Hi Everyone, just want to introduce myself! I'll be appearing on these forums as sierragrace. I'm thrilled that that username wasn't already taken; it's my favorite moniker. In my family, using someone's first and middle names together in reference to them is a kind of simple endearment, and I've stuck with it as a nod to my southern roots.
I've always enjoyed audiobooks. As a child I read voraciously. At some point I discovered (by way of A Wrinkle In Time on cassette tape) that, marvels of marvels, I could enjoy books while doing other things like cleaning my room (not likely) or doing messy paper crafts (more likely). As I grew up, this extended to audiobooks on road trips, in the darkroom, or in my freezing tent after a day of fieldwork. My graduate work was in Glaciology, and trust me when I say that sometimes the only thing to keep you sane after a freezing day of frustrating ice core malfunctions and interminable wind and too-bright arctic summer sun is the reassuring sound of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, or any Douglas Adams, or Jane Austen for that matter.
So I was of course thrilled to discover LibriVox, which combines my beloved spoken word with a couple of my other favorite things: crowdsourcing (I mean, how totally clever is reCAPTCHA?), volunteering, and old books. I think my first Librivox search was for HP Lovecraft's short stories; now I'm hooked.
I can't wait to help with this awesome effort in whatever way I can. The idea of being one of the voices sharing these stories is pretty thrilling, so I'll start practicing my enunciation and non-regional diction. I've looked through the forums, and I love the encouraging interactions between readers and listeners. All in all, great work everyone, and I can't wait to be a part of it.
Hello from sierragrace!
Welcome to Librivox sierragrace! We have such an amazing breadth of talent here, I'm always wishing we could somehow compile a table of the professions of all of our members. Not only do we have a wide variety, but we have some very cool professions, like medieval archaeology, and yours, and many others I've seen while reading these intros!
If you have time, and want other ways to contribute, there are lots of ways to help out here, including proof-listening (checking for errors - very important!), making cd covers, converting files into iTunes-ready audiobooks (m4b's), etc.
If you'd like to try Proof-Listening, here's a link to the Guide for Proof-Listeners: Guide for Proof-Listeners
As far as recording goes, the files we make do have to be in a certain format: mp3, mono, 44,100Hz, 16-bit, 128kbps and usually louder than most people think! Here's the Newbie Guide to Recording which you may not need, but I'll link it anyway: Newbie Guide to Recording.
And we respectfully urge a 1 Minute Test, to help you get things all set up! Here's a link to the 1-Minute Test Recording: 1-Minute Test that eplains how to do all that. You would upload your test and then post the link to the test as a new thread in the Listeners Wanted Forum. Instructions are in the link, including where to upload the link, the username and the password to use, etc. This test is not for any kind of audition purposes, just to make sure that it fits our format technically and that your levels are okay.
One of our volunteers, Philchenevert, has created several great videos that you might find helpful in learning more about Librivox. Here's a list of them: http://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/User:Philchenevert
People here are very helpful and friendly, so don't be afraid to ask any questions you have along the way. You can just ask away in this same thread if you have any trouble.
Remember, have fun!
Samanem
If you have time, and want other ways to contribute, there are lots of ways to help out here, including proof-listening (checking for errors - very important!), making cd covers, converting files into iTunes-ready audiobooks (m4b's), etc.
If you'd like to try Proof-Listening, here's a link to the Guide for Proof-Listeners: Guide for Proof-Listeners
As far as recording goes, the files we make do have to be in a certain format: mp3, mono, 44,100Hz, 16-bit, 128kbps and usually louder than most people think! Here's the Newbie Guide to Recording which you may not need, but I'll link it anyway: Newbie Guide to Recording.
And we respectfully urge a 1 Minute Test, to help you get things all set up! Here's a link to the 1-Minute Test Recording: 1-Minute Test that eplains how to do all that. You would upload your test and then post the link to the test as a new thread in the Listeners Wanted Forum. Instructions are in the link, including where to upload the link, the username and the password to use, etc. This test is not for any kind of audition purposes, just to make sure that it fits our format technically and that your levels are okay.
One of our volunteers, Philchenevert, has created several great videos that you might find helpful in learning more about Librivox. Here's a list of them: http://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/User:Philchenevert
People here are very helpful and friendly, so don't be afraid to ask any questions you have along the way. You can just ask away in this same thread if you have any trouble.
Remember, have fun!
Samanem
"I ask to be allowed to have a lamp in the evening;
it is indeed wearisome sitting alone in the dark." ~ William Tyndale (1494-1536) |
it is indeed wearisome sitting alone in the dark." ~ William Tyndale (1494-1536) |