[CHILDREN] Little Joe Otter, by Thornton W. Burgess - philc

Solo or group recordings that are finished and fully available for listeners
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adrianstephens
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Location: Cambridge UK
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Post by adrianstephens »

All very nicely read. Chapter 29. PL OK. I found myself crying "not the toe!".
FYI - You did bump the table a few times around 1:20, it's not sufficiently distracting to require rework.
Chapters 30 & 31. PL OK.
My Librivox-related YouTube series starts here: Part 0: Introduction. https://youtu.be/pMHYycgA5VU
...
Part 15: Case Study (Poem) https://youtu.be/41sr_VC1Qxo
Part 16: Case Study 2 (Dramatic Reading) https://youtu.be/GBIAd469vnM
Katgirl576
Posts: 216
Joined: May 5th, 2021, 11:53 am

Post by Katgirl576 »

NicholeKristen
Posts: 73
Joined: May 15th, 2021, 6:44 am

Post by NicholeKristen »

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.
silverquill
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Joined: May 25th, 2013, 9:11 pm
Location: Southern California

Post by silverquill »

~ Larry
NOTE: Traveling without internet until March 17
adrianstephens
Posts: 1747
Joined: August 27th, 2019, 5:06 am
Location: Cambridge UK
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Post by adrianstephens »

My Librivox-related YouTube series starts here: Part 0: Introduction. https://youtu.be/pMHYycgA5VU
...
Part 15: Case Study (Poem) https://youtu.be/41sr_VC1Qxo
Part 16: Case Study 2 (Dramatic Reading) https://youtu.be/GBIAd469vnM
Kiadawel
Posts: 31
Joined: June 17th, 2021, 2:50 pm

Post by Kiadawel »

adrianstephens wrote: July 4th, 2021, 1:47 am
Kiadawel wrote: July 1st, 2021, 10:11 pm
Chapter 21 / A Race For Life:
https://librivox.org/uploads/philchenevert/littlejoeotter_21_burgess_128kb.mp3
Duration: 03:18
PL OK. Clearly read with great animation!

Advisory: The checker reports "a moderate level of background noise", which sounds like a computer fan, and is at about -50dB.
You don't need to take any action here, because it doesn't interfere with comprehension. But if you do want to polish your technique,
you might try adding noise reduction to the next recording you do.
Here's a video explaining the technique: https://youtu.be/KsFkmvF-9d0
Thank you for your notes (both on polishing technique and pointing me in the right direction regarding how ProofListening works)! I truly appreciate it! I haven't been successful so far in finding the same level of detail you were able to see with the Checker program (I don't have a Background Noise reading in my version, for some reason) but I will watch the video a few times through and play along with my audio and see if I can't get it to clean up its act a bit. If you didn't cover this in the video -- do you happen to know if it's better to run Noise Cleaning before or after Normalizing with the "Replay Gain" plugin? I've been using that to keep my louder spots in check.
~Kimi
silverquill
Posts: 28724
Joined: May 25th, 2013, 9:11 pm
Location: Southern California

Post by silverquill »

Adrian has far more expertise than I do, so this is just my nickel's worth.

I only recently learned the Checker has a setting to measure background noise.
Click on the Validation tab and in the dropdown menu select "Choose Validation Methods" and you'll see a check box for "Background Noise." Personally, I still rely on my ears with a good set of headphones. After all, it is what the listener hears that is the important thing. We do have a higher tolerance for background noise under LV standards, but it is still best to strive for the best results we can get.

I've managed to get a pretty quiet environment and have a quieter solid state laptop. Even so, the first thing I do when I begin to edit a recording is run Noise Reduction in Audacity. I don't run any compression or normalization, although I know some do. The last thing I do is run Replay Gain, then use the Amplification feature in Audacity to adjust the volume up or down.

Adrian may have better pointers for you, so this is FWIY.

I greatly appreciate your participation in this little project. :D
~ Larry
NOTE: Traveling without internet until March 17
adrianstephens
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Joined: August 27th, 2019, 5:06 am
Location: Cambridge UK
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Post by adrianstephens »

Kiadawel wrote: July 7th, 2021, 3:33 pm
adrianstephens wrote: July 4th, 2021, 1:47 am

PL OK. Clearly read with great animation!

Advisory: The checker reports "a moderate level of background noise", which sounds like a computer fan, and is at about -50dB.
You don't need to take any action here, because it doesn't interfere with comprehension. But if you do want to polish your technique,
you might try adding noise reduction to the next recording you do.
Here's a video explaining the technique: https://youtu.be/KsFkmvF-9d0
Thank you for your notes (both on polishing technique and pointing me in the right direction regarding how ProofListening works)! I truly appreciate it! I haven't been successful so far in finding the same level of detail you were able to see with the Checker program (I don't have a Background Noise reading in my version, for some reason) but I will watch the video a few times through and play along with my audio and see if I can't get it to clean up its act a bit. If you didn't cover this in the video -- do you happen to know if it's better to run Noise Cleaning before or after Normalizing with the "Replay Gain" plugin? I've been using that to keep my louder spots in check.


Here's what I do:
1. Noise reduction - as shown in my video.
2. Noise gating.
3. Editing mistakes. I also flatten the audio between lines to zero as I'm going through it.
4. Truncation of silence
5. Compression (factor of two) - usually. Certainly for dramatic readings, less certainly so for other works.
6. Normalization (you can use ReplayGain, I've now switched to Loudness Normalization)
7. Export

It might see a lot, but most of these steps only take a few seconds to perform.

The only truly necessary step is the editing. My setup is a shed in the garden hung with blankets to reduce echo.
It's not entirely quiet, and I have to remove road noise and the children's schoolyard sounds, plus the occasional
overhead light aircraft, the neighbour's lawnmower.

The flatten to zero step is necessary only because I use the automatic truncation of silence. When I'm reading a DR,
there's usually a lot of silence between lines as I'm searching for the next line to read. I like to truncate that silence
to a predictable value of 4s. This only really works well if there are no spikes between lines - hence the zeroing.
I use compression particularly when I put a lot of "acting" into my voice to reduce the level difference between
shouting and whispering some.

Now you've got the link to my videos, you can see explained some of these steps. If you go to the Librivox Wiki page,
you can see many excellent videos by PhilC, which are generally shorter and easier to digest than mine.

Silverquill has given you additional pointers to using checker. Don't believe what he says about expertise,
he's been around the block, whereas I'm still wet behind the ears.

Hope this is of help to you. If you're interested in developing your technique, then go for it. If you find it a chore
and an impediment to reading, then carry on doing what you're now doing. We care most about the reading, and
least about its technical quality.

If you're any questions, as a retiree, I have all the time in the world to talk to you.
My Librivox-related YouTube series starts here: Part 0: Introduction. https://youtu.be/pMHYycgA5VU
...
Part 15: Case Study (Poem) https://youtu.be/41sr_VC1Qxo
Part 16: Case Study 2 (Dramatic Reading) https://youtu.be/GBIAd469vnM
mleigh
Posts: 5984
Joined: May 31st, 2020, 2:19 pm
Location: New Mexico

Post by mleigh »

Here is my final recording for this book:

7 - Great Fun on a Slippery Slide (It sounds like fun to me)

https://librivox.org/uploads/philchenevert/littlejoeotter_07_burgess_128kb.mp3
8:30


Thanks,

M
adrianstephens
Posts: 1747
Joined: August 27th, 2019, 5:06 am
Location: Cambridge UK
Contact:

Post by adrianstephens »

mleigh wrote: July 8th, 2021, 8:26 am Here is my final recording for this book:

7 - Great Fun on a Slippery Slide (It sounds like fun to me)

https://librivox.org/uploads/philchenevert/littlejoeotter_07_burgess_128kb.mp3
8:30


Thanks,

M
Thank you. Clearly read and definitely PL OK.
My Librivox-related YouTube series starts here: Part 0: Introduction. https://youtu.be/pMHYycgA5VU
...
Part 15: Case Study (Poem) https://youtu.be/41sr_VC1Qxo
Part 16: Case Study 2 (Dramatic Reading) https://youtu.be/GBIAd469vnM
Nedge
Posts: 848
Joined: May 30th, 2018, 8:30 am
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ

Post by Nedge »

Editing mistakes. I also flatten the audio between lines to zero as I'm going through it.
How do you flatten the audio between lines to zero? I do this also, but I'm sure there must be a better way. I block and copy a section of smooth line and then paste it in to the sections of line that are more than zero.

Nan
"Ready, willing, and vaguely competent." -- Sandra Boynton, 2021
adrianstephens
Posts: 1747
Joined: August 27th, 2019, 5:06 am
Location: Cambridge UK
Contact:

Post by adrianstephens »

Nedge wrote: July 8th, 2021, 10:14 pm
Editing mistakes. I also flatten the audio between lines to zero as I'm going through it.
How do you flatten the audio between lines to zero? I do this also, but I'm sure there must be a better way. I block and copy a section of smooth line and then paste it in to the sections of line that are more than zero.

Nan
Hello Nan,
In View/Toolbars make sure "Edit" toolbar is shown.
Select the portion you want to silence ("flatten") and click the last icon on the edit tool bar, i.e. the one 4 to the right of the scissors.
As a matter of course, I assign this to a shortcut (D in my case) so that I can apply it quickly.
Regards,
Adrian
My Librivox-related YouTube series starts here: Part 0: Introduction. https://youtu.be/pMHYycgA5VU
...
Part 15: Case Study (Poem) https://youtu.be/41sr_VC1Qxo
Part 16: Case Study 2 (Dramatic Reading) https://youtu.be/GBIAd469vnM
NicholeKristen
Posts: 73
Joined: May 15th, 2021, 6:44 am

Post by NicholeKristen »

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.
adrianstephens
Posts: 1747
Joined: August 27th, 2019, 5:06 am
Location: Cambridge UK
Contact:

Post by adrianstephens »

Read with great animation. Thank you! PL OK.
My Librivox-related YouTube series starts here: Part 0: Introduction. https://youtu.be/pMHYycgA5VU
...
Part 15: Case Study (Poem) https://youtu.be/41sr_VC1Qxo
Part 16: Case Study 2 (Dramatic Reading) https://youtu.be/GBIAd469vnM
NicholeKristen
Posts: 73
Joined: May 15th, 2021, 6:44 am

Post by NicholeKristen »

adrianstephens wrote: July 9th, 2021, 1:09 am
Read with great animation. Thank you! PL OK.


Thanks Adrian!
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.
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