Hi to all

[JayS]

I am a retired audio professional. I have thousands of hours as an audio mixer, studio talent (guitar), and mastering engineer. During the course of these duties our business did many radio commercials during which I acted as the director as well as recording engineer.
I love audiobooks, having grown up during the golden days of radio and have a high regard for voice acting talent. I was looking for “A Trace of Memory” by Keith Laumer and found the Librivox recording of it. I listened and heard all the info about volunteering. I grew interested. My wife is a fine reader/singer and we have done a lot of children’s Christmas stories for our grandkids. Therefore I commenced poking around on the Librivox site and decided to register.
My current equipment is fully professional and I have strong editing abilities as well as the skills previously mentioned.
I would very much enjoy being a proof listener with the ability to do audio edits such as tightening up some phrases, checking for accuracy, re-eqing section to match the overall content, etc. If my abilities would be of use to anyone, please contact me.
I would be pleased to donate a modest amount of time to your efforts if you feel my abilities would be of use.

[carteki]

Hi
We always welcome professionals who can help! I suggest you look up the definitions of Standard PL in the first post of each project to find out what is wanted. Unless more is specifically asked for.
I have a link to open sections wanting PL in my signature, so take a visit.
One of our technical guru's, Philchenvert, has asked a previous professional for feedback, but the reader never returned.
There are projects needing editing in the Dramatic Reads forum.
Happy reading.

[JayS]

I have read the FAQ, the guidelines and will try to hold myself in check. I am older, and usually have pretty good manners so I hope I won't be offensive to anyone. I will try to let the reader do their part and not criticize unless requested. I will use just the Checker and similar tools to check guidelines. I did the 3 tests to see if I could get the gist of what is needed and my main problem that I could see was that my initial tendency was to just fix the problem rather than write it down. That is the way I was trained to work, but you have a different system here and I will try to not use all the tools I have at my disposal.
If, however, you find a project that needs such things as audio repair, and the reader is no longer available to correct an issue I will be happy to do that as well.
In the meanwhile, I will try to start slowly and carefully on any project that could use my help as a PL. I believe I would like to do even more later unless my situation changes. At present, I have sufficient time to do a careful job and hope I can be an asset to LibriVox.

Jay

[philchenevert]

Hello and welcome to LibriVox!! You probably have received other replies but this one is from me (so it is extra special ) Our mission is to record all public domain books; put 'em on the web and let the world have them for free. Let's just say that we won't finish in the next year or two. Your expertise is most welcome but you may be frustrated in that we do welcome anyone to read, as long as the finished product is understandable to a native listenrer. Which means not high quality stuff; our standards are kind of low, not the sort of finished product you are accustomed to work with.

We welcome proof listeners and especially you as long as evryone understands we do not aim at perfection. With all that said, we welcome any suggestions on better ways to achieve these goals. Please let me know where you would like to contribute. Many of our Dramatic Works need editors and you would be great there. Think about editing a Sherlock Holmes st ory told by 15 different people from all over the world. Anyway, look aroundl the forums, get a feel for our procedure and then let us know if you have any questions of where you would most have fun contributing.

[JayS]

Hi Phil,
Thanks for the nice reply and the subtle direction you are leading me in. I approve completely. I already know that I will need to curb my tendency to be "nit-picky" since this is not like working for ad agencies where I spent a good deal of time as recording engineer, director and editor.
Your suggestion of editing a 15 voice Dramatic Work appeals to me. It would please me to (from behind the scenes) try to create a finished product (pending approval of the Coordinator) that makes the reading sound like it was a unified whole (as much as possible).
I do have superior tools at my disposal which may be of service in such a regard. You seem to be technically inclined, judging from the videos you have created and may understand what I may be able to contribute. I was a pro and do understand restraint in applying tools.
I have spent a good deal of time on the forums and have listened/watched many videos of yours and I totally approve of this project. I am anxious to try to help since I love audiobooks and vocal talent, and would like to be a small part of a great effort.
In poking around the forums, I don't remember seeing where an editor was wanted. I would like to find out how to volunteer for such a project. Can you point me in a direction? Introduce me to an MC in need of such as I?
I anxiously await your reply. BTW I live in the Pacific Time Zone and tend to be rather nocturnal.

Your anxious newbie,
Jay

[philchenevert]

I cannot imagine you being nervous Jay, after the years dealing with audio production and such like! This is one of the most laid back, nice and accepting environments around in my experience; little to no pressure. The reason for the not-so-subtle hints about our 'low' standards is that we sincerely wish to be inclusive, not exclusive. We want novices and non-native speakers to know that they don't need to be perfect and this is a hurdle that stops a lot of people cold. There is a recurrent problem with people wanting us to ' better and better' recordings, by which they mean higher and higher standards. It is hard to fight against this natural impulse. But we are here for the readers, not the listeners. 'nuff said.

You have certainly done your homework! Even watched some of my videos, wow! Anyway, Please look at our Audacity Help thread inside of Need help? forum. viewtopic.php?f=23&t=40238 You may not know this software but most of us use it and are always having problems. You might help there.

Our Dramatic Reading forum thread viewforum.php?f=27 has several areas you might post in, like the Suggestions thread to offer your services as an editor. You might propose a reading yourself, some book you love that would be nice read that way; you would do a great job putting the varied voices together into a smooth listening whole. The DR community is active and will definitely get in touch with you for something!

Volunteers wanted: other stuff viewforum.php?f=22 is a gold mine too. What about bittorrenting? It sounds neat but i am bewildered by it (as I am by our podcast). What about videos? Could you make a video about volume or maybe the newest Audacity? Or even your experiences as a newbee? Whoops, gotta go. but will be in touch!

[philchenevert]

Jay - I have made a quick little video explaining how a new BC (book coordinator) or DPL gets into the magic window for the first time. The magic window is that box with the sections in it in the first post of any project. lot of jargon there! Please take a minute to see if it makes sense to you and if you can generate a password to get in. Thanks. Notice y ou jumped into the Audacity help thread. great and your explanation was superbe

https://youtu.be/_cDPSmlTjGM

EDIT: for some reason the screen capture moved my cursor up and to the left - strange.

[JayS]

Thanks Phil,
I will check out the video.
I was in Listeners Wanted... and found a new post of a test recording from whom I believe will be a great reader for LV. I took the liberty of doing a critique of her recording and would love a critique of my critique. It was test_humsully.mp3 posted today 8Nov2017. Let me know if I need to butt out or if I could continue to try to help.

Jay

[JayS]

Hi Phil,
I did the video and went to a project that needed something and tried to go to the BC Admin and upon clicking that link I did not get what the video shows. It took me directly to a login page and I could not seem to get it to do anything but "incorrect login". Clicking on "Forgot Password" and entering my forum name JayS got nothing for me except a circle of frustration. If you need screenshots I can provide those.

Jay

[philchenevert]

Thanks Phil,
I will check out the video.
I was in Listeners Wanted... and found a new post of a test recording from whom I believe will be a great reader for LV. I took the liberty of doing a critique of her recording and would love a critique of my critique. It was test_humsully.mp3 posted today 8Nov2017. Let me know if I need to butt out or if I could continue to try to help.

Jay

Anyone can help new listeners do their 1 minute test and you are most welcomed to help out there. You know the parameters but I will look at your feedback in a minute.
EDIT: great feedback, especially the encouragement, this is very important. we don't care about silences at the beginning and end of the test files. everything else was well explained. If they tell us what software they use we can go further. now they will hopefully make a test2 and we will do more helpful stuff. Low volume is a big problem here because of built in mics, etc.

[philchenevert]

Hi Phil,
I did the video and went to a project that needed something and tried to go to the BC Admin and upon clicking that link I did not get what the video shows. It took me directly to a login page and I could not seem to get it to do anything but "incorrect login". Clicking on "Forgot Password" and entering my forum name JayS got nothing for me except a circle of frustration. If you need screenshots I can provide those.

Jay

Yep, that is the problem with layers of security. There is a LOT of frustration involved in these things and far too many people just give up. Your feedback is exactly what I need; being an admin the system won't let me sign on as a newbie and see exactly what happens. 1) you clicked on BC Admin under the MW 2) you were directed to a login page 3) clicking on forgot password with your name, got nothing? yes, I woujld love screen shots. Damn this is too complicated but it is what we have and not enough money to get it reprogrammed. Thanks again.

[JayS]

Hi Phil,
I hope I am not too much of a pest. If every newbie takes this of your time.....

Anyway here are the screenshots for my failed login
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kql7hxrgk7x477x/AAAO7qv2BVas9ElpLp5JfOUja?dl=0
Let me know if you have any trouble accessing my Dropbox.

Jay

[Kitty]

Hi Jay

if you'd like to help out in assembling a drama, maybe you could ask in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=60302
for the moment plaidsicle is set to do the editing job, but the play is quite long and quite tricky, with loads of characters. Maybe she would appreciate some help if you would do one of the acts for her. Don't start editing it right away though, I would first ask if that's ok with her (because I'm not sure, maybe she prefers to do them all herself, I just thought, asking doesn't hurt ), and make sure she hasn't started on any acts yet, not that the work would be done double.

Something else you could do to test the waters is offering your own one-act-play in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=64192
still some slots available. You would offer a one act play, and several readers would read the parts, then in the end, you do the editing Again, if you have a play, just write in this thread and offer it. It needs to be public domain of course. A good source to find suitable plays are Gutenberg. Maybe look for "one-act-plays" or something.

Hope you find something and thanks for helping out.

Sonia

[philchenevert]

Hi Phil,
I hope I am not too much of a pest. If every newbie takes this of your time.....

Anyway here are the screenshots for my failed login
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kql7hxrgk7x477x/AAAO7qv2BVas9ElpLp5JfOUja?dl=0
Let me know if you have any trouble accessing my Dropbox.

Jay

You are just the opposite of a pest, you are a big help to me in my quest to make this labyrinth a bit easier for our many non technical newbies. Many people would love to read stories and poems and books but they are stopped cold by the stuff they must do to even get started. My estimate is that 40% don't even manage to get registered for this site. I had a highly intelligent friend, multi-lingual professional translator and interpreter who wanted to read Latin, Greek and Russian texts, but he gave up after trying to register for LibriVox three different times and never being able to actually get in. And that was with my help and guidance !!

Of those who manage to actually register, get a forum name, and post some message about half never record a word because of the 1 minute test and things like that. It ain't easy and they drop like flies. I am an older guy and understand the bewilderment and frustration involved and just want to make it easier.

Havent tried the dropbox yet but should have no problem. Your tech knowledge and experience is vastly superior to most of our people and to mine so your help is appreciated. More later.
EDIT: dropbox works fine /

[philchenevert]

Jay, I searched your forum name in our database and nothing came up. Jays produced nothing. Thhis may be the problem. If I enter you, What catalog name did you choose to use? have you picked one? Perhaps If I put you into the system as a PL, it may work. I sure hope so!