How to claim a part, and 'how it all works' here
This is a collection for complete stories shorter than 1 hour in reading time. Please be kind in your interpretations of "Sci-fi", and remember that we have collections for Horror, Ghosts, Mysteries and General Short Stories already. Aliens, spaceships and laser weaponry are good giveaways, though not exclusive indicators. Post below and ask, if you're not quite sure. Read points 6. to 8. below for what to do before, during and after your recording.
Is there a deadline?
Target completion date of this project: 1st April 2008 but the sooner the better, really!
Where do I find the text?
There's quite a number linked at http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/ScienceFictionShortStories which should be under the 1 hour limit.
Sci-fi stories can either be chosen which were published before 1923, or which did not have their copyright renewed in later years. Project Gutenberg has cleared many such stories and is by far the best bet for finding legal material. If you choose another story, please be aware it is up to you to evidence its public domainness, it is suggested that you post here to confirm, before starting your recording. Note it needs to follow the basic LV requirements too, i.e. have been published, almost always before 1977.
You do not need to claim stories before recording them, but it might be helpful if you mention which one you are interested in first. Duplicates are very welcome, but the second, third, etc. version of a story will need to wait for Vol. 2 of this set.
Set your recording software to:
Bit Rate: 128 kbps
Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz
DURING recording: Make sure you add this to the beginning and end of your recording: Start of recording (Intro)
"[story title] This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: librivox DOT org"
If you wish, say: "Recording by [your name]"
Say: "Title, by Author. [Translated by [translator]]."
End of recording
At the end of the section, say: "End of Title, by Author. [Translated by [translator]]."
If you wish, say: "Recording by [your name], [city, your blog, podcast, web address]" Please leave 5 seconds silence at the end of your recording, or 10 seconds for files longer than 30 minutes!
Also, please remember to check this thread frequently for updates!
AFTER recording: Need noise-cleaning?
Listen to your file through headphones. If you can hear some constant background noise (a hiss or hum), you may want to clean it up a bit. The new (free) version 1.3.3. of Audacity (Mac/Win) has much improved noise-cleaning. See this LibriVox wiki page for a complete guide.
Save files as
128 kbps MP3
titleinoneword_authorsurname_[yourinitials].mp3 (all lower-case). (e.g. breadoverhead_lieber_cs.mp3) ID3 V2 tags
(To find out more about ID3 tags, go to our wiki: http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/WhatIsID3)
Add the following tags to your .mp3 file (how you do this depends on which software you use – if you are unsure about ID3 tags, send me a message). Please mind upper and lower case!
Title: Story title
Artist: Author name (trans. by <name> if appropriate.)
Album: Librivox Short Sci-fi Story Collection, vol. 001
Please ignore tags for Genre and Track Number - these will be filled in automatically at the cataloguing stage. Please note that although 'Space' is a genre, we will not be using it for this collection.
Transfer of files (completed recordings) Please always post in this forum thread when you've sent a file.
If you have your own server space, post the link here. Please leave the file in this location until the project is catalogued. Even better, upload the file to the LibriVox Uploader, see below.
If you don't have your own server space, please upload with the LibriVox Uploader (please be sure to post the link you receive after your upload, in this thread): http://upload.librivox.org/
username: librivox
password: librivox123
If this doesn't work, or you have questions, please check our How To Send Your Recording wiki page.
I'll need the following information from you when you submit a recording:
your name/pseudonym as you want to appear in the LibriVox catalog, and your website URL if you like. These are only necessary if this is your first LibriVox recording.
the duration of the recording.
Any questions?
Please post below or PM me. The only stoopid question is an unasked one.
Last edited by Cori on November 14th, 2007, 4:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
There's honestly no such thing as a stupid question -- but I'm afraid I can't rule out giving a stupid answer : : To Posterity and Beyond!
Yay, Bread is in the Window. And if you pop up a solo when Greylorn's done, that can whip into the catalogue in no time flat (I have a prooflistener in mind, if no-one else gets to it first...)
Thanks, Kaffen. (Encore!)
Okay ... who else ...?
There's honestly no such thing as a stupid question -- but I'm afraid I can't rule out giving a stupid answer : : To Posterity and Beyond!
...and jump in! I'm a brand new reader and have just signed up. I did a bit of experimentation over the weekend to see if a could do this and I think my biggest problem was using the mic built in to my computer. I'm going to pick up a better mic after work today and give this a proper try. I just downloaded 'Out Around Rigel' by Robert H. Wilson (because it was at the top of the list ) and we'll see how this goes.
Excellent choice of topics to start, Anton -- good luck with Rigel! I forget how long that one is, but if you want to upload the first couple of paragraphs as a kind of 'sound check', you'd be very welcome. We don't mind how people sound as long as they're audible, but quite often there are little adjustments that can be made to improve a recording, and it's nice to know that sort of thing before motoring through an hour-long piece.
And if you've any questions as you go, please do just ask!
There's honestly no such thing as a stupid question -- but I'm afraid I can't rule out giving a stupid answer : : To Posterity and Beyond!
Uhh, I've finished recording Greylorn and done perhaps a quarter of the editing. It's now looking like mixing down to about 133 minutes... that's longer than a few of the books I've soloed, so I think I'm going to take it over there.
I'll find another story for this collection bye-'n-bye.
- Mark
"In narrating everything is simple, but it's the simple things that are difficult." (Apologies to von Clausewitz!) Mark's Librivoxings
Think of it as a companion piece to Vonnegut's 2BR02B. In this one, a business boom in the coffin industry prompted by effective advertising leads gullible consumers to exterminate themselves, to receive "the gift that lasts beyond a lifetime." In the end, only Adams and Evie are left ...
Hopefully, that fits the Sci-Fi requirement.
-denny
Last edited by DSayers on October 23rd, 2007, 4:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thanks, Brian -- hope to have more for you very soon!
Sounds good to me, Denny, have at it!
Looking forward to hearing you, Yoojin ... may it be the first of many! If you want to send a short section of the story to begin with, then it can help to catch minor technical adjustments or volume issues before you've recorded a long piece. It's not mandatory, but you'd be very welcome to.
There's honestly no such thing as a stupid question -- but I'm afraid I can't rule out giving a stupid answer : : To Posterity and Beyond!
I'd like to volunteer for Teicher's Sweet their Blood and Sticky (I liked the title, and it looks like a good first read for length. What do I do now?
jbg
I've popped your choice into the Listing Post, jbrendan ... look forward to hearing you (I was rather struck by the title, too ... hope the story holds up!) What I said above to Anton and Yoojin go for you too, about sample files -- totally optional but useful on the first recording. Good luck!
There's honestly no such thing as a stupid question -- but I'm afraid I can't rule out giving a stupid answer : : To Posterity and Beyond!
