local groups recordings?

xen · Post by **xen** » November 9th, 2005, 10:30 am

I was looking at http://literalsystems.com/abooks/doku.php recordings and comparings them to our own (I'm an audiofile) and looking at how their volunteer system works. They have volunteers come to a centeral recording studio to mantain a higher quality. But I don't want to deny anybody to chance to record. But I think that we could come to a comprimise, by setting up a groups of people with in a 1-2 hr driving radius. These groups could then come together (monthly, bi-monthly?) this would enable the groups to good mics and a good acoustic room. As well as the groups could work on a the same project. The only draw back that I can see is that we would need to recruit more people. And anybody who wants can still record on their on. Anyway tell me what you think.

Post by **hugh** » November 9th, 2005, 10:35 am

hey xen that would be great ... but we won't require anything like that. ideally, groups would get together and do books of interest to them, and the more interest, perhaps, the better the quality they may choose to do... so are you coordinating a group in your neighbourhood.

GordMackenzie · Post by **GordMackenzie** » November 9th, 2005, 11:16 am

It appears that LiteralSystems has a different goal than Librivox.

LiteralSystems are "really trying to hone down our production skills and show off what we can do" (according to their website) and are attempting to create professional quality recordings (and indeed they appear to be willing, as a group, to do professional recordings if contracted to do so...).

I don't think that's what Librivox is all about. If you really care about the audio quality or production values of a book you are going to listen to, then I would think that you should probably spend the money and buy a professionally-produced book.

Librivox is not about professionals and high quality audio (IMHO), it is about many people contributing their voice and a bit of their time to a worthy goal: making public domain texts available in audio format.

There are no auditions, no requirements, just a willingness to contribute something.

It's true that most Librivox recordings can't compare to the production values of professional or even semi-professional recordings such as those done by LiteralSystems. But I don't think that's the point.

Librivox has a certain "rough-n-ready" feel ... and personally, I like that.

GordMackenzie · Post by **GordMackenzie** » November 9th, 2005, 11:19 am

... mind you, if someone wanted to get together and do a high-quality recording session in a nice acoustic studio, I'd certainly be willing!

kayray · Post by **kayray** » November 9th, 2005, 11:21 am

The beauty of the Librivox volunteer system is that I can take my laptop into the closet when I have a spare half hour, while my son and husband are playing video games, and record a chapter of Pride and Prejudice...

I am happy when I hear a recording which has some background noise, that obviously isn't a professional recording, because I know that someone, somewhere, is taking a few minutes out of his busy day and just doing his best for the good of humanity.

Yeah the quality isn't Recorded Books Inc. quality, but it's good enough to be enjoyable, IMHO.

But hey, maybe you can find some volunteers and set up an awesome studio and make us something that sounds amazingly professional! And that would be great too :)

Kara

Squiddhartha · Post by **Squiddhartha** » November 9th, 2005, 12:25 pm

Hm, maybe I should introduce some more background noise into my recordings to make Kara happy... ;)

kayray · Post by **kayray** » November 9th, 2005, 1:03 pm

heehee! I don't remember which recording I was listening to, but once I heard the sound of a teacup clattering against a saucer (I think). I was delighted :)

kara

pberinstein · Post by **pberinstein** » November 9th, 2005, 1:21 pm

Squiddhartha wrote:Hm, maybe I should introduce some more background noise into my recordings to make Kara happy... ;)

There's this cool site called FindSounds (http://www.findsounds.com), where you can get all sorts of odd effects.

Post by **hugh** » November 9th, 2005, 2:12 pm

miette, who has a wonderful podcast:

http://www.enivrez.com/bedtime/

always has a dog barking, or a truck rolling by, or says, "oh shit," when she loses her place. and I think miette's is the best audiolit podcast going...

there's something so personal about the dyi effect of the recordings for LibriVox (and the other audiolit podcasts)...and I think our quality comes out amazingly well.

The only worry I have is about the background buzz & whirr & whine in some recordings -- mine in particular -- which strain the ears if you are listening with earphones. played over speakers it's not bad at all.

but again, better quality is a good thing. I've got some audio equipment on my xmas list, that's for sure.

pberinstein · Post by **pberinstein** » November 9th, 2005, 2:40 pm

Gosh, Hugh, and here I spend hours a week to make my podcasts sound as professional as possible. Maybe it's a boomer thing.

Post by **hugh** » November 9th, 2005, 3:04 pm

actually paula, you are on top of the list of our professional-sounding recordings. and certainly www.writingshow.com is beautifully done, and my favourite podcast *about* writing

...(looking forward to to science/writing episode, by the way, close to my heart).

I don't mean that podcasts should be all crackly and have lots of mistakes. better sound quality is definitely better, make no mistake. But a podcast does not *have* to be completely professional-sounding to be a great podcast. It just depends on the context. Again, in the context of the writingshow.com, I think you are doing something very interesting that works best wth good production, but for instance neal the podchef I like because listening to him while I cook is kinda like juts having a pal in the kitchen with you (my preferred way of cooking). I don't want that to be completely slick - the rough edges are what make it such good listening in my opinion.

Anyway, the main point is that librivox is a place to come if you want to read for the world, no matter what your recording set-up or oratory skills. desire to join is all that matters...

miette · Post by **miette** » November 13th, 2005, 11:29 am

I, for one, would love to experiment with a 'live' group reading, perhaps as a supplement to the librivox experience-- not to show off professional sound quality, but to try and capture the campfire feel of seamless, continuous reading, just for kicks.

The past couple of years I've participated in exhausting (and exhilarating) all-night readings of Homer (www.thereadersofhomer.org), with participants camped out in comfy chairs taking turns guzzling coffee, reading pre-assigned chapters, or napping. If anyone else is within spitting distance to NYC, I'd love to coordinate something like this for the librivox archives (wouldn't have to be more than a handful of people passing the mic and patting the dog), but it might be fun to explore one of these days.

Until then, I agree that one of the many charms of librivox is listening to a book straight through and immediately gleaning different perspectives, styles, and voices of those involved.

Post by **hugh** » November 13th, 2005, 11:36 am

this is my plan for my ulysses chapter... though not all night.

Post by **hugh** » November 13th, 2005, 11:50 am

oh and there was a proposal for some kind of collborative skype project, a group getting together on skype and doing a live, realtime recording of, say, a play ... could be interesting.

miette · Post by **miette** » November 13th, 2005, 12:01 pm

Yea, I love the idea of doing Ulysses in bars; could start a new trend for atmospheric podcasting, and make a Where In The World Is This Librivox Reder game of it: we could do On The Road while on the road, and I could do a chapter of Life on the Mississippi from, well, the Hudson.