This is another of the popular books that Lafcadio Hearn wrote on various Japanese subjects. The first part "Stories From Strange Books" is a collection of Japanese tales about ghosts and strange occurrences. In the second part "Japanese Studies", Hearn discourses on cicadae, girl's names, and Japanese songs. The third part "Fantasies" are fragments of stories, probably written by Hearn himself. ( Ava)
How to claim a part, and "how it all works" here To find a section to record, simply look at point 5. below at the sections. All the ones without names beside them are "up for grabs." Click "Post reply" at the top left of the screen and tell us which section you would like to read (include the section number from the left-most column in the reader list, please). Read points 6. to 8. below for what to do before, during and after your recording.
Is there a deadline? We ask that you submit your recorded sections within 1-2 months of placing your claim. Please note that to be fair to the readers who have completed their sections in a timely way, if you haven't submitted your recording(s) after two months, your sections will automatically be re-opened for other readers to claim, unless you post in this thread to request an extension. Extensions will be granted at the discretion of the Book Coordinator. If you cannot do your section, for whatever reason, just let me know and it'll go back to the pool. There's no shame in this; we're all volunteers and things happen.Please do not sign up for more sections than you can complete within the two month deadline.
Please claim sections (the numbers in the first column below)! If this is your first recording, please let me know under which name or pseudonym you'd like to appear in the LibriVox catalogue. We can also link to a personal website/blog.
Prospective Prooflisteners: Please read the Listeners Wanted FAQ before listening! Level of prooflistening requested: standard
Please don't download or listen to files belonging to projects in process (unless you are the BC or PL). Our servers are not set up to handle the greater volume of traffic. Please wait until the project has been completed. Thanks!
Pronunciation of Japanese Words:
Although simplified, the following general rules will help the reader unfamiliar with Japanese to come close enough to Japanese pronunciation.
There are five vowels: a (as in fAther), i (as in machIne), u (as in fOOl), e (as in fEllow), and o (as in mOle). Although certain vowels become nearly "silent" in some environments, this phenomenon can be safely ignored for the purpose at hand.
Consonants roughly approximate their corresponding sounds in English, except for r, which is actually somewhere between r and l (this is why the Japanese have trouble distinguishing between English r and l), and f, which is much closer to h.
You may leave out the footnotes (unless you find one extremely interesting).
Magic Window:
BC Admin Genres for the project: Fantastic Fiction/Horror & Supernatural Fiction
Keywords that describe the book: nonfiction, Japan, horror, ghost, stories, koizumi yakumo
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Set your recording software to:
Channels: 1 (Mono)
Bit Rate: 128 kbps
Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz
DURING recording: No more than 0.5 to 1 second of silence at the beginning of the recording! Make sure you add this to the beginning of your recording: START of recording (Intro)
"Section [number] of Shadowings. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: librivox DOT org"
If you wish, say: "Recording by [your name], [city, your blog, podcast, web address]"
Say: "Shadowings, by Lafcadio Hearn. Section[number]"
END of recording
At the end of the section, say: "End of [section]"
If you wish, say: "Recording by [your name], [city, your blog, podcast, web address]"
At the end of the book, say (in addition): "End of Shadowings, by Lafcadio Hearn. "
There should be 5 seconds silence at the end of the recording.
Please remember to check this thread frequently for updates!
AFTER recording Need noise-cleaning?
Listen to your file through headphones. If you can hear some constant background noise (hiss/buzz), you may want to clean it up a bit. The new (free) version 1.3.3. of Audacity has much improved noise-cleaning. See this LibriVox wiki page for a complete guide. Save files as
128 kbps MP3
shadowings_##_hearn_128kb.mp3 (all lower-case) where ## is the section number (e.g. shadowings_01_hearn_128kb.mp3)
Transfer of files (completed recordings) Please always post in this forum thread when you've sent a file. Also, post the length of the recording (file duration: mm:ss) together with the link.
I don't think we have even remotely enough books by Lafcadio Hearn in the catalog...
Almost all sections have at least a few words in Japanese (they are mostly indicated in italics). Please check the pronuncition guide.
Especially the midle part on "Japanese Studies" has lots and lots of Japanese names and even poetry. I think these sections should only be attempted by somebody who knows Japanese (or Latin/Spanish, since the pronunciations are similar).
To make reading more smooth, let's leave out the footnotes (unless you find one extremely interesting).
Cheers, Ava.
Resident witch of LibriVox, channelling
Granny Weatherwax: "I ain't Nice."
-- AvailleAudio.com
Well, my plate is pretty full right now, but how can I pass this up?
I'd be pleased to take the middle sections 7-12.
At one time I could hold a basic conversation in Japanese, but not having used it and having studied several languages since, that ability is long gone. I can still read reasonably well, but glad these are not in kana
How well I remember the cicadas the summer I was there for summer school! I was told that it was a rare occasion when the 7-year and 13-year cicada came out together. Noisy!
Truth exists for the wise, Beauty for a feeling heart: They belong to each other. - Beethoven
Disclaimer: "Kind reader, if this our performance doth in aught fall short of promise, blame not our good intent, but our unperfect wit."
realisticspeakers wrote:I would like section 15 please.
My qualifications? I watched Shogun four times.
That sounds quite perfect!
If you still need help, just let me know - the final part of the book seems to have little in the way of Japanese though.
Larry, the Japanese Studies are all yours - enjoy! There are plenty of footnotes in that one, but only a few of them are really interesting. You can choose which ones you read if you like; the word counts are without footnotes though.
Cheers, Ava.
Resident witch of LibriVox, channelling
Granny Weatherwax: "I ain't Nice."
-- AvailleAudio.com
Truth exists for the wise, Beauty for a feeling heart: They belong to each other. - Beethoven
Disclaimer: "Kind reader, if this our performance doth in aught fall short of promise, blame not our good intent, but our unperfect wit."
EDIT: Also, I can volunteer to PL reallsticspeaker's sound file. I'll get back with you later today.
RE-EDIT: Nevermind. Just saw that you already PL-ed it. Do you still need a DPL?
Chuck,
I almost missed that - please don't edit your posts if they have received a response already. There is no automatic notification I get that you did so, and I am very prone to miss things like this...
Anyway, yes, I'd still prefer having a DPL other than myself for this one. I can PL your submissions though, no problem. Thanks for offering, you've been entered to the database...
Cheers, Ava.
Resident witch of LibriVox, channelling
Granny Weatherwax: "I ain't Nice."
-- AvailleAudio.com
EDIT: Also, I can volunteer to PL reallsticspeaker's sound file. I'll get back with you later today.
RE-EDIT: Nevermind. Just saw that you already PL-ed it. Do you still need a DPL?
Chuck,
I almost missed that - please don't edit your posts if they have received a response already. There is no automatic notification I get that you did so, and I am very prone to miss things like this...
Anyway, yes, I'd still prefer having a DPL other than myself for this one. I can PL your submissions though, no problem. Thanks for offering, you've been entered to the database...
Haha! I think I might have edited it before I saw your post.
Happy to join the project!
PROJECTS
Current Solo:Septimius Felton (Hawthorne's final novel)
Help Needed: Strange Interlude (O'Neill's Freudian melodrama - roles available!)
I would very much like to do section 5 (The Sympathy of Benten), if this is okay? I can also speak Japanese which I hope is helpful for this chapter.
This would be my first recording but I am very excited to try--
If this is your first recording, please let me know under which name or pseudonym you'd like to appear in the LibriVox catalogue. We can also link to a personal website/blog.
Is it alright for my name to be different from my forum username? If that is okay, I would be happy appearing under the name "Risa Tsunagi" but my username here is also fine if that is easier.
Hi Risa and welcome to this project! I'm very glad you found your way here!
I have assigned chapter 5 to you, enjoy! Everything you need to know can be found in the first post of this thread - please check the intro/outro that we need for each chapter and the filename under which to export the final recording.
And here is your brand new LibriVox reader webpage: https://librivox.org/reader/11488
It contains links to all your recordings, and if you click on "reader section details" you can find all the sections you are currently assigned for.
Let me know if you have questions.
I hope you'll enjoy your time on here!
Cheers, Ava.
Resident witch of LibriVox, channelling
Granny Weatherwax: "I ain't Nice."
-- AvailleAudio.com