After being made more available via streaming services such as Storytel and Fabel, audiobooks have become increasingly popular. Did you know that Norwegians read an average of 15 books a year and that more and more of these take the form of audiobooks? Since 2015, Nitro has produced more than 600 audiobooks, corresponding to around 6000 hours of listening!
We record crime stories, novels, biographies, children’s books and more. And behind every book, there’s a lot of work to be done. Readers have to be chosen and booked in and the production must be carefully planned. After recording, the post-production and mastering work begins. This means removing unwanted sounds or noise, setting sound levels to be as comfortable as possible and making sure that volume levels are constant throughout the book. After that, the sound files may be sent for publication.
How customers choose their readers varies: sometimes they have someone specific in mind, on other occasions we help by suggesting suitable voices. Some of our most experienced actors record many books in the course of a year and are so used to doing so they read almost faultlessly. Our studios are set up in such a way as to provide the optimal conditions for readers to give of their best.
Recording sessions generally last four hours, with regular breaks to make sure that the voice does not become tired. On average, we spend about 20 hours in the studio for each audiobook.
Picture, top: Silje Storstein
Video, bottom: Christoffer Staib