Museums and art galleries
Permanent and temporary exhibitions, specialist collections, regional galleries. Recordings for both traditional rental devices and mobile apps that trigger narration at a specific exhibit.
Audio Guides & Audio Description
A voice that walks visitors through the exhibition and describes what they cannot see — recordings for museum audio guides, castles, historic sites, mobile apps and audio description for blind and partially sighted audiences.
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Voice-over for audio guides and audio description
One voice. Every room. To the very end.
I'm Karol Szałapski, a Polish narrator recording audio guides for museums and cultural institutions. An audio guide is not just reading out labels — it's a voice that sets the mood of the room and the pace of the visit. A wrong narrator gets the headphones taken off after two minutes. The right one keeps visitors listening to the end.
I record for museums, castles, palaces and other cultural institutions, and I also record audio description — a spoken account of what a blind or partially sighted person cannot see. I match the tone to the character of each place, so every institution can genuinely open its doors to every visitor.
Audio guide and audio description samples
Press play. Picture the room.
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Audio guides recorded for museums and historic sites
From the fields of Grunwald to the Crown Treasury at Wawel.
My voice guides visitors through museums, castles and cultural institutions across Poland. Here are some of the places I have recorded for:
- Museum of the Battle of Grunwald Stębark
- Silesian Museum in Wrocław Wrocław
- Kornel Makuszyński Museum Zakopane
- National Museum in Kraków Kraków
- Archaeological Museum in Kraków Kraków
- Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw Warszawa
- ORP Błyskawica (museum ship) Gdynia
- Royal Castle in Warsaw Warszawa
- Museum of the First Piasts at Lednica Lednica
- Crown Treasury at Wawel Kraków
Audio guides for museums, castles and every cultural institution
Every venue. Every visitor. One voice.
Audio description
A spoken account of paintings, sculptures, exhibitions and film scenes for blind and partially sighted audiences. Precise, neutral and true to audio description standards.
Theme parks, gardens and zoos
Miniature parks, botanical gardens, zoos and educational entertainment parks. Recordings paced to the visitor route and expected walking speed.
Heritage sites
Castles, palaces, manor houses, open-air museums, historic trails. Authoritative narration with attention to factual accuracy.
Tourist trails and attractions
Viewpoints, city routes, tourist audio guides for individual visitors, educational and nature trails. Short segments triggered by GPS or a QR code — visitors use their own phone instead of renting a device.
Family trails
Educational trails for the youngest visitors, storytelling narration in family-friendly venues, interactive exhibits. Shorter segments, a livelier pace and simpler vocabulary, often with a child-friendly voice.
Why choose me to record your audio guide
Real places. Real experience. Real voice.
Experience with cultural institutions
I have recorded for national museums, castles and museum ships. I know how an exhibition should sound and what a curator expects — no need to explain the basics, we get straight to the point.
A tone made for touring
A calm, clear pace that keeps visitors oriented between exhibits and keeps the headphones on. Gravity where it is needed, lightness where families are exploring.
Language flexibility
Polish and English from one consistent source, with native voice talent for other languages. Your international guests hear a natural version, not an accent.
Reliability and confidentiality
I treat audio description materials and tour scripts as confidential, and for content aimed at visually impaired audiences I follow audio description standards — precisely and with respect for the listener.
Full audio guide production — ready-to-deploy files
Studio sound. Complete file. Zero friction.
As a museum, castle or attraction, you don't need to worry about technical details. You hand over the script, I handle the rest — no external sound engineer, no separate editing studio. You pay one agreed price for the recording — no extra studio-rental or engineer fees billed on top, unlike most agencies.
Script
Studio recording
Mastering & loudness
Split into stops
Ready to deploy
I remove breaths and mouth clicks, then master and normalize the mix to the loudness standard required by your audio guide system, mobile app or on-site player — your files pass technical verification without revisions, cleanly split per exhibition stop and correctly labelled.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an audio guide and audio description?
An audio guide walks visitors through an exhibition — telling them about the exhibits, history and context of the place, for every guest. Audio description is a spoken account of what a blind or partially sighted person cannot see — the appearance of a painting, a sculpture or a scene in a film — created to strict rules (neutral, without interpretation). I record both, and often deliver them together so the same exhibition is accessible to everyone.
What is the turnaround time?
Short tracks I can record and send within 1-2 days. A larger audio guide (dozens of points) usually takes a few working days from text approval. I give the exact deadline in the quote, once I have seen the length of the script.
What file formats do you deliver?
I deliver lossless WAV and compressed MP3, cleanly split and named to match your tour point numbering. I normalize the loudness to the standard required by your audio guide system, app or device — files are ready to upload with no extra processing.
What languages do you record in?
I record in Polish and English. For other languages (e.g. German, French, Ukrainian) I work with native voice talent, so you can order a consistent, multilingual track from a single point of contact.
Can I update or add recordings later?
Yes. Exhibitions change, so individual points can be re-recorded in the same voice and sound so the track stays consistent. Minor updates are quick — usually within 24 hours of receiving the text.
How do licensing and usage rights work?
The licence scope — public playback on site, duration, number of stations or distribution in an app — is agreed individually and included in the quote. Tell me the intended use and I'll prepare an offer covering the right usage rights, with no hidden fees later.
Do you also record for smaller institutions and private exhibitions?
Yes. I record for large national museums as well as small regional museums, memorial rooms, galleries, private exhibitions and tourist sites. No middlemen and no large minimum budget — I quote realistically for the scale of your project.
How much does an audio guide or audio description recording cost?
I price based on the text length (pages/characters), the number of points and the licence scope. Because you work directly with me, with no agency or middlemen in between, the price is transparent. Send me the script and I'll return a precise quote, usually within 24 hours.
Will you help write or polish the script?
Yes. If you have raw curatorial texts, or you're not sure how to write narration "for the ear", I'll help refine them for listening — shortening sentences and tuning the pace and rhythm so they sound good in headphones, not just on paper.
Are the recordings made with a real voice, not AI?
Yes — 100% real, human voice. For an audio guide, and especially for audio description, the natural pauses, breath and warmth that a synthesizer cannot reproduce are what matter. Visitors hear a person, not an algorithm.
How does it work?
From script to a ready-to-play audio guide.
Send your tour script
Send over the narration text or audio description script, plus where it will go — an app, an audio guide device, a QR-code stop or a film. No script ready yet? I'll help polish it for listening.
Quote and sample
I reply with a precise quote based on the text length and licence scope, usually within 24 hours. On request I'll record a short sample so you can hear the tone before we commit to the full production.
Recording and file delivery
I record in studio, master and normalize the loudness to your system's requirements, and deliver files cleanly split and labelled. Ready to upload — no technical revisions needed.