COMPLETE Old, Old Fairy Tales, L Valentine-mas

Solo or group recordings that are finished and fully available for listeners
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LynStanley
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Joined: March 4th, 2017, 12:35 am
Location: South Africa

Post by LynStanley »

Hi there. Did you receive my upload of Septimus? Just checking... :?
Elizabby
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Joined: April 1st, 2011, 5:36 pm
Location: Kelsingra

Post by Elizabby »

I don't see any post with the link for it, so no.

When you upload something you need to post the link here with the file duration - it doesn't automatically notify me if you just upload a file.
LynStanley
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Joined: March 4th, 2017, 12:35 am
Location: South Africa

Post by LynStanley »

Elizabby
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Joined: April 1st, 2011, 5:36 pm
Location: Kelsingra

Post by Elizabby »

Thanks Lyn, this is now in the MW (Magic Window) for checking. I'm doing Story 20 at the moment, which is another long one, so I'll get to Septimus after that. Probably this weekend.

Next time, please also post the length of the file, especially if it is a long one. The uploaded has been known to chop the ends off, so it's a quick check that the upload is complete.
Elizabby
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Joined: April 1st, 2011, 5:36 pm
Location: Kelsingra

Post by Elizabby »

Story 20 Part 1 is PL OK! Wonderful reading - I loved all the voices!

Edit: Part 2 is also PL OK! Brilliant work with this very long and complex tale!
VittoriaConn
Posts: 42
Joined: November 18th, 2012, 8:14 am

Post by VittoriaConn »

Elizabby wrote:Story 20 Part 1 is PL OK! Wonderful reading - I loved all the voices!

Edit: Part 2 is also PL OK! Brilliant work with this very long and complex tale!

Oh my gosh, thank you!!

I was waiting for the "ok" so that I can claim some more narration. Thanks again!

Vittoria
VittoriaConn
Posts: 42
Joined: November 18th, 2012, 8:14 am

Post by VittoriaConn »

May I claim Part 15, "Babiola"? It appears to be the last unclaimed story.


Vittoria
Elizabby
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Location: Kelsingra

Post by Elizabby »

Great! Section 15 is yours, and we are FULL!
VittoriaConn
Posts: 42
Joined: November 18th, 2012, 8:14 am

Post by VittoriaConn »

Elizabby wrote:Great! Section 15 is yours, and we are FULL!
Great!

I did read through the story just to find any pronunciations I need to look up. I also read that this story was actually written by a French noblewoman, Madame D'Aulnoy, in the 17th Century (though she was a pretty active plagiarizer, so the story may have originated before her).

Anyway, I noticed that the names in Mme. D'Aulnoy's version were French, but some were anglicized in Valentine's version. I looked up pronunciations and, in most cases, came up with no results, so I will follow Laura Valentine's lead and anglicize the pronunciations of the names. (So, for example, I'll pronounce Criquetin, "CRICK-et-tin" rather than "cricket-TAN".)

I hope to have this for you by the end of the week, though it's going to be hellishly hot here in Louisville, Kentucky, and I'll be shutting off the recording while the AC cycles.

Vittoria
Elizabby
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Location: Kelsingra

Post by Elizabby »

Pronunciation of names is completely up to you! This is an English language project, so no other language proficiency is expected.

(I speak a little bit of French but when I see German or Italian words they all come out sounding vaguely French as well! :lol: )
MaryAnnSpiegel
LibriVox Admin Team
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Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 4:37 pm
Location: Chicago, IL

Post by MaryAnnSpiegel »

sahs wrote:Section 22 Princess Maia is ready :)

https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/oldfairytales_22_valentine_128kb.mp3

Recording Length: 51 Minutes 37 Seconds.
Sahs,

Beth asked me to help out in reviewing your file since it's your first submission. First, let me say, you did an excellent job and showed a lot of pluck to read such a long section for your first submission! Beth and I are both amazed at your editing. If you made mistakes (and I suspect you did, because we all do), your corrections were absolutely seamless!

Couple of technical things on your recording:
1. Your recording was in stereo and it needs to be in mono. Assuming you are using Audacity, you can change that on all future recordings by going to Edit, Preferences, Devices. Under Recording, change Channels to "1 (Mono)".

2. Your volume was quite low and you will want to fix that next time you record. If you are using audacity, you can move the slider next to the microphone (at the top of the audacity screen, sort of in the middle on my version) to the right by one notch. That's about 10%. Give that a try and if your volume is still too low, you can move it another notch to the right. We target 89 dB, but anywhere from 87-91 is OK. You can check your volume in two ways.

The easiest way is to install an extra plugin in Audacity that will tell you by how much the recording needs to be amplified to reach the desired volume of 89 dB. Replay Gain plugin for Audacity: - http://forum.audacityteam.org/download/file.php?id=4668 Instructions on how to save and install this plug in are here: http://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/Measuring_Volume_within_Audacity. There’s also a link to a video on that page that will walk you through how to use the use the plug in to check your volume and adjust your file.

Alternately there here are two programs which will check gain on already exported mp3 files. Adjustments should be still be made in Audacity using Effect | Amplify and entering the difference between the volume of your recording and 89 as the “adjustment amount”:
Checker
MP3Gain

3. I am a bit concerned about your microphone. It is not doing your lovely voice any favors and if you decide to continue reading for Librivox (and let me say, I really hope that you do), you might want to look at another microphone. This one seems to be really distorting your ess sounds. I've gone ahead and done some editing to your file to tap down those esses and while I was at it, I adjusted the volume and switched the file to mono. I hope you don't mind. As a general rule, we prefer to leave edits up to the reader, but the editing to deal with the distortion on the esses was a bit tricky and took quite a bit of trial and error. I didn't want you to get discouraged after you worked so hard on this file already. If you'd like, just drop me a PM and I'll walk you through the edits I made to the file in case you need to repeat them in the future.

As to your microphone, you might want to look around the house and see what other options you have. I've heard some pretty good tests through the most unexpected sources. I recall listening to one recording with really good sound quality off of ibuds - the earbuds/microphone that Apple sells for the iPhone. Of course, using iBuds (or any cell phone earbuds) requires you to keep your head very still, or you get rustle from movement and some of the mics on cellphone earbuds are better than others. If you do switch mics, feel free to submit another 1 minute test to make sure the technical specs are still OK. Then can also help you with the volume adjustment as each different mic will come in at a different volume and may require adjustment to hit the 89 dB target.

Again, great job for such a long first recording I look forward to hearing you around!

MaryAnn
VittoriaConn
Posts: 42
Joined: November 18th, 2012, 8:14 am

Post by VittoriaConn »

Here is Chapter 15, "Babiola."

https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/oldfairytales_15_valentine_128kb.mp3 1:09:15

Thank you!

Vittoria
Elizabby
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Joined: April 1st, 2011, 5:36 pm
Location: Kelsingra

Post by Elizabby »

Thank you! I'll put this in the MW and listen to it soon.

Only one section to go!
Elizabby
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Location: Kelsingra

Post by Elizabby »

LynStanley wrote:Hi there. I have posted Septimus..please check :) https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/oldfairytales_18_valentine_128kb.mp3
Thanks Lyn, you have a lovely clear reading voice and this text was all PL OK! :thumbs:

You are done and free to go claim something else! :mrgreen:
Elizabby
Posts: 9209
Joined: April 1st, 2011, 5:36 pm
Location: Kelsingra

Post by Elizabby »

VittoriaConn wrote:Here is Chapter 15, "Babiola."

https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/oldfairytales_15_valentine_128kb.mp3 1:09:15
Thanks Vittoria, this is PL OK! :thumbs: Even better, lovely clear reading with voices - my favourite! I've got a suggestion for your next reading which might interest you - I'll PM you.
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