ShellyW wrote: ↑January 29th, 2024, 3:33 pm
Hi!! I'm ShellyW. Here is my test link:
https://librivox.org/uploads/tests/librivox_test.mp3
somebody let me know how it sounds please
forgot to include: I used Audacity on a Windows computer with an analog mic plugged into a USB audio interface thingy. Sorry my husband is the techie with this equipment. I'm pretty clueless about sound equipment.
Welcome to Librivox, Shelly!
You sound great. Your voice is clear and animated. All the technical settings are correct, but I do notice a high level of background noise. I'm not sure what's causing it. Does your computer have a fan that's running? I record next to a refrigerator, and that causes background noise in my recordings. If it's a computer fan, you can try moving your mic away from the computer a bit to see if that brings it down. If it's just room noise, and you don't have a quieter space to record in, you can tackle this using Noise Reduction in Audacity, as follows:
1. Go to a silent part of your recording (where there's no speech). A minimum of 0.05 seconds is needed, though a longer Noise Profile is better. Select that section.
2. With that section selected, click “Effect > Noise Reduction....”
3. Under Step 1, click “Get Noise Profile.”
4. Select the entire recording (double-click inside the track or click Ctrl-A), then check your Noise Reduction parameters under Step 2. Mine are set as follows, and I’ve never needed to change them:
Noise Reduction (dB): 12
Sensitivity: 6.00
Frequency smoothing (bands): 3
Noise: Choose "Reduce"
5. If they’re set to this already, just click OK.
That will bring your background noise down to acceptable levels (below about 45 dB).
There's a free standalone tool you can download and use to check the technical specs on your MP3 files (including volume and background noise) before you upload. It's called the
Checker and it's very simple to use. Just drag your file into the top area of this interface. Members use it to check 1-minute tests as well as their own files.
To have it show your Background Noise, select Validation > Choose Validation Methods, and tick the box for Background Noise. You only need to do this once.
The Checker reviews the last 5 seconds of silence in a recording to assess background noise (all Librivox recordings are required to have 5 seconds of silence at the end so they work properly in all media players).
Please apply Noise Reduction to your recording, and reupload the file in a reply to this message. I'll come back and listen to it.
You're almost there!
Thanks,