As an actor / creative, the common advice is “never read your reviews”. As an insatiably curious, science-minded, creative person, I’m always interested in what people have to say about my storytelling interpretations. In this blog post, wanted to explain what I've learned while working in the Audiobook / Audio Drama industry for almost half a decade and why I think the single-narrator human audiobook narration style is the dominating style in the marketplace to date.
I happened upon this review by SonnyB for an audiobook called Relics of Dawn, which I narrated on Audible for best-selling author A.W. Davidson… “I don’t understand why they have a female narrator trying to mimic male voices. Or the other way around on many other audiobooks. Hire more than one.” And then a supporting comment by StarWitch, “I agree with the SonnyB crique (sic) male for male narration female for female”
While there are many audio dramas out there that do hire multi-actor casts with age/gender/accent-specific roles for each character - this is not the case for Audiobooks and Audiobook style narrations.
The most you can expect from Audiobook performances is typically one male and one female narrator creating all of the voices for those characters. These are typically known as “Dual” (each chapter is one narrator’s voice performing all characters in that chapter) or “Duet” (each narrator is spliced in where their speaking parts take place).
Let me start by saying that cinematic audio dramas, complete with a sound/sfx engineer, multi-actor cast, director and sometimes other capacities such as a separate host or producer, usually have a large budget for a complex production of that nature. Typically, these productions will have an executive producer (or two, or three, or four) that provide the funding and the resources. Many children’s podcasts or other productions using multiple actors, pay these actors and have a structure in place for earning revenue through the production (via ads, offerings, events, march sales, etc.) You can expect a production house like this to be pulling in ~$200k/annual to make ends meet.1
Significantly less expensive, but almost cost prohibitive for most Authors is the “Duet” style audiobook. Unless both actors are recording in a shared (and rented) studio space, there are considerations to make when matching the “room tone” or background ~sound~ behind the actor (usually this is the ambient sound of the booth or room they record in). If two actors have significantly different room tones, it can end up sounding like a really crappy audiobook. That’s why professional voice actors with broadcast quality home recording booths are typically hired for these projects. And they aren’t cheap. These aren’t the part-time hobbyists making a “quick fortune” from their parent’s basement. These actors are trained, invested in coaching, equipment and business systems (professional demos, website, CRM systems, accounting/billing software, etc.), and running their own full-time, professional home business. And the editing/mastering for a “Duet” style audio production takes SIGNIFICANTLY LONGER than producing the typical “one narrator” audiobook. The one SonnyB seems to despise. 🤣
“Dual” style audiobooks are the next option for multi-actor productions. The cost of producing these performance is usually more within reach for many Authors, Producers and Content creators. But, it does come with its cost. Two narrators are needed, which doubles the cost for narration, and the Audiobook Editor needs to be more experienced to match the differences in narrator audio quality, so that the entire book stays consistent in sound and volume from chapter to chapter. Both narrators will still be narrating male and female roles, boys and girls, older men and women and often, each other’s reading parts. Performances range from brilliant to cringe-worthy. I’ve heard books of men reading a sensual woman’s role and it’s #awkward. But, we do our best!
Finally, the reason why you will hear one narrator doing #AllOfTheVoices is simplicity and cost effectiveness. Most people can afford this option, which is why it’s the most popular. While the editing is simpler and faster, the narrator must be more skilled in bringing a variety of characters to life in a BELIEVABLE manner. If you encounter someone criticizing these performances, I suggest you ask them to deliver a better performance. And if they can… they should be signing up to do audiobooks!
At the UNTOLD TALES podcast, we work with a teeny, tiny budget. We deliver our stories as efficiently and effectively as humanly possible. We are a busy mom and a grandpa seeking to tell the BEST original sci-fi stories or our time, and we rely on your feedback to help us “give the people what they want”!
It takes a strong backbone and countenance to endure the daily rejection/selection process and performance criticism, not to mention the impostor syndrome, of the everyday (voice) actor. If you find yourself ~hating~ the voice of the narrator, consider how you could have done it better yourself and extend them some grace. After all, storytelling is a very organic process and when the storyteller loves the story - you probably will, too.
We hope YOU love what you hear on the UNTOLD TALES podcast and we are always open to your recommendations and what you’d like to hear next!
-Melissa Del Toro Schaffner, Narrator, Host of Untold Tales
1 Source: Who Smarted?! Multi-Actor Children's Podcast
