Comments on youtube

Peter Why · Post by **Peter Why** » February 17th, 2023, 2:52 am

I occasionally look on youtube for comments about any of my recordings that have been posted there ... and occasionally thank the listener. But I couldn't resist answering this listener to my Ghost Stories of an Antiquary.

@garymurphy4165
4 days ago
Great! Yet another librivox abomination. When will these amateurs cease butchering the classics?

Reply
Peter Why
So kind. We are reading and recording primarily for our own pleasure; then make the recordings available to others to listen to, if they wish to. I make recordings that I would wish to hear, myself. Please do feel free to make recordings which suit your ear better. Peter Yearsley

Post by **annise** » February 17th, 2023, 4:46 am

Those who can do, those who can't criticise.
You'd think he would give up listening wouldn't you? I would if I thought that way.

Anne
Seems like IA reviewers don't agree. https://archive.org/details/ghost_stories_antiquary_librivox. Don't hang up your microphone yet

Post by **lorda** » February 17th, 2023, 6:24 am

Hi Peter,

such negative reviews also threw me into a deep hole in the last months. It took me a while to get over it. You can find my thoughts on this here (http://librivox.lorda.de/weitere-aktivitaeten/mein-umgang-mit-internet-kritik/) (in German, but google will definitely help you).
Always remember - we do all this because we enjoy it.

Greetings, Bernd

Peter Why · Post by **Peter Why** » February 17th, 2023, 11:58 am

It doesn't bother me, except indirectly, in that it demonstrates that there are some very strange people out there. He is entitled to dislike what we/I do, but it's the willingness to express his feelings in that way that I find disturbing. Are these the people that start fights in pubs? ... "Are you looking at me, pal?"

Somewhere I read (I think it was in a Heinlein novel), something like: "courtesy is the grease that keeps society moving smoothly; discourtesy is the grit in the bearings."

As far as my recordings are concerned, I'm happy with the proportion of listeners that are willing to say that they like what I do (including those that say I help them to fall asleep!).

Peter

SonOfTheExiles · Post by **SonOfTheExiles** » February 18th, 2023, 1:33 am

There are some who have talent in oceans. (Looking at you, Peter.)

And there are others of us who have maybe only a small bucketful.

You learn to discount those who would jostle your elbow. .

Cheers,
Chris

SowasVon · Post by **SowasVon** » February 18th, 2023, 1:54 am

Oh yeah, that has to be disheartening.
I sometimes look into Librivox's YT channel and if it's any consolation, people rarely comment on the videos at all and if they do, they seem to be slightly more likely to leave a negative comment in general: An American shouldn't read a British story, terrible reading, I thought this was going to be a factual text but it's fictionalised, so I'm out, I can't with that reader's voice (and then a detailed description of all that the commenter hated), etc.
Positive comments are rarer and often are much less detailed than the negative ones - "Great, thank you', etc.
Only few videos get a lot of feedback, especially those of some readers that you will also find in the thank you thread a lot (Peter, I think I've seen you mentioned in that thread a bunch!).
I don't have a solution or advice to offer, just an observation that the order in which feedback most likely comes is 1) not at all (listener doesn't divulge their thoughts), 2) negative, 3) positive.

Epachuko · Post by **Epachuko** » February 18th, 2023, 2:09 am

Peter Why wrote: ↑February 17th, 2023, 2:52 am I occasionally look on youtube for comments about any of my recordings that have been posted there ... and occasionally thank the listener. But I couldn't resist answering this listener to my Ghost Stories of an Antiquary.

@garymurphy4165
4 days ago
Great! Yet another librivox abomination. When will these amateurs cease butchering the classics?

Reply
Peter Why
So kind. We are reading and recording primarily for our own pleasure; then make the recordings available to others to listen to, if they wish to. I make recordings that I would wish to hear, myself. Please do feel free to make recordings which suit your ear better. Peter Yearsley

Great answer Peter!! I take off my hat, Librivox is a great idea, and a better hobby, thanks for sharing, for having your ideas clear and polished and for keep on librivoxing

DACSoft · Post by **DACSoft** » February 18th, 2023, 7:52 am

I don't usually take much stock in social media comments (and others), for the simple reason that I'm somewhat selfish in that I record what I like the way I like it, even if I'm the only one on the planet that likes it.

It's nice to get positive comments, and I take negative comments with a grain of salt, but they are not the be all and end all of why I volunteer here and make my recordings public. My enjoyment in this endeavor takes priority.

FWIW,

ej400 · Post by **ej400** » February 19th, 2023, 10:05 am

I strive for the best, and give my best, and know that I am not the best, nor would I want to, or try to. Everyone has different skills and likes. The reason I record is because it is fun here, and I enjoy doing what I do, and thousands of others also enjoy LV. If I help bring joy to someone, that's all I can strive for. Even if 30 people thought I sounded bad, if 1 person told me they liked listening to my voice, I would do it for them.

That person who made that comment must not understand choice of voice.

You do very well Peter, and I have enjoyed your recordings for many years. Keep up the amazing work.

Peter Why · Post by **Peter Why** » February 19th, 2023, 10:39 am

Thank you all.

I think, as I said, it's the fact that there are people that are willing to behave like that, that I find most disturbing.

Oh, well, we're all different.

I'm just glad that this community works so well. Shared love of books ... no Fahrenheit 451 for us!

Peter

jmac698 · Post by **jmac698** » March 15th, 2023, 11:54 pm

I find the comments interesting, good and bad. It's hard to find a good source of opinions on voices. I researched this, and the only thing I could find was that a baritone voice with content below 80 Hz universally rated higher in attractiveness.

I'd like to set up a survey someday with voice samples that vary in different ways and have people rate them.

The only thing I've been able to find out by interviewing friends is that they didn't seem too picky, that they usually hate computer or monotone voices, and they like it when each character is distinct, as knowing who is speaking helps with following the story.

The best rated voices on Audible seem to use interpretation and emotion for the characters.

pnagami · Post by **pnagami** » August 2nd, 2023, 9:21 am

I am frequently criticized on YouTube for not being a British male.

Other negative comments have helped me to pick up the pace of my recordings and to not be reluctant to be more expressive in reading.

Pam

barbara2 · Post by **barbara2** » August 6th, 2023, 4:16 pm

pnagami wrote: ↑August 2nd, 2023, 9:21 am I am frequently criticized on YouTube for not being a British male.

Pam

You mean you're not?

My very first Section (in a group project) inspired - "what's a woman doing reading Tom [sic] Boswell?". And even worse "a woman with a strange harsh accent".

I'm a sensitive little plant so it's as well I didn't see it at the time.

Barbara

Post by **annise** » August 6th, 2023, 5:10 pm

Everyone knows us Aussies don't have accents, everyone else does

........ well Queenslanders do talk a bit funny like

I did get a review that said I had ''an authentic Australian accent" once - I decided to take it as a compliment

Anne

barbara2 · Post by **barbara2** » August 6th, 2023, 5:31 pm

annise wrote: ↑August 6th, 2023, 5:10 pm Everyone knows us Aussies don't have accents, everyone else does ........ well Queenslanders do talk a bit funny like

[snip]

Anne

Yeah. I've got to give you that. You should have heard it before I went away to boarding school. Hilariously, I read that American kids are mimicking the Queensland accent as a result of the amazing success of "Bluey".

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/29/bluey-australia-kids-show-language/

Barbara