Perfectionism

[lurcherlover]

Do not worry about mouth noises. I did for a bit and it made me tense. Then I realised that they had gone away and even if there were there, they were so quiet, so did not worry me. I did for a while edit them out ... oh boy, what a thankless task.

Do move the voice up and down (in pitch) slightly and sometimes alter the pace of the reading, especially get a bit faster in exciting or dramatic bits, like a sports announcer when the horses/runners are approaching the finish line.

A while back I sent a friend a recording of something I had read, and she raved much to my amazement, and said I should be on the radio. I didn't let that impress me as I know I'm not going to be on the radio. In fact i think my readings have got worse since then, mainly because I'm a lazy ****** and I should take more care. One day I will!

Very short works, especially poetry are good in the early days, because you can relax as you know you don't have to read 30 chapters and 300 pages.

[ClaudiaSterngucker]

For now, the best advice is:
1. choose a text you like
2. record
3. submit
4. goto 1. (aka rinse, repeat)

Nothing better to gain experience about something by actually doing it...

I wrote these 4 points on a note and posted it onto my computer! Yes, you're so right, thinking about how best to read and record doesn't help much, only doing it lets you gain experience and widen the horizon. ありがとうございました Arigatou gozaimashita.

[ClaudiaSterngucker]

Actually, no, I don't know these workshops and I am not sure whether I want to know them or not Because of that sleeping-pill-thing.

I am completely with Availle - just record and have fun! There are People out there who appreciate a lively, not so subtle, natural reading (me, for example ) And for all the others - hey, no one forces them to listen to our recordings! They can do recordings of their own, if they don't like ours!

Yes, it's probably better for you not to know these workshop videos. Otherwise, you may struggle like me, to get them out of your 'system' again and find back to yourself and your own style of reading and narrating. I've been thinking about the voice of intimacy and the 'sleeping-pill-effect'...and maybe the first doesn't necessarily have to cause the latter. I mean, maybe I misinterpreted this advice - maybe they meant to say that it's easier to modulate a low and un-projected voice because it's relaxed and not already under strain from talking louder. Maybe it's easier to express subtle emotions and moods with this ominous 'voice of intimacy'...

You are both absolutely right, the above words are just theoretical bla bla bla. What really counts is, as you put it so aptly, to just record and have fun!

[DACSoft]

I'd just like to mention again the most important thing to recording, in my opinion, which I'd put at the top of the list:

RELAX AND HAVE FUN WITH IT!

Don

ETA: Oops, cross-posted with you.

[ClaudiaSterngucker]

I'd just like to mention again the most important thing to recording, in my opinion, which I'd put at the top of the list:

RELAX AND HAVE FUN WITH IT!

Don

Aye!!!

Unfortunately, this point gets so easily buried under all my thinking, worrying and fretting. I'm going to add this point to my list right now!

[ClaudiaSterngucker]

Do not worry about mouth noises. I did for a bit and it made me tense. Then I realised that they had gone away and even if there were there, they were so quiet, so did not worry me. I did for a while edit them out ... oh boy, what a thankless task.

Do move the voice up and down (in pitch) slightly and sometimes alter the pace of the reading, especially get a bit faster in exciting or dramatic bits, like a sports announcer when the horses/runners are approaching the finish line.

A while back I sent a friend a recording of something I had read, and she raved much to my amazement, and said I should be on the radio. I didn't let that impress me as I know I'm not going to be on the radio. In fact i think my readings have got worse since then, mainly because I'm a lazy ****** and I should take more care. One day I will!

Very short works, especially poetry are good in the early days, because you can relax as you know you don't have to read 30 chapters and 300 pages.

I hope my mouth noises will go away, too, or that I'll find a way to remedy that. I read that it could be fixed with a better 'mouth moving technique'...I'll have to do more research on this topic. It's true, there is nothing worse than worrying about mouth noises while reading, as these darned clicks do not disappear, but the joy does - and that takes all the color and feeling out of a reading. You know, I don't perceive mouth noises in other people's recordings, even if they are there. My brain seems to codify them 'natural, normal, part of being human - don't consciously notice'.

Oh, wow, your friend made you a wonderful compliment! Do radio stations make auditions when they look for new speakers? Or could you just send in one of your recordings? What do you mean when you say you are lazy and that your readings had gone worse? - Do you feel that you haven't given your texts enough attention, thought and expression?

Yes, you're right, poems and shorter stories are a great way to start!

[lurcherlover]

I hope my mouth noises will go away, too, or that I'll find a way to remedy that. I read that it could be fixed with a better 'mouth moving technique'...I'll have to do more research on this topic. It's true, there is nothing worse than worrying about mouth noises while reading, as these darned clicks do not disappear, but the joy does - and that takes all the color and feeling out of a reading. You know, I don't perceive mouth noises in other people's recordings, even if they are there. My brain seems to codify them 'natural, normal, part of being human - don't consciously notice'.

Oh, wow, your friend made you a wonderful compliment! Do radio stations make auditions when they look for new speakers? Or could you just send in one of your recordings? What do you mean when you say you are lazy and that your readings had gone worse? - Do you feel that you haven't given your texts enough attention, thought and expression?

Yes, you're right, poems and shorter stories are a great way to start!

Well - I have no pretensions of being a radio announcer - even I wanted it, which I do not.

And yes, I'm a really lazy old B***er. I do need more attention, thought and expression.

But the technique of good reading for a microphone I do understand - even if I do not succeed with it very often. (1) Do not have too much dynamic range in your reading. Keep it at a reasonable level. (2) If you need to shout - move a long way back from the mic. (3) If you need to whisper - move in close to the mic.

So it's more a mic technique than a lot else - but keep most of your readings within a close dynamic range.

Hope this helps.

[ClaudiaSterngucker]

Thirding the bold above.

Also, it's good to observe how you feel after reading or watching people teaching narration. There's one blogger, who I read for a while, who is incredibly well-informed, has worked on thousands of books, writes thoughtful, in-depth analysis ... and after reading a post, I'd be ready to quit. The thoughts in my head would go: 'I don't know what he means, I don't get this, I'm one of the bad readers he makes fun of, I suck, I should never record again.' It took me a stupidly long time to notice the pattern and simply not visit his site again.

If people leave you excited to go and try out what they're recommending, that's perfect! If you're overwhelmed with information, or feeling down on yourself and your abilities to tell a good story ... that's awful. That might be 'helpful' for professional readers (though I don't think so either!) But we're not professionals. If you have fun, your recording will find its way to listeners who have fun with it too. It won't please everyone, but nothing ever does. (Compare books read explicitly for the blind to sighted-audience books ... a difference there straight away, and that's the commercial, professional level in both fields!)

I think it's pretty immature of this blogger to make fun of readers, that doesn't speak for his expertise, does it.

Yes, you're absolutely right with what you said about the feeling an article or piece of advise leaves in us. Often, I do just suppress this feeling and consider it wrong, while taking other people's opinions very seriously. True, we are not professionals, and thus not restricted to what's generally considered 'the ultimate way of narrating'. I've listened to an audiobook narrator that created different voices for characters and lowered her voice quite a bit when speaking men's parts. The next day, I read an article that said, as a female narrator, one should avoid lowering the voice drastically for men's parts, as this can easily become ridiculous. I liked the way she spoke for these men, she did it in a charming 'tomboy-style'. She did it very lovingly and I knew she had a lot of respect and appreciation for the male characters - it was the opposite of ridiculous. So, I think even professional opinions differ and contradict each other sometimes, don't they? I understand what you mean, it often takes me long, too, to digest and get over opinions that make me think I suck. A wise person told me that the process of getting over such difficult things brings us closer to 'ourselves' and our very own way of reading.

Oh, that's interesting, I've never listened to an audiobook for the blind. I will make up for this as soon as I come back from work tonight. Thanks a million for telling me about it!

[lurcherlover]

If you would like to hear a brilliant Librivox reader who does wonderful characterisation, listen to Mil Nicholson - I think her user name is mermaid. Particularly listen to bits (or all) of Oliver Twist, which she does brilliantly. Having said that, she is a professional actor and has been in lots of films and is on Audible.com as well. (She comes from the North of England originally).

Inspirational reading like hers makes us all better readers, even if it takes time.

[Newgatenovelist]

Hello Claudia,

On the off chance that it will help, I will tell you something that a very dear and very wise friend told me. I was speaking of something unrelated to recording, though I think it fits recording, too. I said that I wasn't very good at it, that I was just going to do a poor job of it, that I would be doing the project a disservice by working on it and especially that I wished it had fallen to somebody else - anybody else - who had more talent or at least more experience. This friend looked at me and said 'but it didn't fall to anyone else'.

He was quite right to say so, and, certainly on Librivox, many of these texts would not be recorded if they waited for an 'ideal' reader, whoever that might be. All the versions I have completed have fallen short of what I wanted for them, but the alternative is that I wouldn't record anything at all, and these audiobooks wouldn't exist.

Erin

[moniaqua]

This friend looked at me and said 'but it didn't fall to anyone else'.

He was quite right to say so, and, certainly on Librivox, many of these texts would not be recorded if they waited for an 'ideal' reader, whoever that might be. All the versions I have completed have fallen short of what I wanted for them, but the alternative is that I wouldn't record anything at all, and these audiobooks wouldn't exist.

You are so perfectly right!

There are recordings out there on LibriVox that I don't like that much. It's not that they are read poorly or so, it is just a matter of taste. But I am very, very sure that there is someone out in the world who just appreciates that special reading I don't like, and that's true for all readings.

I mean, what is the option to a maybe not so perfect reading, if everybody thinks his or her one isn't good enough? Than there would be no reading at all, and now, that would really be bad!

[commonsparrow3]

My dad was the calm easy-going one in a family of tightly-wound perfectionist daughters. He had a few useful "sayings" that have always done us good whenever we started beating a project to death, trying to make it fit some impractical ideal of perfection. (At my dad's funeral I talked about these two phrases and what they meant to us, and posted those remarks here.)

One of his favorite mottoes was "Close enough for folk music", reminding us that less-than-perfect is still good enough, if it’s functional enough for its purpose. At LibriVox, the purpose is to make old overlooked books available in audio format. As long as the audio meets the technical standards to be listenable, and the book is read with reasonable accuracy, the purpose is served.

My own favorite dad-saying, "We're not lost, we're having an adventure", always urged me to look at whatever might be good in the place I'm at, even if it's not the place where I wanted to be. At LibriVox, that has meant realizing the good things happening along the way on even the more frustrating projects, the things I've learned about microphones and copyrights and arcane vocabulary, the friends I've made as we work together, just enjoying the adventure.

My dad was an amateur actor in local theater, an amateur radio DJ on a local folk-music show, and later in life a bit-reader for LibriVox plays. He always encouraged us to do things for the love of doing them, because if we hold off, waiting for the time when we can be the world's-greatest-whatever, we'll never do anything at all, and have a very boring life. If we just jump in and do things, maybe we will end up getting really good at some of the things we're doing. And even if we only get sort of good, we'll have a lot of fun, make a lot of friends, and have a richer life.

[ClaudiaSterngucker]

If you would like to hear a brilliant Librivox reader who does wonderful characterisation, listen to Mil Nicholson - I think her user name is mermaid. Particularly listen to bits (or all) of Oliver Twist, which she does brilliantly. Having said that, she is a professional actor and has been in lots of films and is on Audible.com as well. (She comes from the North of England originally).

Inspirational reading like hers makes us all better readers, even if it takes time.

Yes, I've found Mil Nicholson's Oliver Twist, thanks a million for telling me about her! I'm looking very much forward to listening to mermaid's recordings. I've been listening to some of her voice-over demos on her website and was captivated by her warm voice right away...and I love the different characters and voices she's created!

[ClaudiaSterngucker]

This friend looked at me and said 'but it didn't fall to anyone else'.

He was quite right to say so, and, certainly on Librivox, many of these texts would not be recorded if they waited for an 'ideal' reader, whoever that might be. All the versions I have completed have fallen short of what I wanted for them, but the alternative is that I wouldn't record anything at all, and these audiobooks wouldn't exist.

Erin

Oh, yes, there is such wisdom in your friend's reply! I love Librivox because of all the different versions and voices; and I couldn't agree more with you and moniaqua - each and every reading is precious and unique and will find its way to the heart of a listener that enjoys them

Deep down I know that 'perfect' and 'ideal' are such limiting concepts...and they don't leave any space for creativity. Years ago, I read somewhere that there were only perfect ideas (and every one of us has his own idea on what perfection means). It happened to me many times that I didn't do something out of fear not to be good enough, not to be able to keep up with others...not to be able to live up to my own expectations. I love to watch children try something new, learn from mistakes and try again - true, sometimes, they have a fit of rage, but when it's over, they continue doing everything with such uninhibited joy!

[ClaudiaSterngucker]

My dad was the calm easy-going one in a family of tightly-wound perfectionist daughters. He had a few useful "sayings" that have always done us good whenever we started beating a project to death, trying to make it fit some impractical ideal of perfection. (At my dad's funeral I talked about these two phrases and what they meant to us, and posted those remarks here.)

One of his favorite mottoes was "Close enough for folk music", reminding us that less-than-perfect is still good enough, if it’s functional enough for its purpose. At LibriVox, the purpose is to make old overlooked books available in audio format. As long as the audio meets the technical standards to be listenable, and the book is read with reasonable accuracy, the purpose is served.

My own favorite dad-saying, "We're not lost, we're having an adventure", always urged me to look at whatever might be good in the place I'm at, even if it's not the place where I wanted to be. At LibriVox, that has meant realizing the good things happening along the way on even the more frustrating projects, the things I've learned about microphones and copyrights and arcane vocabulary, the friends I've made as we work together, just enjoying the adventure.

My dad was an amateur actor in local theater, an amateur radio DJ on a local folk-music show, and later in life a bit-reader for LibriVox plays. He always encouraged us to do things for the love of doing them, because if we hold off, waiting for the time when we can be the world's-greatest-whatever, we'll never do anything at all, and have a very boring life. If we just jump in and do things, maybe we will end up getting really good at some of the things we're doing. And even if we only get sort of good, we'll have a lot of fun, make a lot of friends, and have a richer life.

I had to quote your whole post, because I couldn't decided which paragraph was the most important one, as all of them contain so much wisdom and 'real life - experience'! What you said about your dad is very, very moving and I thank you with all my heart for sharing it with me so freely. I have a little booklet, in which I write everything down that I want to remember...it's something like my treasure chest for thoughts and words. Your dad's sayings "Close enough for folk music" and "We're not lost, we're having an adventure" will find their way into my booklet in a minute, as they express so lovingly what life is all about.

You've created a wonderful website, Maria, full of deep thoughts and poems that speak to my heart...I'd love to add it to my favourites if this is okay with you.