[COMPLETE] More Celtic Fairy Tales-mtf

Solo or group recordings that are finished and fully available for listeners
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Jmbau13
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Post by Jmbau13 »

Owlivia wrote: August 20th, 2020, 12:53 pm
Jane, thank you for your very gracious and encouraging comments! :9:
I had a lot of fun doing the voices )particularly the "hag" :D ) so I'm glad to hear that you liked the variety. Thanks bunches, also for fixing the volume; I'm still working that out in my recordings. You were spot on, too; the difference was in two separate recording sessions.

best,
Deborah / Owlivia
I see you use Audacity (looked at your original reading test post), but on a Mac and as I'm on PC, can only offer a bit of help.
In terms of showing dB volume, Audacity is not helpful, but Checker is. If you click on the Information tab after running it through, it will give you the dB reading. However, in this case, that would be an average, since the two halves were different.
I just highlighted the second half, and increased it a bit using Amplify, -2 (note the minus!), then went back and listened to the transition bit. It still sounded a bit much louder, so I repeated, this time decreasing it by 1.9 (ie, -1.9). At this point, it sounded the same, and the waveform looked consistent. That was all I did.
I always have to increase my volume, as my voice is quiet, and if I speak too loudly either I sound strained and/or it's uncomfortable and/or I risk too many plosives, even with a filter. So I regularly Amplify my volume, using ReplayGain to tell me how much. Not sure ReplayGain plays with the Mac version though.
I also sometimes use Compressor to reduce internal variations if needed (eg, I shout too loudly in one place).
Experience and practice helps.
Hope this helps you. Look forward to hearing more readings from you.
regards
Jane Bennett
afinevoice
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Post by afinevoice »

Thanks for PL and your editing Jane. I much appreciate your help and advice. I’ll certainly try to tether the breathiness and clicks, and remember to add the recording length plus the 5 sec break at the end, during my next read :)


Jmbau13 wrote: August 20th, 2020, 9:32 pm
afinevoice wrote: August 19th, 2020, 12:12 pm Hi,
5. The Black Horse is recorded
https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/morecelticfairytales_5_jacobs_128kb.mp3
Lovely reading, Adrian, and what a tale. Prince's sons, spells, a magical black horse... loved listening to it.
I have the following feedback:
1. Please supply the finished length of recording when advising of upload - this time, I've done it for you
2. The file was missing the full 5 secs of silence at the end (a 'must do' for compliing the files into the finished book)
3. This is a preference - I noticed the file had a bit of extraneous noise - quite a bit of 'breathiness' and a few extraneous clicks. You can see them between the waveforms on your original file, if you zoom in and look. As an experiment, I did a few runs of noise reduction, choosing one of these each time, and think it much improved the file. Only took a minute or two.
Now, since I'd pretty much fixed things, I added the 5 secs of silence and re-uploaded, to save you the trouble on this occasion. I hope you are OK with this, please let me know.
And thank you for reading. I'm really enjoying these fairy tales.
Thanks,
Adrian
Jmbau13
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Post by Jmbau13 »

Thanks Adrian.
PLs don’t usually fix things, but in this Case, as I’d already done it, I decided to go ahead and seek your agreement, because to ask you to do it, etc. would take longer. Thanks for your agreement, look forward to hearing you read more.
regards
Jane Bennett
afinevoice
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Post by afinevoice »

Hi, The Tale of the Family Macandrew is recorded. It's here https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/morecelticfairytales_9_jacobs_128kb.mp3 and is 13m 44s long. I hope that's all okay :) If not I can hopefully put it right .
Thanks,
Adrian
afinevoice
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Post by afinevoice »

Thanks. I appreciate it :)
Jmbau13 wrote: August 21st, 2020, 1:49 am Thanks Adrian.
PLs don’t usually fix things, but in this Case, as I’d already done it, I decided to go ahead and seek your agreement, because to ask you to do it, etc. would take longer. Thanks for your agreement, look forward to hearing you read more.
Thanks,
Adrian
Jmbau13
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Post by Jmbau13 »

afinevoice wrote: August 21st, 2020, 10:02 am Hi, The Tale of the Family Macandrew is recorded. It's here https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/morecelticfairytales_9_jacobs_128kb.mp3 and is 13m 44s long. I hope that's all okay :) If not I can hopefully put it right .
Adrian, another lovely reading. Such stupid boys! I'd never heard of the word omadhaun before - is it still used, or now archaic?
The one thing wrong with it is the volume is slightly too high at 92.7. Checker would tell you that, as would ReplayGain if you use it. But actually, just looking at the waveform in Audacity told me it looked high - see all those parts of the waveform which stretch up to almosst +1 and down to almost the -1? That waveform says the volume is too high.
OK, it's only very slightly over, but the standard is 86 - 92dB with 89 preferred.
I'll let you fix it this time.
Two ways to fix in Audacity, Amplify by - 3.2 (note the minus!)
Or, use the Compressor function which brings it down to around 88.5 dB

I strongly encourage you to study the waveform before and after - once you get your eye in, it's easy to get it right.
Thanks for the reading, a fine voice indeed.
regards
Jane Bennett
afinevoice
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Post by afinevoice »

Hi Jane,
Yes, they were foolish people (omadhauns). I'd never heard of the word, but guess it's similar to leprichaun (a mischievous person). This year I got my Irish citizenship, proving it's never too late to do so. Thank you Boris! So I'm really pleased to learn about a tiny bit of my heritage thanks to Joseph Jacobs and Librivox. Back to business! I've amended the recording with ReplayGain and it's passed with Checker. I've re-uploaded 9 The Tale of the Family Macandrew here https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/morecelticfairytales_9_jacobs_128kb.mp3 I really appreciate your help, this is great experience - thanks.
Thanks,
Adrian
johnb2
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Post by johnb2 »

Hi Jane and Devorah

Chapter 8 @ 33:25 is ready for PL

https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/morecelticfairytales_08_jacobs_128kb.mp3
afinevoice
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Post by afinevoice »

Jane, the tool I used was not ReplayGain. It was MP3Gain ...
Thanks,
Adrian
Jmbau13
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Post by Jmbau13 »

afinevoice wrote: August 22nd, 2020, 8:21 am Hi Jane,
Yes, they were foolish people (omadhauns). I'd never heard of the word, but guess it's similar to leprichaun (a mischievous person). This year I got my Irish citizenship, proving it's never too late to do so. Thank you Boris! So I'm really pleased to learn about a tiny bit of my heritage thanks to Joseph Jacobs and Librivox. Back to business! I've amended the recording with ReplayGain and it's passed with Checker. I've re-uploaded 9 The Tale of the Family Macandrew here https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/morecelticfairytales_9_jacobs_128kb.mp3 I really appreciate your help, this is great experience - thanks.
Thanks Adrian, absolutely spot on now.
I've used MP3Gain, but prefer ReplayGain but look, it matters not at all which tool, what matters is the result, which you now have perfect. I forgot to congratulate you on the better quality of this recording by the way, you've addressed the noisiness mentioned before. I'm glad you're finding the experience useful also. And congrats on Irish citizenship.
I'm familiar with leprechauns (from fairy tales) - was originally born in England but we emigrated when I was quite young to a warmer land.
regards
Jane Bennett
Jmbau13
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Post by Jmbau13 »

johnb2 wrote: August 22nd, 2020, 9:24 am Hi Jane and Devorah

Chapter 8 @ 33:25 is ready for PL

https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/morecelticfairytales_08_jacobs_128kb.mp3
Thank you John, that was very nicely read and I enjoyed listening to it.
I only have one very small correction to ask:
~8.48 the text is ... the sword of light but I hear the light of sword instead.
regards
Jane Bennett
alanmapstone
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Post by alanmapstone »

Section 15 - Elidore

https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/morecelticfairytales_15_jacobs_128kb.mp3
6:48

The idea that some Celtic people in Britain may have been descended from the survivors of Troy may seem ridiculous but it is a myth that has been around in this country for a thousand years or more :hmm:
Alan
the sixth age shifts into the slippered pantaloon with spectacles on nose
johnb2
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Post by johnb2 »

Jmbau13
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Post by Jmbau13 »

johnb2 wrote: August 23rd, 2020, 10:36 am Hi Jane

Chapter 8 is fixed @ 33:23


https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/morecelticfairytales_08_jacobs_128kb.mp3
Thank you so much for the fix. And also for making my job as PL very smooth and easy with readings like this. Much appreciated.
regards
Jane Bennett
Jmbau13
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Post by Jmbau13 »

alanmapstone wrote: August 23rd, 2020, 8:23 am Section 15 - Elidore

https://librivox.org/uploads/mightyfelix/morecelticfairytales_15_jacobs_128kb.mp3
6:48

The idea that some Celtic people in Britain may have been descended from the survivors of Troy may seem ridiculous but it is a myth that has been around in this country for a thousand years or more :hmm:
Oh, but we know it's true because this fairy tale tells us, surely? LOL.
Thanks Alan, nicely read and perfect. PL OK.
regards
Jane Bennett
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