Audio Book Recording at Bad Racket

 

We are expert audiobook recorders and editors, all from our studio in Cleveland, Ohio.

You can expect the very best quality and professional service.

It is $70/hr for audiobook recording.

The quality and our expertise makes sure the whole thing is the best it can be and goes smoothly, from the title to the credits.

 

A poorly recorded or quality control issues can make editing a nightmare. Authors and publishers trust our experience with audiobooks to make sure the experience is pleasant and the quality and cost is on point.

 

If you are recording an audio book and want to book time in a recording studio near Cleveland, check out our recording rates. We use the best professional recording equipment in our state of the art facility. You can see examples of our award winning Commercial Work which has grown since our Cleveland Ohio recording studios creation in 2009. We offer high quality recording and editing services with producer phone patch ISDN alternative, as well as a complete production package options including music and sound effects libraries. We offer ACX standards or whatever technical specification you require, and we can help you finish and upload your content to complete the process for distribution. When rough, home recorded audio won’t do, use a professional recording facility and the best recording equipment and engineers available for a serious, experienced helping hand in the process of producing a finished audio book with editing and mastering.

 

A Typical Audio Book Recording Process

It all begins with the final manuscript. We recommend using an iPad or computer screen with a silent mouse to scroll. Using paper is usually just too clumsy and noisy for the recording studio.

 

Pre-production

Beginning with pre-production, we assess your  project needs and go over scheduling the recording time, as well as delivering either raw-unedited tracks, or finished edited and “ready to go” audio for millions of potential listeners. Most narrators chose to record at no longer than 4-8 hours, and if you’re recording your own material, we can take scheduled breaks, and make sure food and drink is available whenever you need it. We can split up the script into manageable sections, like introduction, credits, chapters, annotations, and or closing credits. We can do multiple takes to make sure we get the best most natural sounding take. Big projects can get complicated so it’s important to stay organized and take notes.

Consistency and professionalism

Keeping character voices consistent and accents and dialog realistic without making it sound too corny is important, as well as the pace and flow of the dialog. When in doubt, go back and listen to confirm that the tone of voice is consistent throughout the entire performance. Adding sound effects and music to the beginning or end of chapters can really enhance the listener experience as well. There are several self  publishing resources you can utilize like audible, Amazon, Apple iBooks, as well as Spotify and iTunes.

Tapping into the audio book market

Tapping into the audio book market can be a game changer for authors. Welcome to the digital age where any person can have a million books at the the touch of a button in their pocket, and digital downloads can help boost your physical sales too. This growing market has listeners tuning in from cars, airplanes and mobile devices around the globe. You might be surprised to find out how many foreign listeners are interested in your book, and oftentimes, the price of an audio book is much less than the actual book because digital goods are cheaper to deliver to the consumer than physical pages or CDs. Finding your niche can be easier in the internet age, and an audio book can be an engaging way to enhance your listener experience past just reading the book. With sound effects, music, and realistic environment effects, your audio book can draw the listener in like never before, painting a cinematic picture closer to what the authors vision, almost like a movie without picture. Whether its fiction or nonfiction, it doesn’t necessarily matter. The goal of reader or listener engagement is the same, and studies have shown that more listeners retain more when listening to audio enhanced with sound effects that help jog the memory. narrating and highlighting the most important or interesting bits can really enhance the subject matter, and produce a more enjoyable experience for the listener.

Here’s a few additional tips for successful narration of an audio book.

1. Use a quiet, professional studio without traffic noises, fan or blower noises, or loud dogs or children
2. Relax and turn off any unnecessary electronic devices like cell phone or ipad.
3. Read from a tablet, Kindle, or ipad with the sound turned off to avoid page turning noises.
4. Divide your production into manageable sections like chapters, to keep the file size manageable and organized
5. If you make a mistake, stop and re-record. You can use a clapper board, or clap your hands to mark the edit.
6. Keep the distance and volume of your voice consistent. You can back up for louder parts, but avoid getting quieter and quieter
7. If you are not speaking clearly or having trouble reading, take a break, have a drink of water or a snack
8. Be mindful of mouth noises, loud breaths, or lip smacks, tongue clicks or popping your Ps
9. If it’s a small mistake, try it over again quickly, or for a larger problem, try the whole paragraph or sentence over.
10. Once you’ve recorded, make sure your files are backed up. Power surges happen and  all machines can fail, hard drives stop working etc. So a secondary or even third copy of the files on another computer or uploaded to the internet is crucial to avoiding a disappointing situation. We have backup hard drives, and do an offsite backup, and internet uploads as soon as possible.