This is an open collection of poems for the month of March 2013. When this month is over, another one will be started.
How to record a poem - Initial Guidelines:
• All poems read must be in the public domain (that is, not copyrighted).
• You do not have to "sign-up" to submit a poem; as long as it's clearly in the public domain, just start recording!
• There is a limit of 3 poems per person per collection.
• Poems can be as short as you like, but not longer than 30 minutes (approximately 5000 words). (If you would like to record a longer poem, please discuss it with the MC.)
• To see what's been recorded already, you can search the LibriVox Catalog - but remember that we welcome multiple versions!
Find a public domain poem:
• The Poets' Corner is a great resource for public domain poetry. Other sources to try are Bartleby and Project Gutenberg.
• You may use other websites if you like, but we will have to check them to make sure they are not copyrighted.
• See this page for more info on copyrights. You can always ask me in this thread if you're not sure whether a poem is public domain.
BEFORE recording:
• If you are new to LibriVox, please check the Recording Notes thread first.
• If this is your first time recording, you'll find this useful as well: The Newbie Guide to Recording.
• Set your recording software to:
Bit Rate: 128 kbps
Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz (44100 Hz)
Channels: 1 (Mono)
DURING recording:
• At the beginning of the recording, read the abbreviated "LibriVox disclaimer": "[Poem title], by [author], read for LibriVox.org by [your name]" or some variation on that, adding date, location, your personal URL, etc., if you wish.
• Then read the poem.
• At the end, say: "End of poem. This recording is in the public domain." and leave five seconds of silence.
• No recordings can be accepted without the LibriVox disclaimer.
AFTER recording:
• Add these ID3 tags:
(If you're not sure how to add ID3 tags, please visit this page: How To Add or Edit ID3 Tags)
Title: Poem Title (e.g. The Road Not Taken) Artist: Author Name and Year of Birth-Death [e.g. Robert Frost (1874-1963)] Album: LibriVox Short Poetry 118
(You may put "Recorded by [your name]" in the comments section if you wish)
• Save file as: Note that this has changed since last month:
spc118_[poem's title]_[your initials].mp3 Put file name all in lowercase, and the title all in one word (no leading articles - the, a, an, without the square brackets, please, and NO SPACES): e.g. spc118_roadnottaken_apc.mp3
When submitting, please follow this template:
[Title of Poem] by [Author] (BIRTH-DEATH)
Text URL:
MP3 URL:
Duration:
Upload your completed recording:
• Upload your file with the LibriVox Uploader: http://upload.librivox.org
(If you have trouble reading the image above, please message an admin)
You'll need to select the MC, which for this project is: tg - TriciaG
• When your upload is complete, you will receive a link. Please click "Post Reply" at the top left of this thread, and post the link there.
• Also post the following information:
The title and author of the poem.
A link to the poem's text online (Poets' Corner, Bartleby, Gutenberg, etc.) so it can be verified as public domain.
The length of your recording in minutes & seconds.
If this is your first recording for LibriVox, please give us your name as you'd like it to appear in the catalog (that is, either your real name or some pseudonym). Also let us know if you have a personal URL you'd like to list (e.g. a personal blog).
Please provide the birth and death years for the author. Thank you.
This won't show up on your catalog page until cataloging time, because I've learned how hard it is to sort the poems after I've assigned the sections. So for now all the info is in the Notes field of the Magic Window, so it won't show up on your catalog page.
Darkness - PL OK.
For future recordings, watch your mic placement. You have some plosives, where your breath is directly hitting the mic (example: at 2:19 on "shrieked" and "terrified"). Move your microphone a little bit to the side of your mouth if a desktop mic, or a little above or below your mouth if a headset mic. This will help the air pass by the mic instead of directly hitting the mic.
If I Should Die - PL OK. Funny!
Volume is high - 93.1 dB. I adjusted it. I saw when exporting that you used Auphonic. Try a lower volume setting - if using -16 LUFS, try -18 LUFS or even -20.
I listened through and I don't think I made any errors.
The "downed" in "in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!" came out a bit Northern Irish. I don't know why, because I've never lived there. But I guess everyone knows what I meant.
I think I probably overdid the expressiveness and characterisation -- that's probably down to my having drunk some cider beforehand -- Eliot himself reads it very "flat":
I didn't quite finish...left out the important last line. One of "those days" too numerous to count.