CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH
Title
Comment on recording quality, SFX and how the reader brought the characters to life.
The BFG by
Roald Dahl
https://soundcloud.com/penguin-books/roald-dahl-bfg-read-by-david
David Walliams provides the audio reading for this book and every now and again, he lowers his voice to a whisper and speaks slower and with intensity to increase the suspense, especially in the first chapter which has no background music. This further increases the tension as does the absence of sound effects.
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
https://soundcloud.com/penguin-books/roald-dahl-james-and-the-giant
The sample starts off with a Concerto-style of music with a voiceover announcing the title of the book, the writer and Julian Rhind-Tutt who is the reader. The music lasts about 38 seconds then there is a pause for a second and the narrator starts to read at 40 seconds, starting with the Chapter Number. The Narrator pauses for a further 2 seconds then starts to read at 43 seconds. There are no sound effects or background music and the narrator tends not to change his tone of voice very much apart from trying to put on an angry woman’s voice to simulate the aunts verbally abusing James. The sample stops just short of 3 minutes.
The Diary of Dennis The Menace by Steven Butler
https://soundcloud.com/penguin-books/steven-butler-dennis-the
Steven Butler starts off whispering as if he were telling the reader to keep the material a secret, occasionally raising his voice to emphasize the secrecy of how the material should be handled. He is talking to the audience as if he were trying to encourage them to be menaces as he goes through 9 rules related to menacing then there is a drum roll when it gets to rule 10, at which point, he talks like he is all excited then the clip ends.
Silent Night by Jack Sheffield
The author provides the narration which begins immediately and starts off as if it were a diary entry of the author’s own experiences as he mentions a particular date, September 3rd 1984. He describes his and the other characters’ appearances in great detail, right down to the style of clothing and their characteristics and even the furniture.
Matilda by Roald Dahl
https://soundcloud.com/penguin-books/roald-dahl-matilda-kate-winslet
The sample begins with half a minute of music then an announcer immediately announces the title of the book, the author and the reader, Kate Winslet, the music continues to play until 47 seconds in where the announcer announces the title of the first chapter as the music fades out. Kate Winslet starts to read at 50 seconds. Her voice remains relatively calm and collected until the part where she describes parents becoming so sick of their kids that they demand a basin which is distinctly in a disgusted and exasperated tone. She then starts to talk like a teacher expressing dissatisfaction with her pupils and putting such a point across to the parents, distinctly no nonsense and strong and firm or using poetry and history as a means of being sarcastic as well as brutally honest. The sample ends with just under a minute to go with only more music playing
Peppa Pig Goes Camping narrated by John Sparkes
https://soundcloud.com/penguin-books/peppa-pig-peppa-goes-camping-1
There is a mary jingle at the beginning followed by the announcement of the title then John Sparkes starts to read and changes his voice according to the different characters such as old and gruff for Granddad Dog and squeaky and high-pitched for Peppa and George and soft and soothing with a strange echo-like background sound for the voice of the satnav
Audio Book Research