Voices, casts and brand voice

Every episode is narrated. A channel has one narrator — the same voice every time, so viewers know it — and can add a small cast of other voices for a story told by more than one character. On Pro and above, a workspace's owner can also record a brand voice of their own, made only with their recorded consent.

The narrator#

What it does#

The narrator speaks every line of the channel's episodes, in the channel's language. The voices are Google's natural Chirp 3 HD voices; each has one word from Google for how it sounds. Until you choose, a channel has its own narrator: a voice picked for its format, the same one every time — so a channel never changes voice between episodes.

Choose a narrator#

1. Open the channel. In the right column, find Narrator ("The voice that narrates this channel's episodes").
2. Open Voice. The first entry is the channel's own, marked "(the channel's own)"; the rest are every other voice, by name, with its word.
3. Choose one and press Save narrator.

Editors, admins and owners can change it. Episodes made from then on are narrated by the new voice; episodes already made keep theirs. Choosing the first entry again brings back the channel's own.

The voice library#

Every voice speaks every one of the 50 languages a channel can be in, with one exception: in Russian, Google has eight of them (Aoede, Charon, Fenrir, Kore, Leda, Orus, Puck and Zephyr). A Russian channel whose chosen voice is not among them is narrated by one of those eight instead, always the same one.

Multi-voice casts#

What it does#

A cast gives the story more voices: an expert who adds the key fact, a curious kid who asks the question a viewer would ask, a guide who points at the consequence. The narrator stays the lead and carries the story; the other voices answer it. Each role has a voice of its own, and its captions are drawn in that speaker's colour.

Set up a cast#

1. On the channel page, find Voices, under Narrator. It shows the lead: "Narrator (the lead): …".
2. Fill in up to three rows:
   • Role — a short name of 2 to 16 letters, digits or hyphens, such as expert, kid or guide;
   • Voice — one of the voices of the channel's language, other than the narrator's;
   • Who it is (for the writer) — a few words the writer reads, such as "the engineer" or "a curious viewer" (up to 40 characters).
3. Press Save the cast.

Leave every row empty — and save — for one narrator again. New episodes may give lines to each role; episodes already made keep their narration.

How the writer uses a cast#

The quality gates check every line was voiced by its role's voice, and the critic hears the result like any episode.

A brand voice#

What it is#

A brand voice is the voice of the workspace's owner, made from two short recordings: Google's fixed consent statement, read aloud by the owner, and ten seconds of their speech. Once made, any channel of the workspace in a language the voice speaks can be narrated in it.

Only your own voice#

• Only the workspace's owner can record a brand voice, and only of their own voice.
• Never anyone else's — not a client's, a voice actor's or a public figure's, even with their permission, and never an impression of anyone. They would have to own a workspace and record it themselves.
• Your name must be the one on your account (Account → Profile): the voice must belong to the person who consents.

Record it#

1. On a channel's page, find Brand voice and press Make a brand voice →. (On a plan without brand voices the card says it is on Pro and above.)
2. Step 1 — Record your consent.
   • Whose voice is it? Choose Mine. (Someone else's is refused.)
   • Your name — as it is on your account.
   • The language you read in — one of 30 languages and regions.
   • Read Google's statement aloud, word for word — the page shows it in the language you chose, and it cannot be changed: it says that you own the voice and consent to Google making a synthetic voice model from it.
   • Record it with the page's recorder (up to ten seconds), or choose a WAV file.
   • Tick the consent box and press Record my consent.
3. Step 2 — the sample. Record ten seconds of your voice: anything, said naturally and a little livelier than you want it to sound, in the same place. Press Keep the sample.

Both recordings must be mono, 16-bit WAV, between two and ten seconds — the page's recorder makes exactly that. Record in a quiet room, close to the microphone, and read calmly.

Use it on a channel#

When the voice is Ready, open a channel in a language the voice speaks. On its Brand voice card, tick Narrate this channel's new episodes in the brand voice and press Save. Untick it and save to go back to the narrator. Editors, admins and owners can choose it for a channel.

A voice speaks the language it was recorded in. A voice recorded in English (United States) also speaks German, Spanish (Spain and United States), French (France and Canada) and Portuguese (Brazil).

Its states#

Withdraw it#

On the brand voice page, press Withdraw and delete (a two-press button). It deletes the voice and both recordings — every stored version — and every channel stops using it; lines stored in that voice are deleted within minutes. The record that you consented, and withdrew, is kept. Videos already made with the voice stay as they were published. Withdrawing is always possible, on any plan.

Settings#

Credits and plans#

• Narration is part of an episode's price, charged by the characters spoken, at your plan's rate. An episode says roughly 2,000 to 3,000 characters. A line voiced once is never paid for again — a fix round re-voices only the lines it changed.
• A cast costs nothing extra: its lines are narration like any other.
• A brand voice is on Pro and above. Making it holds and charges a single credit (Google's consent check costs under a cent). Its lines are then charged at Google's price for custom voices, twice the standard narration's.
• Choosing a narrator is free.

Limits and good to know#

• Episodes keep the voice they were made with. A new narrator, cast or brand voice changes the next episodes only.
• Translations are spoken again by the channel's narrator in the new language — see Languages and twins.
• Films are not narrated: they are told with captions and music. See Long-form films.
• Privacy: what is recorded, where it is kept and how it is deleted is in the privacy policy and Privacy at a glance. A deleted workspace's brand voice is withdrawn within seven days.

Troubleshooting#

• "That reads as someone else's voice." The name names someone else (an actor, a client, a famous person). Only your own voice, under your own name, can be recorded.
• "The name must be your own, as it is on your account." Write your name exactly as in Account → Profile, or change it there first.
• "The recording … must be mono" or "is too short". Record it again with the page's recorder, which makes a mono WAV of the right length; read the whole statement calmly.
• "The brand voice was made in … and does not speak this channel's language." A voice speaks the language it was recorded in (and, for English (United States), the six others above).

Related#

• Episodes — what the narration is part of
• Languages, translations and twin channels — narration in other languages
• Channel mascots — a recurring character, voiced by the narrator
• Privacy at a glance — what is kept, and for how long