Recording and Editing

Yakumo · Post by **Yakumo** » April 24th, 2006, 10:57 pm

I just read a short story aloud to get a feel for the sound of my own voice and its fluency. My reading got better over time, but there were an enormous number of mistakes. I wasn't recording, just trying out my voice.

How do people at librivox perfer to mark their errors when recording?

Is the recording experiences diffrent from reading text out loud to yourself?

If reading into a microphone is anything like my experience reading aloud to myself, then, I imagine the toughest part of the process and the most tedius would be marking and editing out my mistakes.

any sugestions or comments?

marlodianne · Post by **marlodianne** » April 24th, 2006, 11:18 pm

Well, the mistakes might not be that usual for you. If you're tired or such, or if the text is particularly of awkward or strange languaged, they can happen very often. Sometimes you just need to slow down, or do it on a day where you're feeling more comfortable. Or do an laughable amount of retakes, and edit it til it's smooth. This is true even if you record all the time

Personally I don't mark my errors; I proof listen my recordings. It's highly likely you'll catch a mispeak or a background click or something else that you didn't notice at recording. I know someone who once mentioned listening back revealed the moment when his wife put on the laundry. "What is...*that*? Ugh! The washing machine!" If you're really focusing on your text, as you should be, this stuff can go right by you. That's what your post-record proofing and editing step will catch. It's two different hats. Like writing and revising.

Also, your mic may 'drop' or distort. This can happen if your processor is feeling taxed and grumpy. It will result in a garbled word or even a few minutes of recording. You could never mark that either, there's no sign of anything wrong until you listen back to what you just recorded.

I think it's more accurate to say it's like sharing a story with a friend. If you're doing it right, it's much more personal and unique than just reading aloud.

ChipDoc · Post by **ChipDoc** » April 25th, 2006, 12:40 am

Yakumo wrote:How do people at librivox perfer to mark their errors when recording?

I don't mark them at all. When I make an error, I simply redo that part without making any technical adjustments whatsoever. When I do the editing (immediately after finishing the recording) the re-do stands right out - at least it does if I'm listening as opposed to reading the forum...

Yakumo wrote:Is the recording experiences diffrent from reading text out loud to yourself?

Oh yes. If I'm reading aloud then it's simply for the pleasure of speaking the words, and I often get fairly weird with them. If I'm reading for LibriVox, I tend to speak the words exactly as they're written rather than getting off into flights of fancy.

Yakumo wrote:If reading into a microphone is anything like my experience reading aloud to myself, then, I imagine the toughest part of the process and the most tedius would be marking and editing out my mistakes.

any sugestions or comments?

I know a lot of people hate editing, but I've always rather enjoyed it. If I'm editing something I've already read, it means that the tough part (the reading itself) is behind me and it's now time for the pleasure of making it as perfect as I can. Admittedly, editing my voice is nothing new to me. I've been doing it since I was in my teens. Being able to do it digitally is SO much easier than doing it with magnetic tape, a splicing block, and a razor blade!

Here's a hint: if you make a mistake and have to re-read a section, begin the re-do a few words ahead of where you made the mistake. This will do two things:

1) your voice will be "up to speed" by the time you reach the mistake, and

2) it will give you several "join points" where you can make the splice cleanly.

Mark Barnes · Post by **Mark Barnes** » April 25th, 2006, 2:15 am

When I stumble over words or make an error, I take a very long pause (~20secs) before starting that sentence again. It has two benefits:

1) When I've finished, I just need to scan the waveform for pauses, and I can very easily edit out the error.

2) Taking the pause means I can re-read the sentence a few times before I attempt it again, and I've calmed down if I've got annoyed with myself!

Mark

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » April 25th, 2006, 5:35 am

Many people mark their repeats with a tap on the microphone or say a distinct word like "AGAIN" ... this alerts them in their listen-through to the edit...

Yakumo, you've been doing tons of proof-listening (for which we are grateful!) ... but I think your perspective may be skewed by this.... each of the recordings you have heard has probably already gone through one, if not two, editing sessions before it has reached your ears....

believe me when I say, it is more common to make mistakes and stumble over words often in a recording than it is to read a piece through without error....

If you'd like to practice some editing, and hear some of the stumbling first hand, I'd be happy to send you one of my recordings that still needs editing

Post by **hugh** » April 25th, 2006, 5:46 am

oh yeah, defninitely. if you can get through a page without making a mistake, you are a star; let alone a whole recordings.

my preferred marking technique is a *whistle* - which you can see easily on the waveforms (silence would do the trick too).

some have complained that a tap of the mic disrupts the membrane a bit and results in a "hum." so you may want to be careful about that.

JickBahTech · Post by **JickBahTech** » April 25th, 2006, 9:07 am

Yeah I would avoid tapping on the mic, as it could shorten the life of your mic over time.

I find a good pause is really all I need. Some people use "markers" of some kind like noise makers or the pop-top lids on snapple bottles for a distinctive visual cue.

I know some programs will even let you drop flags (like in Sound Forge pressing the letter M drops a marker flag).

But really it's all about what will work for you. The more you record the more you'll develop your own system.

Alys · Post by **Alys** » April 25th, 2006, 9:32 am

I like to click my tongue a few times. I dont' have to worry about messing up the mic and it makes a series of sharp visual spikes that are really obvious if I want to just scan for them when editing, and also creates an obvious noise if I'm actually listening to the edits.

ceastman · Post by **ceastman** » April 25th, 2006, 11:38 am

I also use the tongue-click to mark edits. Since I read my text in a window on the screen, I like to tongue-click before clicking the mouse, using the scroll wheel, etc, and then I click again before starting to read - these are noises that are too quiet to see in the waveform unless you zoom in a lot, and I find it a pain to listen carefully to the long 'silence' to make sure I catch all the little mouse noises and edit them out.

I'll also use it to mark someplace where I catch an error while I'm reading, as a 'redo' mark. But even with those marks, I'll listen and compare against the written text and see if I made little word errors - which happens all the time.

I'm enough of a perfectionist that it really matters to me to make the recording at least word-perfect, and I try to put feeling into it too. So yeah, I edit my stuff a lot, usually.

-Catharine

GordMackenzie · Post by **GordMackenzie** » April 25th, 2006, 1:17 pm

I'm another tongue-clicker!

I use three sharp "ticks" to indicate a redo or pickup. The sharp spikes are easy to spot in the waveform... but they do tend to sound a little silly if I miss an edit and leave them in!

Yakumo · Post by **Yakumo** » April 25th, 2006, 2:03 pm

thanks everyone! Your advise has helped a lot.

thisstlechick- I think I will take up your offer and practice some editing. Just send me a link via yousendit to my e mail address in my profile.

my perseption is definitly scewed, but that is what happeneds all the time to people who have never done the work themselves.

after I have built up some confidence with editing, I'll see about getting a good microphone and recording.

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » April 25th, 2006, 3:46 pm

oh, please understand that I wasn't being critical... I adore you for the proof-listening... and I suspect that I will adore you even more for doing some editing for me too... heheh... you are so awesome =)

Yakumo · Post by **Yakumo** » April 25th, 2006, 7:31 pm

I know this is a stupid question, but do I need to have an acount with yousendit in order for someone to send me a file?

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » April 25th, 2006, 10:09 pm

no, you don't need to have an account with yousendit to receive a file... however, I have a url for you instead that I will send you =)

Aldark · Post by **Aldark** » April 26th, 2006, 5:26 am

I have to admit if I'm recording later at night I normally drop an f-bomb in my recordings followed by long pause... it is a pretty good indicator for me. Of course some of those f-bombs can last several seconds.

NORMALLY... I just do like Chip, I'll just pause after realizing the mistake and then do a complete re-read of the sentence/paragraph whatever fits the bill. After dabbling a number of times I found this works best for me when editing.