I am very fond of audio books; I do more of that than actual reading of the printed page (well, maybe not THAT much). I am lucky to be able to walk almost every day, where I enjoy the listen for at least two hours.
Now, what I have noticed in the more modern recordings, very high end with lots of production assistants and budgets and studios and packaging etc, is that the recorded voices no longer include any final consonant sounds of their words. It is just the most remarkable thing. The sounds are not just de-amped, quiet little things; they are completly gone. Plurals are not heard, words like "first" sound like "fir". It is just amazing to me.
My two very favorite recording voices are Jeremy Irons and Simon Vance; I consider them to be above avearge. Now, they are completly unafraid of final consonant sounds. Jeremy will just let a whistle at the end go merrily along. And no matter when I hear him, I think of Scar.
My vote is with the consonants; not to be silly, but they really need to be heard. Otherwise I just feel like I am in church with no great sounds abounding.
JCarson
just the strangest thing
I dare not comment, lest I say something about slovenly speech... (my bête noire). Suffice it to say that Simon Vance was BBC trained.
Ruth
Ruth
My LV catalogue page | RuthieG's CataBlog of recordings | Tweet: @RuthGolding
As Ruth is British, I'd say it's a good thing...
Cheers, Ava.
Resident witch of LibriVox, channelling
Granny Weatherwax: "I ain't Nice."
--
AvailleAudio.com
Resident witch of LibriVox, channelling
Granny Weatherwax: "I ain't Nice."
--
AvailleAudio.com
Sorry that I did not explain myself better. Both your examples were British, and known for having particularly clear speech. The broadcast English of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) was long regarded as having a high standard of clarity, so that as many people as possible throughout the world could understand it without difficulty.
Ruth
Ruth
My LV catalogue page | RuthieG's CataBlog of recordings | Tweet: @RuthGolding
Yes, as I said, Irons and Vance are two of my favorite audio book artists. Their pedigree I am not familiar with.
But what do you think about these new productions, purposefully truncating consonants, particularly ending ones? It sounds as though it might be done electronically at editing time and it is not a question of diction. They speak perfectly well, but have decided that better recordings are produced without these sounds. And these are very professional, high end recording productions. They are not people who do not know how or just cannot speak well.
Have you heard any of them?
JCarson
But what do you think about these new productions, purposefully truncating consonants, particularly ending ones? It sounds as though it might be done electronically at editing time and it is not a question of diction. They speak perfectly well, but have decided that better recordings are produced without these sounds. And these are very professional, high end recording productions. They are not people who do not know how or just cannot speak well.
Have you heard any of them?
JCarson
No, I haven't. I cannot understand at all why that would be done in production. I know it happens with equipment that is less than optimal, but that would not be the case here. Are these audiobooks on CD, or downloadable in MP3 format? In the latter case it is possible, I suppose, that they have been compressed to the extent that the consonants disappear. The two lower audio qualities on Audible are pretty awful.
Ruth
Ruth
My LV catalogue page | RuthieG's CataBlog of recordings | Tweet: @RuthGolding
I must not be explaining myself properly. My fault.
These are high end productions; commercially produced and available through libraries and purchaseable on line in mp3 and CD format. Even I with Audacity in my hermit's cell can record the heck out of my consonants. These productions purposefully, will malice aforethought, leave out final consonant sounds and even some in the middle of words. They seem apparently to believe that it makes a better listening experience for the listener and will help them sell more audio books that way.
These are high end, not low budget, well beyond our Librivox efforts, it would appear.
JCarson
These are high end productions; commercially produced and available through libraries and purchaseable on line in mp3 and CD format. Even I with Audacity in my hermit's cell can record the heck out of my consonants. These productions purposefully, will malice aforethought, leave out final consonant sounds and even some in the middle of words. They seem apparently to believe that it makes a better listening experience for the listener and will help them sell more audio books that way.
These are high end, not low budget, well beyond our Librivox efforts, it would appear.
JCarson
Then, as you say, it must be a deliberate policy. I'd love to be a fly on the wall to know what they are telling their sound engineers.
Ruth
Ruth
My LV catalogue page | RuthieG's CataBlog of recordings | Tweet: @RuthGolding
Content retracted.
Daniel
Daniel
Last edited by scout on March 16th, 2015, 9:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
The quality of an audiobook of fiction may be defined by its technical quality, the author's
storytelling abilities, and the narrator's ability to capture the mood of the text. — scout
storytelling abilities, and the narrator's ability to capture the mood of the text. — scout
Now, it is not Simon Vance nor Jeremy Irons for that matter who are engaged is this kind of recording. Although Simon does soft peddle his consonants, while Jeremy stamps on them like a bellows organ.
What it seems like to me, if you have ever sung in a chorus, is having to sing out on those vowel sounds and go really soft to almost non existent voicing of the consonants, expecially the last ones. Sometimes, only a few of the choristers are permitted to even say final consonants.
But this "new" recording technique is peculiar, as the sounds are practically missing. The listener kind of has to "fill them in". But it does seem to be the new way of recording. I do not care for it so much; the sounds need to be there as part of the language. Perhaps the thought is that the unconscious fills in the obvious missing sounds. But I kind of like the sounds.
JCarson
What it seems like to me, if you have ever sung in a chorus, is having to sing out on those vowel sounds and go really soft to almost non existent voicing of the consonants, expecially the last ones. Sometimes, only a few of the choristers are permitted to even say final consonants.
But this "new" recording technique is peculiar, as the sounds are practically missing. The listener kind of has to "fill them in". But it does seem to be the new way of recording. I do not care for it so much; the sounds need to be there as part of the language. Perhaps the thought is that the unconscious fills in the obvious missing sounds. But I kind of like the sounds.
JCarson