COMPLETE: The Topaz Story Book by Ada and Eleanor Skinner, eds. - jo

Solo or group recordings that are finished and fully available for listeners
Post Reply
Kitty
LibriVox Admin Team
Posts: 38921
Joined: March 28th, 2014, 5:57 am

Post by Kitty »

lpeders wrote: October 15th, 2018, 8:59 am T, I could use some help with adjusting the volume. Where, in Audacity, can I see the dB output? And do I need to increase the Playback Volume and resave?
Help appreciated! Lauren
Lauren, you don't really see the dB in Audacity, you see it later on in Checker.

But we have a handy plug-in which you can download. It calculates you the exact amount you need to amplify or decrease your volume to get to the coveted 89 dB. I use it for all my recordings and my volume is always inside the limits, thanks to ReplayGain. Here's how to download it:
Replay Gain plugin for Audacity: - http://forum.audacityteam.org/download/file.php?id=4668

1. Save the file to your computer - your desktop or somewhere where you can easily find it.
2. Now browse to the folder in which Audacity is installed. It's probably in C:\Program Files\Audacity) and then open the Plug-Ins folder.
3. Drag the file you saved into the Plug-Ins folder.
4. When next you start up Audacity, you will be able to select the whole recording (Ctrl+A on Windows), then go to Analyze | ReplayGain, and it'll tell you how much to amplify your file to get to about 89 dB.
Hope that helps :)

Sonia
I will be on vacation from Wednesday 27 March till Sunday 14 April
and unable to PL during that time. Thank you for your patience.
Kitty
LibriVox Admin Team
Posts: 38921
Joined: March 28th, 2014, 5:57 am

Post by Kitty »

Nedge wrote: October 16th, 2018, 10:12 am Sonia, I believe this book needs to be marked as full. How do I do that?
Thank you,
Nan
you should be able to edit your title in the first post :hmm: I can do it for you now, if you wish...

will do it so readers are alerted this is full, but check if you can edit yourself, so you know for your next project.

Sonia
I will be on vacation from Wednesday 27 March till Sunday 14 April
and unable to PL during that time. Thank you for your patience.
knotyouraveragejo
LibriVox Admin Team
Posts: 22080
Joined: November 18th, 2006, 4:37 pm

Post by knotyouraveragejo »

Nedge wrote: October 16th, 2018, 10:12 am Sonia, I believe this book needs to be marked as full. How do I do that?

Thank you,

Nan
Nan,

I've changed the status of the project to Fully Subscribed and am about to move the thread to Readers Found. If you end up with any orphaned sections, you can post them in the orphans thread or I can move the thread back here (or both) as needed.

Jo
Jo
knotyouraveragejo
LibriVox Admin Team
Posts: 22080
Joined: November 18th, 2006, 4:37 pm

Post by knotyouraveragejo »

Kitty wrote: October 16th, 2018, 11:35 am
lpeders wrote: October 15th, 2018, 8:59 am T, I could use some help with adjusting the volume. Where, in Audacity, can I see the dB output? And do I need to increase the Playback Volume and resave?
Help appreciated! Lauren
Lauren, you don't really see the dB in Audacity, you see it later on in Checker.

But we have a handy plug-in which you can download. It calculates you the exact amount you need to amplify or decrease your volume to get to the coveted 89 dB. I use it for all my recordings and my volume is always inside the limits, thanks to ReplayGain. Here's how to download it:
Replay Gain plugin for Audacity: - http://forum.audacityteam.org/download/file.php?id=4668

1. Save the file to your computer - your desktop or somewhere where you can easily find it.
2. Now browse to the folder in which Audacity is installed. It's probably in C:\Program Files\Audacity) and then open the Plug-Ins folder.
3. Drag the file you saved into the Plug-Ins folder.
4. When next you start up Audacity, you will be able to select the whole recording (Ctrl+A on Windows), then go to Analyze | ReplayGain, and it'll tell you how much to amplify your file to get to about 89 dB.
Hope that helps :)

Sonia
Lauren,

To expand a little on Sonia's instructions, once you have used replay gain to analyze your volume, go to Effects, Amplify to actually increase the volume. Enter the value from Replay Gain. Be sure that the box next to Allow clipping is not checked and then click OK. Reexport the file to mp3 and upload with the same filename as before.

Jo
Jo
lpeders
Posts: 36
Joined: September 7th, 2018, 5:56 pm

Post by lpeders »

Sonia & Jo thank you SO MUCH for your help!
Here is my new file:
https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/topazstorybook_48_skinner_128kb.mp3
Nedge
Posts: 848
Joined: May 30th, 2018, 8:30 am
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ

Post by Nedge »

Thanks, Jo, for all of your help. I did go into the first post and saw that I can indeed edit the title (which you did.) I'll keep an eye out for orphans. It WOULD be nice to get this book up in time for Halloween/Thanksgiving, but maybe not?

Anyhow, thanks again.

Nan
"Ready, willing, and vaguely competent." -- Sandra Boynton, 2021
lpeders
Posts: 36
Joined: September 7th, 2018, 5:56 pm

Post by lpeders »

I'm really struggling with volume. I think I'm done, but I can't get the dB level up where it should be without selecting "allow clipping". How bad is that really? What does clipping do?
Project listener, please take a listen and let me know...
https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/topazstorybook_26_skinner_128kb.mp3 (10:55)
Lauren
knotyouraveragejo
LibriVox Admin Team
Posts: 22080
Joined: November 18th, 2006, 4:37 pm

Post by knotyouraveragejo »

Clipping cuts off the top of the largest peaks, essentially permanently removing some of the recorded sound. This can result in distortion. So yes, it's bad to do this.

If you aren't able to amplify to the desired volume without clipping, then you most likely have some spikes in the recording that are preventing amplication without clipping. I would need to look at your waveform to make the best recommendation, but there are options for fixing this. If it's only one or two spikes, then you can zoom in, select each spike individually and deamplify each one by 3 dB or so, then select the whole file and amplify to the desired level without allowing clipping. Another way to even out the loud and soft parts of a recording is to apply dynamic compression to the whole file prior to amplifying.

For future recordings, you should try to increase your microphone input volume prior to recording if possible.
Jo
Kitty
LibriVox Admin Team
Posts: 38921
Joined: March 28th, 2014, 5:57 am

Post by Kitty »

lpeders wrote: October 18th, 2018, 6:36 pm I'm really struggling with volume. I think I'm done, but I can't get the dB level up where it should be without selecting "allow clipping". How bad is that really? What does clipping do?
Project listener, please take a listen and let me know...
https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/topazstorybook_26_skinner_128kb.mp3 (10:55)
Lauren
Lauren, I downloaded your file and checked the waves. Indeed the problem lies in two or three big spikes, not more. If you enlarge the view quite a lot, so you see every second in the ruler bar on top, you will see: two spikes at 6:24 and right after and one significant between 7:21 and 7:22. Zoom in there, highlight that bit and decrease it by -5, that should bring them down without making the sound strange. Then you can amplify the whole thing with 6, which will bring the overall volume at least near 87 dB, which is enough.

If you need more detailed help, you can PM me and I can guide your through step by step. :)

To avoid these clippings, a good suggestion is to look at the audacity interface while recording, you will see at a glance the waves running while you speak. As soon as you notice a significant spike, either at the beginning of a sentence, because you start off too "excited", or with words like "Oh" and "Ah!" because you naturally put more emphasis there.

So as soon as you notice this, take a deep breath, let the recording run on, and say this sentence once again, taking care not to get an excited louder sound into the word. ;) With practice you'll get better at this. One can convey "whisper" in a normal volume and just the same one can convey "screaming" without actually blowing the listeners' ears off :lol: It's a practice thing.

So in the end you can cut out the superfluous faulty sentences and you will have your correct sentences right after and at the right spot, and it will save you a lot of work in editing. :)

If you need more help, PM me. Your file is totally well read and salvageable, don't worry. No need to re-record.

Sonia
I will be on vacation from Wednesday 27 March till Sunday 14 April
and unable to PL during that time. Thank you for your patience.
lpeders
Posts: 36
Joined: September 7th, 2018, 5:56 pm

Post by lpeders »

Jo and Sonia, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I can't tell you how much it means to have this process explained. It is very encouraging to benefit from your experience. Practice, practice, practice, I will!
I made the adjustments you recommended and reuploaded the file.
https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/topazstorybook_26_skinner_128kb.mp3 (10:55)
Lauren
Nedge
Posts: 848
Joined: May 30th, 2018, 8:30 am
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ

Post by Nedge »

So in the end you can cut out the superfluous faulty sentences and you will have your correct sentences right after and at the right spot, and it will save you a lot of work in editing. :)[/quote

This was all VERY helpful for me. I had a problem with my Audacity where the waves were ... fat. I almost messaged Phil Chenevert to ask how he got such nice skinny waves. My new son-in-law showed me that I had it set for DB Wave and not Wave, and the problem is solved. Now I can see my spikes and bring individual ones down, and take out little bits of clicking and such. It's changed my LibriLife!

I also find that when I record, if I disconnect from Wifi, it helps with the little pops and clicks that have nothing to do with the voice.
"Ready, willing, and vaguely competent." -- Sandra Boynton, 2021
Nedge
Posts: 848
Joined: May 30th, 2018, 8:30 am
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ

Post by Nedge »

Lauren, lpeders, I have put Section 26 in the MW! Thank you!
"Ready, willing, and vaguely competent." -- Sandra Boynton, 2021
Nedge
Posts: 848
Joined: May 30th, 2018, 8:30 am
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ

Post by Nedge »

It looks like we have 9 assigned, and a few waiting for PL and Spot PL . I will be going through posts today to see what I have missed. (My list lined up so well in Notepad!) :D

Nan
Last edited by Nedge on October 22nd, 2018, 4:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"Ready, willing, and vaguely competent." -- Sandra Boynton, 2021
robinlamb
Posts: 175
Joined: March 3rd, 2016, 1:14 pm

Post by robinlamb »

Here is the link to section 28, To An Autumn Leaf: https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/topazstorybook_28_skinner_128kb.mp3 Length: :31
Nedge
Posts: 848
Joined: May 30th, 2018, 8:30 am
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ

Post by Nedge »

Thank you, robinlamb! I have MW'd you. :)

Nan
"Ready, willing, and vaguely competent." -- Sandra Boynton, 2021
Post Reply