Clicker to mark mistakes while recording

[harvey]

Clicker to mark mistakes while recording

Once upon a time, there was a certain type of toy. It's
body was painted, formed sheet metal -- often in the figure
of a human or animal. Attached to the underside was a piece
of spring metal, which, when pressed with one's thumb, made
a satisfyingly loud and sharp "click-clack".

An on-line search found the metal variety only on eBay at
exorbitant prices.

A toy wholesaler does appear to have a plastic version, but
only by the case of 12 dozen:
http://www.bulktoystore.com/toy_database/31005.html

More promising is the existence of clickers intended for dog
training. Here are two on-line retailers:
http://www.cleanrun.com/category.cfm?Category=127&CFID=911555&CFTOKEN=80283523
http://thepuppyshop.com/clicker.html

It seems these clickers could be used to mark the place in a
recording where a mistake needs editing.

[kayray]

I think I saw something like these at Petco last time I bought turtle food!

[ceastman]

Yes - a friend of mine at work says they're used as animal training tools.

[ChipDoc]

Know any D-Day veterans? The allied armies distributed these to the paratroops so they could identify each other with the distinctive clicking sound without having to call out in English and identify themselves to the occupying Nazi troops.

They were a great idea then and they remain so today!

[vee]

Thunder!

(ok obscure reference)

The pet training clickers are identical. If you don't want to buy one, just use a bottle cap that has the safety pop-up. I generally use Snapple bottle tops for this. Gives a good satisfying pop, especially if you reshape it a bit.

[harvey]

If you don't want to buy one, just use a bottle cap that has the safety pop-up. I generally use Snapple bottle tops for this. Gives a good satisfying pop, especially if you reshape it a bit.

How about a how-to-construct-it page for the documentation wiki, complete
with illustrations?

[ChipDoc]

Thunder!

(ok obscure reference)

Flash! (not THAT obscure!)

To be honest, when I make an error, I just say it again. That's generally enough of a jolt to make me pay attention when I listen to the playback - particularly when I really screw it up and have to keep repeating it over and over and over...

[Dragoness]

I second the Snapple bottle tops- I trained my puppy with those, when I kept losing the clickers and got annoyed at having to pay several bucks for them. Snapple tops are pretty easy to come on for free.

Thanks for the idea- maybe I'll try this. Tapping the mic was really awkward for me on a headset, and my tongue-clicks don't seem to work. But my puppy's all trained, so I don't have any laying around.

[vee]

I guess you just need to make sure you don't untrain your puppy by accident

[Fox in the Stars]

Not so likely on PG, but if we ever run into a project where it's appropriate, a clicker or bell might also be good to mark page-turns, like on those book-and-recording sets you can buy for kids (or at least could when I was little; I adored those things). Or any kind of break marker that seems appropriate.

(I wonder where one would buy one of those "ring for service" button-on-top bells...)
EDIT: Answer: office supply places; Office Depot shows them for $5.

[harvey]

where it's appropriate, a clicker or bell might also be good to mark page-turns, like on those book-and-recording sets you can buy for kids (or at least could when I was little; I adored those things). Or any kind of break marker that seems appropriate.

Then there's the wide-open field of audio sound effects. Perhaps you could
get Chip to record, in his best radio announcer's voice, "Please turn the page".

Here are some Web sites which feature sound effects files. I've used
the first one, which links to 11 files labeled "turn page".

http://www.findsounds.com/
http://www.a1freesoundeffects.com/noflash.htm
http://www.stonewashed.net/sfx.html
http://www.grsites.com/sounds/


For something completely different, and a bit off-the-wall, I find
this spliced recording hilarious. Look for the file labeled
startup4.wav at http://www.eventsounds.com/miscellaneous.htm
Hint: it helps if one has seen 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[kayray]

Let's just remember that we're recording audiobooks, not radio plays :)

[harvey]

Let's just remember that we're recording audiobooks, not radio plays :)

*indistinct grousing, something about "wet blankets"*

Well, there's always the possibility of a LibriVox spin-off. It seems we're part way
there with the interest in recording plays using a different reader for each part. (:-)

[kayray]

Well, that is very true! These books _are_ in the public domain -- there's nothing to stop anyone from writing one up as a script!

We'll probably have a separate section in the catalog for plays, eventually...

[digitaltoast]

Just whistle!