COMPLETE [Semi-autobiographical fiction] The Conquest (The Story of a Negro Pioneer) by Oscar Micheaux - mas

[Lmnei]

I read it as Psmith.

[drlyndon]

Chapter 2

https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/conquest_02_micheaux_128kb.mp3

12:40 minutes

[MaryAnnSpiegel]

I would like to claim sections 4 - 6. One silly question, however. When reading “P______n”, how should I read it?

Thanks Phyllis. I've updated the MW.

That's a very good question - not at all silly. Given that this is semi-autobiographical, this may refer to "Pullman", as the author worked for that company for a while. But we don't make that assumption in reading the section - the author left out the full name for a reason, so we do the same in reading his work.

I would suggest reading it as "P".

MaryAnn

[MaryAnnSpiegel]

Chapter 2

https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/conquest_02_micheaux_128kb.mp3

12:40 minutes

Thank you. MW updated.
MaryAnn

[geoffbl]

Hi MaryAnn
could I please claim chapter 7 ?

[MaryAnnSpiegel]

Hi MaryAnn
could I please claim chapter 7 ?

Sure Geoff. MW updated.
MaryAnn

[Lmnei]

Chapter 2

https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/conquest_02_micheaux_128kb.mp3

12:40 minutes

Thank you. MW updated.
MaryAnn

Hi Lyndon -

You did VERY WELL on the edits! Just a couple of things left to do now -

0:00 please leave between .5 and 1 second of silence at the beginning of all your recordings - you currently have over 2 seconds.
12:43 - you need 4 more seconds of silence at the end of the recording. We need 5 seconds of silence on each recording after your last spoken word.
The volume is a bit low - it falls outside of the target range of (86–92 dB), yours is 83.2 dB. To get to 89 dB which is the middle of the range, you will need to do two things. First, compress your recording - go to Effect> Compressor and leave all the settings the same except the middle line and change that to 5:1 please. Then press OK. Now go to Effect > Amplify and there should be 5.747 or something close to that in the window. Change it to 5 as I do not like fully amplifying things and press OK. Now export your file and save it with the same file name and upload it (with the first 2 changes too), post it with the length of the file and you should be done!

Just so you know, I have tried these changes on your file and it does amplify it enough to be within the required range...

I will check it out and it should then be PL OK!

[drlyndon]

Hi Lynda,

I could not make the edits to the original file so unfortunately I needed to re record it. Sorry about that. I have uploaded it again and hope it is better.

Lyndon

Hi MaryAnn, here is Chapter/section 2


https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/conquest_02_micheaux_128kb.mp3

11:34 minutes

Hi Lyndon -

Here is your feedback on your recording - you have a really good strong recorded voice! I only picked out a few word issues in the recording that affected the story as this is not a word perfect PL, however please be cognisant when recording that you are adding little words and skipping some descriptive words. You might want to slow down just a bit when reading.

0:00 please leave between .5 and 1 second of silence at the beginning of your recordings
0:02 - remove extra silence
0:05 - remove extra silence etc until you get to 0:26 That way the intro will be less choppy.
0:26 - Missing {Chapter} which is the title of the Chapter - instead you read the Chapter Number, it is fine to leave the Chapter number - just add the Chapter Title after that please.
3:38 - missing "Car" which is important to the type of story
9:15 - said "Put it eagerly" should be "put in eagerly"
10:16 - said "Miss Rocks" should be "Miss ROOks" (like HOOks)
10:27 - said "beautiful black hair" with a hesitation, should be "beautiful wavy, black hair"
11:27 - the "End of Recording" is a bit abrupt right after the last line of the chapter. Add a second buffer please and then like at the beginning remove the extra silences between End of Recording and your information to make it also less choppy.
11:34 - you need 5 seconds of silence at the end of each recording after your last spoken word.

Technical settings
The recording is in stereo - please change it back to Mono
The recording has a lot of noise in it - your breathing for example. Please run noise cleaning and then ensure your volume is in the correct range - 89dB is our target.

Please let me know if you need help with any of this - I am more than happy to give you pointers!

Lynda

[Lmnei]

Lyndon -

You need to tell us when you re-record a Chapter. When I check a file after it has already been listened to I listen to the specific portions where it was to be fixed - not the whole Chapter again. If you re-record the Chapter that means I need to re-listen to the whole Chapter to make sure there are no other issues.

Also, you did not post the link and the new time. Please do that - I do not have ESP

Just curious why you could not edit the original file? In general, we do not suggest that people re-record their Chapters after they have gotten their PL feedback. Not only does it take you more time recording again than just doing the edits (well that is how it is supposed to work) it also doubles the DPL's time by having to listen to the Chapter again and provide feedback.

We are here to help you - it is very easy to edit in Audacity and the PL feedback that I had provided to you should have not taken very long at all to do. Obviously editing gets faster the more you do it

[larryhayes7]

I would like to claim chapter 8 and 13

[drlyndon]

Chapter 2


https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/conquest_02_micheaux_128kb.mp3

12:47

[drlyndon]

Hi There,

I have made he last edits you suggested and let me know. Also let me know if I should request another chapter to read.

Thanks

Chapter 2

https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/conquest_02_micheaux_128kb.mp3

12:40 minutes

Thank you. MW updated.
MaryAnn

Hi Lyndon -

You did VERY WELL on the edits! Just a couple of things left to do now -

0:00 please leave between .5 and 1 second of silence at the beginning of all your recordings - you currently have over 2 seconds.
12:43 - you need 4 more seconds of silence at the end of the recording. We need 5 seconds of silence on each recording after your last spoken word.
The volume is a bit low - it falls outside of the target range of (86–92 dB), yours is 83.2 dB. To get to 89 dB which is the middle of the range, you will need to do two things. First, compress your recording - go to Effect> Compressor and leave all the settings the same except the middle line and change that to 5:1 please. Then press OK. Now go to Effect > Amplify and there should be 5.747 or something close to that in the window. Change it to 5 as I do not like fully amplifying things and press OK. Now export your file and save it with the same file name and upload it (with the first 2 changes too), post it with the length of the file and you should be done!

Just so you know, I have tried these changes on your file and it does amplify it enough to be within the required range...

I will check it out and it should then be PL OK!

[Lmnei]

Hi Lyndon -

I listened to your recording and it is excellent with no mistakes and you definitely have made the fixes for the time in front and end.

There is only one issue now and it is too loud With the target range of (86–92 dB) your volume is 94.2 dB. I know this must be frustrating to hear!

However it is really easy to fix and I also have a tool which I am presuming someone has not passed along to you so you can check it yourself.

So, first to fix it, please open the recording in Audacity and then go to Effect > Amplify (I know sounds strange) and enter (minus) -5 in the top field. If you are not using Audacity, you will need to figure out what the field is in your software. Now export the file as you have done before. Now, prior to uploading I am going to get you to test it, assuming you are on a PC.

Here is the Checker utility which we use to check recorded files for lots of things such as technical settings and also volume. https://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/Checker It was written by a LV volunteer. So open the Checker and then go to File > Check Files and see what it says about your newly saved file. It should say Passed to the right of it. If it says Passed with Warnings, then look at the Validation Tab to find out what the warning is and also (as it will probably be volume) the lower half of the Information Tab where the volume is listed. You are aiming for 89 dB or really anything in the validation range of 86-92 dB at this point in time.

When it gets as pass, then please send the link back to us along with the time (which really should not have changed). If you cannot use the Checker for some reason, that is okay, just send the file back after you have reduced it by the 5dB and I can tell you how you are doing.

You are almost done!

As for whether you should ask for more Chapters, ultimately that is up to you, however you have a REALLY GOOD recorded voice and what you have gone through are just learning pains with LV - once you know how to correct these very minor issues that I have found and if you can use the Checker, your edits to your recordings, if any are needed, will get faster.
I personally think you should ask for a couple more Chapters as I really enjoyed listening to your reading!

[PhyllisV]

Chapter 4:

https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/conquest_04_micheaux_128kb.mp3
29:10

[PhyllisV]

Would also like to claim sections 8 - 12. Really enjoying this one!