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The main difference between traditional books and commercial or free downloadable audio books online from the public domain are they are that audiobooks are read and recorded by a professional reader.

The person who is recorded reading a book, the ‘narrator’, gives the audio book a voice. Successfully providing this voice requires certain skills. A book narrator can be compared to a film actor; it takes so much more than just having a pleasing voice to be a book narrator, there is a real art to narration that requires very particular talents.

Preparation

Before a digital book can be recorded, it is crucial for the narrator to prepare by firstly pre-reading and analyzing the materials to be read. There are many issues to be considered at this point. For example, deciding how each character can best be portrayed using various techniques involving the manipulation of emphasis at various points of delivery as well as considerations of accent.

A good narrator will be able to keep the flow of the reading progressing at the right speed, staying consistent and maintaining stamina. Each scene must be read with precisely the right intonation and rhythm.

It is important that pauses in the flow of the reading are carefully planned for best effect. The ratio of soft and loud sounds is known as dynamic range and combined with the timing and pitch of the reader’s voice these elements (which define the color of the narrator’s voice) combine to place images and feelings in the mind of the listener.

This is how a talented book narrator is able to convey the emotions of a character, conjuring up precise emotions by adding to the words that are being read or listened to. The professional reader needs to have the ability to bring the meaning of the text to life by sensitively bringing nuances and shading to what they are reading in an uncontrived, natural way.

Every word should be correctly pronounced, including foreign words. It is crucial that the rhythm and flow of the narration should not be interrupted by faltering pronunciation.

In the recording studio

On average it takes five and a half hours to record a single hour of written material for a recorded book. This is done in recording studios that have been created especially for the process and generally will include the presence of a sound monitor and reviewer as well as the narrator; these groups of people are known as the studio production team.

The recorded book is available in various formats to suit all manner of playback devices, digital books were once commonly known as books on tape but are now more commonly called audio books. The tape formats are now almost obsolete and are more widely available as digital downloads or on compact disc by most merchants who sell audio books online.

Portable media players and fast Internet speeds have popularized Audiobooks because they are now produced in a digital form making them broadly available on the Internet when buying or renting audio books online.

By Peter Markovic

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audiobook