COMPLETE: The Chimney Corner by Harriet Beecher Stowe -jo

[susanjhudson]

Hi there! Sorry, I'm using a new Mac with Catalina and it took me awhile to figure out how to make it play nice with Audacity!

I just uploaded Section 6, Chapter 4. It's 34:21.


https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/chimneycorner_06_stowe_128kb.mp3

Susan

[msfry]

PL Notes Section 6

Susan your file fails our Checker parameters in several areas.

You need 1 second of silence at the front end and 5 seconds of silence at the back end, so mp3 players don't cut off your words.

You should use a constant bit rate (this is chosen when you save the file as an mp3. Be sure to use these settings: mono sound, 44.1 Khz 16-bit audio, encoded in the MP3 format at a constant 128 kbps bit rate.)

Background noise is excessively high and needs to be cleaned up. To get a noise sample, you could record about 5 seconds without talking, get a Noise Sample (in Audacity, go Effects/NOise Reduction/Get Profile), grab the whole file, then Effects/Noise Reduction/Ok, with settings at 12/6/3/Reduce. Try those settings. Let's see what happens.

Volume is excessively high. After fixing the above, you could benefit by Amplify -2, to an average volume of 89db.

Please resubmit with these corrections before I listen to the whole file.

[susanjhudson]

Dear Michele:

Thanks for those very helpful comments. I will try to fix up what I've done or perhaps do it over again if that doesn't work. Obviously, I was a little rusty on my Audacity skills.

Susan

[msfry]

Dear Michele:

Thanks for those very helpful comments. I will try to fix up what I've done or perhaps do it over again if that doesn't work. Obviously, I was a little rusty on my Audacity skills.

Susan

Before re-recording, it is quite possible that these things will work. Audacity is an amazingly forgiving app.

[susanjhudson]

Hi, again!

I think I have cleaned up the file enough for you to give it a listen now. But let me know if it still needs work:


https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/chimneycorner_06_stowe_128kb.mp3

Susan

[msfry]

Thanks, Susan. Will listen tomorrow.

[msfry]

Section 4 has been uploaded. Thank you, Bill, for offering to PL sections 4 and 5.

https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/chimneycorner_04_hbstowe.mp3 25:01

This is the first half of a 2 part dialogue, which reads tediously like a sermon to me. It makes some very good points, though, especially as they didn't have the benefit of hindsight we do, of whether America would survive as a nation after the Civil War, assassination of Lincoln, reconstruction, a largely illiterate population, etc. Those were mighty tumultuous times. By comparison, today is a picnic.

[williamjones]

Section 4 has been uploaded. Thank you, Bill, for offering to PL sections 4 and 5.

https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/chimneycorner_04_hbstowe.mp3 25:01

This is the first half of a 2 part dialogue, which reads tediously like a sermon to me. It makes some very good points, though, especially as they didn't have the benefit of hindsight we do, of whether America would survive as a nation after the Civil War, assassination of Lincoln, reconstruction, a largely illiterate population, etc. Those were mighty tumultuous times. By comparison, today is a picnic.

I'm all over it, like bumps on a frog's back.

[msfry]

Hi, again!

I think I have cleaned up the file enough for you to give it a listen now. But let me know if it still needs work:


https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/chimneycorner_06_stowe_128kb.mp3

Susan

Sorry Susan I've gotten sidetracked. I will listen very soon.

[msfry]

PL Notes Section 6

Hi, Susan, your reading of this chapter was charming and good. However there are a lot of technical issues to attend to.

Checker tells me your file's bit rate is still wrong, should be 128 kbps
And it needs a constant bit rate rather than variable. (see my previous instructions.

Your background noise is quite high. Alas there was no place on your file with several seconds of background noise. I found a 1 second sample at about :25, copied then pasted it 3 or 4 times together to give me a 4 second sample, grabbed that and got a Noise Profile (Effects/Noise Reduction/Get Profile), grabbed the whole file, and did Noise Reduction (settings 12/6/3/reduce/OK) twice to bring it to comfortable listening level. For future reference, the 1 second of silence you added at the beginning and 5 seconds of "silence" you added at the end should have been recorded room noise, not silence. This is the background noise we can use to reduce it throughout the file.

On many occasions it seems when you edited out extraneous material, you shaved it too close to the end and beginning of words, thus running two words together, example here: 30:23 - 30:31. In future, be sure to zoom in on your wave form large enough to see it clearly, lest you clip off the little bits that aren't visible when zoomed out too far. Use the C, Z and X commands to refine these cuts (videos on the wiki, or I can coach you).

Outro should say "End of Chapter 4, Is Woman a Worker?

Your volume varies a lot throughout the file, sometimes almost +7. Recommendations:
From beginning to 2:15, Amplify +3
From 27:50 to the end, Amplify +2
From 31:50 to the end, Amplify +2

Play with this and get back to me. No rush. Editing takes awhile to master, but it is easier to do than to explain. Your story telling was very engaging.

[williamjones]

Section 4 has been uploaded. Thank you, Bill, for offering to PL sections 4 and 5.

https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/chimneycorner_04_hbstowe.mp3 25:01

This is the first half of a 2 part dialogue, which reads tediously like a sermon to me. It makes some very good points, though, especially as they didn't have the benefit of hindsight we do, of whether America would survive as a nation after the Civil War, assassination of Lincoln, reconstruction, a largely illiterate population, etc. Those were mighty tumultuous times. By comparison, today is a picnic.

Section 4 PL NOTES

1:55 Heard: There is not much to be expected of or from any of us
s/b: There is not much to be expected of or for any of us

12:40 Heard: "educate those who have thus been thrown on our care."
s/b "educate those who have thus been thrown on their care."

22:35 Heard: "established law of society by which some MEN are born to inherit the earth,"
s/b: The word "MEN" not present in the original text.

The format is very much like one of Plato's dialogues! Each speaker of a thesis is followed by one with an antithesis. The only thing missing is a character in the role of Plato's elder brother Glaucon saying "Surely, Socrates, it must be so."

Maybe some will hear this as tho it were a dry sermon laying out the ethics of the times, but I was delighted to hear how deftly HBS pulled the words from the characters' mouths! The part on LAZINESS was surprising. And, then there's this, which is as apt today as it was in the era of reconstruction:
"Are you in earnest in what you are saying ? or are you only saying it for sensation ? How can people believe such things and be comfortable ?"

Can hardly wait for the next section.

[susanjhudson]

Hi, Michele:

Thanks for all the great tips on editing. I will put them to use pronto! I'm hoping to do more Librivox with all my extra time at home these days so I want to make sure I do it right!

Susan

[susanjhudson]

Hi, Michele:

Here's another try.
34:25
offering to PL sections 4 and 5.

https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/chimneycorner_04_hbstowe.mp3

I see what you mean by background noise. When I recorded today, it was so much quieter. Don't know what was going on before; maybe the heater was running?

Susan

[susanjhudson]

Whoops, copied the wrong link:
Section 6, Chapter 4
34:25
https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/chimneycorner_06_stowe_128kb.mp3

Susan

[msfry]

Section 4 has been re-uploaded. As this is not Word Perfect, I didn't think any of these errors were significant, but I edited the 1st and 3rd citations anyway. Left 2nd one standing.
Section 5 coming soon. It's more in the same preachy vein.