Why it suits audio guides
- Collections change. Objects go on loan, rooms are rehung, labels are rewritten. Updating a stop is one line.
- Many languages for international visitors, with the same structure and numbering in each.
- Several voices bring a tour to life: the curator narrates, an artist's letter is read in another voice.
- Small institutions can offer a guide where studio recording would have been out of reach.
How to build a tour
- One project per tour or exhibition, and a script per language.
- One line per stop, in tour order, so the download's numbered files match the stop numbers on your labels or map. A long stop can be a few lines.
- The narrator: a curator or guide who agrees to have their voice cloned, or a licensed narrator. Record the sample in a warm, unhurried voice.
- Extra voices for quoted letters, diaries and interviews, labelled in the script:
Letter: My dear sister, the paint is finally dry. - The Calm style for most narration; listeners are walking and looking, not just listening.
- Generate, review on site, and load the files into your guide app, players or a web page.
Writing for a visitor who's looking
- Start with where to look: "Look at the bottom left corner, where the boat is."
- About one to two minutes per stop; shorter for children's tours.
- Dates as they're said: "painted in sixteen sixty-five".
- Artists' and places' names respelled if they're misread, with the proper spelling kept on your printed labels.
Quotations from real people
Reading a historical letter in a voice is a long tradition in exhibitions and documentaries. Make it clear it's a reading, not a recording: an introduction such as "In a letter to his brother, he wrote:" does it. Don't clone the voice of a real person, living or recently dead, to put words in their mouth. See using AI voices responsibly.
Languages
Translate each stop, keep the same line order so stop 12 is file 12 in every language, and voice it with native samples for the most natural accent. See translating a voiceover.
Accessibility
An audio guide is an accessibility feature in itself. Consider an audio-description tour that describes objects in detail for blind and partially sighted visitors, and publish the script text for deaf visitors. The download includes every script as text.