The first time I listened to an audiobook I was shocked at the lack of production values. I kept waiting for character voices, sound effects, and theme music. But the typical audiobook is a one-person show: an actor tasked with narrating and providing all the character voices.
In one recent sample (from a bestselling writer) I listened to a narrator read the dialog between a male spy and a Russian woman. The narration was good. The male spy, okay. But asking the same actor to do the voice of the Russian woman was a stretch that Olga Korbut couldn’t pull off.
In another painful example (from another bestselling author) the valiant narrator pitched his voice up for the part of a grandmother then up another notch for the part of a grandson. Thankfully, there wasn’t a great-grandchild, or his voice would have broken.
When I decided to turn my mystery “Killer Proposition” into an audiobook, I decided to try something different. And I knew exactly who to contact to elevate the material.
Enter Six Degrees Music & Sound.
Six Degrees is an award-winning sound and music production company. They took my humble mystery and turned it into a fine piece of audio theatre featuring nineteen different actors, sound effects, and music.
When we wanted the ambience of an alley, we recorded in the alley behind their building. Sure, it wasn’t the easiest way to do it. We were interrupted by sirens, a bottle picker pushing a shopping cart, and a wedding party with a Great Dane in tow. But good things are rarely easy.
Sometimes the best way to capture the sound of someone being grabbed in a doorway and thrown across a room is to grab someone in a doorway and throw them across the room.
The actors performed in scenes, so they could play off each other. I found myself listening to lines I’d written and getting chills from the actors’ interpretations. The director, engineer, and the cast all became creative contributors.
So here’s a challenge to the publishing industry…
Invest. Complement those great narrators with character actors, musicians, and sound effects artists.
Do the material justice. Listeners will thank you.
Killer Proposition is available everywhere audiobooks are sold.
Buy from Amazon/Audible
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