Need recording advice from seasoned readers

[JayKitty76]

Some of the info in the wiki is pretty out of date. I do remember, way back in 2010 or so, when I first heard of LV but long before I became a volunteer, I was following the project thread for a book I was interested in that was in progress at the time. That book was being edited by someone other than the reader, and so when I started volunteering, I was a bit surprised that that no longer seems to be standard practice.

But I also like having full control of the editing process. Sometimes I may have multiple takes of a phrase, all inflected differently. I like being able to decide which inflection to use, instead of leaving it up to someone else.

There's a whole forum called 'Listeners and Editors Wanted'. One of the descriptions of the forum is '...provide editing services...'. I'd also prefer to edit my recordings myself, but if I just didn't have time for whatever reason, I'd ask for an editor to come help me out. Twinkle88 is an editor as well.
Thanks,
~JayKitty

[JayKitty76]

I dug through the forums and found this title:

C- EDITORS FOUND- An Old-Fashioned Girl by L.M. Alcott
(it's on page 5 of Listeners & Editors Wanted)

C- Editors FOUND: An Old-Fashioned Girl by L. M. Alcott

Thanks,
~JayKitty76

[TriciaG]

Most of the editing requested nowadays is for dramatic readings. That's what that Alcott piece is. However, there are people who edit other recordings; they're just few and far between. If someone posts a request for it, someone may reply and volunteer, but it's not very common.

I myself have edited (or helped edit) three solos for others. It's been years, though (2011 and 2013). One requested an editor in Listeners & Editors Wanted. One was a soloist who dumped the audios on us then disappeared. The third was also a request (blind reader who could record but not edit).

[annise]

I've edited one book that I was PLing when real life struck the reader and as the reader hated editing, I volunteered to help and got raw recordings. But that was a special book and a special person.
And I have edited abandoned projects with some not PL OK sections
But finding an editor who wanted the same level of changes you wanted would be quite difficult, I'd hate it if an editor decided to
change something I spent ages getting right

Anne

[mightyfelix]

I hate it when a PLer decides to edit my recording and decides to change something I spent ages getting right

People do this? Without even asking???

[amitsharma]

...I hate it when a PLer decides to edit my recording and decides to change something I spent ages getting right

Anne

That doesn't sound very nice. I know I would correct the mistakes if asked by the PLer. Other than if the reader abandons the project and won't respond to PLer's requests for corrections, I think it's just courtesy to let the reader know if edits need to be done in some larger interests of the project.

[Cori]

The clue's in the name -- proof LISTENER. I'd be incredibly annoyed if someone tinkered with my audio without checking with me first. I hope that's super-rare and that people quickly realise that's not how we do things. In the case where the reader can't edit for whatever reason, that's a different thing, of course.


And, editors are fantastic. Without them, I couldn't have finished The Wood Beyond The World which was in twee English, or the English Grammar in 50 minutes which I got so obsessive about editing I slowed almost to a stop. Tricia did my most popular YouTube recording (first five cantos of Dante's Inferno -- 380K+ views!) and Jo edited a 'little' solo that I recorded as a break from another solo (and therefore my editing time was all on main-solo. Side-solo wouldn't have been released without her.)

Generally, if you ask over in Listeners & Editors, then you'll find someone, especially if it's a short piece, or a solo where you've already recorded all the files (so there's no doubt about whether you'll actually finish.) That said, I've been very lucky with all of mine, being very happy with the results. It would be possible to get an editor with a wildly different opinion about how the finished product should sound, and then that'd be very awkward, because you can't put hours of someone's work in the bin just because you don't like it. Which is why I do most of my own editing even though I don't love it.


[Edited to add: I was just checking something, and found this olde thread on the subject. viewtopic.php?f=23&t=44564 Too funny -- I thought 4-5 hours editing was a long time back then!]

[TriciaG]

Tricia did my most popular YouTube recording (first five cantos of Dante's Inferno -- 380K+ views!)

Did I? I don't remember that.

[Cori]

I ... wow ... no, you're right, Tricia ... I just checked. We recorded it a little before you joined, so, I have NO IDEA what happened there, except I am still convinced I did not edit it. I wonder if maybe Gesine did? And funny, at 43 mins it was the longest thing I read in my first year here. I was big on the poetry and short chapters back then.

[annise]

I hate it when a PLer decides to edit my recording and decides to change something I spent ages getting right

People do this? Without even asking???