and when I do yell, I’m careful to use proper techniques!
That’s fascinating Karen – thank you for indulging my curiosity! :)
My pleasure, Kaetrin!
This was excellent!! I am an avid audio book listener to the exclusion of print. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the work that the narrators and the support personnel do to bring books to life for me.. I have never, and will never balk at the cost of audio books for that reason.. I am more than happy to pay for the time and talent that goes into the performances that I can listen to over and over.. Thank you all so much, you’ve enriched my life immeasurably…
It was awesome wasn’t it Ann? I agree wholeheartedly with your comments.
Wish we had a “like” button Ann for your comments. I do!
I agree with Lea! Thank you, Ann!
If I think a book is too expensive in print, I’ll often go to the audiobook – I feel like it’s better value because I get the performance as well (also: I’m cheap!).
WOW! I now have a better appreciation for what goes into producing an audiobook. Forget those images of sitting back with a coffee in a cozy chair reading words aloud, producing an audiobook is a freakin’ hard job!! Like Ann said, I will not balk again at the price of an audiobook.
Thanks to all of you for giving me a better understanding of what an audiobook is. I know I’ll be understanding when it comes to reviewing audiobooks. As Karen pointed out, sometimes an audible breath is a deliberate choice and not an indication of a bad performance.
The revelations into the amount of work and ability involved to produce a quality audiobook just kept coming didn’t they Diana?
OMG- this was a fabulous hour and a half :-) Thank you so much for bringing this all together- very cool! And you made me stay up WAY too late after work.
So glad you enjoyed it Lee! As I was listening while we were recording, I kept thinking, “I’ve written A LOT about audiobooks for six years now. Why haven’t I ever thought about it that way?!”
Yep, there was a lot of interesting perspective and insight. Audiobooks have helped redefine by reading experience for almost 30 years. I love hearing the narrators share their take on the past, present and future of audiobooks.
Thank you so much for a very informative, interesting, and fun forum! I’m an avid audiobook fan, and it’s great to hear my favorite narrators talk “in their own voices”. I especially enjoyed the in-depth conversation about character differentiation, personalities, and accents. The very first time I ever heard Patrick Lawlor or Renee Raudman was listening to Jennifer Crusie’s book, Don’t Look Down. By the time I listened to that book, I had heard roughly 1,200 audiobooks, and though I had found a few narrators that I enjoyed, I had never heard anyone approach the characters in a book the way that they did in DLD. I was blown away by the number of different accents and personalities they portrayed. They gave me a vivid picture of each character and really brought the story to life. (And I have to admit that I’ll forever be a little bit in love with J.T. Wilder!)
I’m only about halfway through the forum, and have to sleep now (the dogs don’t understand the concept of “sleeping in”), but I can’t wait to finish up tomorrow!
You rock, Donna, thank you!
Finished the rest of the forum this evening. That was so much fun! Thanks again! (Any time you need an ego boost, let me know — I’ll be happy to oblige!)
Hi Donna!
Thanks so much for your comments about DLD. That was my first duo narration… and to have Patrick as a partner was fantastic! The tough part???? Getting through it w/out laughing!!!! Patrick pretty much kept us all in stitches. (what’s, new, right?!). I loved reading all the comments!
Thank you for commenting about how emotional narrating can be — it’s nice to know that I’m not alone in getting emotionally invested in the lives of fictional characters (or the lives of real people in the case of non-fiction!). My husband always teases me for caring so much about people who don’t really exist. =)
Have just downloaded the forum for iPod listening this weekend and will be back to comment soon!
Lea and Brenda. Saturday morning! I am so excited as I figured out how to download the App Soundcloud on my iPhone and have got your podcast quued up ready to listen to this morning as I work around the house!.
Loved, loved listening to this! Thank you to all the narrators who participated.
It was so nice to be a part of the forum and get to hear everyone’s thoughts. We’re such an isolated group…heading alone into a studio or our home closet, that it was especially nice to actually interact for once.
We wonder why listeners would hope for a radio drama instead of an audiobook but I don’t think they realize just what they are wishing for. That’s why we led with this discussion topic. So many times I hear listeners wishing for an audio to be performed by a male and female (no alternating POV chapters) yet I doubt they think about the impact of losing the “he said”s and the “she exclaimed”s. For those not to that portion of the forum yet, Tanya discussed the awkwardness of the alternating performance of the male and female narrators and that usually means an uncomfortable listen as well.
And then we have those listeners wishing for each character to be performed by an additional narrator. They simply have no idea how that would be accomplished or I don’t think they would be asking for it.
I have listened to only a little radio drama but when I do, I expect it to be an entirely different experience from an audiobook listen. I don’t want my beloved audiobooks to be turned into radio dramas! It’s too personal of an experience.
You know…the other thing I keep thinking about is in theater there’s the term ‘suspension of disbelief’. You know everything is fake but you agree as an audience member to go with it. To slip inside that world. We do that with movies and books we read. It’s the same with audiobooks. If the listener is willing to let go of the obvious, that there’s one narrator, they can slip inside the world very easily. I think new listeners expect a romance title (in particular) to feature two distinct voices because that’s what they hear when they read. But…if they’ll just go with it…they’ll find that the story and characters will take over…and all the other stuff falls away.
Good point, Tanya. Thank you.
Well said, Tanya. I do think part of our job as narrators is to draw listeners in so that the suspension of belief you’re talking about can take place, but also to make choices that don’t jar them out of that collaborative imaginary place. Distracting noises, like we talk about in the forum are part of that, but also making character choices that don’t fit the tone of the storytelling. These are the kinds of things that are a combination of good actor/storyteller instincts and experience, to my mind.
IMPORTANT CONCEPT!! “suspension of belief” – When I can reach that point – when I can totally let go of the narrator’s voice and just be in the story – after I’m done, I realize the high level of skill and talent of the narrator. I make the analogy of lighting in theater – if you are aware of it, it’s not doing its job. When I spend the entire audiobook wondering what it is that bothers me about the narration, the experience is diminished. Maybe ruint. Makes me grumpy.
Thanks, Tanya, for that concept!
One of the best complements we, as reviewers, can give is to call an audiobook “a seamless listen”. It means nothing the narrator did or didn’t do pulled us out of the story. We were caught up in the author’s words and not thinking about if the hero sounded masculine or the heroine sounded feminine or it the characterizations were age appropriate.
I’ve encountered dual narrators in only one series.. Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series, starting with the 4th book. With that book and following, the female characters and narration, because it is written in first person from the female lead’s perspective, is done by Natalie Ross. All the male voices are done by Phil Gigante. These books are excellently done. I don’t demand that any book be done this way, but it was a very pleasant surprise, and I love it..
Personally, I prefer male narrators. I think that the good ones can effectively do female voices well. Part of the problem that I have with some female narrators is that their normal speaking range is too high pitched for male voices, and their male characters sound like teenagers.. I don’t have that issue with a female narrator whose normal speaking voice is more in the alto range.
Ann – although I completely enjoyed the Fever series in audio format, I had a bit of a shock when it shifted from Joyce Bean’s single narration for the first books to the interactive narration of Natalie Ross and Phil Gigante. Phil Gigante is a favorite but in Book 4 when I suddenly heard his voicing of Barrons for the first time in the series, I was a little shocked! (and I was relishing the thought of his performance) It took me half the book to get used to that shift. Of course, I was listening to one after the other in quick succession (for the first time) as I prepared to listen to Book 6. Even though I’m sold on the Ross/Gigante dual narration, I think I’d have that same problem if I binge listened (learned that term from Simon) to the series again!
Shocked is not the term I would use when I heard Phil Gigante’s voice say that one word.. “Dani”.. It was more like my eyes rolled back in my head, and I was just grateful that I wasn’t driving at the time..
Well, there was that too. :)
The bottom line for me is I like to be read to (I realize I am in the minority here). I don’t need lot of dramatization- I don’t dramatize when I read to myself and I don’t really expect narrators to do it either. I appreciate the change of voices and accents and admire the talent but I just like someone with a nice voice to read to me. Thanks for giving the narrators a forum in which to share their thoughts and experiences.
Hi, Thank you so much for such an interesting listen by all of these talented narrators, I have listened to hundreds of audiobooks and each book and character is made by the narrator, the enjoyment of a story depends on if the right narrator is reading the right book, there are many talented narrators out there who make a book brilliant and there are some that are just not right for that kind of genre and when this happens the enjoyment for the listener is ruined and this has happened to me many times. The narrator gives these characters personality and a voice and I have listened to many books just because it is read by my favourite narrator. So I thank all the narrators for sharing their talent with us, the listeners.
Thank YOU, Jane! Without you, the listeners, we would just be talking to ourselves in a small, dark room. And then we’d be locked up probably! It was a real joy to take part in this. Thank you Lea, Vicky, Brenda and everyone else who supports this medium. Storytelling is integral to our survival!
Thanks, Jane for your comments. Although we as performers are not always privy to the casting process, we can turn books down if we think we’re miscast, or just can’t do a good job. Newer narrators might be reticent to do this, but every time I have turned down a book for this reason a producer has been grateful and has come back quickly with something that fits me better. So its important to know ones’ limitations and be honest about them. That said, sometimes, as Renee says in the forum, we are stretched by tackling an accent that we’ve never performed before, or by the demands of a text and that can be a great thing, too!
Thank you all for participating in this enlightening narrators’ forum! I particularly enjoyed the feedback on the division of narrator roles when there are both female and male narrators. I had always wondered why all audio books weren’t produced in the same fashion as the Karen Marie Moning Fever Series. I have a renewed respect for all the hard work that goes into making these audio books that I love so much!
BJ – I thought you would enjoy the discussion on interactive joint narrations by male and female narrators versus each taking separate POVs. Glad to see you did!
I believe it was Luke who talked about those first minutes of a listen. I couldn’t agree more about those first minutes when the narrator is, in essence, selling their performance to me. Listening to as many audiobooks as I do to keep up with the market, I often decide within five – ten minutes if a new narrator’s performance will work for me. If a narrator can sell me on delivering the type of book I’m about to listen to, they can make mistakes later in the book, and I’m likely to forgive them (if not too obvious and if characterizations remain consistent). Of course this is more difficult on first person POVs since you are often in one person’s head for a while. But once the other characters start showing up, I know. I’ve listened to too many above average narrations over the past twelve years to settle for one that only almost makes it.
On the other hand, a narrator who expertly delivers the content of an author’s words, can often tempt me to continue with a book I would not have finished in print.
There are so many books I never would have read- mainly due to length- that I loved on audiobook. Moby-Dick and Lincoln are two that come to mind.
At one time I savored a really long book (if it was good – I should say) – the longer the better. Now I don’t even consider a long book for reading – it has to be listened to or I’d never get through it! My life doesn’t allow for hours of sitting still and reading as it once did.
Loved the podcast! I didn’t get to listen to it until recently, but enjoyed the heck out of it when I did. What a unique look into the narrator’s world! I was familiar with Luke Daniels (love his work on the Iron Druid books – the accents, the snark, and Oberon – such a hoot!), Renee Raudman (great on the the Ilona Andrews books), and Simon Vance (what HASN’T he read?!); this podcast introduced me to more narrators to follow. And yes, I have to say, if I like a narrator, I will look to see what other books he/she has narrated. I loved the behind the scenes information the narrators provided as well as the discussions on pauses, breathing, production/processing, sounds in the background, etc…. I also appreciated the information they provided regarding the narration business, training recommended, skills required, experience levels – good stuff. This is a podcast I will listen to again and again…kind of like the way I listen to audiobooks!
I wonder if narrators are aware of just how easily they can capture us as loyal followers with just one excellent performance. Give me two of those performances and I’ll listen to authors I’m unfamiliar with just to hear another one of their narrations.
Hear hear! I’m someone who ALWAYS looks at the narrator’s name first on an audiobook, and then at the story and author. If my favourite book of all time (if I had one!) was narrated by someone I either didn’t know or wasn’t keen on, I wouldn’t listen to it. Conversely, that means that if I enjoy a narrator’s work, I’m very likely to follow them to genres I might not normally listen to, regardless of whether or not I’m familiar with the author.
I have started a couple of series because Luke Daniels’ was the narrator on the second, or third book.. And I’m waiting with bated breath for the last couple of books in one series where he narrated the second book, hoping against hope that he’s busily narrating away on these last two..
Yes, a good narrator is to be prized – we follow them from book to book and series to series. They bring life and subtle nuances to the books they read, making it a richer experience for the listeners. That is why it’s such a shock when we’re following a series, and suddenly the familiar, talented narrator is not reading the material. All narrators are NOT created equal. For example: I still can’t get over the narrator used for ‘The Demon Barker of Wheat Street’ in the Carniepunk anthology. Luke has done such a fine job on all the rest of the Iron Druid series, but for some unknown reason ($, timing, giving a relative a job, etc.) they used a different narrator for Kevin Hearne’s story. I cringed – couldn’t get more than a couple of sentences into the sample before I bailed! Just a few words and Atticus totally morphed from smart and snarky Iron Druid into a wimpy high school dude. Luke made me ‘believe’ in Atticus -the Carnepunk narrator made me think of Atticus as a wannabe gamer and cosplayer.
Thanks for listening, Pat! Oberon shares a special place in my heart as well! I’ve had to do several takes before because Kevin’s writing makes me bust up. Cheers!
Just wanted to get my three ha’pence in here (sorry, ‘2 cents’) and echo what has already been said several times by my colleagues…. I enjoyed being a part of the discussion last week, and to read these comments and know that what we do as narrators is so well received is a bonus.
Yes, Patrick, testing the effects of margarita (my preference) consumption on snorkeling in the Caribbean would be an awesome job to be paid for… for a while. I’d get bored after a few days (okay, maybe a few weeks). Whereas I can never be bored narrating audiobooks.
Simon, I propose we get a Kickstarter fund going to do some further research on exactly how long it would take each of us to become bored. I absolutely agree, though, recording audiobooks NEVER bores me!
A Huge THANK YOU for hosting this fantastic forum. I echo the thanks as well to each & all of the narrators — sharing stories and perspectives about their diverse and deep experience, about the shift in the marketplace and techniques. I’ve listened to it all twice already. My wife began her love of audiobooks (and extensive collection) in the 80s and I started studying audiobook narration in 2001 with the late (and wonderful) Frank Muller and with Pat Fraley and Laurel van der Linde, while doing other voiceover work. I knew the rigors and lure of it, finally jumping in two years ago. As noted in the forum, it’s wonderful and challenging but can be a singular pursuit at times and the Forum narrators’ craft notes on technique, approach, accents… well, I couldn’t have designed a better experience to affirm and inform. Perfectly entertaining and supportive. Loved every minute and I hope listeners (as well as other narrators) will be able to continue to enjoy this gem. With great appreciation to AudioGals! Cheers! — Braden Wright
Braden – thank you for your support of this forum! We plan on hosting future forums with, hopefully, another in 2015. As that time draws nearer, we’ll be requesting suggestions for future discussion topics.
Thanks so much, Lea! That’s fantastic news — listening to the narrators you hosted was like being in the middle of a perfect party. What you’re doing in facilitating this active discussion is unique, so positive and is “value-adding” for everyone, so it makes me happy to tell others about it. Looking forward to your next one and it’s cool that you’ll be gathering topics; the thinking cap is on alert !