The Heavenfield is written in micro-chapters, about eight of which make up one audio episode. Record each chapter into Cubase on my Audio PC (see here for a list of equipment used). Each chapter takes around 10mins - 20mins, and are all recorded twice to provide a backup for editing.

Once the audio is recorded, the files are transferred to my laptop and loaded into Adobe Soundbooth, where I use the noise reduction from captured noiseprints to take out any hiss. Although I have use a good microphone and mic preamp, there is always some noise to clean up.

The new files are transferred back to my audio machine for editing and mixing.

It's here that I find it invaluable to have recorded the track twice, so that I can fix any problems I may have missed whilst recording, using the back-up track. Also, I usually find that the second take is better, having read through it once before. It does add to the time though, a 30 minute episode can take up to 3-4 hours just to record, and probably a further 2-3 hours to edit and mix.

I use as few effects on the recording as possible, to keep it natural. I just use a noise gate to remove any remaining noise between talking (after using noise reduction breath noise can sound unnatural), some compression to keep the levels even, and a high-quality reverb with a small room setting to give it a little ambience. I try not to EQ unless absolutely necessary.

I add background music and effects from a library of sounds I've built up over the years. I used to collect weird and wonderful instruments from around the world, and I also record location sounds. These get heavily effected and played around with, then layered to create a texture for the different places and moods in the story. I try and keep these really subtle, so as not to detract from the narration. Sadly, when finally encoding the files to mp3 for the web these are the first things to get lost in the mix (mp3s are rubbish!). The original high-quality mixes sound so much better in comparison - I hope I can release a CD version sometime so everyone can hear how the audiobook really sounds!

Once the episode is mixed I add a little compression to the overall stereo output to give it some presence, then export the stereo track out as a 16-bit wav file ready for encoding.

The images usually come from things I've been working on at the time that relate in some way to that part of the story. I try and create a large format image first, so that I can use it for any print material later on.

Writing up the episode notes is always hard work, but it's got to be done! ;)

Really they could do with professional mastering at this stage (I had some work mastered at Abbey Road Studios once and it really does make a difference), and I hope that one day I can get the files mastered for a CD release.

Next, I transfer the files to my laptop for encoding and adding the artwork and meta tags to the finished files. As I said before, to my ears quite a lot of the mix is lost in the encoding process, but the files need to be small enough for web transfer.

Then the files are uploaded, and that's it! Well, not really. Then I have to start promoting the work, writing news / newsletters, tweets etc. All good fun, but as you can see, a lot of work! I hope you enjoy the end result!