[DR][Murder Mystery] Gold-Killer by John Prosper (a pseudonym) - thw

[BrianFullen]

Section 1 - https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/goldkiller_tomware_01.mp3

Very . Sorry for the delay in PL but I decided to experiment by combining PL of your section with editing ... working it into the part 1 recording. Anyway ... it's a truly fine performance by you, Chuck. I do have one PL Note:

In the passage "And I will let you know every turn of affairs. Good-bye. Keep strong, and don't tell the police too much." at 11:03 to 11:21 there is (1) a repeat/correction at the start of the passage and (2) you say goodnight rather than goodbye a little after that. The repeat's not a problem because I can edit that out. I tend to think that goodnight (11:13) is problematic in that a listener might notice that Tom stopped by Anne's in the morning to check in on Anne before he head's to see Joyce and eventually meeting Chickie for dinner - so it might seem odd that he says goodnight so early in his day. I'm hoping that you won't mind changing the goodnight to a goodbye. Thanks, Brian.

[BrianFullen]

Hi Todd,

I uploaded a copy of https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/goldkiller_1_prosper_128kb.mp3 for safekeeping. It currently runs just a little under one hour and two minutes with all Part 1 content except for the butler and the maid (spoiler alert: neither is the Gold-Killer) roles. When they are added it will be another minute (maybe two) i.e. over an hour but well shy of 70 minutes. Parts 1 and 3 are the longest in terms of word counts. I don't know how you feel about recordings that exceed an hour. Since I'm doing both narration and editing I'm sure I can rearrange after all content is in, if need be, though I do kind of like the project as currently organized. I just wanted to give you a heads up on how things are looking. They're sounding good, as far as I'm concerned.

Thanks,
Brian

Note: I am updating the project share with current copies of the Part recordings as I upload for safekeeping - just in case someone wants to preview the project as it progresses without putting a load on LV servers.

[ToddHW]

74 minutes is the limit, so you are okay.

I, and many readers I think, don't mind having different length sections. And in my opinion it is really nice not to divide chapters into part 1 and part 2, etc, unless you have to, cuz that makes the whole chapter and section thing not align.

Thanks, Todd

[BrianFullen]

74 minutes is the limit, so you are okay.

I, and many readers I think, don't mind having different length sections. And in my opinion it is really nice not to divide chapters into part 1 and part 2, etc, unless you have to, cuz that makes the whole chapter and section thing not align.

Thanks, Todd

Thank you, Todd.

[jennlea]

Here is the rest of Anne:

https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/goldkiller_annerice_7.mp3
3:27
https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/goldkiller_annerice_8.mp3
4:34

[BrianFullen]

Here is the rest of Anne:

https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/goldkiller_annerice_7.mp3
3:27
https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/goldkiller_annerice_8.mp3
4:34

Aced them both! I'll bet you aced Chemistry, too. I was impressed with your lab work. You are a trouper, Jenn. A lesser actor may have been tempted to copy / paste those back-to-back repeated lines but you gave them all their proper due! Thank you. Brian

[Shickey]

Hi Brian ,

I completed the recording for Alice Graham (role #40), part 6, and have uploaded it.
Hope it turned out well. Let me know if there are any issues.

Thanks!
Shirine

https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/goldkiller_alicegraham_40.mp3

[BrianFullen]

Hi Brian ,

I completed the recording for Alice Graham (role #40), part 6, and have uploaded it.
Hope it turned out well. Let me know if there are any issues.

Thanks!
Shirine

https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/goldkiller_alicegraham_40.mp3

Hi Shirine,

And it's I who should thank you! Alice is charming, in her own way, as I'm sure you are in yours. The good news is that all of her lines are accounted for and the really good news, from my point of view, is that those lines are just the way one imagines Alice would say them. If only she'd invite me to one of her parties! I'd be there with bells on.

The less good news is that your recording is a tad low on volume. Checker says that it's only 80.1 dB which is somewhat lower than the 86 dB minimum according to Librivox specs. Of course the thing is that role recordings for DR's are always edited so as to make for a complete "scene". I used Audacity's Effect->Amplify to listen to it with the volume higher and it sounds great to my ear. So, I have a question for you: do you want the practice in editing your recording or would you prefer that I do the volume adjustments for you? I don't mind doing what needs done because, as I say, it's normal for an editor (me on this project) to make volume adjustments (so that volume doesn't fluctuate too much between actors' lines). But, just for the record, your recording would probably not be PL OK if this were, say, a section for a collab project for a book.

If you want to rework it yourself let me know - you probably could have increased the volume over the entire track if not for the fact that "Adele" at around the 28 second mark is substantially louder than the other lines in the track as a whole and that limits the amount by which you could do a simple amplification over the entire recording. You'd probably need to amplify (increase the gain) selectively. If you feel that you do want to do the fix yourself and have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. Fair enough?

The other really minor issue is that, strictly speaking, the file name should be something along the lines of goldkiller_alicegraham_6. DR's and plays are a bit different than some other projects in that we don't concern ourselves too much about MW section numbers. In fact, sections in DR's and plays frequently move about (and are renumbered as a consequence) as the project progresses. So, if you do decide to edit your recording yourself you should use the goldkiller_alicegraham_6 filename convention.

Please let me know. I hope I've been clear that I will mark your recording PL OK "as is" unless you want to get a little practice in on editing for volume in which case I'll mark it "See PL notes".

I hope I haven't discouraged you in this post. I don't know how much acting you've done in "real life". In any case, I think you have a talent for voice acting and I hope you will do a lot more of that for LV.

Are we good?

Your friend,
Brian

[Shickey]

Thank you so much for the feedback. I am not discouraged!

If time is of the essence, then it might be best for you to edit, but I might need some tips on how to set my levels correctly.
And thanks for pointing out the naming convention. I wasn't sure if it was the role # or the section#. I have noted that.

Thanks for the opportunity. I enjoyed the role and hope to do more!

Best regards,
Shirine

[BrianFullen]

Thank you so much for the feedback. I am not discouraged!

If time is of the essence, then it might be best for you to edit, but I might need some tips on how to set my levels correctly.
And thanks for pointing out the naming convention. I wasn't sure if it was the role # or the section#. I have noted that.

Thanks for the opportunity. I enjoyed the role and hope to do more!

Best regards,
Shirine

Hi Shirine,

I am happy that you enjoyed the role and hope to do more. I think it is considerate of you to think about others involved in the project and the timeliness of its completion. But my feeling is that you can do that while still being considerate of yourself. As I know that you know you have two months to complete a claim and if warranted you can ask for an extension. I'm never sure how long it might take to complete a project, not only at launch, but sometimes even when we are nearing completion. This one still has many open roles and probably has weeks to months to go. All that said. ..

It seems to me as though you're leaning towards me adjusting the volume of your recording as I integrate your lines into Part 6. I will mark your recording PL OK. If I've misread the situation please let me know.

Meanwhile, I don't want to duck your question. I took a look through your past posts to see if I could learn what your setup might me, especially regarding microphone and recording/editing software (sometime referred to as Digital Audio Workstation, or DAW). I didn't see any specifics. I'll tell you how I would edit your recording using Audacity, since that is what I use. I also don't know if you use the free software called the checker. It's not mandatory that run checker on your recordings but it is a good idea because if you do you will know whether or not your recording will pass spec checks before you upload.

When I first started using Audacity - really well before I joined LV - I noticed that the tool gives you many ways to perform a task that it supports. I suppose that fact can be good or bad; bad in the sense that it can be confusing. So I'll tell you a simple, straightforward method for increasing the volume on the recording that you did for "Alice Graham".

When I open the recording in Audacity what pops out to my eye is the part on your waveform at around the 28 second mark which is where you say "Adele!". So, I'll select just that small part of the waveform. Then I'll choose Effects->Amplify which opens the Amplify dialog box. I don't ever want clipping in my LV recordings so I never check the "Allow Clipping" check box. The value I see in the "Amplification (dB):" field is 7.084 - in other words I cannot increase the gain any more than that number because I have told Audacity that I don't want to allow clipping. Now I could exit the Amplify dialog box at this point and then select the entire waveform, and then reopen the Amplify dialog box and press Apply. I just did. The entire waveform is now amplified (gain increased) by 7.084 db. So I'll listen to it to see if it sounds OK to my ear and it does. So now I'll export audio to mp3 and see what the checker program has to say about it. Well, it passes, just barely at 86.8 dB. But not what LV considers ideal (at around 89 dB)

So, what if I wanted to get it a little louder still. Well clearly I can't get there without introducing clipping because that "Adele" at 28 seconds is limiting the amount by which I can increase the volume. Well, I haven't closed the recording or exited Audacity, so I can back out the Amplify (ctr-z on pc or cmd-z on mac or ...). This time around I'm going to again select just the part of the Waveform that has the word "Adele". Everything is as before in that I can amplify by 7.084 dB without introducing clipping. Instead, I'm going to decrease the volume just on the "Adele" part by (arbitrarily) -3 dB and press Apply to lower the volume of just that part of the waveform where "Adele!" is said. Next I will select the entire waveform and do the Effect->Amplify and, unsurprisingly, the Amplify dialog box says that I can now increase the gain (volume) by 10.084 without introducing clipping. So, I'll say apply and listen. The recording still sounds fine to my ear so I'll Export Audio to mp3 and see what the checker program says. And the answer is 89.8 dB.

Now, would it be worth your time to get it to exactly 89 dB. I think the answer is probably not. At least not for a DR or Play because, as I said earlier, I'll probably make some minor adjustments to whatever you upload to make it "sound nice" with whatever I get from other actors with whom yours is dialoging.

I hope I haven't bored you or confused you. Have I? It's okay for you to say "yes"; I like feedback too.

Anyway, I'm now going to mark your recording PL OK. But if you decide you want to give me another one that you would prefer that I use, I would not say "no".

Best,
Brian

[Shickey]

Hi Brian - your explanation is very helpful, and I will practice what you laid out here, but you are correct, I am fine with your doing the editing for this go around.

I really do appreciate the feedback, and your help.

I noticed that no one is assigned to read Adele (at least the last time I checked). If it isn't weird to have the same voice actor doing different roles (in the same scene) with different voice inflections, I wouldn't mind reading that part, but if it's not a good idea, I'm fine with that too and will explore additional projects.

Thank you again!

Shirine

[jennlea]

Here is the rest of Anne:

https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/goldkiller_annerice_7.mp3
3:27
https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/goldkiller_annerice_8.mp3
4:34

Aced them both! I'll bet you aced Chemistry, too. I was impressed with your lab work. You are a trouper, Jenn. A lesser actor may have been tempted to copy / paste those back-to-back repeated lines but you gave them all their proper due! Thank you. Brian

Thank you, Brian! Looking forward to listening to this when it’s finished!

[BrianFullen]

Hi Brian - your explanation is very helpful, and I will practice what you laid out here, but you are correct, I am fine with your doing the editing for this go around.

I really do appreciate the feedback, and your help.

I noticed that no one is assigned to read Adele (at least the last time I checked). If it isn't weird to have the same voice actor doing different roles (in the same scene) with different voice inflections, I wouldn't mind reading that part, but if it's not a good idea, I'm fine with that too and will explore additional projects.

Thank you again!

Shirine

You've got Adele! Normally, I'd say it's weird for you as "Alice" to introduce you as "Adele" but if you truly believe you can make that transition and make it work I'll trust that you can. Now go and amaze me! Please.

[ChuckW]

Chapter 2 for Tom Ware - https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/goldkiller_tomware_02.mp3

And just in case you need it at a later point, the revisions I sent you via DM: https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/goldkiller_tomware_redofor1.mp3

[BrianFullen]

Chapter 2 for Tom Ware - https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/goldkiller_tomware_02.mp3

And just in case you need it at a later point, the revisions I sent you via DM: https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/goldkiller_tomware_redofor1.mp3

Thanks Chuck.