Audio Book Poduction
The program of audio book production has been started by a lot of organizations and audio book producers for the blind and physically handicapped people. The creative and technical excellence of the program should be of higher level to make it successful. This is known as the art and science of production of audio book. The excellence of the final product depends on several factors such as good workforce, equipment, and better facilities.
The narration of an audio book is always referred to as a skill. It is definitely true to a certain extent. Narration is the translation of the word that is written into the spoken form keeping in mind the objective of the author. The person who narrates in the production of audio book is called a narrator or a reader. There are four components of a good narration as voice, speech, language, and narration skill. The voice should be clear and free from acoustical quality that may be the cause of distraction. The voice must be strong enough so that the level of music generated is sufficient to get a clean and clear recording. The speech should be clear and understood easily. The narrator must speak the language fluently and must have deep knowledge of the language. The pronunciation must be proper. Narration skill has several elements. The narrator must be sensitive to the word meanings and should be able to understand any shadings and nuances in the word. Besides, there are several factors which enhance the narration. Good muscle coordination, good memory power, and good spoken punctuation - all these factors enrich the narration.
The technologies required for audio book production are acoustics, lighting, mastering, and ventilation. The narration environment should be sound proof and able to meet the physical, lighting, ventilation, and electrical necessities. The narration environment is placed in a host environment. It may differ in size. The host environment should be sound proof. It is the site of work for both the monitors and the reviewers. The host and narration environment must be dry, cool, and properly ventilated. The supply of air should be properly filtered because the air should be clean for the relief of the production staff. The narration and host environments must be properly lighted for the convenience of the narrators, reviewers, and monitors. It is also necessary while printing.
The methods of quality assurance and control should be maintained in all phases of audio book production. Quality assurance is a collection of process and system that identifies and prevents a problem from occurring again and again. Quality control is a procedure or process to prevent the defective product from reaching the customers. It identifies the product which does not attain the necessary standard and stops it from being circulated. The master recordings are run, reviewed, and checked for technical and artistic quality.