Audiobook Narration by CC Hogan
I am also on Findaway Voices
"C.C. Hogan's narration makes an already great book even better"
"An amazing book with the perfect choice of narrator. "
"The narrator was great, and I can't help to feel that the experience was bettered by his contribution."
"...he has a great voice and did a great job with the humor and comedy"
I am both a voiceover and an experienced engineer and editor and spent much of my long career in voice production in central London.
I am a Londoner born and bred and I will narrate in any style from BBC English (is there such a thing now?) to the strongest Cockney and many variations of Dickens.
I am very much a character voice as you will hear from the Oliver Twist excerpt below, and I like to give the narrator a character too.
In addition to generic London accents, I do a well-spoken classical actor voice (see The Cowardly Duke and The Fairy), and a variety of generic UK regional accents.
I have a deep, slightly husky voice which works well for powerful scenes as well as quiet, emotional scenes. I can push it up a register or two if required, though there is a limit to how young I can sound these days. "Gravel lined with velvet," someone said.
I love fantasy and thriller, as well as children's books and comedy. The odd romance is fun too, but see the note below. I worked on a lot of comedy over the years and enjoy dry humour especially.
I enjoy adding my own spin to the written word; taking the author as well as the listener on a journey.
I will consider both payment per finished hour (PFH) and royalty share (RS) work under the ACX or Findaway systems. However, for RS, the book must have a proven track record of sales and reviews already.
Note: I do not do erotica (I would giggle in the wrong places), and I do not do anything that promotes illegal activities, religion, or pseudo-science.
Samples
Victorian London - Eastend
From Annie and the Ripper, a tale set against the events of Jack the Ripper. A couple of cockney women and one of them meets the wrong man.
Time Traveller - RP Demonstration
The opening of The Time Machine, an ideal opportunity for RP, or BBC English as it is sometimes known. Speaking Posh, might be a better descrpiption
The Last Volunteer
Comedy Sci-Fi at it's best from the pen of Steve Wetherell. Good old London Accent. Two more books in the series coming. Read about it here.
Aldair in Albion
The first book in Neal Barrett Jnr's incredible sci-fi series from the 1970s. An honour to record this one and great fun too. He really was a very good writer.
Lost in Tokyo
The memoir of an English teacher and his first year working in a Japanese junior high school. Lots of Japanese names and words to trip me up, but a lovely story to narrate. Find out more here.
Dirt - Book one
The first audiobook of my fantasy saga. You can read more about the release on Audible, Amazon and iTunes here.
A Christmas Carol
Released in time for Christmas 2017, this take on the famous Dickens tale is told in a London accent - a bit of a change from British RP! Get it here.
The Violin Man's Legacy
Book one in a series of thrillers by Seumas Gallacher. You can find out more about this release here.
The Stink - Excerpt One
The opening chapter to one of my own books, The Stink is a comedy set in North London in the 1970s. Read in an unashamedly London voice, with the kind of flat comedy that I grew up with.
What the Fairy Did Next
Opening excerpt from a short story told by an aged old actress - a comical character from the roaring twenties and as camp as anything.
Dawn on the Rock
A forthcoming book aimed at the 10+ age group. A light, punchier, sillier read about a girl on her first trip to the moon.
Oliver
This is a conversation between Mr Bill Sykes and "The Jew" Fagin, as Dickens insists on calling him. By the way, if anyone ever fancies employing me to do Dickens in this style, I will love them forever. This is FUN!
Dirt - Excerpt One
A gentle conversation between Barkles and Farthing, sitting on a wall drinking beer. A relaxed read with a neutral narrator and character accents.
The Cowardly Duke
A story lifted from my book Dirt, this is the ancient tale of Duke Hathersage. In this rendition, I read it in a classical-actor style. A good older voice that might suit period and historical novels.
The Stink - Excerpt Two
Although The Stink is a comedy, not all of it is funny. In this, emotionally charged excerpt, Smell discovers that his brother is gay.
Dirt - Excerpt Two
Weasel and Farthing witness the sale of young slaves at the market. Features a strong market-trader character.
Hunting - A Poem
A poem about childhood and loneliness. Read in a quiet, deep, London accent.
Dirt - Excerpt Three
Several accents going on here, especially a character called Biggerman who puts plurals in all the wrong places. Nice, friendly little scene.
Production
My studio is based at home and consists of a custom voice booth, Neumann mics, Focusrite interfaces and I record using Cubase Pro and iZotope RX 7.
As a professional sound engineer and an editor with decades of experience, all my recordings are fully edited and mastered ready to be uploaded to the audiobook publisher (like ACX).
I do not use gating at all in my recording or mastering (it is a real no-no when recording clean voice overs!), and I work to various Loudness specifications depending on how the recording is going to be used. Note: If you need an excerpt for YouTube, their loudness specs are different to ACX, but I can create you a separate file if you need.
I do not remove all breaths as this makes a voice unnatural and tiring to listen to. Instead, I remove any unnecessary breaths and adjust the levels of others to suit the context. Often this means that the narrator loses most of his, but the characters keep most of theirs. But if the narrator needs to sound emotional or excited, the breaths stay in. This applies to both fiction and non-fiction. You should NEVER remove all breaths.
What I need
The chances are that we will be working via ACX or a company such as Findaway.
I require the manuscript to be in Word document format, double spaced in Times New Roman, in much the same way as you presented to your agent. It must be fully proofread to a high standard otherwise it becomes very difficult to read and harms the performance.
It should include any pronunciation of unusual, made-up or foreign words. If you are unsure about any particular word, tell me, and we can work it out between us. I will also use online guides to help with pronunciation, so let me know if you wish something pronounced in an unusual way.
I also need a character guide of some sort so I know who is who, how old they are and so on. A summary of the plot is also useful.
Basically, I need a brief where I am left with no surprises. Obviously, you don't want readers to know whodunnit before they get there, but that doesn't help me!
Once we get the style, the pace and everything else sorted out, I will just get on with it.
First, I will read through the entire book and mark it up ready for recording. This can be an extended process if it is a long book (like one of mine).
Then I will start recording. As each chapter/section is recorded and then fully edited and mastered, I will upload it for you to listen to. Please listen to everything, bearing in mind as you do what we originally agreed when it comes to style and pace.
All my recordings will be fully edited and mastered ready for uploading to ACX.
Previous Experience
- Producing and directing audiobooks with Jenny Agutter, Anton Rogers, Tim Pigot Smith and others.
- Voicing commercials and corporate reads for major companies including British Airways, British Gas, VW, and others, small and large.
- Working on post-production audio for several major films
- Engineering and post-production on 24 Sherlock Holmes radio plays
- Producing and recording radio docs, comedy programmes and shows for BBC radio.
- I have recorded and produced thousands of commercials, working with the best voice actors in the UK.
- Produced hundreds of multi-lingual versions of both corporate and drama video/tv productions.
- Voice acting roles on various animations.
Contact me
You can contact me directly on my email: [email protected]
However, you may prefer to contact me through my ACX profile. Click Here.
Series One & Two are out now!
Start series one with Dirt for Free, and start reading the brand new series two with Girls of Dirt for only 99p!
Girls of Dirt includes a recap of series one.
The Stink Is Here
North London, 1976. The longest, hottest summer on record. The water is running out and the kids hate their parents. Which bunch of idiots would think it is a good idea to start a band?
Stories
- Me
- The Fox and the Dove
- The Witch and The Bear
- The Young of the Plains
- I Met a Woman
- Recording my Poetry
- What was it?
- Your Anger
- The wonderful stink of Camden Market
- Uncomplicated Friendship
- I was called cute today
- When Be-Eirol first met Mab-Aneirin and Weasel
- Drunk Verse - A poets life
- The Everything Stew
- Random Love and Moments
- Poem - The Writer's Lament
- I Ached for You
- Sexy Sunday
- Just One Memory - A short story
- Tomboy