I work with actors and musicians to bring my characters alive!
All Music Audio Stories are narrated by me, but what some of you may not know, is that some of the character's voices are also voiced by me! Reviewers have mentioned the tone of my narration in reviews - Priscilla Tan (Priscilla and her Books) described my voice as "liquid gold".
I am fortunate to be able to work with talented voiceover artists. They include talented actors from TV, film, theatre, and musicians. Choosing the right voice for the right character is always fun and I've had one or two surprises along the way!
The first artist I worked with was, Kiria Ceinwen. Kiria had the perfect gentle and playful voice I was looking for for my fairy in my audiobook Chris the Caterpillar. She brought her own fairy wings and wand to help her transform into the role. Kiria's fairy made a cameo appearance in my Christmas Magic story too.
Singing in Character
Performing a voice for one of my characters can be a challenge! Not only do I ask for a great voice but there are quite a few songs in my stories too. This means once the actor has established their voice, they then need to make sure they can sing in that voice too!
This has caused much laughter! It was great fun listening to my friend, Rob, singing Jimi's jazzy theme tune in Jimi and his friend Joe. Listen carefully and you will hear that I am singing backing vocals in the song!
Recording
Normally, when recording voice-overs, each person records their part on their own, usually to a scratch track (guide track) which I have already recorded. However, there have been a few times when I have dared to record two voices at the same time!
When I set about making my space story, Robert & Johnson's Space Adventure, I pretty much decided straight away that the two lead characters would need to interact with each other during the recording because of the way their lines were written.
The two actors/musicians who played Robert and Johnson (Aris Tsigaras and Aaron John) were in my mind when the story was written so I knew they would do a great job. They made me laugh with their banter and Ad-Libs, it was brilliant! They also sang and played their song, Aris on guitar and Aaron on banjo, together on the same day.
Recording with Children
Geffin Katz Kaye is the youngest person I have recorded with. He is my rockin' Robin in my audiobook Johnny No Cash. He was accompanied by his dad, Paul Kaye, who is also featured in the story as the pirate crow called, Russell.
Geffin was excellent at recording his voice and also singing in the sea chanty with the other pirates in the story.
Visit the Music Audio Stories Studio Instagram page to see more recording photos.
Anna Christina