"Hello" from Ottawa, Canada!

crystalbruce · Post by **crystalbruce** » July 20th, 2009, 3:33 pm

Hello everyone at LibriVox!

My name is Crystal Bruce (original username, eh?

) and I'm living in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada with my loving husband Danny and our kitten Ubuntu ("Ubu"). Currently, I am a fourth year undergraduate student at Carleton University studying Theoretical Linguistics.

I had a big love for literature. When I first started attending Carleton University, I was enrolled in English Literature. I loved doing homework because that meant reading novels!

However, in my third year, I had some issues with how we "analyze" literature and left the program for Linguistics. I realized that my bigger interest was understanding the nature of Language.

I think that LibriVox can help me find that love for literature again. Furthermore, I think that LibriVox fits nicely with my philosophies. I believe that knowledge should be free and openly available. Of course, I realize this is idealistic! I plan to undertake a Masters degree in Library and Information Science in the Fall of 2010. As a future librarian, I'm all about sharing!

I am currently figuring out Audacity now. My recordings are very faint. I know I have a quiet voice, but even at full blast, it's only reasonably audible.

Nevertheless, I hope to get a recording up soon!

RuthieG · Post by **RuthieG** » July 20th, 2009, 3:54 pm

Welcome, Crystal!

Have you checked that your input volume is set as high as it will go on your computer? If Windows XP, this means click Start | Control Panel | Sounds and Audio Devices | Audio and finding the Sound Recording volume slider. Other operating systems should have something similar.

You should be looking to get nice big peaks on the sound wave - between 0.5 and 1 in the Audacity window, without hitting the top or bottom of the window (which would cause voice distortion).

Ruth

crystalbruce · Post by **crystalbruce** » July 20th, 2009, 4:04 pm

Hi Ruth!

Thanks for the welcome.

Yes, I have checked that the recording volume is as high as it can go. I am using Ubuntu Linux. I go to the volume in the top right corner, click volume control, choose the USB device, choose the recording tab, and make sure the slider is all the way up. I do the same for the playback tab.

I'll keep fiddling with it until I get between 0.5 and 1.

I think I found a project I would like to help with in the Books forum. Thanks for your suggestions.

crystalbruce · Post by **crystalbruce** » July 20th, 2009, 4:30 pm

Uh oh...

My voice goes just very slightly above 0.0. Is there a way I can upload a sample and perhaps some audio savvy people can give me some pointers?

I am nearly eating my microphone. I have a USB headset which I am testing with. I also have a microphone that plugs in to my microphone jack and it stands upright. I chose the USB because apparently it gives better quality and since it is connected to my head, I figured my volume would be more consistent.

RuthieG · Post by **RuthieG** » July 20th, 2009, 4:35 pm

I think some people have had issues with Audacity and various flavours of Linux, including Ubuntu.

These threads may be of interest (I am not a Linux user myself):

http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15541

http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20216

and maybe this one too:

http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15781

Ruth

crystalbruce · Post by **crystalbruce** » July 20th, 2009, 5:11 pm

Hello again Ruth.

Thanks for all of the info! I have come to the conclusion that my laptop's sound card is not sophisticated enough for this type of task (I don't have the mic boost option). I'll experiment with our desktop computer and other laptop. Surely one of them has a decent sound card and a Linux distribution who plays nicely with sound drivers.

Post by **kayray** » July 20th, 2009, 5:12 pm

You might message Ductapeguy -- he's a linux user for sure, and I think his distro is Ubunto, though I might be mistaken.

(I was a Debian user ever so long ago. OS X now though :)

Welcome! And good job choosing the USB mic. It'll give you a better sound quality (when you get sound, heh) than a mic-jack mic.

crystalbruce · Post by **crystalbruce** » July 20th, 2009, 5:56 pm

Thanks Kara!

I'll message him right away. I have to wait for my husband to get home to install Audacity on the Arch Linux and Gentoo machines. I only know how to apt-get on Ubuntu!

I used Debian about four years ago! It was my introduction to Linux!

Lucky you on OS X. I am trying to get my KDE Desktop to look and feel like a Mac.

I read about USB being better than mic-jack mics, depending on your sound card from the LibriVox tips. My headset is missing that squishy foam thing on the end... could that be why my /t/ sounds end up sounding plosive?

Starlite · Post by **Starlite** » July 21st, 2009, 3:56 am

crystalbruce wrote:Hello again Ruth.

Thanks for all of the info! I have come to the conclusion that my laptop's sound card is not sophisticated enough for this type of task (I don't have the mic boost option). I'll experiment with our desktop computer and other laptop. Surely one of them has a decent sound card and a Linux distribution who plays nicely with sound drivers.

Hi Crystal. If you are using a USB mic, the sound card would not make a difference as it by-passes the sound card.

If linux has sound settings, you can adjust there as well. I know it can be done in windows. We often have to set the volume both in audacity and windows...

Oh and welcome from a fellow Canadian!

Esther

crystalbruce · Post by **crystalbruce** » July 21st, 2009, 6:01 am

Hi Esther!

Thank you for the welcome! Not only are we fellow Canadians, but also fellow Ontarioians (is that a word?)!

If a USB recording device bypasses the sound card... then I really have no answer as to why the recording is so quiet. I'll try some recordings on my desktop computer. Maybe this is crazy, but maybe Linux uses the sound card in some way when recording, even from a USB device.

We'll see!

To Posterity and Beyond! · Post by **Cori** » July 21st, 2009, 10:35 am

Hmm, what is this "original username" of which you speak..?

Signed: Cori Samuel.

crystalbruce · Post by **crystalbruce** » July 21st, 2009, 1:14 pm

Hi Cori!

I once read an article that argued that people who use their names as their email addresses can be full of themselves! I doubt this is the case for both of us... but... maybe... subconsciously...?

Kidding, kidding!

DeRamos · Post by **DeRamos** » July 21st, 2009, 1:45 pm

crystalbruce wrote: Hi Cori!

I once read an article that argued that people who use their names as their email addresses can be full of themselves! I doubt this is the case for both of us... but... maybe... subconsciously...? Kidding, kidding!

At least both of your usernames point to yourselves as individuals. My username is just my surname, which I'd like to one day hand down to my fifth-born niece (or equivalent).

How megalomaniacal is that?!!!

In any case, welcome to LibriVox, Crystal!

Cheers,
Ryan

crystalbruce · Post by **crystalbruce** » July 21st, 2009, 6:24 pm

Hi Ryan,

That made me laugh!

Certainly there isn't anything wrong with being proud of your name. But... in your case... maybe you're a little over the top!

Everyone else,

I doubt anyone else has subscribed to this topic other than myself, but if anyone is still looking here, I have created my test file! That's right! I can record on Ubuntu~!

The link is over here: http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=368856#368856

Thanks in advance for listening!

Post by **TriciaG** » July 21st, 2009, 8:07 pm

Welcome to LV! (I'm in Ontario, too, but I'm an import, so I don't know if I can be called an Ontarian. LOL!)

Shoot - I was going to say something; I can't remember what it is.

Oh, yeah!

What headset are you using, and where did you get it? I've got a mic jack headset, and I'd like to upgrade to a USB one, but I don't know which ones give good quality.