COMPLETE: Highways in Hiding by George O. Smith -jo

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

blondon wrote: September 8th, 2021, 8:58 am
Forgive me, but the Librivox dB calculations are a bit of a mystery to me. I'm used to using a negative number for dB; the lower the number, the quieter the sound. (I.e. -5dB is quieter than -3dB.) As far as I understand it, industry standard is a peak of -3db. When you say add 3 dB, are you saying it needs to be quieter or louder? Duh...
It would be helpful to know what recording program you are using, but I'm going to jump in here and try to answer your question regarding the target 89db. There are basically three standards for measuring digital audio volume - Peak level, average RMS level and Loudness (LUFS). When we say we target 89db, that is the Replay Gain standard for mp3 files. Here are the numbers I get for section 3

Peak level -3.0 db
Avg RMS level -26.0 db
LUFS -26.7 db

If you increase the volume of this file by the 3db that loon is recommending, then the numbers become 0, -22.2 and -23.7 respectively. As an aside, I also noticed that the height of the waveform of this recording increases noticeable after about 6 min.

Checker is a program that was written specifically for LV and checks your mp3 against our technical requirements (volume in the 86-92 db, etc) and in this case shows the original file at 85.4db and 88.4db after the 3db increase. We target 89db - the Replay Gain standard for mp3 audio. For RMS -20db or LUFS -23 db is a good comparable target number.
Jo
loon
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Post by loon »

Chapter 3 - an enthusiastic PL OK.

At ~8:54 I hear, "The trailer wouldn't go through" but the PG text reads, "The tractor wouldn't go through" - I don't think this makes any difference to the storyline, so there's no need to change it.

I typically read a chapter or two in a story before I volunteer to PL - I want to make sure I can get involved in the plot. This is quite the story. George O Smith is feeding clues and details at just the right pace.
Rich Brown - Minneapolis, MN
loon
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Post by loon »

knotyouraveragejo wrote: September 8th, 2021, 12:40 pm It would be helpful to know what recording program you are using, but I'm going to jump in here and try to answer your question regarding the target 89db. There are basically three standards for measuring digital audio volume - Peak level, average RMS level and Loudness (LUFS). When we say we target 89db, that is the Replay Gain standard for mp3 files. Here are the numbers I get for section 3

Peak level -3.0 db
Avg RMS level -26.0 db
LUFS -26.7 db
The lovely thing about standards is there are so many to choose from. In television - the industry I've recently vacated - the magical target volume is -24 dB (in yet another measurement standard: LKFS.)

With a bit of practice you can get a pretty good idea of how your overall volume is going to come out just by watching the metering in your software and by the height in the waveform display. You have a couple good examples - your chapters 1 and 3. If you can make the waveform the same height and make the meters bounce somewhere in the range those two chapters show your new recordings should be right in the proper range.


FYI, "Checker" gives these numbers:
Chapter 1 is 87.7 dB
Chapter 3 is 90.5 dB
Acceptable range is 86.0 to 92.0 dB - the midpoint is 89.0 dB
Rich Brown - Minneapolis, MN
blondon
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Post by blondon »

Hi Jo -

Thanks so much for the info - I'm using Adobe Audition, and the scale starts at 0 dB as the top and goes down from there. I'm not sure how I'd record at 89 dB in this scale - that would be ear-shattering. Also, I'm a little confused about the waveform jump after minute 6. I looked through both Chapters 2 and 3 on Adobe Audition and I didn't see that variation - is it possible Audition doesn't pick it up?


Hi Rich -

I ran a few cycles of compression and Normalization to -3 dB on Chapter 2 and Checker says it's now within spec. Let me know if it's still off. I will re-do Chapter 3 and to fix the wrong word and reload.

SO glad you're enjoying it! It's a fun ride.
knotyouraveragejo
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Post by knotyouraveragejo »

blondon wrote: September 8th, 2021, 2:23 pm Hi Jo -

Thanks so much for the info - I'm using Adobe Audition, and the scale starts at 0 dB as the top and goes down from there. I'm not sure how I'd record at 89 dB in this scale - that would be ear-shattering.
db has different definitions depending on how it's used. In Audition, I think you want to aim for -3 to -1 db for the overall volume level. I know I have seen a good article on this somewhere but I can't seem to find it anymore. Sounds like you are in the right ballpark so don't obsess over it too much. :)
Jo
loon
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Post by loon »

I made a quick screengrab of the level shift Jo points out and tossed it on my webserver at:
https://fullloon.com/LibriVox/

This is in Audacity, but Adobe Audition is going to have a similar display. I measure the difference between before and after 6:02 at about 3.5 dB. But, this is just where Steve starts pushing back at Dr. Thorndyke - ("Doctor," I asked pointedly, "if we weren't together, suppose you tell me first why I had a marriage license in my pocket...) so it sounds natural.

I've marked chapter 2 PL OK and made chapter 3 See PL notes since you want to edit 'trailer' in.

If you want to alter the volume of just a portion of your track you could select just the part you want to adjust and use the Amplify effect to just change that portion.

Audition does some very cool things, but a lot of that is for people who will be making soundtracks for movies or TV shows - so more power than what's needed for LibriVox.
Rich Brown - Minneapolis, MN
blondon
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Post by blondon »

Thanks - I see the change in volume now. If you think it's okay, I'll leave it as is. If not, let me know and I'll adjust it.

I edited and reposted Chapter 3. Hopefully I can get Chapter 4 to you later tonight.

Thanks!

B.
loon
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Post by loon »

blondon wrote: September 9th, 2021, 2:13 pm Thanks - I see the change in volume now. If you think it's okay, I'll leave it as is. If not, let me know and I'll adjust it.
In context that boost in volume sounds like Steve is getting bothered his argument isn't getting any traction. ("Maybe if I talk louder I'll get my point across.") It sounds perfectly natural to me.
blondon wrote: September 9th, 2021, 2:13 pm I edited and reposted Chapter 3. Hopefully I can get Chapter 4 to you later tonight.
A good edit. PL OK. Thanks.
Rich Brown - Minneapolis, MN
blondon
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Post by blondon »

Hi there -

Chapter 4 is posted. I had to re-record a fair amount to get some of the static out of the words - hopefully it's acceptable.

Do you think there might be a sound engineer on LV who could help me figure out what is making this static? If so, do you know how I'd reach them? I suspect I have to replace some of my (brand new) equipment, but I don't know where to start. :?
loon
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Post by loon »

blondon wrote: September 9th, 2021, 4:10 pm Hi there -

Chapter 4 is posted. I had to re-record a fair amount to get some of the static out of the words - hopefully it's acceptable.

Do you think there might be a sound engineer on LV who could help me figure out what is making this static? If so, do you know how I'd reach them? I suspect I have to replace some of my (brand new) equipment, but I don't know where to start. :?
I'm sorry to hear you are still having trouble with your system. Try posting in the Need Help? Got Advice? section of the forums. Include a rundown on your hardware and software. You can export a bit of your recording where you got the static - maybe 30 seconds to a minute long - and upload that as if it were a 1-minute test. Include the link to that troublesome audio in your post. Someone should be along with some suggestions. Having to replace brand new equipment is a pain - if you can demonstrate to the seller it is faulty you should be able to get a replacement or refund. (Crossing my fingers for you.)

A new chapter recently came in in a different book I'm PLing, so your chapter 4 is second in line.
Rich Brown - Minneapolis, MN
loon
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Post by loon »

blondon wrote: September 9th, 2021, 4:10 pm
Chapter 4 is posted. I had to re-record a fair amount to get some of the static out of the words - hopefully it's acceptable.
The opening and closing silences are wrong, and the length you put in the Magic Window doesn't agree with what I downloaded. There's 9+ seconds at the beginning and 1 second at the end. Maybe your Audition didn't export what you expected it to???

At around 16:12 "Discarded stuff" comes out as "scarded stuff" - maybe an edit problem?

Your work of re-recording and editing out your strange interference is paying off, there are still traces but what is left is way more subtle than what I heard in chapter 2 (2?).

This chapter raised and resolved questions in my mind as I listened - why wouldn't a police station have ESP-shielded files for sensitive records? - oh, you need to find dead zones - when is Mekstrom's disease going to come back into the story? - oh, right away.

Please fix the opening and closing silence and double check around 16:12 to make sure it's how you want it and everything will be fine.
Rich Brown - Minneapolis, MN
blondon
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Post by blondon »

Thanks so much - that's odd about the silences, I measured them so carefully! I'll take another look and see what happened. I'll fix the cut off word, too. Glad the noises are better but gosh I wish I knew how to get rid of them.
blondon
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Post by blondon »

Hi -

I think I must have forgotten to save Chapter 4 with the correct silences; it's fixed now, along with the cut off word. But I still get the same time on it - what are you getting?

The static monster inexplicably left yesterday so I was able to do the edits on Chapter 4 and complete Chapter 5 without all that noise. Let me know if it sounds better to you - I hope so!
loon
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Post by loon »

blondon wrote: September 11th, 2021, 8:20 am The static monster inexplicably left yesterday so I was able to do the edits on Chapter 4 and complete Chapter 5 without all that noise. Let me know if it sounds better to you - I hope so!
Do you get new static while you are listening or editing, or is it just while you are recording?
Rich Brown - Minneapolis, MN
loon
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Post by loon »

P.S. I'm off on a grocery store run - I'll be double checking chapter 4 in a while.
Rich Brown - Minneapolis, MN
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