[COMPLETE] World's Story 2: India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Palestine - kit

[Kitty]

Sections 66 (25:25)
https://librivox.org/uploads/kitty/worldstory_volume02_066_tappan_128kb.mp3

all right, I started on your first section, Farnood. Your way of narrating is very lively, which makes the story quite interesting, especially in the direct speeches and when you describe the fights. Very well done.

I found a few minor stumbles and annoying clicks that could be cut out, nothing very difficult, so could you do the following corrections please and reupload with the same file-name ?

> at 0:31: (p. 365) could you please give us the entire title as written in the book ? "The last king of Persia (334 B.C.), by Plutarch (abridged)"

> at 3:39-3:40: (p. 366) "who it was that wounded him. Nothing was wanting" - in between those two sentences, there is some sort of rustle, which could be cut out or maybe replaced by a bit of ambient silence

> at 4:17-4:19: (p. 367): "and quantities of gold and silver, they reserved for Alexander himself" - the pause here in the middle of the sentence sounds a bit odd being so long, could you cut this a bit ?

> at 5:33: (p. 367) "he sent Leonnatus to them" - I hear "Leonidas" who was a totally different person

> at 10:15: (p. 370) stumble and repeat "but presently", can be cut out once

> at 10:28: (p. 370) after "to part them" I hear a loud click which can be cut out

> at 10:54: (p. 370) "he who was called Alexander" - you say "he was, who called Alexander" which is a change in meaning

> at 18:39: (p. 374) stumble and repeat "defended by an abundance" - can be cut out once

> at 19:14-19:16: (p. 374) before "Darius now seeing all was lost" - the pause could be cut a bit

> at 20:30: (p. 375) stumble and repeat "Alexander, though he was not a little vexed to be so recalled and hindered". There is also an audible click in this sentence. Maybe best to re-record this entire part

For the rest all was fine. Be careful with your background noise though, there is some overall hum in the recording. Are you using Audacity ? It has quite a good noise-cleaning function, if you'd like to try it. I can walk you through it if you are not familiar with it yet.

Also, as a last suggestion, careful with your overall volume level. Some parts are very lively and therefore louder, but others very quiet. It's always best to keep the voice more level throughout the reading. You can convey excitement even without raising the volume, if you practice a bit Your volume is currently at 86.2 dB, which is barely inside our accepted limit. But this is because some parts are loud and other quiet. If they were all on the same level, it would be easy to just amplify the whole section by 3 dB to make it perfect. But without compressing or levelling this won't work here.

Well, for this section, I would say, don't touch the volume, it's fine as it is. Only be aware of it for future recordings

Thanks, I will try to PL some more sections today, but may not have time to finish them all. Tomorrow I'll do the rest then.

Sonia

[Kitty]

69 (11:15)
https://librivox.org/uploads/kitty/worldstory_volume02_069_tappan_128kb.mp3

managed to check your second contribution as well...much shorter than the first. Interesting story about Firdusi. It seems the vizirs often had the reputation of being mean-spirited people.

So does this famous bridge still exist ?

here are my PL notes for this section:

> at 0:31: (p. 381) also here, please record the full title: "The building of the bridge of Tus, (Firdusi lived about 935-1020 A.D.) by Elizabeth A. Reed"

> at 2:21: (p. 382) stumble and repeat "and everything that could excite the martial valor"

> from 4:51-7:51: (p. 383-385) "sealed it up [....] overtake and ruin him" - this entire part is barely a whisper. Did you maybe move the microphone very far from your mouth or did you turn your head away from the mic ? In any case, I would suggest, you highlight these 3 minutes and amplify them (only this part) with 5 dB.

> at 9:54-9:56: (p. 386) after "In the mean time Shah Mahmud" there is a longer pause and an audible click which could be cut out to make it more fluent and clean sounding

> at 10:13-10:16: (p. 386) after "as a peace offering" - a pause of 3 seconds seems too long between sentences, I would say 1 or 1.5 seconds is more than enough or the listener will think the recording is over

> at 10:55: stumble and repeat: (p. 386) "of the poet's fame and of the king's tardy justice"

> this time the background noise was a bit too disturbing for my taste. Could you please run one round of noise cleaning over the whole section ?

Thanks. I probably will check your other sections tomorrow. Need a bit of a break today.

Sonia

[Kitty]

75 (19:05)
https://librivox.org/uploads/kitty/worldstory_volume02_075_tappan_128kb.mp3

hi again, so I had some more time and finished another section. Wow the Persian wedding ceremonies were quite long back in those days I loved the giggle in your voice when the marriage contract was concluded by the mullah and when the buffons played their music

only a few small things to correct this time:

> this audio could also use one round of noise-cleaning to get rid of the background noise

> at 0:32: (p. 411) please insert missing date for the title: "A Persian Wedding (1885) by Charles James Wills"

> at 1:20: (p. 411) "calico or cambric" - you say "calice"

> at 3:31-3:33 (p. 412) after "steady quiet man", the pause can be shortened

> at 3:45-3:47 (p. 412) after "so good-tempered", pause shortened

> at 4:03: (p. 412) stumble and repeat "her main business is to bargain for the sum to be paid to the father for his daughter's hand" - there is also a a lot of noise in this sentence, maybe it would be best to record it once again. You need to be careful not to move the microphone while recording, it picks up all these sounds

> at 7:02-7:05: (p. 414) after "aforesaid mehr" - pause too long

> at 10:12: (p. 416) stumble and repeat "similar preparation, but on a larger scale

> at 10:23-10:25: (p. 416) after "the women's quarters" - pause too long

thanks, and enough for tonight. The last two sections will definitely have to wait for tomorrow

Sonia

[Kitty]

76 (15:32)
https://librivox.org/uploads/kitty/worldstory_volume02_076_tappan_128kb.mp3

next up, the bazaar chapter. Wow what a mayhem is there. I remember once going into a souk in Tunis, and I have no inclination to ever have this experience again I don't like crowded noisy streets.

> this recording again has a lot of background noise which needs to be cleaned. I was wondering if maybe you sent me the unedited file by mistake one round of cleaning should make the recording better sounding

> at 0:29: (p. 421) please insert missing date in title “The Persian Bazaars (Twentieth century) by Eustache de Lorey and Douglas Sladen”

> at 6:23: (p. 424) stumble and repeat: “suddenly there was a pandemonium”

> at 9:32: (p. 426) stumble and repeat: “four krans”

> at 9:35: (p. 426) please insert missing footnote: say “Footnote: about forty cents. – End of Footnote”

> at 12:35: (p. 427) stumble and repeat: “the laws by which aniline dyes”

> at 13:20: (p. 428) stumble and repeat: “and in the middle of”, can be cut out once

> at 13:40: (p. 428) stumble and repeat: “new carpets look ancient”

> at 14:32: (p. 429) a lot of disturbing rustling noise in this sentence, maybe better re-record that part: “little boys of ten to twelve were perched on planks in front of the looms”. It sounds like maybe a car was passing. Such background noise is usually impossible to clean even with Audacity function. So the best way of dealing with this is wait for the car to pass before you continue recording

And that's all for now....will PL the last section later in the day

Thanks

Sonia

[Kitty]

and 101 (18:46) are ready for PL. Let me know if there are any problems.
https://librivox.org/uploads/kitty/worldstory_volume02_101_tappan_128kb.mp3

and finally the last section and with that my backlog PL is done. Phew...

Sorry, here I have quite a lot of notes, I am suspecting you gave me the unedited file here. Well it took me some time to note down all the time-stamps for the small corrections, but many things are quite easily corrected, so don't get a shock when you see the list.

Concerning the many " long pauses" that I noted down. You may not notice that when you record, we all have to make pauses in recording, and pauses are important to follow with the text, but when the pause is over 2 seconds, it feels VERY long for a listener later on. One would think the recording is finished if one has to wait so long before the sentence continues. You may consider this in your future editing phase, so the DPL has to give less notes

As a suggestion: to correct these errors, it's would be good to start at the end, because then the time-stamps won't change when you delete the pauses.

> also here: background noise is too loud, needs one round of cleaning

> at 0:31: (p. 560) please insert missing date in title “The Story of King Solomon (tenth century B.C.)”

> at 0:33-0:36: (p. 560) right after the title, you leave a bit too much pause before you start the text. Also there is an audible click, which could be cut out at the same time, making it sound cleaner

> at 0:53: (p. 560) after “to keep his statutes” there is audible rustling which can be cut out

> at 1:04: (p. 560) stumble and repeat: “and whats...” – can be cut out

> at 1:38-1:40: (p. 560) after “reigned he in Jerusalem”, there is a lot of noise which could be replaced by some ambient silence

> at 1:58-2:00: (p. 560): after “to sacrifice there” – long pause with audible click, can be cut a bit

> at 2:25: (p. 561) stumble and repeat “and thou hast kept for him this great kindness”

> at 8:02: (p. 564) stumble and repeat “And the Lord gave Solomon”

> at 9:19: (p. 565) stumble and repeat “and he built the walls of the house within”

> at 13:54: (p. 568) missing footnote, please insert the following after “twenty talents of gold”: “Footnote: a talent of the Hebrews was equal to about 2000 dollars. – End of Footnote”

> at 15:31-15:34: (p. 569) after “trouble therewith” – this lengthy pause can be cut a bit

> at 15:39: (p. 569) audible click before “pride goeth before destruction”

> at 16:08-16:11: (p. 569) after “taketh a city” – pause too long

> at 16:15-16:18: (p. 569) after “born for adversity” - pause too long

> at 16:23-16:26: (p. 569) after “shame unto him” – pause too long

> at 18:23-18:26: (p. 570) after “brother far off” – pause too long

and that's it for your sections. You really took on some very long ones, not bad for a beginner to immediately jump into the big sections. (something I did not do for a long time )

If you need any help with some edits or if you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask

Sonia

[Kitty]

ANNOUNCEMENT !!!!

Part 3 is launched

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=70457&p=1471711#p1471711

Sonia

[Kitty]

I received a PM from a reader who had to relinquish his claim, but Jim already volunteered to adopt the orphaned section 30. Thank you, Jim. With that change, we stay fully claimed.

Sonia

[neecheelok70]

Here is 30:


https://librivox.org/uploads/kitty/worldstory_volume02_030_tappan_128kb.mp3 26.04 KB

27:46

Jim

[Kitty]

Here is 30:
https://librivox.org/uploads/kitty/worldstory_volume02_030_tappan_128kb.mp3 26.04 KB
27:46

thank you, Jim, that was a fast turn-around. The travels you are describing here is one I would so NOT like to participate in too many people involved for my comfort...as for the cooking with camel dung, well, it's an acquired taste, to say the least.

I found two small parts which need correcting:

> at 9:51: (p. 132) “of the choicest horses, saddled and superbly caparisoned” – there is a jump in the audio and those three underlined words are missing

> at 19:09: (p. 137) “near their own, where their wives, if accompanying them, reside” – underlined part missing, which makes the sentence incomplete

the rest, perfect, as always, thanks so much

Sonia

[neecheelok70]

So much for meticulous, eh?:

https://librivox.org/uploads/kitty/worldstory_volume02_030_tappan_128kb.mp3 26.12 KB

27:51

Jim

[Kitty]

So much for meticulous, eh?:

yes indeed, meticulous. My point is proven in that you blush for 2 small errors. And then you go and perfectly correct them. That's meticulous.

All PL ok, thanks !

Sonia

[neecheelok70]

You are too kind, but I am thankful for it.

[Farnood]

Hi Sonia,

I am sorry for the delay in my editing the sections; these days have been hectic for me, and it takes some time for me to get the work done.

Farnood

[Kitty]

I am sorry for the delay in my editing the sections; these days have been hectic for me, and it takes some time for me to get the work done.

don't worry, Farnood. Your two-months deadline has not even expired yet, and we are also waiting for a few more sections to come in anyway.

Just as soon as one section is ready, please upload it, so I can check if it's ok. No need to wait till you have corrected them all before uploading.

And don't worry, most of the corrections are not so difficult to do, many of it is only cutting things out like stumbles or silences. This won't take so much time. The notes look like a lot but it's not difficult if you really check them.

Thanks !

Sonia

[yaelh]

Hi Sonia,

Here are my recordings:
Section 81:
https://librivox.org/uploads/kitty/worldstory_volume02_081_tappan_128kb.mp3 5.90 KB
Duration: 6:17

Section 82:
https://librivox.org/uploads/kitty/worldstory_volume02_082_tappan_128kb.mp3 2.21 KB
Duration: 2:22

I'll be glad to have some feedback!

Thanks and again sorry for the delay,
Yael