[COMPLETE] Stray Feathers From a Bird Man's Desk, Austin Rand d.1982-mtf

[Lemmysfavoritebottle]

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[Lemmysfavoritebottle]

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[TommyMer]

I would like to claim, #24 Social Parasites among Birds. Thank you, TM

[silverquill]

https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/strayfeathers_59_rand_128kb.mp3 And here's chapter 59. This one clocks in at 4 minutes and 22 seconds. Hopefully it'll be sufficient - let me know what you think. I think working with these two chapters has given me a good idea for how long it will take to record and edit on average - at least for a book with relatively shorter chapters like this one. If it's alright, I'd like to request the privilege to record chapters 13-16: "Bird-Made Incubators" through "Bird Flavors". Let me know if that would be okay and I'll get to working on them as soon as possible.

Yes, these are good little bites to test the waters with.
You don't have a full PL report yet, but I took just a quick listen to one section and tech specs are just fine.
Your reading is quite excellent!

The only suggestion I have for you is to do some noise cleaning on your recordings to reduce the background hum.

I will put you in for your requested sections with my thanks!

[silverquill]

I would like to claim, #24 Social Parasites among Birds. Thank you, TM

You got it!

[Lemmysfavoritebottle]

Yes, these are good little bites to test the waters with.
You don't have a full PL report yet, but I took just a quick listen to one section and tech specs are just fine.
Your reading is quite excellent!

The only suggestion I have for you is to do some noise cleaning on your recordings to reduce the background hum.

I will put you in for your requested sections with my thanks!

Thank you kindly! I'm glad my reading skills are up to snuff - I always liked reading in school when it came my turn to give it a go - we used to call it "popcorn reading", it was just that being having all eyes on me made me pretty nervous, I'd end up stuttering a little and kicking myself like a mule for every time I did it. Ah, but there I go, rambling again. I'll tell you what - would it be okay if I re-upload chapter 58 and 59 tonight? I'd like to put a new version of those chapters up with some noise reduction, and now that I think of it, maybe some EQ as well. I plan to narrate more chapters in this book in the coming days and weeks, so I may as well be consistent across chapters, right? Anyways, is there any limit on how many chapters I could narrate for this particular book? I of course don't want to steal the opportunity away from others - I'll probably take no more than 4-6 sections at a time; with yesterday's 2 chapter litmus test, I've found that 2 chapters take 15 minutes to record and then with editing, proof-listening and uploading, a while longer. I guess I'm just a kind of "get-up-and-go" man these days. I think Yukio Mishima wrote about that in his book, "The Sound of the Waves". It's a very important quality in a man, his "get-up-and-go"-ness.

[docdlmartin]

May I claim chapter 8 Birds' Nests and their Soup?

[Lemmysfavoritebottle]

Alright, I'm sorry for the trouble, but here's the revised versions of chapters 58 and 59 - now with EQ and noise suppression. Let me know how they are - I'm no professional but I guess it couldn't hurt to put a bit of polish on one's audio, aye? I just hope it sounds alright. I'll delete my previous posts with the old versions as to clear up any confusion.

https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/strayfeathers_58_rand_128kb.mp3
https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/strayfeathers_59_rand_128kb.mp3

Chapter 58 is 3 minutes and 57 seconds in length, and Chapter 59 is 4 minutes and 22 seconds in length.

[silverquill]

Alright, I'm sorry for the trouble, but here's the revised versions of chapters 58 and 59 - now with EQ and noise suppression. Let me know how they are - I'm no professional but I guess it couldn't hurt to put a bit of polish on one's audio, aye? I just hope it sounds alright. I'll delete my previous posts with the old versions as to clear up any confusion.

https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/strayfeathers_58_rand_128kb.mp3
https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/strayfeathers_59_rand_128kb.mp3

Chapter 58 is 3 minutes and 57 seconds in length, and Chapter 59 is 4 minutes and 22 seconds in length.

Ah, these do sound much better! (No need to delete anything)
As I said, I just listened to a sample. One thing that I didn't notice is that you have your voice credit at both the end and the beginning. This is not an absolute rule, but the custom is to do it just once, either beginning or end.

And, there is no official limits on number of sections one can record in a group project, although a book coordinator may do so, or have other requirements. I don't like to see people claim huge blocks of sections, esp. at the beginning of a project. This one is progressing well, and we have a good diversity of readers, so I don't have a problem with your reading as many as you like. And, I think your plan of taking a group of four or five at a time is good. I think we have about 20 sections left. I picked this project because of the consistent short sections to give new readers some good options to get started. So, just post your claims, and I'll put you in for them.

Yukio Mishima! Haven't heard that name for a long time. I read some of his writings in college. I think his suicide maybe overpowered his actual literary work. My freshman English teacher had us reading Japanese literature. She was close friends with the academic dean so could get away with it. They both had attended summer sessions at Sophia University (Jochi Daigaku) in Tokyo, and I did the same a few years later. Later my attention turned to Korea when I served in the Peace Corps, and then a few years back returned for another five years teaching English in the public schools.

Now, who's rambling?

Anyway, you will have a full PL report soon! I think Kristin is in for a treat.

[silverquill]

May I claim chapter 8 Birds' Nests and their Soup?

You are in for this section.
Thank you!

[tragicabbot]

Hello, I should like to claim 33, 37 and 38 please.

Cheers!
Craig Abbott
tragicabbot

[Lemmysfavoritebottle]

Ah, these do sound much better! (No need to delete anything)
As I said, I just listened to a sample. One thing that I didn't notice is that you have your voice credit at both the end and the beginning. This is not an absolute rule, but the custom is to do it just once, either beginning or end.

And, there is no official limits on number of sections one can record in a group project, although a book coordinator may do so, or have other requirements. I don't like to see people claim huge blocks of sections, esp. at the beginning of a project. This one is progressing well, and we have a good diversity of readers, so I don't have a problem with your reading as many as you like. And, I think your plan of taking a group of four or five at a time is good. I think we have about 20 sections left. I picked this project because of the consistent short sections to give new readers some good options to get started. So, just post your claims, and I'll put you in for them.

Yukio Mishima! Haven't heard that name for a long time. I read some of his writings in college. I think his suicide maybe overpowered his actual literary work. My freshman English teacher had us reading Japanese literature. She was close friends with the academic dean so could get away with it. They both had attended summer sessions at Sophia University (Jochi Daigaku) in Tokyo, and I did the same a few years later. Later my attention turned to Korea when I served in the Peace Corps, and then a few years back returned for another five years teaching English in the public schools.

Now, who's rambling?

Anyway, you will have a full PL report soon! I think Kristin is in for a treat.

Well, I might have bitten off a little more than I could chew, but there wasn't any work to take tonight that was worth doing - I'm an independent contractor, so I can set my own working hours - so I slogged it out and spent a good while recording and editing chapters 13-16 tonight. Here ya go:

https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/strayfeathers_13_rand_128kb.mp3 (4 minutes, 50 seconds)
https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/strayfeathers_14_rand_128kb.mp3 (5 minutes, 27 seconds)
https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/strayfeathers_15_rand_128kb.mp3 (4 minutes, 22 seconds)
https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/strayfeathers_16_rand_128kb.mp3 (4 minutes, 5 seconds)

Hopefully they'll be of acceptable quality - I had to re-record chapter 14 4 times - the first time I was putting the emphasis on the second syllable of "Cormorant", the second time I was too close to the microphone and had to discard the take as there was excessive clipping, the third time I repeated the syllable mistake. Maybe sometimes it's fourth time's the charm, eh? Anyways, just curious - is there any verdict on a go-to website to check the pronunciation of words? I've just been using the google translate text-to-speech function as a checker so far, but I wonder if that doesn't have its limitations. I'm afraid these recordings still have the voice credits on both ends, but I'll be sure to stick to only beginning or end from now on. As for the next sections, how about 49 through 51, plus 55 and 56? That would be great. It may take me a little longer to finish them this time around, as I only assign an hour or two each work day to audiobook work, but I'll keep on it so long as my health lets me!

I'm afraid I've not done too much with my life so far - I often regret how little I have to show for my age - but it sounds like you've had one with many full experiences and stories to tell. Thank you for your service, sir. My grandfather on my father's side fought in WWII with the Canadian Perth Regiment in Italy. There's a fine book written by Stan Scislowski, "Not All Of Us Were Brave", that tells the story of a man who served in the same regiment and campaign. Maybe I'll get in touch with the Scislowskis one day - I'd love to do an audiobook for it sometime down the road. Stan and I were even born in the same city - Windsor, Ontario! But, for right now I've got to work hard and focus on each day as is comes. I remember last October, I was just barely beginning to come out of my illness, and Mishima was some of the first literature I read that year since I first fell ill in April. I think on reflection, maybe I like Haruki Murakami a little more - every book of his I've read has provided a good point of reflection in my life. I think he writes some very intriguing characters, and really beautiful settings. I always get lost in his books, though I've only read 3 so far. Maybe I should remedy that soon - though before the end of the month I want to give one of Leonard Cohen's books a go.

Well, it's like I said, sir. I could talk your ear off if ya let me, heh. But I'm glad to be here, and am very grateful to be a member of this community. I hope to provide all of you with more contributions to fine literature in the future! Cheers!

[silverquill]

Thanks, Jared!
I've put these in the MW Ready for PL, and assigned you the requested sections.

Here are several resources that I use for pronunciation help:

https://www.howtopronounce.com/
https://howjsay.com/
https://www.pronouncekiwi.com/
https://www.pronouncenames.com/

Or, you can just type "how to pronounce ....." into a web search and see what comes up.

Let's move the other chit-chat to PMs so we don't clutter up the project thread too much.

[LynnMarieVoice]

Please find the link for chapter 25 Fish Eats Bird! below. Thank you all for allowing me to help with this---it is fun.

https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/strayfeathers_25_rand_128kb.mp3

[LynnMarieVoice]

oops time is 03:37 for chapter 25 above