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The Audiobook market is a growing one, and consequently it offers another source of revenue for the recording engineer.
The majority of Audiobooks will only involve one voice actor and this narrator is often chosen by the author (if the narrator is not the author him/herself).
In most cases you will be working with this one individual only so striking up a rapport is vital as the recording process can take several hours or even days with longer texts. However, as studio time is expensive it is highly likely that the artist will have read through the script/material beforehand and will not spend too much studio time struggling with diction and pronunciation. It will be worth having a few test runs of a chapter to choose mics and to set levels.
If the material that is being recorded is quite short, the artist may prefer to stand, but with longer works the artist will probably want to sit down. If the artist is uncomfortable you will not get the best performance out of him/her. It is also imperative that there is sufficient lighting for the artist to be able to comfortable read the material.
You will obviously need a quiet, acoustically sound recording area for the artist, away from any noise such as computers and air conditioning units. Flat-pack vocal booths are available which are better than recording in an untreated room but can make the sound somewhat boxy due to their small size. If you are on a budget it is possible to make an acceptable, although far from perfect, recording space with the aid of blankets/duvets and heavy curtains draped behind the narrator. For more information on this check out our article Vocal Recording - A Basic Guide.
It is worth trying out several microphones on the narrator to discover which produces the most pleasurable result - it is almost certain that you will want to use a high quality, vocal orientated capacitor microphone such as a Neumann U87 or Sennheiser 416. If possible have a range of microphones available with different characteristics so that you can always find a mic that flatters the talents voice. If you are on a budget then there are cheaper alternatives to the U87 such as the Neumann TLM103, the AKG C414 and the Audio Technica AT4033.
When choosing a mic you will want to find the one that gives a good transparent reproduction of the artists voice but one that is not prone to sibilance or 'muddiness' in the low mids. Conversely, if the artist has a thin voice then this low end muddiness may increase the body of the vocal. Microphone choice is very important as it will dictate the overall sound of the recording so take your time, know your mics and choose well!
If the mic has switchable polar patterns then again experiment. One priority of voice recording is to pick up as little room sound as possible - logically cardioid and hyper cardioid patterns are better at this than omni directional patterns. However if the room is sufficiently dead then using other patterns may be possible if they yield a better tone.
It is common to use a pop shield and/or a foam guard to cut down plosives and other unwanted artifacts. It is however better to not employ any low-cut filters on the desk/pre-amp but instead perform any filtering after recording has taken place. On that note it is also preferable to apply no processing of any sort during the recording process, instead leaving all EQ/Compression etc until all the material has been recorded. Not only are changes made during the recording irreversible, it also makes it harder to tonally 'match up' sounds from voices recorded in different sessions.
Good quality preamps are required for high-end voice recording to offer suitable gain and quiet operation. A good quality outboard preamp will usually offer better quality than a console although some very high end consoles can produce great results. Beware of preamps that have too much character as more often than not a clean recording of the voice is required rather than a tainted one (unlike a lot of music based vocal recording) A good level is obviously required to maintain a good S/N ratio before being fed to the recorder.
Most people will record to a DAW as they offer much lower noise than analog systems and noise is something that is completely undesirable in an audiobook recording. Recording at 24-bit is de rigueur for voice recording due to the increased clarity and headroom. When recording at 24-bit average levels can be set much lower than they would be on tape or analog preserving headroom for louder passages or unexpected transients. Whilst most of the audio community is agreed on the 24-bit issue, there is still debate on the worthiness of recording at sample rates higher than 44.1kHz if the output medium will be CD or MP3 etc.
The artist will obviously need some kind of foldback system and by far the most common is to use headphones. For voiceover recording headphones should be comfortable and accurate as well as offering adequate sound isolation. However, as a lot of audiobook recording has no other audio involved (i.e. backing tracks) then headphone spillage isn't quite as much as an issue as it is in music recording. For this reason semi-open back headphones are suitable as well as the more common closed back type.
After recording the required audio, you will probably need to perform editing to remove any unwanted noises such as the turning of pages and any overly long silences in between takes. Also any artifacts. that slipped through the net such as sibilance, plosives and 'clicks' of the throat can be repaired in your DAW. You may also be required to take out, or at least attenuate, the breaths in the piece depending on the type of audiobook you are producing.
If the audio requires it you may want to EQ and/or compress at this point although this again depends on the output format. If the mic has been correctly chosen and placed then the need for any further processing should be minimal. As a rule you should perform as little processing as possible as this will diminish the natural sound of the talents voice. The correct sound should be achieved at source. Limiters may be used at the end of the production process to bring up the average level a bit but unlike music volume isn't everything with audiobooks!
In some forms of audiobooks there maybe the use of music or sound effects - there are many sample CDs on the market that offer a range of generic background type soundscapes that are suitable for use underneath a monologue. Always remember that the voice must be clearly audible and that any sound FX or background sound should be used subtly in most cases.
