A Man of Many Voices: an Interview with an Audiobook Narrator

Although I love listening to audiobooks, I’ve never given much thought as to the making of them. Hearing mine made me curious about what all goes into the process. I reached out to the amazingly talented narrator of Enemies of Doves, Michael Brusasco, and he agreed to be interviewed for my blog.

Let’s get started!

Can you share a little bit about your professional background? I know you have quite the resume that extends beyond audiobook work.

My audiobook career is relatively new compared to my other artistic endeavors.  I have been a professional actor for the last 25 years working at various regional theatre companies across the United States.  In addition to acting and audiobooks, I also teach theatre at the college level.  Currently, I teach Voice, Speech and Dialects at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts on the Central Coast of California.  I’m also building my voiceover chops because I am incredibly interested in commercial v/o and video game acting (surprisingly, audiobooks and voiceover are very separate worlds).  I have a lot of irons in the fire!  

How does audiobook narration compare with stage acting?

I think the simple, fundamental difference boils down to volume.  With stage acting, you are typically performing in houses that seat anywhere from 100 to 1200 people, and you must be heard all the way to the back row of the theater.  That means using my voice in a way that is supported enough so that everyone can understand me without frying out my vocal cords.  It is not that way with audiobooks: the microphone is right in front of me, picking up every little detail in my voice.  My support system is less muscular, but there are so many things I must pay attention to.  Any audiobook narrator understands when I say the phrase “mouth sounds”.  Every little lip smack, crackle, squish, or pop can be your nemesis while recording.  The demand on the voice is different, but equally challenging and fun.

What is the audition process like for an audiobook? 

That is a great question because I really think it depends on who you talk to.  Typically, most folks go to the ACX website (Audiobook Creation Exchange).  It’s where narrators and producers of audiobooks can go to collaborate.  If I see a project that is right for me, I will download the audition sample provided by the rights holder, record and edit it, and send it in with my fingers crossed. 

Enemies of Doves was different.  I was selected by Dreamscape Media to record it. I’m relatively new working with them, so I had to go through a screening process to make sure I was the right fit for the project.  They were able to hear a range of my work before selecting me so they knew my voice would work with your manuscript.  If I recall correctly, I also sent a sample to the sound engineer (an audiobook narrator’s BEST FRIEND) to make sure I was on the right track before moving deeper into the project.

How do you prepare to record an audiobook?  How do you get a feel for the characters and tone of a story?

It may seem obvious, but I read the book first! Cover to cover!  One of my favorite apocryphal stories that was told to me was when a narrator, pressed for time, began recording without reading the book first (maybe she skimmed it? I don’t know).  The novel was written in the first-person point of view, and when she got to the last page of the book, the character said, “AND THAT’S HOW I GOT MY SOUTHERN ACCENT.”  I don’t know whether she had to go back and re-record the whole thing or not, but it’s the best example of why you should read the whole book before starting.

By reading the whole story, you get a sense of the motifs and themes of the narrative.  For your novel, I resonated with the themes of justice, of doing what’s right, sacrifice, trauma, family, and love.  So, I made sure that each character identifies on some level with at least one of those themes.  Your story was also a mystery so structurally I wanted it to have that sense of unfolding revelation.  You also have some lovely twists in there as well, and I had to pay attention to those to make sure I wasn’t giving anything away prematurely.  Another reason to READ THE ENTIRE BOOK FIRST!

I also look at the voice of the narrator’s point of view.  Sometimes, like in the story I mentioned with the southern accent, the narrator’s voice is in the first person, which typically means things are going to be a little more personal.  With third person narratives, you need to decide how close you are to the action.  Some third person narratives are incredibly omniscient and detached, others are right there in the action with the characters.  And it can change in any given chapter.  I don’t want the narrator’s point of view to overwhelm the listener, but the voice is its own character in the story. Ultimately the text tells you where to go.

How long did it take you to record Enemies of Doves?

It took me about four weeks to record.  I was working on a horror anthology simultaneously so bouncing from murder zombies to the Gib Lewis Unit in the 90s was a trip!  Once I submitted the final file to Dreamscape, their extraordinary sound engineer (Joel Thibodeau – the man, the myth, the legend) edited the sound files and then kicked it back to me for pick-ups (mistakes that need to be “picked up” and re-recorded).   Maybe my stomach gurgled on a line, or I dropped a word… or maybe I mispronounced Steven Seagal’s last name and I was totally ashamed because I’m a child of the late 80s/early 90s and I had NO RIGHT TO MISPRONOUNCE THAT MAN’S NAME.  You know, stuff like that.

How do you come up with different voices and keep them all straight? (I never realized how many minor characters I had in Enemies of Doves until I heard you create voices for them all…sorry!)  

Surprisingly, your story did not have that many characters compared to what I’m used to reading!  And your story really focuses on a handful of people with your supporting cast rounding out the world.  The important thing for me is understanding each character’s intentionality.  Crawl wants something different than Joel (obviously), so it was less about the voice and more about what each character needs to get out of the other person.  That said, I wanted to make sure the main voices of the story were in my own accent, but I knew I wanted to play with the Texas dialect for others.  I feel lucky because I’ve worked a lot in Dallas and Houston, so I was comfortable playing with that accent in the story. 

If I find myself in a situation where I can’t keep the characters straight, I will have a little cheat sheet next to me to remind myself of who sounds like what.  Sometimes I will create a short sound file on my desktop in case I need to refer to it as I progress through the story.

What’s a typical recording session like?

I like recording in the morning when my voice is freshest.  A typical day is I get up, make a cup of coffee (I know it’s bad for the voice but I DON’T CARE) and give myself some time to check the news, do some correspondence, and just let my brain settle before getting in the booth.  When I’m ready to go, I drink some water, do a little vocal warm up and stretch, and then jump in!  My goal is always to finish the chapter I started.  When I complete the chapter, I take a little break, do another little warm up, and assess whether I can keep going.  For example, I live in California and the last two weeks have been very smoky due to the fires.  In that case, I’ve limited my recording time because I can begin to feel the effects of the smoke on my voice.   I typically am in my sound booth from 9am-12pm recording.  I then switch over to editing projects in the afternoon.

Are there special techniques you use to care for and condition your voice? 

Water, water, water.  I always have water and I’m always taking little sips as I record.  I really notice that alcohol impacts my voice so if I’m in the middle of a project I need to be careful not to indulge too much.  Which is a bummer because I live near wine country.  I teach the Linklater voice training sequence at the conservatory so I’m constantly bringing that training to my own work.

Sometimes there are days where my voice is simply not having it.  I’ve learned that pushing through that is a BAD IDEA.  As frustrating as it is, I say to myself it’s not worth it, and turn the mic off.  Those days I’m usually editing projects on my own, so time is not lost.

 Do you have any suggestions for a writer to take into account while writing a book that would make an audiobook version easier to record, or more effective as an audiobook?  

That’s a GOOD question.  Let me first point out that I’ve never written a book and can’t imagine ever writing a book.  The amount of time and dedication is not lost on me, and I salute anyone who chooses to make writing their profession. 

As a speaker of text, I can say this.  Beware the redundancies in your writing.  I was just working on a chapter of a book today and it went a little something like this:

NAME OF CHARACTER felt so much shame that his feelings got the better of him.

“I’m sorry.  I’m so ashamed I did that!” he replied.

Reading it you may not notice it but saying it aloud is just strange.  Saying “shame” twice in this instance is just repetitive and not interesting.  The author could have had the character say “I’m sorry.  I feel so terrible for doing that!” and made the language more dynamic. 

Because I come from a theatre background, I passionately believe reading your work aloud is invaluable.  The inner voice you hear in your head is subtly connected to your physical voice.  Reading aloud gives you a sense of the rhythm and melodies of your story that will be heard in the imaginations of your readers.

Where can we go to learn more about your work and contact you for our future voice talent needs?

You can always go to www.michaelbrusasco.com to see what I’m currently doing and contact me!  Thanks for inviting me to talk about the work, I’ve had a blast answering your questions!  Happy listening!

Thanks, Michael, for the interview and for the fabulous recording of Enemies of Doves. You guys be sure to visit his website and follow him on Instagram @brusascobooks. Then head on over to the audiobook retailer of your choice and download Enemies of Doves! It pairs well with any wine. 😉🍷🎧