first recording - need some advice on editing

MisterSam · Post by **MisterSam** » January 15th, 2007, 9:01 am

Hello guys,

This is a link to my first recording (un edited) of this poem.

If someone could point out the main problems with this it would be useful as I currently have no understanding of how perfect a recording has to be, to be accepted.

Incidentally, i'm not sure what to do about the short paragraph in italian? at the start of the poem, I have no idea how to pronounce it and am unsure if it was necessary.

Also, this poem is too long to fit in the collection of short poems (>5min) so I have no clue as to what to do with it now.

kri · Post by **kri** » January 15th, 2007, 9:09 am

MisterSam wrote:Hello guys,

This is a link to my first recording (un edited) of this poem.

If someone could point out the main problems with this it would be useful as I currently have no understanding of how perfect a recording has to be, to be accepted.

Incidentally, i'm not sure what to do about the short paragraph in italian? at the start of the poem, I have no idea how to pronounce it and am unsure if it was necessary.

Also, this poem is too long to fit in the collection of short poems (>5min) so I have no clue as to what to do with it now.

As for where to put it, check out the Long Poems Collection Make sure to read all of the first post so that you have all of the proper info.

Your recording doesn't sound like it needs any editing, aside from increasing the volume. You could cut out the page turn sounds, but it will be accepted with them in there. Editing usually just involves cutting out mistakes, re-reads when you mess up, stuff like that. It sounds like you read this straight through!

kri · Post by **kri** » January 15th, 2007, 9:15 am

After finishing it, the only thing you need to do is just cut out your repeat of "This r..end of poem, end of poem" etc so that it reads exactly how you meant it to.

MisterSam · Post by **MisterSam** » January 15th, 2007, 9:16 am

Well, I chose this poem as its a favourite of mine which I read aloud many times previously. So yes, I did read it straight through

I'm planning on doing all of t.s eliots poems which are in the public domain.

My microphone is pretty good so I record at a fairly low volume and it cuts out most background noise.

Addition, yeah I realised i messed that up

kri · Post by **kri** » January 15th, 2007, 9:18 am

MisterSam wrote:Well, I chose this poem as its a favourite of mine which I read aloud many times previously. So yes, I did read it straight through

I'm planning on doing all of t.s eliots poems which are in the public domain.

My microphone is pretty good so I record at a fairly low volume and it cuts out most background noise.

The problem with that is that I can barely hear it, and have to increase my volume almost all the way. It should be at about a mid level volume. If you record at the volume you want it to be to begin with, you won't have as much background noise than if you record lower and have to increase the volume. However, when I turned the volume up I didn't hear very much background noise, so I really don't think you have to worry about that.

MisterSam · Post by **MisterSam** » January 15th, 2007, 9:40 am

Ill have a go turning the volume up.

Cori · Post by **Cori** » January 15th, 2007, 9:44 am

Hi again, Sam!

Great reading

I did need to turn my laptop up to full-vol to hear you clearly ... so you might want to increase your recording volume a bit, or try wumping up the gain afterwards. I did that on the intro to your file, and although there is a little more background noise, it's still a very clear reading, I reckon. See what you think -- it's on my server for a bit. No good having no background noise if I can't hear you either

[Edited to add: wrote & posted this before I read your message above. Cool!]

MisterSam · Post by **MisterSam** » January 15th, 2007, 10:26 am

The annoying thing is, I use a mac and for some reason it auto adjusts my mp3's to sound the same volume so it's hard for me to tell when something will sound louder for other people.

here is the new file anyway: http://www.hoylecourtprimary.com/files/prufrock2.mp3

kayray · Post by **kayray** » January 15th, 2007, 11:06 am

Hi Sam,
The best way to judge if your volume is loud enough is to look at your wave forms.
I took some screenshots for you, as examples :)

Here's your first file, much too soft:

Here's the improved file you posted, still too soft:

I mixed your file down to mono (mono is all we need, as long as the sound comes out of both sides of headphones) and ran a slight touch of compression and boosted the volume (gain) by 8 decibels. Here are the settings I used:

Resulting in:

And THAT is looking loud enough. You want to be careful to avoid that background noise "fuzz" in the quiet parts, but yours sounds ok. Here's an example of one of my finished recordings. Note how flat the waves are in the quiet sections. It's not dead silence, which sounds funny, but just very very soft background noise:

Hope this helps! :) Here's your boosted file, in case you want it. If you're a perfectionist, it'd be better to fiddle with your settings and get a nice loud clear recording from the start, but this one is fine if you want to submit it to the long poetry collection and move on to other things. :) (That's what I'd do heheh) Oh you'll have to re-set the ID3 tags. A very nice reading, by the way! Keep it up!

http://kayray.org/audiobooks/librivox/prufrock2_LOUDER.mp3

(By the way, I'm on a Mac too. I use SoundStudio 3 for recording/editing It's got a lovely UI.)

earthcalling · Post by **earthcalling** » January 15th, 2007, 11:33 am

MisterSam wrote:The annoying thing is, I use a mac and for some reason it auto adjusts my mp3's to sound the same volume so it's hard for me to tell when something will sound louder for other people.

Are you listening through iTunes? If so, you can turn that option off:-

iTunes -> Preferences -> Playback, then de-select the option labelled 'Sound Check - Automatically adjusts song playback volume to the same level'.

David

MisterSam · Post by **MisterSam** » January 15th, 2007, 11:38 am

Wow thanks! I'll submit your edited recording

I'm really enjoying this so there will be plenty more submissions to come!

kayray · Post by **kayray** » January 15th, 2007, 11:42 am

Er, forgot to mention -- I didn't listen all the way through or do any actual editing -- just fiddled with the volume etc. :)

MisterSam · Post by **MisterSam** » January 15th, 2007, 11:48 am

Dont worry, im a total perfectionist and I just restart the whole recording if I make an error, something that will not be feasible for longer recordings

kayray · Post by **kayray** » January 15th, 2007, 11:57 am

Oh gosh -- starting over isn't necessary! With simple editing software you can just chop out the errors -- we all make a million mistakes in every recording! I snap my fingers after an error to leave a nice noticable spike in the waves, pause, then back up a sentence or so and try again, sometimes over and over :)

MisterSam · Post by **MisterSam** » January 15th, 2007, 1:06 pm

Well until about 10 minutes ago I had np editing software, but i've acquired Sound Studio 3 and am now using it and loving it