(Complete) Color by Countee Cullen - lt

Solo or group recordings that are finished and fully available for listeners
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lethargilistic
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Post by lethargilistic »

Color, by Countee Cullen (1903 - 1946)

All audio files can be found on our catalog page: https://librivox.org/color-by-countee-cullen/

Countee Cullen’s poetry in Color contemplates Black Americans’ fractured sense of self—at once spiritually tied to homelands where their ancestors were kidnapped and rooted in the white supremacist society where they live. With poems about love, tradition, the intertwined lives of Black people and whites, and the experience of a "Negro in a day like this," Color is a profound early work of the Harlem Renaissance. The collection’s most famous poem is "Heritage". (Summary by Mike Overby)
Source text (please read only from this text!): https://archive.org/details/colorcul00cull

Target completion date: 31-12-21

Prooflistening level: Word-Perfect
Prospective PLs, please see the Guide for Proof-listeners.

IMPORTANT - soloist, please note: in order to limit the number of languishing projects on our server, we ask that you post an update at least once a month in your project thread, even if you haven't recorded anything. If we don't hear from you for three months, your project may be opened up to a group project if a Book Coordinator is found. Files you have completed will be used in this project. If you haven't recorded anything yet, your project will be removed from the forum (contact any admin to see if it can be re-instated).

Please don't download or listen to files belonging to projects in process unless you are the BC or PL. Our servers are not set up to handle the greater volume of traffic. Please wait until the project has been completed. Thanks!

Magic Window:



BC Admin
[*]Link to author on Wikipedia (if available): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countee_Cullen (Countee Cullen)
[*]Link to title on Wikipedia (if available):
[*]Number of sections (files) this project will have: 73
[*]Does the project have an introduction or preface: Yes
[*]Original publication date (if known): 1925
[*]If you are a new volunteer, how would you like your name (or pseudonym) credited in the catalog?
[*]Do you have a URL you would like associated with your name?:
[/list]
========================================

Genres for the project: Poetry/Single author

Keywords that describe the book:

========================================

LibriVox recording settings: mono (1 channel), 44100 Hz sample rate, 128 kbps constant bit rate MP3. See the Tech Specs

Intro to recording:
Leave 0.5 to 1 second of silence at the beginning.

For the first section, say:
"Section (or Chapter) # of Color. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org." [Optional: "Read by your name."] "Color, by Countee Cullen. Section Title."
For the second and subsequent sections, you may use the shortened intro if you wish:
"Section (or Chapter) # of Color, by Countee Cullen. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain." [Optional: "Read by your name."] "Section Title."
End of recording:
Say:
"End of section (or chapter) #." [Optional, and if not stated in the intro: "Read by your name, city, date."]
If you are recording the final section of the book, add:
"End of Color, by Countee Cullen."
Leave 5 seconds of silence at the end.

Filename: color_##_cullen_128kb.mp3 where ## is the section number. (e.g. color_01_cullen_128kb.mp3)

Upload to the LibriVox Uploader: https://librivox.org/login/uploader

MC to select: lt - Lynnet

Copy and paste the file link generated by the uploader into the relevant Listen URL field in the Section Compiler, enter the duration in the Notes field, and post in this thread to let your PL and MC know that you have uploaded a file. You may also post the file link in the thread.
Last edited by lethargilistic on July 17th, 2021, 5:03 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Mike
Lynnet
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Post by Lynnet »

I can set this up for you.

Edit: all set. Let me know if you need anything else.
Do you need to find a DPL?
JoannaHoyt
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Post by JoannaHoyt »

I hope it's OK to post this at this stage: If a DPL is wanted and one isn't already lined up, I would be very glad to do that. Either way, so glad this book is being read in.
Joanna
Back from a low-internet no-Librivox year in Georgia. Glad to be with you again.
lethargilistic
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Post by lethargilistic »

Lynnet wrote: February 13th, 2021, 9:06 am I can set this up for you.

Edit: all set. Let me know if you need anything else.
Do you need to find a DPL?
Thanks, Lynnet! Yes, I need a DPL.

Oh, what's this?
JoannaHoyt wrote: February 13th, 2021, 1:42 pm If a DPL is wanted and one isn't already lined up, I would be very glad to do that.
I'd be very glad to have you be DPL, Joanna. ^^
Mike
lethargilistic
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Post by lethargilistic »

Oh, oops. I realize that I checked the box for there being a preface because the first poem is an intro, but I actually recorded starting at "section 1" instead of "section 0." Is it easy to update the magic box to start at 1 instead of 0? Sorry. ^^;;
Mike
Lynnet
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Post by Lynnet »

lethargilistic wrote: February 13th, 2021, 2:33 pm Oh, oops. I realize that I checked the box for there being a preface because the first poem is an intro, but I actually recorded starting at "section 1" instead of "section 0." Is it easy to update the magic box to start at 1 instead of 0? Sorry. ^^;;
I can delete the preface and you can add an extra section if needed. The new section is automatically added to the bottom and you can drag it to where you want.

Joanna added as DPL.
JoannaHoyt
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Post by JoannaHoyt »

Thank you for adding me as DPL, Lynnet, and thank you for reading these, Mike.

The reading is clear and powerful. There are a few technical issues.
When I ran Sections 2 and 3 (Chapters 1 and 2) through Checker (https://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/Checker) I received error messages saying that they needed to use a constant bit rather than variable bit recorder and that their volume fell outside the target range. Chapter 3 also said that the bit rate needed to be 128kbps. Have you seen the Audacity settings guide at https://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/Audacity_1-2-3 ? I found that helpful in setting my program up. When I used the Amplify feature in Audacity to reduce the volume by 1.5 across the board and re-exported it using the Librivox default settings the file passed Checker. You don't need to re-record, just reconfigure your settings and re-export.

Two other little things:
The guidelines call for .5-1 seconds of silence at the beginning of the recording, and these opening silences are shorter. I think the silences on the ends are meant to make sure that the ends of the actual spoken recording don't get cut off by apps.

Also, I find the "Section 2...Chapter 1" format slightly confusing--in that way starting the sections with 0 so that the section and chapter numbers align would seem to be more straightforward: but I think this is a matter of subjective preference.

Sorry for all the nitpicking. These are strong poems beautifully read, and I'm glad to have the chance to listen to them.

Joanna
Last edited by JoannaHoyt on February 13th, 2021, 7:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Back from a low-internet no-Librivox year in Georgia. Glad to be with you again.
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Post by JoannaHoyt »

Section 25: the reading, again, is clear and strong. There are the same technical issues here as in Section 3. Also in this case the chapter number (as distinct from the section number) is not given in the disclaimer.

When you have completed these edits, please upload your file with the same file name and leave a note in the thread.

Thanks for taking time for this, and thanks again for your readings.
Back from a low-internet no-Librivox year in Georgia. Glad to be with you again.
lethargilistic
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Post by lethargilistic »

JoannaHoyt wrote: February 13th, 2021, 7:27 pm The reading is clear and powerful. There are a few technical issues.
Ak. I changed my settings for a different project and I forgot to set them back for LibriVox. It's been a minute since I've regularly uploaded, so I was careless. Sorry. ^^;; All three should be fine now.

Also, just to say so: I normally don't just dead drop new chapters! I'll post to let you know when they're there. This time, I ended up getting distracted in the middle of uploading and forgot. I would have explained the numbering. ^^;;;

The poems come in four distinct and ordered sections, so I thought it would be good to preserve that information in the recordings. The first section is also called "Color," so "Yet I Do Marvel" is "Color 1," which may have been part of what confused you. The second section is called "Epitaphs," so "For a Poet" resets the numbering to "Epitaphs 1."

As for the numbering mismatch... Regardless of the reason I started with "To You Who Read My Book" as "Section 1," the top section in the magic window reverted back to 0 when I accidentally moved something. SO. I took that as A Sign and decided to rerecord the intro to "Yet Do I Marvel" as "Section 1". Now "Section 1" and "Color 1" match like you were expecting. I also fixed the audio to (now) Section 2 and (now) Section 24, so their intro and outro audio matches their (now) section numbers.

Future updates will not be this hectic, I assure you. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Mike
JoannaHoyt
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Post by JoannaHoyt »

Thanks! Sorry for the over-explanation--I should have known you knew the tech specs. All 3 sections are now PL OK (and lovely). :clap: :clap: :clap:

I read along this time and noticed word substitutions in both 1 and 2. These didn't mess with the meter or the meaning so definitely weren't PL fails (and I realize perhaps I should not be reading at all for standard PL). In Color 1, the title is read aloud as "Yet I do marvel..." and written as "Yet do I marvel" (though when the words come up in the poem itself they're read accurately), and in Color 2 the recording says "My love is dark and yours is fair" while the text reads "My love is dark as yours is fair." As I said, meaning and meter work in both versions. Let me know if you'd rather I did or didn't read along and note these things in future--either way is fine with me. Thanks again.

Joanna
Back from a low-internet no-Librivox year in Georgia. Glad to be with you again.
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Post by Lynnet »

Moved to Going Solo
lethargilistic
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Post by lethargilistic »

JoannaHoyt wrote: February 14th, 2021, 4:33 am I read along this time and noticed word substitutions in both 1 and 2.
Oh, gosh, yes. I'm glad you caught those, so please read along.

In Section 1, the correction is at 0:14. "Yet Do I Marvel."

In Section 2, the correction is at 0:50. "...as yours is fair."

Honestly, I think my misreading in Section 2 changed the meaning of that stanza pretty significantly, and that doing the minimum by preserving my original attempt's interpretation, as I have, is "wrong." If I was to read the whole thing over again to correct it, I'd change the intonation from as as in "and" or "like," which implies they are interchangeable. It should be to as as in "as much as," which implies they are different and better matches the rest of the stanza's assertion that Black women's beauty is superior to white women's.

But I'm not going to rerecord the entire poem; my perfectionism must have limits and voice-matching those four words was time consuming enough for a 1 minute recording. ^u^;

That's the beauty of poetry, innit?
Mike
lethargilistic
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Post by lethargilistic »

I posted Section 0. ^^
Mike
JoannaHoyt
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Post by JoannaHoyt »

Thank you! Sorry, I should have checked sooner about reading along. Sections 1 and 2 are PL OK now. There's just one doubtful point in Section 0: at 1:59, "sowing" is pronounced as though it rhymes with "plowing," which startled me both because in this poem it's rhymed with "mowing" and because I've always heard "sowing" in the sense of planting pronounced to rhyme with "mowing." But this could be a matter of different regional accents and fine just as it is.
Back from a low-internet no-Librivox year in Georgia. Glad to be with you again.
lethargilistic
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Post by lethargilistic »

Thanks for the note. I'll come back to it. For now, I've uploaded sections 25-30. They're all short. ^^
Mike
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