LibriVox Forum

I'm reading for a project right now and some of the characters are described to have pretty unique voices. Should I be trying to invent a unique voice for them or should I keep it all fairly uniform? Also worth noting is that it's a group read, so the voice I choose won't be the same in the chapters read by other people.

View as a listener - I don't think you should over dramatise the parts - save that for the drama groups or solos. If the voices change when reading do it - I don't know anyone who could read the 3 Bears without changing voices for the Bear family but for groups just read naturally.

Anne

I'd say it comes down to personal style and preference. If you feel comfortable doing voices and you enjoy it, go for it! If it stresses you out, don't worry about it.

Listeners vary, too. Some listeners love hearing all the different voices. Some are annoyed by them. So do what you enjoy.

I came here seeking a similar answer. For me I worry more about giving each character a voice. From my experience of listening to professional audio books, I did appreciate some subtle tone changes for characters. But it is subtle. A guy reading a female character in full falsetto is going to be ridiculous. Just flat reading it all seems like it would not be as engaging.

both is ok!
i just love listening to both styles...
in the one i get the impression that someone really skileld and feeling the text is reading for me, in the other i ften forget that it is a reading and follow the text s much as reading it for myself.
it' really both!

Very good perspectives already given.

There are varying approaches, and they are all valid for our purposes.

I would say that unless one is comfortable in doing character voices and can do them well, then go for it. But, poorly done character voices can mar a recording. I think ScottinTexas is on target, in saying that slight variations to indicate characters is a good middle ground approach. As long as we know who is talking, we're fine I think. I'm not good at all with accents and character voices, so I tend not to read those types of books as much.