Let us tell you a story…about telling you a story. As any child will tell you there is something extremely comforting about hearing a warm, familiar voice tell tales of adventure and romance. Just look at “The Princess Bride”. The idea of that beloved classic without Grandpa Peter Falk’s comforting tones providing the narration is “inconceivable.” (Yes, we know exactly what that means.)
While it is certainly true that any kind of audio reading requires just the right sound, audio books are about a lot more than just tone. It’s one thing to hear a voice on your car radio for a thirty second advertisement, but listening to a voice on a seven hour road trip requires a whole different set of skills. The talent needs to have the ability to judge mood, differentiate and personify characters, and keep a consistent tone that will involve and engage the listener over a much longer period. It’s not anybody’s definition of a dream job, but done correctly it can also be extremely rewarding. Voice artist Johanna Parker puts it this way…
“Telling stories, in whatever way, has always been my passion, and audiobook narration has become the unexpected niche where my love of books and my love of storytelling come together in an incredible, inevitable fusion. I get to play all the parts. I get to truly utilize my training. And my hair can look like #@$%&!”
Some of the stories we love the best start with a great narrative voice. Sebastian Cabot in the original Winnie the Pooh Disney cartoons, or Stephen Fry’s perfect dry English wit for “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” were the right voice for the right project.
But voice is only the beginning. The ability to portray a wide variety of characters believably takes an incredible amount of skill and versatility. It’s like those movies where Eddie Murphy plays all the characters…but…you know…not terrible. It’s a fine line between consistency, and variety….we have to know it’s a different character while still knowing it’s the same narrator. It sounds complicated but the end result is definitely something you could spend a long drive with.
In some cases, the author themselves will read their work, and while that certainly guarantees the intent will be correct, that doesn’t always guarantee the best experience. You might love Stephen King books, but unless you’re seeing him in person, a professional voice artist, combined with great mood setting music is always better. (The exception to the rule is Neil Gaiman, who is probably one of the best narrators of his own work. This is Neil reading his short story “Click Clack the Rattlebag”. You might want to keep the lights on for this one.) So who are the great voice artists? Well, familiar actors are always fun to listen to, but they can also be a distraction. You might love hearing Christopher Walken reading “The Raven” but the very nature of his distinctive sound, his “Walken-ness” if you will, also can interfere with the ability to get completely absorbed by Poe’s masterwork. And what makes finding the great storytelling voices even harder is, they sometimes don’t even use their own name.
Imagine reading “Fifty Shades of Grey” out loud for several hours. Chances are you might not want to use your real name on it either. But whether it’s for professional reasons, or just wishing to disassociate with the content it’s not uncommon for the talent to use a pseudonym.
Fortunately, we here at On Air know exactly where to find them. We have a deep roster of talent that knows how to combine humor, romance and the supernatural with credibility and can employ a wide range of accents to add to the listening experience. Like the director of a film or a play, the engineers here at On Air guide the performances with an eye on the bigger picture, as well as creating soundscapes and providing just the right music to make the mood.
So if you are looking for talent with the unique ability to tell a story that engages the listener, and transports them in just the way mom used to when she read you Alice in Wonderland you can click here to get in touch.
You also might want to check out:
The Ten Greatest Audiobook Narrators
http://airshipdaily.com/blog/the-10-greatest-audiobook-narrators-insomniac-guide
The Difference Between Books and Stories
http://dearauthor.com/features/letters-of-opinion/audiobooks-difference-books-stories/
The Art of reading out loud
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/7188438/Audiobook-confidential-the-art-of-reading-aloud.html
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