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How to Create
Professional Audio Books from Scratch
My name is Alan
Twigg and I'm writing this article to offer advice to anyone
thinking of creating their own professional audio books.
In the New Year I came up with the idea of creating professional
children’s stories and offering them for download on the
internet. The thing was, however, while I had someone to write
the stories - my mother - and someone to market the stories –
me, I knew nobody who knew about how to record the stories
professionally. I knew it must be reasonably easy, since I only
wanted to create an audio book containing speech.
I started doing research on Google - but all the articles I
found contained so much technical gobbledygook – I was soon put
off. So I went to my local music store for advice on what to
buy. I decided to use my computer to create the audio books and
this is what I bought:
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1 microphone stand
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1 pop-screen (that's a piece of material that is placed just in
front of the microphone to stop your “Ps” from popping)
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1 studio microphone
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1 software program (Wavelab)
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1 USB Audio/MIDI interface (TASCAM US 122 with phantom power)
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1 pair of heaphones
It all came to 650 euros (800) dollars.
I connected my Audio/MIDI interface (this is basically a really
good sound card in an external case) to my computer using the
USB cable provided. I then set up my microphone and attached the
microphone cable to the MIDI interface. After installing the
software, I was ready to go.
The results have been great and I find Wavelab software powerful
and incredibly easy to use.
Some Audio Book recording tips
I first get my entire copy ready before starting the recording.
I pin the sheets of paper with the text that I am going to read
in front of me onto the wall. Then, at about 8 inches away from
the microphone, I start to talk. The more natural you can be the
more interesting you will sound to your listeners. I found that
the best thing to do is to stand in front of the microphone and
make gestures in the same way as you would when talking to a
close friend. If you stand there stiff like a statue, you'll
come across in the same way in your recording.
Another thing that I like to do before starting the recording is
to get myself into a really good mood. Again, this will add to
the impact of your recording. I always listen to a few uplifting
songs and get enthusiastic before starting. You should also try
to make sure that you keep the same distance from the
microphone.
And that’s it – I hope that this article will save you a little
bit of time setting up your own home recording studio and I wish
lots of success with your audio books.
The author of this article is Alan Twigg. My business is
Playtime books, which offers new and contemporary audio books
for the 3 to 10-year-old age group. You will find this site at
http://www.playtime-books.com
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