The LibriVox community is a group of volunteers with tremendous talent, enthusiasm and energy. In addition to recording books, poems, short stories, and other literature as free audiobooks, they also create podcasts promoting the site. This week's podcast had the theme of getting started as a volunteer, so I contributed a segment.
The podcast contains some excellent advice, and you will hear that many people take a professional approach when creating recordings for LibriVox. For instance, I frequently use web 2.0 technologies in my work as a voice-over talent, and I was glad to hear Icyjumbo talk about their use in his volunteer work. Andy Minter's humorous discussion of character analysis is spot-on with comments made by professional audiobook narrators.
Many of the stories written in the 19th century contain language that sounds jarring to our 21st century ears. I enjoyed narrating this sweet and humorous story written by Henry Cuyler Bunner (1855-1896) in part because his words sound more contemporary. In this age where people meet on-line and break up by text message, The Love-Letters of Smith is a refreshing look at relationships in past times.
Mr. Smith's letters gave me the key to his character's voice. For instance, here's one sample of his writing style:
A mishnery that sells Rum
is the menest of Gods crechers
I recorded this story for the LibriVox Short Story Collection, Volume 35. Download this short story (20Mb, time 21:48)
Before becoming a professional voice talent, I volunteered as a reader for 5 years at the Georgia Radio Reading Service. I read newspapers, Sunday sale pages, magazine articles and books for visually-impaired listeners who heard the broadcast over a special radio. I loved using my voice to help other people.
It is still important to me to be of service to other people. While Drew and I give money to charitable organizations, nothing can match the satisfaction of volunteering one's time. I have been looking for a service project where I could once again give the gift of my time and voice-over experience to benefit others.
I am pleased to announce that I have decided to volunteer as a narrator for LibriVox, which is an Internet organization that creates audio recordings of works in the public domain. While working in my stunning soundproof studio, I can continue to serve a larger audience of visually-impaired and other people who need and enjoy audiobooks.
Karen Commins
Voice Actor
Voice Actor
• Karen's home page
• Voice-Over Studio Tour
• Testimonials for Karen's Work
• Email Karen at AVOICEAboveTheCrowd.com
Karen's Voice-Over Demos
• Narration
• High Tech E-Learning
• Audiobook
• Children's Read-along
• Voice-Over Studio Tour
• Testimonials for Karen's Work
• Email Karen at AVOICEAboveTheCrowd.com
Karen's Voice-Over Demos
• Narration
• High Tech E-Learning
• Audiobook
• Children's Read-along
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