[COMPLETE] Billy Mink, by Thornton W. Burgess-mtf

Solo or group recordings that are finished and fully available for listeners
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loon
Posts: 2903
Joined: December 31st, 2016, 9:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Post by loon »

Heather -
Starting with chapter 26 your overall audio levels are near the middle of the LibriVox acceptable range - good.

Chapter 26 - The Rats Start A Fire - PL OK.
Chapter 27 - Billy Is Discovered - PL OK.
Chapter 28 - The Farmer Guesses The Truth - PL OK.
Chapter 29 - The Farmer Makes Friends With Billy - PL OK.
Chapter 30 - Billy Lives High - PL OK.
Chapter 31 - Billy Trails His Breakfast - PL OK.
Note: at ~1:46 you missed reading the words "You see" before "he had become so at home..." - this doesn't affect the story, so I'm not worried about it.

Whew - I've caught up with you.
Rich Brown - Minneapolis, MN
Katgirl576
Posts: 216
Joined: May 5th, 2021, 11:53 am

Post by Katgirl576 »

loon wrote: May 28th, 2021, 12:55 pm Heather -
Starting with chapter 26 your overall audio levels are near the middle of the LibriVox acceptable range - good.

Chapter 26 - The Rats Start A Fire - PL OK.
Chapter 27 - Billy Is Discovered - PL OK.
Chapter 28 - The Farmer Guesses The Truth - PL OK.
Chapter 29 - The Farmer Makes Friends With Billy - PL OK.
Chapter 30 - Billy Lives High - PL OK.
Chapter 31 - Billy Trails His Breakfast - PL OK.
Note: at ~1:46 you missed reading the words "You see" before "he had become so at home..." - this doesn't affect the story, so I'm not worried about it.

Whew - I've caught up with you.
Thanks!!

Here's the changes to 25:
https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/billymink_25_burgess_128kb.mp3
2:53
loon
Posts: 2903
Joined: December 31st, 2016, 9:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Post by loon »

Katgirl576 wrote: May 29th, 2021, 7:28 am Here's the changes to 25:
https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/billymink_25_burgess_128kb.mp3
2:53
Heather -

Chapter 25 is now PL OK.
You've single-handedly completed over a quarter of this book - thanks so much!
Rich Brown - Minneapolis, MN
Katgirl576
Posts: 216
Joined: May 5th, 2021, 11:53 am

Post by Katgirl576 »

loon wrote: May 29th, 2021, 8:09 am
Katgirl576 wrote: May 29th, 2021, 7:28 am Here's the changes to 25:
https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/billymink_25_burgess_128kb.mp3
2:53
Heather -

Chapter 25 is now PL OK.
You've single-handedly completed over a quarter of this book - thanks so much!
Welcome! I'm really enjoying this and learning a lot!! The difference in background noise and chapter 20 between these recordings is that I learned to select all of the recording and remove all of the background noise where before I was just removing the background noise in sections.
I'm looking forward to doing more!
NicholeKristen
Posts: 73
Joined: May 15th, 2021, 6:44 am

Post by NicholeKristen »

loon wrote: May 27th, 2021, 6:32 am
NicholeKristen wrote: May 26th, 2021, 8:42 pm Hello,

Here is chapter 32- 3:44

https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/billymink_32_burgess.mp3
Nichole -
All three of your chapters will need some fixes. I don't believe you will need to re-record anything, but you will need to fire up Audacity again.

Chapter 32 - Billy Makes A Discovery

The beginning and ending silence will need to be adjusted - the silence at the start of the chapter should be 1/2 second (or maybe just a bit more), it is currently about 1.9 seconds. The silence at the end should be 5 seconds (or maybe just a bit more), it is currently only about 1.7 seconds.

The overall volume for this chapter is right at the LibriVox lower limit. If this were the only thing I wouldn't ask for a change, but since you are editing anyway, I'm going to ask you to try the following fix -
1) Select the entire chapter
2) You can't just amplify everything because your loudest syllables are within 1/2 dB of clipping already - adding the desired 3 dB would drive the loudest bits into hard clipping (yuck - distorted - sounds bad). First you need to do some compression - select Compressor... in the Effect menu. There are a lot of adjustments here! I like to use something like - Threshold: -20 dB - Noise Floor: -40 dB - Ratio: 2:1 - Attack Time: 0.2 secs - Release Time: 1.0 secs - Make up gain and Compress based on peaks NOT checked. (These are quite gentle settings; others may prefer different positions for the sliders.) When you click 'OK' you will see the largest peaks in the waveform display are now reduced.
3) We reduced the volume! Didn't we want to amplify? Yes we did! Now it is possible to use the Amplify... effect to add about 4.5 dB to the entire chapter without clipping. (I experimented a bit here to find the right setting for this particular chapter.)

When you export your repaired chapter to .mp3 make sure the file name is billymink_32_burgess_128kb.mp3 (including the _128kb part).

Chapters 33 and 34 coming up, but I have a yoga class to get to!


Hello,

Thank you for patiently checking the recording and for the helpful adjustments.
Hope this is better!


https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/billymink_32_burgess_128kb.mp3

Thanks
Nichole Kristen

Collaborated with the artist!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCahr2ILUy1J82qa5r1wVUpg

Lighthouse in the Sky is a song about hope and the perilous journey home,
a place of inner peace within us, even during difficult times.
NicholeKristen
Posts: 73
Joined: May 15th, 2021, 6:44 am

Post by NicholeKristen »

loon wrote: May 27th, 2021, 9:59 am
Chapter 33 - The Farmer Sees A Strange Sight
At around 2:27 in the recording, after "A very strange sight indeed" there is a pop that sounds like it may be a bad edit. I hear "(pop) from that hole" but the text reads "Out from that hole" - could you check to make sure you didn't trim out a word at that point please?

At around 3:21 I hear "the --- the farmer shouted" - the first "the" should be removed.

This chapter also has the same problems as I called out for chapter 32:
1) The opening silence is nearly 5 seconds but it should be 1/2 second.
2) The ending silence is about 3.2 seconds but it should be 5 seconds.
3) The volume for the whole chapter is 1/10th dB below the LibriVox minimum. The same compressor... followed by amplify... actions I suggested for chapter 32 should get your chapter near the middle of the volume range.
4) Upload the fixed chapter as billymink_33_burgess_128kb.mp3

Chapter 34 - Billy Goes Home
1) Fix the length of the opening and ending silence as in the other two chapters
2) Your volume in this chapter is in the LibriVox range, so no change is needed.
3) At about 35 seconds there is a pop of some sort in the recording - it is in the silence between Billy's poem and the main story. It is quite audible and should be removed. You can zoom in on a noise like this by typing [Ctrl]-1 several times and you'll be able to see where the sound is clearly. Select the sound, press 'Z' to move the beginning and end of the selection to zero crossings in the waveform (for a nice-sounding edit), then press [Ctrl]-X to remove the sound. Pressing [Ctrl]-2 returns your view of the time line to the normal view.
4) Export and upload the fixed chapter as billymink_34_burgess_128kb.mp3

A note - In chapter 34 I started hearing microphone popping on some of the words starting with plosives - "P"s, "T"s, "K"s - I believe you were a little closer to the mic for this chapter and it started catching air blowing right into it from your breath. This is no way serious enough to need recording again, but it would be nice to avoid in your future recordings. Simply moving the microphone so it is a bit off to the side of your face - still pointed at your mouth, of course - can help a lot. Many people use a home-made or purchased pop screen which also works great, but it can be hard to see what you are reading around the thing (another reason to move the microphone a bit off to the side).

Hello,

Here's 34

Hope this one is better! I tried to reduce the plosives - "P"s, "T"s, "K"s while I was at it.

https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/billymink_32_burgess_128kb.mp3

Thanks again.
Nichole Kristen

Collaborated with the artist!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCahr2ILUy1J82qa5r1wVUpg

Lighthouse in the Sky is a song about hope and the perilous journey home,
a place of inner peace within us, even during difficult times.
Nedge
Posts: 848
Joined: May 30th, 2018, 8:30 am
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ

Post by Nedge »

I had Audible troubles. Went through every bit of troubleshooting I could. I then realized that the plug wasn't fully plugged into the mic.
"Ready, willing, and vaguely competent." -- Sandra Boynton, 2021
loon
Posts: 2903
Joined: December 31st, 2016, 9:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Post by loon »

NicholeKristen wrote: May 29th, 2021, 11:37 am Thank you for patiently checking the recording and for the helpful adjustments.
Hope this is better!


https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/billymink_32_burgess_128kb.mp3
Nichole -
The adjustments you made went a bit farther than I was expecting - now instead of being right at the lower volume limits this chapter is almost to the upper limit. Audacity is showing the recording gets into clipping in a few places, but it's only slightly so and doesn't sound too bad.

The silence at the beginning and end of the chapter is now just as it should be.

Chapter 32 - Billy Makes A Discovery - PL OK. Thanks.
Rich Brown - Minneapolis, MN
silverquill
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Location: Southern California

Post by silverquill »

Nedge wrote: May 29th, 2021, 11:59 am I had Audible troubles. Went through every bit of troubleshooting I could. I then realized that the plug wasn't fully plugged into the mic.
Oh, that sounds familiar!
Except I recorded 7 chapters of a DR before I discovered it. :oops:
~ Larry
loon
Posts: 2903
Joined: December 31st, 2016, 9:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Post by loon »

silverquill wrote: May 29th, 2021, 7:07 pm
Nedge wrote: May 29th, 2021, 11:59 am I had Audible troubles. Went through every bit of troubleshooting I could. I then realized that the plug wasn't fully plugged into the mic.
Oh, that sounds familiar!
Except I recorded 7 chapters of a DR before I discovered it. :oops:
Arrrrrgggg!
Rich Brown - Minneapolis, MN
loon
Posts: 2903
Joined: December 31st, 2016, 9:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Post by loon »

NicholeKristen wrote: May 29th, 2021, 11:39 am Here's 34

Hope this one is better! I tried to reduce the plosives - "P"s, "T"s, "K"s while I was at it.

https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/billymink_32_burgess_128kb.mp3
Nichole - you got the file name wrong in the post - 32 instead of 34 - but I found the file in its proper place with the fixes as I requested.

Chapter 34 - https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/billymink_34_burgess_128kb.mp3 - Billy Goes Home - PL OK.

Thanks for the fix here - I'm still waiting for your updated chapter 33.


The way this chapter ends - The next morning the food put out for him by the farmer was untouched, and the farmer knew that Billy had left, and he was sorry - would have made a satisfying end for the book. But that's just my opinion, and Thornton Burgess added a few more adventures for Billy before the actual final chapter.
Rich Brown - Minneapolis, MN
NicholeKristen
Posts: 73
Joined: May 15th, 2021, 6:44 am

Post by NicholeKristen »

Oops, sorry for mislabeling the file.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing about the ending but that would have been a sad ending.

I'll work on chapter 34 today.

Thanks.
Nichole Kristen

Collaborated with the artist!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCahr2ILUy1J82qa5r1wVUpg

Lighthouse in the Sky is a song about hope and the perilous journey home,
a place of inner peace within us, even during difficult times.
Nedge
Posts: 848
Joined: May 30th, 2018, 8:30 am
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ

Post by Nedge »

"Ready, willing, and vaguely competent." -- Sandra Boynton, 2021
loon
Posts: 2903
Joined: December 31st, 2016, 9:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Post by loon »

Nan -
Chapter 1 - Billy Mink Becomes Suspicious - PL OK, thank you.
Chapter 2 - Billy Finds A Trap - PL OK thank you again.

You wrote about having troubles with your recording setup. I noticed a bit of noise at extremely high frequencies (16kHz to 20kHz) that seemed a bit odd. I didn't hear this noise - I don't hear much of anything in that frequency range - but I spotted it using Audacity's Analyze / Plot Spectrum... tool. It's not a problem at all - it is very quiet indeed at -80+ dB - but it's kind of unique since most people's recordings don't have anything in that frequency range.

It might be something to check on occasionally to make sure your microphone/preamp/AtoD aren't starting to do odd things. I hope that's not the case; the reason to buy new microphones and related stuff is mic envy, not mic failure.
Rich Brown - Minneapolis, MN
AricReed
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Joined: February 16th, 2021, 8:56 am

Post by AricReed »

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