How do I love thee - I mean 'the'. I mean 'thee'. I mean....

In this extract from the best-selling ‘The Lowdown: Improve YourSpeech – British English’, David Gwillim and Deirdra Morris talk about fluency, ‘kicking across’ and when to say ‘the’ or ‘thee’ or ‘to’ or ‘te’

CLEAR SPEECH means FLUENT SPEECH. This simply means keeping the sound flowing, without un-natural breaks. Think of the end of each sentence as the target - and aim for it. If you have to breathe before you get there, do so, gently, but still AIM FOR THE TARGET in your mind.  

IT’S – EASY – TO – GET – THE – IMPRESSION – THAT – GOOD – ARTICULATION – REQUIRES – SEPARATING – THE – WORDS. Well, this isn’t the case. In a long presentation, such separations are an effort for the voice and they act like tiny slaps in the face for your audience, who will soon start feeling it’s an effort to listen. 

What you want to do is ‘kick across’ the final sound of each word onto the beginning of the next. 

To help with this kicking across, there are some useful linking sounds – W, Y, and R, for example. Rather than GO OUT we can say GO WOUT. Rather than SEE ALL we can say SEE YALL. And we can put an R into phrases we wouldn’t have dared to forty years ago – instead of DRAW UP we can say DRAW-RUP. 

Now think of ‘T’ at the end of a word, as in ‘I lent a lot of money’. The T of ‘lent’ and ‘lot’ are in front of the vowels ‘a’ and ‘o’, so to keep the fluency we say ‘lenta’ and ‘lotof’.

Another roadblock to fluency is saying ‘THE’ incorrectly. For example, it’s THE SKY - but if the word after THE begins with a vowel, then THE should become THEE. THE EARTH. THEE EARTH. See how the second pronunciation makes the phrase flow more easily?

Take a piece of writing – anything: a paragraph from HARRY POTTER or an article from your daily paper. Circle in black any ‘THE’ you find before a word beginning with a consonant. Circle in red any ‘THE’ you find before a word beginning with a vowel. Read the speech aloud a number of times, taking care to differentiate between ‘THE’ and ‘THEE’ where indicated. Keep reading until it starts to come naturally.

It’s the same with TO, as in TO ACT. The TO is TOO because the following word begins with a vowel. So it’s TOO WACT.

But TO before a consonant becomes TE as in TE GIVE.  Got it? – David Gwillim and Deirdra Morris

Taken from The Lowdown: Improve Your Speech - British English, by David Gwillim and Deirdra Morris, published by Creative Content Ltd.

It's all in the voice!

Audio producer and publisher Ali Muirden talks about how she casts a narrator for an audiobook...

When people hear that I work in the audio book industry, they often want to know what the actors that I’ve worked with are like.

Personally, I feel privileged to have worked with some of the best talent in the country over the last few years. And no! I am not going to name names as that could get me into a whole heap of trouble! But I must confess I do have my favourites…

But what do audio producers look for when casting a reader and how do we go about it?

The first step is to read the script for the book you are producing and more often than not, before you know it, a “voice type” will spring to mind.  Some books require a flowing, mellifluous voice, some require a quality which conveys excitement and drama, some require someone with a catalogue of character voices at his or her disposal.  

Sometimes you require someone with a particular accent skill, or the ability to switch from accent to accent at the drop of a hat. (These people are also probably brilliant at rubbing their tummies and patting their heads at the same time as spinning plates on poles!)

As you read the script, it becomes apparent what kind of voice quality is required and it makes the casting process much simpler.

Sometimes you have a tricky project where you just can’t seem to find the right voice for the job. Then it’s time to get on the phone to your fellow producers to request some help. 

Other producers are always hugely generous with their time and help on this subject and can be a great source of inspiration and advice. When we find a new talent, we always tell each other. Likewise, if we work with someone who has not bothered to prepare for the job properly, we also spill the beans! Wannabe audio readers beware: Don’t rock up and think you can just ‘wing it’ on the day…. Your future could be on the line!

Reading an audio book requires great stamina, energy and preparation in advance, if you are going to do justice to the book. Most of the really good readers say it can be one of the most demanding areas they work in, as you need to sustain the level of performance throughout a long recording day (anywhere up to 8 hours in one session) and any loss of energy or signs of tiredness are immediately obvious in your voice.  

But they also say it is one of the things they enjoy doing the most and it must give them a great sense of satisfaction when they meet someone who has heard them read an audio book who then says “all my kids love your reading of that story… they make me play it for them over and over and over again!”.

We’d love to know: Which audiobook narrators do you love to listen to? - Ali Muirden

Photo by Cliff1066

Happy year of the dragon!

To celebrate Chinese New Year, a post about the importance of  'face'.

Q:        What, in your opinion, is the most important thing to remember about doing business in China?

A:        There are two concepts that are vital to know about if you’re going to be doing business in China: the first is ‘mianzi’ or ‘face,’ and the second is ‘guanxi’ - which we’ll call ‘networking’. Let’s start with ‘face.’ It’s probably the most important concept to grasp when doing business in China. 

Q:        What is it, exactly?

A:        ‘Face’ is prestige - respect received from others and respect given to others. One’s reputation is also part of ‘face.’

Losing face for the Chinese has a far greater emotional impact than what we in the west understand as ‘shame’ – and in China, everyone has to preserve face at any cost.  A public insult, a reprimand or a personal affront will obviously lead to a loss of face. But a contradiction, a rebuff, or refusing an invitation might also cause a loss of face.  Even accepting a new idea can be perceived in some quarters as a loss of face. Losing your temper, or in fact showing any strong negative emotion, constitutes a serious loss of face for both the one losing his temper – and anyone caught in the crossfire. 

Q:        How does this apply to me and how I behave?

A:        It may be worth keeping in mind that simply saying ‘no’ to a request could be perceived as an insult – and hence, a loss of face. So if you can’t grant a request, propose an alternative.

Q:        Such as?

A:        Let’s say that after a long and successful meeting, your Chinese colleague asks you to dinner. This would mean that he wants to conclude the agreement at a more personal level. But let’s say you can’t accept his invitation, as you need to meet with his competitor or review the accounting papers he gave you. Both are valid reasons – but you can’t use them.

Q:        What should I say instead?

A:        Use words like ‘inconvenience’ or ‘difficulty.’ You could say something like, ‘I’m very sorry, it will be difficult this time,’ or ‘it’s not very convenient today.’ Then add something like, ‘Why don’t we do it another time? What about next Friday? Let me invite you.’ In which case, of course, you would host.

Audiobook Special: An interview with Clare Corbett, courtesy of Quercus Books

CC director Ali Muirden has been producing the wonderful Ruth Galloway series of audio books for Quercus Books. Here are some highlights from their fantastic interview with the narrator, Clare Corbett. (You can see the whole interview here). 

Clare Corbett is the reader for three Quercus Audiobooks in the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths. Rose Tomaszewska met her at Strathmore recording studios to find out more about an actor’s role in the creation of audiobooks.

Rose Tomaszewska: Not many people know what your job is like. Would you tell us how you came to be a reader?

Clare Corbett: I won the Carlton Hobbs audition in 2001 after studying at the Welsh College of Music and Drama, and was chosen to be on the BBC Radio Rep. At first, I was asked to do various smaller readings, and then I got my first chance to do ‘A Book at Bedtime’. That got me into the flow of reading and being a part of that world.

After I left I got a voiceover agent who introduced me to new companies like the BBC audio books, Chivers, who got me into reading children’s books, and now I’ve progressed to reading adult books.

*****

Rose Tomaszewska: We’ve just finished doing ‘A Room Full of Bones’, the fourth title in the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths. Have you enjoyed reading her books?

Clare Corbett: This is the third one I’ve done, and they’re really exciting books. It’s all about a forensic archaeologist, Ruth, she’s always digging up bones and of course her findings lead to further investigations.

Then there’s a guy called Harry Nelson, who’s the police detective inspector, with whom she’s having a kind of relationship, and it’s a really lovely relationship. It’s nice to do a series of books, because you get to explore those characters.

*****

Rose Tomaszewska: There are a lot of different characters, how do you bring across their personalities in their voices, where do you get your inspiration?

Clare Corbett: You find it from the text, which will explain what the characters are like, and then you’ve got license to go anywhere you want – the producer guides you in that. So Harry Nelson is quite a brusque guy, forthright and thinks that men should be in control, and because of those descriptions you know what to do, naturally. As anyone would, I imagine, when reading a book; because when you read a book in your head, you’re kind of playing the characters.

Rose Tomaszewska: There are a lot of accents in the series, from Norfolk to Australia to the Philippines! How do you get the hang of them?

 

Clare Corbett: Norfolk I had never done before I came to these books, which was a bit scary! I thought it was going to be in first person with a Norfolk accent. I’m from Bristol originally, and the accent is very similar to Norfolk, so I had to work on it quite a lot.

I go on a website which has people talking in different accents, and I listen and make notes phonetically on the page. In the book there are often Northern and Norfolk characters speaking to each other, and I find I have to switch accents quickly, which is quite difficult! But it’s just a matter of working hard, and listening, and having a good ear for accents, which I now have because of all the work I’ve done.

Rose Tomaszewska: Is that one of the hardest things about reading audio books?

Clare Corbett: No, the hardest thing is the long time spent in a studio. Normally with a voiceover, you only do an hour and sustain just one character. But with a book there are so many characters, and you’ve got to sustain the through-line of the story – you can make a book very bland if you just read it, deadpan – you’ve got to hook the reader in.

That’s where a producer and a sound engineer come in handy, they can say, “can you make this a little quicker,” or “bring up the intensity of the situation.” But you naturally have an instinct for that if you’re a good reader, and I hope I have.

It’s sustaining that concentration when you’re in the studio from 10am – 6pm with 3 breaks that can be hard. With a good producer, and with enough preparation- which is the key to doing audio books, you’re ok. And with enough cups of tea and coffee!

*****

Rose Tomaszewska: Would you ever want to do something really difficult like Virginia Woolf?

Clare Corbett: I’d love to! I’d love to give it a go. I did a book called Poppy Shakespeare, by Clare Allen, which is in the first person. There were so many different characters, and she was in a mental home, it was brilliant to play.

Because I’m an actor, the first person sits more happily with me than narration, because it allows you to be completely in the book: not flicking between characters. You’re in someone else’s head and their way of speaking, so you naturally start to physicalise it as well.

Rose Tomaszewska: Do you ever do that, gesticulate?

Clare Corbett: Yes. Too much! And get told by the engineer to stop moving, because as soon as you move, your face in moving towards or further away from the microphone, which is not conducive to a good reading, and you can bang the table as well, which is not good for a reader!

*****

Rose Tomaszewska: Do you have any tips for someone wanting to be a voice actor?

Clare Corbett: Everyone wants to be a voice actor! What I always say is practise reading out loud, even record yourself, because you may think you can read, but you have to have a lot of support and breath- and as an actor you have to train in that- and you need to sustain a lot of characters. So practise practise practise!

Find out more about Elly Griffith’s Ruth Galloway series at www.quercusbooks.com

2011 - that was the eYear that was!

Ali Muirden gives us Creative Content's year in review:

I've just been looking back at our publishing programme for 2011 and it was certainly the year of the eBook.  We decided to concentrate our energies and resources into publishing a brilliant collection of crime novels, previously published by Creme de la Crime in print editions.   With the eBook sector continuing to grow exponentially, this certainly proved very timely and we're really proud to have added this wide and varied collection to our list.

We continued our collaboration with military publishing specialist Osprey with the addition of 'Henry V', another from their "Command" series, being added to our audio collection.  It was beautifully  read by Jamie Glover, who was the perfect reader, having appeared in many RSC productions.

Jamie is also the voice behind one of our best-selling backlist titles: Improve Your Speech - British English.  He has many fans who have left comments on our YouTube page for this book including one who commented "I want HIS voice!"

This brings me neatly to our next publication which was the lyrical and moving memoir by Isla Blair (who just happens to be Jamie's mum!).  In a 'Tiger's Wedding - my childhood in Exile' Isla writes beautifully and movingly about her extraordinary childhood.  Born  in Kerala in India, Isla was sent to boarding school in cold gloomy post-war Scotland in the 1950s when she was only five years old and spent the next 10 years or so living apart from her beloved parents at school in the UK.  On release the book received fantastic reviews in the media, all of which were hugely deserved.

Isla also reads the audio edition which is available on download from all good retailers.  She brings such warmth and charm to this version of her book and it is very emotional listening.  Well worth a look and listen!

Next up was another biography but this was in a completely different sphere.  Chris Nickson's  detailed biography of John Martyn,  'Solid Air - the life of John Martyn', concentrates on John's music and is everything a fan of this highly respected musician could want.  It was published simultaneously with the tribute album of John's best known tracks which featured artists such as Phil Collins, Paolo Nutini, David Gray and Judi Tzuke!

We continued our military theme in July with the publication of "The Lowdown - A short history of the origins of the Vietnam War" written by Dr David Anderson of the University of California at Monterey (surely he must win the "who has the best office location" competition hands down?).

David is an authority on this subject and his account of how the Vietnam War came about is a master-class for anyone who wants to understand more about world changing events in modern history. You can impress your friends next time you're out for dinner, with your concise and expert knowledge of this fascinating subject!

In November and December we moved into a totally new area with the addition of the audio versions from top CBeebies show "Grandpa in My Pocket" to our audio list.  The show is the top children's programme on the BBC and was deservedly nominated for another BAFTA. We published two audio titles, "A Garden Full of Beasts" and "No Ordinary Pig", in conjunction with the programme makers Adastra at the end of 2011.  Watch this space for news of other titles from this series in 2012.

The other development in 2011 was the publication of text and speech synchronised editions of a variety of our backlist titles including the best-selling "Improve Your Speech" series.  We had long wanted to get eBook editions of these popular titles published and they are now available via iScroll who have launched an App which enables the speech to be synchronised to the text so that you can read and listen at the same time.  

So all in all, 2011 was another very busy year and it's now onwards and upwards for the new publications forthcoming in 2012.  Come back and visit our blog for more information on that soon! - Ali Muirden

Photo by Plushev