COMPLETE National Geographic Magazine Vol. 09 - May 1898 -rap

Post by **Rapunzelina** » August 12th, 2020, 12:12 pm

silverquill wrote: ↑August 11th, 2020, 9:07 pm
Rapunzelina wrote: ↑August 11th, 2020, 12:33 pm Hi Larry! That is not the correct link. Did you upload another file as well?
Thanks!
Oh, good grief!
I was rushed trying to get this in before I had to log in to work.
Well, let's try this:

https://librivox.org/uploads/rapunzelina/ngm09_05_03_128kb.mp3 17:21

Section 3 is PL OK! Great reading! Have you been to Cuba?

MattyPCheezy · Post by **MattyPCheezy** » August 12th, 2020, 12:31 pm

Hello, I'd like to record #5, "The Florida Coast Line Canal". Thanks!

Also, this is my first recording. "MattyPCheezy" is fine for my recorder name.

Post by **Rapunzelina** » August 12th, 2020, 12:54 pm

That's great! Thank you!
I'll sign you up! Since it's a short recording, it's perfect for a first one! We can even use it as a recording test (or alternatively, you can do the 1 minute test here: https://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=1-Minute_Test

Summary of tech specs
Channel: Mono
Sample rate: 44100 Hz
Sample format: 16 bit
Export format: MP3
Export bitrate: 128 kbps

If you need any help with your recording setup, please ask! Otherwise, just have fun recording!

Asha · Post by **Asha** » August 13th, 2020, 7:07 am

I'll do part 7, Trade of the United States With Cuba!

Post by **Rapunzelina** » August 13th, 2020, 9:09 am

Thank you, Asha! I've signed you up!

Asha · Post by **Asha** » August 13th, 2020, 10:46 am

Here it is! (part 7)
https://librivox.org/uploads/rapunzelina/ngm09_05_07_128kb.mp3
Time: 5:14

Post by **Rapunzelina** » August 13th, 2020, 12:08 pm

All perfect! PL OK! Thank you, Asha!

MattyPCheezy · Post by **MattyPCheezy** » August 13th, 2020, 2:12 pm

Here is section 5, ie my 1 minute test...!
Hope it turned out okay, lemme know if it can be improved.

https://librivox.org/uploads/rapunzelina/ngm09_05_05_128kb.mp3.mp3

Post by **Rapunzelina** » August 13th, 2020, 2:41 pm

Thank you! I hope you enjoyed!

Text-wise the recording is fine and the reading itself is great!

We just need to adjust volume and bit-rate. If you are using Audacity, for the volume I would suggest the Normalize effect (from menu Effect -> Normalize) Tick the first two options, and in the second one, put the value "-4" dB; this will amplify the volume.
If you notice that any background noise is also amplified, you can use the Noise Reduction effect (here's a picture guide: https://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Noisecleaning_With_Pics#Clean_up_the_Noise:_Audacity_versions_from_2.1.0 )
but it's up to you and optional.

Then for the bit rate, when you go to export as mp3, check the format options in the Export Window, and choose "Constant" for Bit Rate Mode, and "128 kbps" for Quality. Type the filename without the suffix .mp3 as Audacity adds the suffix automatically (you'll notice your link has the .mp3 twice). Then click Save to export and upload your new file.

We'll do a spot-check and it should be PL OK then!

For future recordings, you might try increasing your microphone's input volume. There's a microphone slider in Audacity (in the Mixer Toolbar) which you can move a notch or so, so that when you record in Audacity the waveform peaks above the 0.5 mark (but not all the way up/down to avoid clipping). If increasing the input volume isn't possible, then you can just use the Normalize effect for all your recordings, with or without Noise Reduction.

MattyPCheezy · Post by **MattyPCheezy** » August 13th, 2020, 2:56 pm

Made them changes, also messed with Noise Reduction. Neat trick!

https://librivox.org/uploads/rapunzelina/ngm09_05_05_128kb.mp3

Post by **Rapunzelina** » August 13th, 2020, 2:59 pm

Cool!

Thank you! All PL OK now

MattyPCheezy · Post by **MattyPCheezy** » August 13th, 2020, 3:13 pm

Also, may I do section 6?

Post by **Rapunzelina** » August 13th, 2020, 3:28 pm

Certainly! Thank you! I'll sign you up, and I'll move us to Readers Found!

MattyPCheezy · Post by **MattyPCheezy** » August 17th, 2020, 3:59 pm

Here's section 6...normalized and cleaned up! Lemme know if it needs more tweaking.

https://librivox.org/uploads/rapunzelina/ngm09_05_06_128kb.mp3

Post by **Rapunzelina** » August 18th, 2020, 3:32 am

Wonderful! PL perfect! You make latin names sound so easy and natural, it's impressive!
Just for your information, the volume is a bit on the soft side. It's natural for the volume to fluctuate from recording to recording. I think Normalize won't cut it every time. There are other ways to adjust volume. There's also Amplify, but then you'd need to know by how much to amplify. You can either go by the visual hint where the waveform peaks above the 0.5 mark, or you can use one the the tools that measures volume, like the Checker, more information here: https://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Checker This measures the volume of your exported mp3 file, so then you know by how much to amplify to reach target volume of 89dB, or as close to that as possible. Another tool is a plug-in for Audacity, the ReplayGain, more information here: https://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Measuring_Volume_within_Audacity This tells you by how much to amplify (or deamplify if a negative number) within Audacity, before you export. If you decide to try one of those, I think the easiest to install and use is the Checker, but you'll be the judge of that

Thank you for Section 6!