News & Updates
Wynt Woody’s Narration Newsletter (Summer 2024)
August 13, 2024
Learning Hungarian Pronunciation
There is perhaps no more unusual language in the Western world than Hungarian. I recently wrapped on Canadian author Frank Vesely’s HUNGARIAN POETRY, a forthcoming FriesenPress audiobook (produced by Audivita), which for me was an adventure in pronunciation I greatly enjoyed working on.
Frank participated in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, only to be compelled to escape pursuit of the invading Soviet forces, landing alone in Canada without any ability in English and no money but the shirt on his back. In this work, Frank has published his translation of hundreds of poems to English from the Hungarian, and also included his own poetry, written over many decades. The effort is a marvelously brave work of an inveterate patriot with a profound love of his home soil of Hungary.
Distantly related only to Finnish, modern Hungarian evolved over many centuries as an independent branch of an ancient tongue, separately from the Romance languages, but with loan words from Turkish and Latin, the language of state until 1844. Suffixes in Hungarian perform the function that prepositions and adverbs do in other languages, like English and French, giving rise to rhyming opportunities English simply doesn’t offer; word order is flexible, remarkably akin to that of Mandarin Chinese, in which I possess native fluency, where context shapes meaning; and, as in Japanese (in which I was once fluent, though now rusty), the custom of naming is that of family name, followed by given name. Frank Vesely, outside of Hungary, was born Vesely Ferenc. All that and 44 letters, with many composite sounds.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to learn how to compose a sentence in order to prep this book: my role in this audiobook required only the proper pronunciation of Hungarian terms, and fortunately Frank himself, a poet with a keen ear and formerly a school instructor, was my dialect coach. I hope I have been a good student. Here’s a brief audio clip, not from the audiobook itself, but of Hungarian pronunciation as I’ve learned it. The two names I refer to are: Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály. Note the diacritic above several of the vowels.
Wynt Woody’s Narration Newsletter (Spring 2024)
April 29, 2024
Happy Springtime!
Here’s what I’ve been working on:
NARRATION WORK
(Audio samples available upon request.)
Just completed
The Power of the Five Elements (North Atlantic Books)
Non-fiction, holistic medicine
Work-in-Progress
Hungarian Poetry in Translation
Recently completed
The Age of the Individual and My Life and Times in It
Reminiscences, autobiography, European history
The Dean of Shandong (Princeton University Press)
Non-fiction, current events, China
The Gerasimov Doctrine
Fiction, Intrigue, Dialects, Accents (R.P., Cockney, Yorkshire, Russian, Texan)
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Achieved certification from Paul Meier Dialect Services in
Standard British English (R.P.) and Cockney dialects
NEW EQUIPMENT IN THE STUDIO
Microphones and Pre-amps
• AEA R44CX25LE ribbon microphone
Warm, rich, resonant, round, full-bodied, inspired by the classic RCA R44.
Read about the precursor R44CE here at TapeOp. My R44 is one of only 44 to be made, based upon the stock unit, but significantly improved.
• AEA KU4 ribbon microphone
Silky smooth with extended mids and top end. Read more at SoundonSound.
Pre-amplifier
• AEA RPQ3, specially designed for AEA ribbon microphones
Read more about the AEA RPQ3 here at SoundonSound:
Wynt Woody Records for Princeton University Press Audiobook, “The Dean of Shandong”
March 27, 2023
I’m pleased to have narrated Daniel Bell’s, The Dean of Shandong, for Princeton University Press, a new client. The microphone I chose for this narration was my AEA KU4 ribbon and Jennifer Howard (Sound Understanding UK) was the (really wonderful to work with) producer.
New Narration Completed: Become the Expert the Wealthy Want
April 11, 2018
I’ve just finished recording the audiobook of the title, “Become the Expert the Wealthy Want” by Russ Alan Prince and John J. Bowen, Jr., for CEG Worldwide and Deyan Audio. I’ll share the link once it’s in distribution.
This book could very well become the standard, if it isn’t already, for wealth managers who want to develop new business through thought leadership.
Wynt to Narrate “Horse Tricks” for Horse Trainer, Keith Hosman
August 1, 2016
I’m very pleased to have been hired to narrate the non-fiction title, Horse Tricks, by Keith Hosman, a well-known Texas horse trainer, for use by his equestrian clientele throughout the U.S.
Deyan Audio Adds Wynt Woody to Its Audiobook Casting Roster
July 5, 2016
I am very pleased to announce that Deyan Audio (www.deyanaudio.com) has added me to the casting roster. Please visit their site for more about this fine audiobook producer and their (extensive) credits and awards.
Italian Waiter as Irish Tenor!
June 7, 2016
A still from the stage production of SCAPINO!, a musical by Jim Dale and Frank Dunlop, directed by George Brock at the Unity Theatre, currently running until June 19, 2016.
SCAPINO! is a madcap farce, loosely based upon Moliere with stock characters reminiscent of both neoclassical theater and that of the earlier Commedia del Arte. That is, the characters are human types and the stage is a hive for physical comedy.
The script gives no indication of the character of the Headwaiter. However, the director, George Brock has given me the opportunity to develop him. Headwaiter, as I have played him, is a greasy, malingering, sex-crazed, gambling, dull, friendless, curmudgeonly and entirely harmless old fool.
Following in that centuries old tradition (still alive in Naples!) — at least, that has been my intention — I asked for a wig. My intention was to use the wig in place of the traditional mask, or at least in that spirit. In other words, not to conceal character, but to reveal it. George Brock saw the wig on the day of our Photo Call and shouted out, “YES!” It has been a great pleasure to work with such a capable director whose knowledge of theater is surpassing (!) good. I hope to work with him again.
In this scene, Headwaiter sings, “Danny Boy,” while taking or at least attempting to take, a swig from the flask he carries at all times. Yes, an Italian waiter singing as an Irish tenor! The surprise in this scene I shan’t disclose until the end of the run, just in case someone with tickets happens across this blog.
[Image: Scott Hill. Used with the photographer’s permission.]
A Still from the Film, ZERO-TWO
June 2, 2016
A still from the film Zero-Two, directed by Elisabetta Diorio, currently in post and soon to premiere in Austin. Initial screenings have been positive, I’m told. Delighted to hear it.
Kara Rainer and Wynt on the set of Zero-Two
March 17, 2016
Task Force Desperate Now on Audible.com
June 24, 2015
Peter Nealen’s Task Force Desperate, the first volume in his popular American Praetorian Series, which I narrated, is now available for purchase at Audible. This is the gritty POV narrative of a professional mercenary during a tour of the Horn of Africa: the detail, the feel, even the smell of reconaissance and battle in a harsh desert environment. You’ll think you’re right there with Jeff Stone!.