LibriVox Forum

I am curious how many people listen to the LibriVox Community Podcasts and what their responses are. Sometimes a few people comment in the individual podcast threads and I (and podcast contributors, I'm sure) really appreciate those comments. However, I would like to have this thread be for posting comments and even critiques of the current podcasts. I would like to know what people think of them and any suggestions they have for making them better. Is there a certain length you think is ideal? Are there topics you'd like to hear about on a regular basis?

So anyone who stumbles upon this thread and this first post, if you have listened to any of the podcasts, please just post to say which ones you've heard and anything you like about them or think needs to be changed or added to make them more useful and entertaining to the LibriVox community.

Thanks!

Bob

I listened to the Dickens one cause I wondered what all the fuss was with him. :S

I also listened to the first of the multilingual ones and loved hearing the languages.

Esther

Thanks for posting, Esther! I'm glad you liked hearing the languages. That's one of my best joys in listening to a foreign language - just hearing the music of it. Some people get really frustrated when they hear people speaking a language they do not know - either because they are paranoid or just angry that others outside their circle can make sense of something that sounds like nonsense to them. As when Casca in Julius Caesar says, "It's Greek to me." I sometimes want to tell them to relax and just listen to the music of the language. You don't have to understand everything. In fact, it's sometimes fun just trying to figure out what is being said by vocal tone and body language (if you can see the person). There is even a fun improvisational game or exercise called "Foreign Film Dub" of speaking phony but near convincing foreign languages and having them translated by another player. Sid Caesar, the great live TV comedian, is a master of this. Check out this clip. It's 6:50 long but worth every second. I especially liked hearing the LibriVox disclaimer in a variety of languages, both because I knew the translation of what they were saying and also because it was neat to hear the word "LibriVox" pop up within the other language! It was also fun to put together the collage of "goodbyes" at the end. Wait until you hear the collage of "The Raven" that I made from most of the contribution to the multilingual "The Raven" collection that Leni BC'd a while ago.

Thanks again for listening and responding. If, as Gesine once said, recording for LibriVox catalogued books sometimes feels like one is "speaking into the wind," sometimes it feels even more so with the podcasts, since they are made especially for the community and thus have a smaller audience to begin with. So it's really nice to hear that people are actually listening to them.

And I'm sure Ruth is also happy that you listened to the Dickens one.

Bob

I've listened to all the podcasts except these last two. I haven't had time yet to do these. I will, though.

Well, of course, I am delighted that anybody listened to my podcast. I probably wouldn't have done.

I'm afraid I am a podcast backslider. I hardly ever listen to them. I just always seem to have too much else to do.

Ruth

I've listened to all the podcasts and they are all good


Ans

Listened to #124. I enjoyed it; it makes me wish I were fluent enough in another language to record in it. I once tried recording a short story in Spanish, but I gave up in utter frustration. It's one thing to be able to read (barely, anymore) a language; but to record it without insulting the language is a whole other animal.

One comment about the podcast itself: I think your editing is great. It is tight; none of the segments themselves seem to drag, and the transitions segue well.

TriciaG wrote:Listened to #124. I enjoyed it; it makes me wish I were fluent enough in another language to record in it. I once tried recording a short story in Spanish, but I gave up in utter frustration. It's one thing to be able to read (barely, anymore) a language; but to record it without insulting the language is a whole other animal.

One comment about the podcast itself: I think your editing is great. It is tight; none of the segments themselves seem to drag, and the transitions segue well.

Thanks so much, Tricia. I really appreciate your feedback and I'm glad you like the editing.

About recording in another language: I recorded two Grimm's Fairy Tales in Spanish in one of Karen Savage's projects this summer and it was a lot of HARD WORK. I don't speak Spanish regularly, haven't since I was about 5 years old, studied it four years in high school, and pronounce it well, but only from looking up every unfamiliar word, checking the pronunciation and then recording phrases sometimes ten times over to get the flow right. Then tons of editing to make it seem natural. It sounded good after all that work but WOW! What a lot of work!

I've thought about doing a short poem/story in Dutch but would probably go through the same as you Bob.

I don't think I would even attempt it without my mom sitting next to me to correct my pronunciation.

Esther

Starlite wrote:I've thought about doing a short poem/story in Dutch but would probably go through the same as you Bob.

I don't think I would even attempt it without my mom sitting next to me to correct my pronunciation.

Esther

You should do it, Esther! Really! As a tribute to your heritage. It's the reason I recorded in Spanish.

Bob

P.S. Best of everything to you with your new job. I hope you really enjoy it! I'm going to be like you, actually, cutting back my LV involvement for the next year or so (except for podcasts and a FEW short recordings here and there) because of having to spend time writing my research articles.

I've listened to all podcasts since I joined. Even the poetry one. (not a big fan of poetry myself).

neckertb wrote:I've listened to all podcasts since I joined. Even the poetry one. (not a big fan of poetry myself).

How great, Nadine! Thank you for listening and contributing.

How can you read poetry so beautifully and not be a poetry fan? Is it that French is so romantic that you cannot help but perform it beautifully?

Bob

I have no idea. I don't actually like the sounds of French so much, I find German and Italian much more musical, but I like the subtleties and the richness of French. There's about 3 times more French words than Danish ones for instance.

neckertb wrote:I have no idea. I don't actually like the sounds of French so much, I find German and Italian much more musical, but I like the subtleties and the richness of French. There's about 3 times more French words than Danish ones for instance.

I agree that Italian is very musical. I have sung Italian and German both. Once, when I sang a Schubert lieder, the accompanist for my singing teacher just bluntly blurted out, "That's the most Italian-sounding German I've ever heard!" I've been a bit shy to sing German ever since, or at least I try to compare my pronunciations to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. I think, though, that because Italian seems to have more vowel action than German, that I find it more musical. How about you?

Bob

I don't speak Italian, I just hear it a lot from our Italian Ph.D students (they seem to come in pairs ).
But I find German very soft and nice, not quite like what is depicted in movies with the bad German guys speaking like they were shouting all the time... It's really a shame how movies can affect one's own appreciation of things in a negative way.