Dr. Charles Igel
Narrator, Educator, & Storyteller
“Giving story a pulse.”
Demos
“The artist when he paints a picture has a pallet, has a brush, a canvas. A narrator’s brush is his voice… A narrator has to have an emotional pallet of a wide range of feelings from which he can draw his vocal brush and paint a picture which ultimately is hung in the mind of the listener.”
- George Guidall
Now, I won't try to convince you I'm the only voice that matters. That would be both arrogant and untrue. There are plenty of talented narrators out there, each bringing their own style and voice. But here's what the good ones understand: it's not about having the perfect voice – it's about knowing how to voice a story so it has impact.
What I bring to the microphone is a lifetime collected experiences and training. I've got the formal education – University of Virginia graduate and published scholar, if we're keeping score. I've served in the Army, scaled mountains, sailed boats, and logged my share of passport stamps. These days, I call Denver home, where I work from my personal studio, write, teach, and keep learning the craft of acting and audio production.
All of that experience gets stirred into the pot when I step behind the microphone. My appreciation for literature, arts, and sciences isn't just academic window dressing – it's the fuel that fires up my narration. Storytelling isn't just what I do; it's who I am.
Your story deserves more than just someone reading words off a page. It deserves a narrator who understands that every script is a blueprint waiting to be built into something alive and breathing. You provide the story, I'll provide the heartbeat.
Because at the end of the day, that's what good narration really is – giving story a pulse.
About
For most of my adult life, I've been knee-deep in the business of storytelling and teaching. Here's the thing nobody tells you – whether we know it or not, stories are running the show. They shape how we see the world, how we make sense of our place in it, and how we decide what matters. Even the most stone-cold facts get filtered through the lens of how they're told. Story isn't just entertainment; it's the operating system of human experience.
So what's this got to do with narration? Everything. Good narration is storytelling, plain and simple. Great narration is storytelling with a mission.
Projects
FAQs
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Yes I do. In fact, I’ve produced most of my projects to date. That said, as the old saying goes, production is the enemy of authenticity.
A big part of the listening experience is having another human tell a compelling story. The variation in tone, emotion, and pacing, and even the occasional imperfection, is what engages the listener.
So I approach production with a light touch, focusing on my delivery so I don’t have to muck around with excessive production to make an engaging product.
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I narrate under Pay for Production or Royalty Share/Royalty Share Plus contracts.
Pay for Production
Under Pay for Production (P4P), I am paid upfront for narrating/producing the audiobook. My typical rate is $250 USD per finished hour of audio. This is negotiable under special circumstances. This rate is consistent with the American Actors Union (SAG-AFTRA) base fee for Audiobook narration.
Royalty Share/Royalty Share Plus
If you are on the ACX platform, I can contract under Royalty Share or Royalty Share Plus. Here, I agree to take no upfront fee to narrate/produce the audiobook. In exchange, you (the author/rights holder) and I (the narrator/producer) will split royalties for all audiobook sales for 7 years after its release.
Under Royalty Share Plus, I receive an agreed-up reduced per finished hour payment upfront, and then will continue the Royalty Share scheme described above.
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A voice is only as good as the equipment carrying it. And I’m very particular about how a final product sounds. I work from a dedicated home studio in Denver, CO. The studio is fully sound treated, designed for neutral sound balance (-65db noise floor), and outfitted with high quality recording and mastering equipment.
Recording Equipment
Shure KSM-32 or Rode NT1 5th Gen Condenser Mic with ProCo Quad XLR cables, Volt 276 Audio Interface, Behringer Xenyx X1003B Analog Mixer, JBL 7Series 5" Monitors, and DT770 Pro Headphones - all running through a Power-1 Power Conditioner to reduce electronic noise and interference.
Processing/Mastering
Adobe Audition DAW, Izotope RX11 Production Suite, and the Pozotron content editor running on MacBook Pro with M2 processor.
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Absolutely!
My studio is equipped with a conferencing camera and I have access to all the standard platforms - Zoom, Google Meet, Brave Talk, Source Connect, FaceTime, etc.
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Yes I do!
You’ve put a lot of effort and creativity into writing your book. And bringing your project to market as an audiobook can be daunting. I regularly help new/independent authors navigate this process.
If that’s you, connect at info@charlesigel.com or reach out on social. I’ve been a teacher my whole life and I’m pretty good at helping people learn new things :)
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"Thanks for the update and for catching that issue-I appreciate your attention to detail!"
Nat Smith, Turiya
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"It’s been a pleasure. Thank you, Charles. And yes - would love to keep in touch about future projects."
Anna Henkins Schmidt, Where We Land
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"Charles, your voice is so calming. It's perfect for the guided meditation. Just what I was looking for!"
Katie Hendrick, Prosper Money Coaching
