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funbysun · Post by **funbysun** » July 4th, 2011, 8:53 am

Hi,this is Sunny,an ardent audiobook listener,& wanted to help others with the audiobooks,but right uptil now,m quite confused with the anti-spam intro & check's,what kind of a psycho would trouble such nice people.

But i guess there are all kinds of people in this world.

anyhoo,i would like to get used the whole librivox system,hope it's not that scary ,i'll take baby steps with the whole recording process,maybe small passages or poems.
I will try my best to put in some contribution,& hope this will be benificial to everyubody.Love to hear from u guys!!!!!!
Thanking you
funbysun.

funbysun · Post by **funbysun** » July 4th, 2011, 9:52 am

I have these wonderful poems by Rabindranath Tagore which i wanted to try out,what are your views guys??

Samanem · Post by **Samanem** » July 4th, 2011, 6:18 pm

Hello funbysun! Thanks for joining! There are lots of ways to help out here other than reading, including proof-listening, making cd covers, converting files into iTunes-ready audiobooks (m4b's), etc., so if you'd like to start slowly you could check out those ways to contribute.

If you'd like to try Proof-Listening, here's a link to the Guide for Proof-Listeners: Guide for Proof-Listeners This is a great way to start out!

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: 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 explains 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.

Have fun!
Samanem

funbysun · Post by **funbysun** » July 5th, 2011, 1:49 am

Here's the one minute test,please do review it !!!

http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/tests/test_funbysun.mp3

Post by **annise** » July 5th, 2011, 2:35 am

test also posted in Listeners wanted. As this has been answered here I deleted the Listeners Wanted one

Anne

greg_m · Post by **greg_m** » July 5th, 2011, 2:59 am

Hello Sunny,

Thanks for posting that test.

I just gave a quick listen, and the most obvious thing I notice is that your level is much too low.

How did you record? Did you use a mic with your PC? And did you use Audacity to look at the levels?

Please take another look here http://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/1-Minute_Test and especially note the screen shot of the Audacity display, which shows how the correct levels should look. Compare that with the way your waveform looks. Your waveform has much less vertical height, showing that the level is too low.

Also, please re-read this http://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/Newbie_Guide_to_Recording for instructions on correct setup of your equipment.

My other suggestion is this: despite some mention of "noise reduction" or "cleaning" in those web pages, I think you're really better not to try that yet. Until you have some experience using the noise reduction software, it's just as easy to make your file sound worse, as to make it sound better. Let us hear a "raw" recording from your system first, then we can discuss whether noise reduction is necessary.

OK, thanks for reading, and now please try again with better levels.

Cheers!

funbysun · Post by **funbysun** » July 5th, 2011, 3:57 am

HI,thanks for listening,i did use audacity & the noise cancellation settings under "effects" as well.I'll try the recording process again & hope it'll be better.My headphones have a mic on them,i wonder if that is faulty.& yes the waveform spikes on my recording are lower.
Secondly i was wondering if You'd like to include Poems in Hindi?
I was happy to see the works of Rabindra nath Tagore up on the forums.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=34031

Till the next time,Have a nice day !!!!
Thanks Annise & greg_m

Post by **annise** » July 5th, 2011, 4:09 am

We would love some poems in Hindi - I know Tagore wrote in Bengali and in English .
did he write in Hindi as well or are they translations? If they are translations then we need to know when they were published in translation , to satisfy public domain needs.
Anyhow , get your sound organised and we can sort all that out
When you post your next sample - just tell us a bit about your microphone - it's a headset - how does it plug in , round jack or USB plug and are you using a PC or a Mac. Just helps to make the answers better for you.

Anne

funbysun · Post by **funbysun** » July 5th, 2011, 8:08 am

I believe Tagore did right primarily in Bengali, & quite many of them are translations in Hindi.So can't give you a definite answer.
Secondly just noticed my mistake with the subject,the "here" typo ,silly me!
I have with me,a headset,from "iball",not a very fine piece of work,but it was enough for my day to day works.it plugs into the pink port on the back of my cpu,it's has the standard 3.5 inch plug,plugged onto my windows(not mac).It does seem to produce a bit of noise,sometimes which overshadows my voice,will require a little tweaking.

If you could be kind enough to answer another of my question,how can i help with the conversion to ipod format,please direct me to that thread as well.
Thanks a zillion for listening & helping !

funbysun · Post by **funbysun** » July 5th, 2011, 8:24 am

http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/tests/test_funbysun.mp3

here's the new recording,but i had to fight quiet a lot with my mic,not in the best of conditions.i will have to wait for a new one i guess.Even then please do try this recording & remind me of points of improvements.
Would also like to see the ipod file conversion thread,

Thanks !!

Samanem · Post by **Samanem** » July 5th, 2011, 5:43 pm

Hi Sunny,

Your test is actually a little on the loud side - you could back off the mic a little and be fine there. You do have some noise, and a hum at 50Hz, and these things might be avoided in the recording if you can get away from whatever is causing these sounds. Turn off anything that uses electricity that you don't need, unplug your PC speakers, unplug any USB devices you don't need while recording. Also remember your mic can pick up sounds you can't hear, and also sounds from devices across the room, and transferred via your table, especially if the mic is sitting on the computer desk (put a thick pile of newspaper under the mic stand so its stable but doesn't transfer the vibrations through the table.

Anyway, try these things, back off the mic a little, and see if you can make it better. Try another one and upload it, and post the link here again, please. You're getting very close! (By the way, you will solve a lot of these problems when you get your new mic!)

Oh and here's the link tot he thread for the conversion of files to m4b's:

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=28784

Thanks,

Samanem