Making your reading sound Great

Post your questions & get help from friendly LibriVoxers
lurcherlover
Posts: 1206
Joined: November 10th, 2016, 3:54 am
Location: LONDON UK

Post by lurcherlover »

Have sent you both a PM with a link. Hope it's OK.
SaraHale
Posts: 1433
Joined: June 17th, 2016, 1:20 pm
Location: Egypt

Post by SaraHale »

lurcherlover wrote: October 9th, 2018, 1:53 am Have sent you both a PM with a link. Hope it's OK.
Hello, Peter. For reason, I didn't get the PM. :hmm:
Thanks, SaraHale. :D
Constructive criticism is always welcome. :thumbs:
lurcherlover
Posts: 1206
Joined: November 10th, 2016, 3:54 am
Location: LONDON UK

Post by lurcherlover »

Oh dear! I always get lots of trouble with PM's here and elsewhere. I will post the link here instead.
SaraHale
Posts: 1433
Joined: June 17th, 2016, 1:20 pm
Location: Egypt

Post by SaraHale »

lurcherlover wrote: October 9th, 2018, 7:53 am Oh dear! I always get lots of trouble with PM's here and elsewhere. I will post the link here instead.
Thanks so much! Have a wonderful day. :thumbs:
Thanks, SaraHale. :D
Constructive criticism is always welcome. :thumbs:
lurcherlover
Posts: 1206
Joined: November 10th, 2016, 3:54 am
Location: LONDON UK

Post by lurcherlover »

amitsharma
Posts: 118
Joined: August 19th, 2018, 6:54 am
Location: Bhopal, India

Post by amitsharma »

That was amazing. You have an incredible voice Peter. It's a joy to hear no matter what you are saying. The recording is very clear and technically perfect but that was really not a surprise.

The content made perfect sense and was just the guidelines I was looking for. When I wrote earlier to request for your narration tips I was going to suggest if you could give some kind of variations in the parameters like distance and diction so that I have something to compare but apparently you read my mind and did just that.

"As you like it" is a lovely choice for variations in intonation and diction since most people are already familiar with the text part of it.

I thoroughly enjoyed your recording and if any amount of practice can get me even half way where you are I will be a happy camper. I am planning to keep it in my LV reference folder where all my technical specs and design elements are kept.

Thank you Peter for the time and the effort. I honestly appreciate it.

with warm regards,

Amit
Amit Sharma, CC

"You can call me crazy, but you're just jealous that the voices don't talk to you."
lurcherlover
Posts: 1206
Joined: November 10th, 2016, 3:54 am
Location: LONDON UK

Post by lurcherlover »

Many thanks - I just dashed it off - I had to cut out a lot of um's and er's - it's harder for me to speak off the cuff rather than reading from a book or script.
amitsharma
Posts: 118
Joined: August 19th, 2018, 6:54 am
Location: Bhopal, India

Post by amitsharma »

If its extempore then all the more amazing. You have a lot of talent. I am happy to get pointers off of you. Thanks again.
Amit Sharma, CC

"You can call me crazy, but you're just jealous that the voices don't talk to you."
Kozmique
Posts: 55
Joined: July 30th, 2018, 8:29 pm

Post by Kozmique »

This thread is very helpful, thank you! I have trouble with distracting mouth noises and some of the advice in here has helped reduce that quite a bit. The hardest thing is remembering to drink lots of water hours in advance of recording.
paullawleyjones
Posts: 463
Joined: November 1st, 2021, 4:17 am
Location: East Asia

Post by paullawleyjones »

Here is a great article by Stephen Jay Cohen on proper mic positioning.
Paul Lawley-Jones
My Reader Page

"There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you." – Bene Gesserit "Litany of Fear," Dune
lurcherlover
Posts: 1206
Joined: November 10th, 2016, 3:54 am
Location: LONDON UK

Post by lurcherlover »

paullawleyjones wrote: February 5th, 2022, 11:09 pm Here is a great article by Stephen Jay Cohen on proper mic positioning.
Yes, it's a good article. However, depending on the mic being used, 12 inches is not too far -especially in a treated or semi treated room. I record at 12 inches now - my room is very dead at less than 0.5 sec reverb. I have a duvet behind me and a thick blanket behind the mic, which is a ribbon mic, and the table top mostly covered with another blanket. If you are in record mode, clap your hands near the mic - a few inches away - say 10 inches, and listen on playback to the amount of echo (reverb, room sound). The claps should be completely dead, but that's hard to achieve, so a very slight echo is maybe OK. At any rate, reduce it if you can.
jmac698
Posts: 55
Joined: December 11th, 2012, 1:46 pm
Location: Canada

Post by jmac698 »

Hello Librivox community,

I have been browsing this topic looking for tips to improve my recordings. I was interested in a post by lurcherlover, however the dropbox link had expired. Do you still have that tutorial, Mr. Lurcher?

I have just submitted my second recording, and I'm learning as I go. The points I wish to tackle next are, how to get my voice to sound consistent between takes - should I give up doing it on different days? Should I step back further from the mic to avoid changes in the soundfield? How do you remember the style of voice you used?

My next question is around character voices. How do you keep them distinct and consistent? How would you make it clear who is speaking in a dialogue between two persons? I was thinking in terms of different styles for each, different tones of voice, different speeds, putting pauses between them to indicate taking turns, not sure what else.

If you are curious how I am doing so far, you may find my submissions here:
https://librivox.org/uploads/m8b1/billieschoolmystery_10_wheeler_128kb.mp3
https://librivox.org/uploads/m8b1/billieschoolmystery_11_wheeler_128kb.mp3

For example, I don't think I did too well in the conversation between Laura and Vi, around 1:22. Vi has a slightly lower voice.
paullawleyjones
Posts: 463
Joined: November 1st, 2021, 4:17 am
Location: East Asia

Post by paullawleyjones »

jmac698 wrote: December 22nd, 2022, 7:13 am I have been browsing this topic looking for tips to improve my recordings. I was interested in a post by lurcherlover, however the dropbox link had expired. Do you still have that tutorial, Mr. Lurcher?
Alas, lurcherlover, aka Peter Thomlinson, died on June 10th, 2022.
jmac698 wrote: December 22nd, 2022, 7:13 am ... Should I step back further from the mic to avoid changes in the soundfield? ... How do you remember the style of voice you used?
How far away are you from the mic now? If your recording space is permanently set up, mark the floor so that the legs of your chair (or your feet, if you stand) are always the same distance from the mic.

If you speak as you would to a friend sitting across from you in your lounge, you won't have to 'remember' your speaking style, as it'll be the one you always use.
jmac698 wrote: December 22nd, 2022, 7:13 am My next question is around character voices. How do you keep them distinct and consistent? How would you make it clear who is speaking in a dialogue between two persons? I was thinking in terms of different styles for each, different tones of voice, different speeds, putting pauses between them to indicate taking turns, not sure what else.
I've found this video helpful for creating different voices: https://youtu.be/FVmAEezr6ao

Also, check out Matt Pocock's channel for his quick 2-minute videos on how to do different accents: https://www.youtube.com/@MattPocock/videos
Paul Lawley-Jones
My Reader Page

"There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you." – Bene Gesserit "Litany of Fear," Dune
jmac698
Posts: 55
Joined: December 11th, 2012, 1:46 pm
Location: Canada

Post by jmac698 »

I never thought of marking my spot! And thanks for the links!
Sad to hear about Mr. Lurcher, he had a great voice :(
jmac698
Posts: 55
Joined: December 11th, 2012, 1:46 pm
Location: Canada

Post by jmac698 »

I did some tests. I think I figured out that I had moved. I found the best placement for a sound I like. I also took the tips I researched, and used a conversational voice. Those voice tips made it so simple, just need to write down the voice attributes you used. Thanks!
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