March 29, 2025

Recording an Audiobook remotely over 11,000 miles. From Edinburgh to Wanaka NZ

looking for you audiobook at offbeat

Recording an Audiobook over the internet

Dealing with the time difference and internet pops and clicks was a challenge, but thanks to great narration and some back up contingencies we pulled it off!

At Offbeat, we’ve recorded plenty of audiobooks remotely over the years, but this one took the prize for sheer distance—producing a book from our studio in Edinburgh while the narrator was 11,000 miles away in Wanaka, New Zealand. It sounded ambitious, but we took the challenge.

EDINBURGH TO WANAKA MAP

It started with The Perfect Passion Company, the first audiobook in a new series by Alexander McCall Smith for Polygon Books. We recorded it here at the Offbeat Studio in Edinburgh with the brilliant narrator Amy Alexander, and all went smoothly. But when it was time for book two, Looking For You, Amy was off travelling the world, deep into her yoga and wellness business adventures. Normally, that might mean finding a new narrator, but Polygon really wanted Amy following a positive reaction from fans of the author for the first audiobook in the series .

So, I tracked her down. Through WhatsApp. In Bali.

We considered using Source Connect, which allows high-quality audio recording over the internet. Amy found a potential booth in Bali, but then the script got delayed. By the time it was ready, she had moved on to Wanaka, New Zealand—so we moved the recording there too. Finding a studio that had Source Connect, we booked it for a three day series of sessions, and  we were ready to go.

The logistics were interesting. Amy started at 6 AM NZ time while I was in the studio at 5 PM UK time. Three consecutive five-hour sessions later, and we had the audiobook in the bag.

Source Connect did the job to some extent, because despite being 11,000 miles apart, it felt like Amy was in the next room. There were a few adjustments to how we’d normally record, but we got it done. Normally we would record using the Punch and Roll technique. It quickly became apparent that this wasn't practical due to limitations of the Source Connect software so we reverted to the Fluff & Repeat method. As well as recording over the internet at Offbeat it was decided that Amy would need to record locally in Wanaka as a back up plan. Just as well as their were a lot of pops and clicks and dropouts, not surprising given the distance perhaps. I'll expand on the technicalities in a future blog about Source Connect and it's limitations.

looking for you audiobook

Not sure if an audiobook has ever been recorded over such a vast distance before, but I reckon we might have set a record. Either way, Looking For You is now out on Audible, and if you give it a listen, you’d never know it was recorded across two continents.

Just another day at Offbeat.