Category: book Nook
From the Wall Street Journal:
Man of Many Voices
Enlivens 'Harry Potter'
By JEFFREY A. TRACHTENBERG
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
July 1, 2005; Page B1
There are many professionals who read aloud for audiobooks. And then there
is Jim Dale.
An accomplished stage actor, singer and songwriter for more than 53 years,
69-year-old Mr. Dale is best known now in the U.S. because of his skills as a
narrator of the U.S. editions of five Harry Potter audiobooks. Most
recently, he was recorded reading all 117 different voices in J.K.
Rowling's "Harry
Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," to be published July 16. It's the sixth
title in a projected series of seven Harry Potter books.
QUESTION OF THE DAY
[question]
Will you be reading
the new "Harry Potter" book?
For vocal inspiration, Mr. Dale looks to real life. To create the voice of
Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Mr. Dale thought about the late actor
John
Houseman, who always spoke as a man of authority. For Dobby, an elf, Mr.
Dale recalled a short man's squawk as he implored Mr. Dale to "take your
bum out
of my face" in a crowded elevator. Know-it-all student Hermione Granger has
the voice of a former girlfriend who spoke in educated tones and always got
in the last word.
Mr. Dale relies on his own voice to portray Harry Potter, although he uses
a younger tone in the first five books. Altogether, he has created more than
200 distinct voices for the series, earning him a Grammy award and making
him a bookseller favorite. His Harry Potter titles have sold more than four
million
copies in North America. By means of comparison, an average children's hit
audiobook sells 20,000 copies, while a successful adult audiobook sells 50,000
copies
On Friday, July 15, he will appear for several hours at the big Barnes &
Noble store in Manhattan's Union Square, as people wait to buy "Half-Blood
Prince"
when it goes on sale at midnight. Mr. Dale will later visit bookstores in
Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
Scholastic
Corp. is printing 10.8 million copies of the hardcover while Bertelsmann
AG's Listening Library imprint simultaneously releases a record 635,000
audiobooks
in North America. (In the United Kingdom, where two other companies are
co-publishing the audiobook version of "Half-Blood Prince," Stephen Fry
does the
narrating.)
[Jim Dale, narrator of Harry Potter audiobooks, shown here recording the
fourth book in the series.]
Jim Dale, narrator of Harry Potter audiobooks, shown here recording the
fourth book in the series.
Born in England, Mr. Dale was a teenage pop singer before appearing in some
of the popular low-budget "Carry On" film comedies. His Broadway career
includes
the starring role in "Barnum," for which he won a Tony award.
Mr. Dale describes his narrating job as filling in the spaces. "If the
written description says that a character is a wheezy, sniveling young man,
your
voice has to capture that," he says. "If you can give the audience another
dimension, it helps tremendously to create an image."
To keep track of the different voices he has assigned to characters large
and small in the series, Mr. Dale credits a system he created himself. When he
sat down to record the first Harry Potter novel, he grabbed a small tape
recorder and a number of colored markers. For his own use, he then proceeded to
read the story in manuscript form. When he got to the first speaker, he
jotted down that character's name, identified it as No. 1, added the exact page
number and gave the speaker a specific color with his marker. Then he
turned on his tape recorder, and read the first sentence in that
character's voice.
By the book's end, Mr. Dale had created a voice for every speaking role.
Whenever he subsequently needed to check a specific character's voice, he would
rewind his tape recorder to the specific number.
Why the color coding? Because Mr. Dale has to recognize the character
before he can start speaking in the character's voice. He alerts himself by
putting
a colored dot at the beginning of a new sentence of dialogue. Although he
now knows most of the main characters without prompting, he did have the entire
panoply of voices put on a CD to refresh his memory.
Most audiobook narrators are given weeks to get ready, Mr. Dale says. But
in the case of the Harry Potter books, tightly embargoed before they go on
sale,
he says he typically receives a manuscript on a Friday night and is
expected to begin recording the following Monday at 9:30. He then reads as
many as
85 pages in a session before his voice gives out.
The following morning he picks up where he left off. "You've got to have a
throat of iron to do this," says Mr. Dale. The entire process can take several
weeks. The unabridged recording of the latest book is approximately 19
hours, filling 17 CDs and 12 cassettes. By means of comparison, the
audiobook version
of the last Harry Potter novel, "Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix," lasted 27 hours, filling 23 CDs and 17 cassettes.
Mr. Dale has learned that if he overdoes it in the studio, his voice takes
on a husky tone. This is a problem because after a night's sleep his voice is
clear. "You've got to make sure the two voices match up," he says. "They've
learned to trust me when I say I've done enough."
The need for trust goes both ways. During his first recording session, Mr.
Dale quickly muffed a line. The producer immediately interrupted him and asked
him to repeat it, and they would go on from there. When Mr. Dale insisted
on knowing what he'd done wrong, he was told that the recording would "take
forever"
if he continued to behave that way. "I learned very quickly to simply carry
on," he says. "Asking questions is a waste of time."
Along the way he's also learned some tricks of the trade. Sometimes during
the sessions Mr. Dale takes a bite out of a green apple. When there is too much
saliva in his mouth it can muddle the words. Chewing an apple, he says,
enables him to again speak distinctly. And instead of going to work the moment
he arrives in the studio, he practices for three or four minutes. "You've
got to get your voice up and running, the way you do with a car after a cold
night," he says.
Mr. Dale has never listened to any of the Harry Potter audiobooks he's
recorded. He says he is a perfectionist and would find fault with the
finished product.
When he works on a new show, he does so many rehearsals that by opening
night his character is fully conceived. By contrast, Mr. Dale doesn't have the
time to improve his audiobook performances. "I know I could do better if I
could only polish the next take," he says.
Sometimes he receives fan mail pointing out a mistake he may have made in
pronunciation; he is not amused. "You fluff words, you flub this or that, you
stutter," he says. "My performance will be judged by many people, but it's
a performance with only one take. It's frightening." Despite his success with
the Harry Potter audiobooks, Mr. Dale has only recorded four others -- "A
Christmas Carol," "Prince of Thieves," "Peter and the Starcatchers" and "Around
the World in Eighty Days."
Why not more? "Nobody asks me," he says.
Recording audiobooks, satisfying in itself, has another attraction for Mr.
Dale. "My stage acting only exists in people's memories," he says. "When those
memories go, I don't exist anymore. But my great-grandchildren will be able
listen to these audiobooks and hear my voice."
Write to Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at
jeffrey.trachtenberg@wsj.com
*gasps* I love how Jim Dale reads!!!! I'm going to buy the CD's just to hear his voice!!!!! I'm so excited!!!!
*sexy*
He reads great. But still ... the German reader Rufus Beck reads very well as well, with many voices and so on.
So far I've only heard Stephen Fry's reading. Could someone who knows both version perhaps tell us which they like better and if possible point out why? I've heard somewhere, that the texts of British and US editions of the Harry Potter books are different, in that British terms are substituted with american ones. I didn't have the chance to compare both, so can someone here verify this? Is this only done to the Harry Potter books, or is it common practice, when British authors are published in the US... What are your opinions on this, do you think it's necessary?
Yeah Steven ... don'T know his surname anymore, bad memory ... is great either. Only heard a little of Jim dail so can't really tell who's better.
I've herd them both, and in my appenyoun Jim Dale Is better.
Jim Fry is good but He has this voise like a girl when he's sopost to talk like a boy.
It's hard to sound like the other sexes tho. Yes they do change some of the british tirms like fringe to bangs. I just like Jim better.
OK, I've heard them both now, and I like Stephen Fry's reading better. Maybe Dale does more voices and stuff, but I think Fry makes the passages between dialogues sound more varryed and interesting... And he generally seems to sound more British... And since the humor and the atmosphere of those books is so British, I think that's certainly a plus. But in the end you probably like the narrator best whose reading you've heard first, at least if he did a good job, and Dale and Fry sure both did.#
I'm sure Dale's wonderful, but I have a real problem with hearing american accents reading such patently brittish books for some reason, and Stephen Fry's brilliant. As for the different editions, I think book 1 was the only one to suffer this. It was renamed as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and a few words were changed, jumper to sweater, toilet to bathroom, etc. I don't think it's necessary, for a few reasons, but each to their own, and they're hardly major changes.
Well, certainly I'm no expert on English accents, but I don't think Dale sounds american, at least his pronunciation doesn't... But still Fry's reading sounds more like what I associate with britishness. Well, probably this doesn't make much sense, but anyway:-)
I have not heard Steven Fry's reading of the HP books, but have heard it on Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I must say that I prefer Jim Dale's voice. And Dale is British, I heard an interview with him. But anyway...I don't know Dale's voice are just what I picture, and he does a great job with Harry in the 6th, that mp3 site was incomplete but I'm getting the CD anyway.
As for the British Vs. American books, I have gotten the British ones from bookshare and they seem the same, but I've only skimmed them.
Just my two knuts.
Dave
Stepeh Fries is good.
Jim is the bomb It's hard to believe he's almost seventy. Jeepers. He's amazing.
This article rocks. Thansk for posting.
I heard both and certainly prefer Steven Fry. Jim Dale is not bad, he reads well and some of his voices are nice, but I don't like his general attitude. It seems to me that he babies the readers and doesn't treat them the way you'd treat an inteligent person. The HP books are originally for children but children are not stupid. I don't like it when somebody makes a voice that is too sweet when speaking to a young child. In my oppinion that's what Dale does many times. I also don't like some of the voices he makes. Fry on the other hand rocks! He's serious when he has to be serious, funny when he has to be funny etc... Most important, he doesn't baby us readers. I heard an interview he did with JK Rowling on the BBC. It was amazing to see how well they interact and how deeply he understands the Potter books.
I've actually only heard Jim Dale read the bookd. So that's who I like, because that's who I'm used to hearing. But I've noticed that some of the voices of characters change in the books. For example, and forgive me my spelling sucks, but Dumbledor's voice was different in the first book then in the subsequent books. Also Fenious Nijelous's voice differs from book 5 and book 6.
But still, I love to hear him read.
I tried to listen to a woman reading one of the books on our radio reading network here in baltimore, and it was just not working for me.
Jim Dale does a fabulous job! I've heard the way Steven Fry does it, but he just doesn't do it for me ... *GRIN*
well, it's a matter of taste I guess.. I prefer Steven Fry but Dale is ok too. hey I can't wait for the next book already! lol!
Thank you very much for posting this article. It was quite interesting. They both read well but I prefer the British editions. It takes place in the UK anyways so keep the book that way as far as the estetic etc. Just my opinion...
O come on guys! Stephen Fry's the best, he rocks, he does all the male and female voices just fine, and he's my favourite narater.
I've only listened to the first, fifth, and sixthbook being narrated by Jim Dale. I don't know if the public libraries have any of the HP books narrated by Steven Frye. If they do, I would certainly like to listen to the way he narratwes. I want t to say that Jim Dale does do a good job. He has a good British accent, because, of course, he is British. However, here is something else to ponder...
There is still another version which most people in the U.S. will be familiar with. The HP books are also read by t for the Library of Congress and distributed by mail and free of charge to the blind and physically handicapped. They are read by Eric Sandvold. Pardon, I'm not sure how to spell the name correctly. If you guys have heard the narrations done by him please post your thoughts.
JIm Dale is encredable. Eric Sandvold makes me want to vommet. He kills Harry potter. He's offell I think the only voice over he did well was Umbridge. lol Dale for sure thank u.
I hate, auduo books for the most part, you can't read at your own speed, or anything like that. Jim Dale has changed all of that.
I heard Dail first, but I think I like Frie better. They're both good, though.
Well after I read both the British and American versions of the book. I liked Dail more than I can put up with Frie, because Dail bringhs the story to life, and Dail has the charisma to make you want to keepon reading no matter how old you may be. So al I going to say is that I love the books and Dail does such a good job. If he asked for a million dollors to read the seventh book I would pay what ever he asked.
I've heard Jim Dale narrate these books, and if I may so, he does a great job! Keep it up! lol
I've never heard anyone except dale and sanvold, and I choose dale, anyday!
I'm not saying that fry didn't do well, I'm sure he did.
But there's just something about the way dale reads....
I heard a couple seconds of Eric Sandvold narrating it, and I couldn't get away, but I'd run away if you gave me the choice. Well, he makes me want to fall straight to sleep. I haven't listened to steven frie's things, but Jim Dale is great! I just couldn't imagine him as old as he is. I thought he was in his forties. Luna's voice makes me laugh. I love Remus's it's so soothing, but I guess it's also the character. He's fatherly, no doubt.
Does Jim Dale read any other books, besides Harry Potter? I posted to the Wheel of Time board awhile ago and wish Jim read parts of those books or might also be cool if he read the Sword of Truth books, not that those readers aren't good too.
I have all the books done by Dale. I was on a myspace group for HP a while back, and the moderator put up the fifth book done by Fry. I listened up to the point where Uncle Vernon starts talking, and then turned it off. In my opinion, Fry reads too slow. Not a fan of his voice overs either, I think Dale does a better job. But to each his own. O, and to the person who asked what other books he does, it said in the article, he did Prince Of Thieves, Peter and the starchatchers, around the world in eighty days, and on other I can't remember off of the top of my head. I have the American versions, is their really a difference between them and the Brittish ones? Also, I didn't think Jim Dale was in his sixties, I thought he was in his thirties or early forties as well. Just my thoughts, Mike.
O yeah, need to read A Christmas Carol read by Jim.
good grief y'all, can't believe this thread is still going, interesting to read everyone's views.
Carla/TexasRed
I’ve also watched a movie Dale was in, I couldn’t recognize him, since he had yet another voice. He’s is in Pete’s Dragon, I believe it’s called. Oh, ha, I love terminus for his character too.
I've only heard Jim Dale read it, so dont know about the other ones, but I believe you on the other guy who reads for The Library of Congress.