Audio Feature Discussion

[cameron]

http://poetsgraves.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... 2264#12264

Hear PG poets reading their own featured work! More coming soon.

[camus]

Yay,

Good stuff, I Like the popup idea, works well.

Mine are on the way.

cheers
Kris

[Bombadil]

More from me are bound, as soon as I can get through Amuse Bouche without blushing or stuttering.

[pseud]

As will I. Tommorrow, I promise.

[Nicola]

I have recently added 3 more poems: 2 by camus (rather quiet) and 1 by pseud (rather loud).

Anyone else who has a featured poem and wants to be included, please let me or Cameron know. Lemur? tg? Leslie? kj?

Cheers
Nicola

[barrie]

I wouldn't have the faintest idea what to do - I can just about work a tape recorder.

technophobia

[Nicola]

Thanks to a great bit of freebie software (mp3Directcut) I have managed to sort out the sound levels (hopefully).

Have also added 2 more by Keith and 1 by Arcadian.

[Bombadil]

Pseud sounds like he's under the sheets with a flashlight telling ghost stories.


As always, I envy the Brits and Aussies their cool accents. Americans have to write twice as well to sound half as profound.

[The Moose]

And you sound like a whiny bitch.


Doesn't feel so good does it?

[Bombadil]

Who peed in your Wheaties?

[Nicola]

Have just added Monthly Haikus and Great Grandad by Camus and The Pit Brow Lass by Minstrel.

[that girl]

I might be able to audio record now, if anyone has a suggestion for a poem i could read.

[pseud]

Disappointment or Bravery.

[Bombadil]

My vote goes to Bravery, but I don't know why...

[David]

Disappointment or Bravery ... I didn't know these - they predate my involvement with PG - just looked them up. They're great.

David

[Bombadil]

Find them and comment. They're both worthy of bumps...

[kozmikdave]

Gidday

Just found this section. Cool!

How nice it is to hear the voices of the authors, (even those yanks). We probably all hate our spoken voice, I know my maths students hate mine. Stop cringing about what you sound like.

The quality of some of them is a bit sus. I had to turn everything up on my sound system to hear them.

What about a section that shows people how to record their poems to eliminate the pops and snuffles, record at a decent level, and sound as though they are reading to an audience. (Sounds like criticism, doesn't it?)

Seriously, this is a good part of the site.

Dave

[Bombadil]

We yanks fart in your general direction.

[Nicola]

Thanks Dave.

The sound is a bit iffy on some poems. The trouble is that everyone records their own, using different equipment (microphones, sound cards etc) which gives vastly differing results. I can only adjust the completed files a small amount. If you have any tips please feel free to post them, it's all a learning process.

I have been promised improved recordings by some people but they are yet to appear (hint, hint).

Glad you liked them anyway.

Cheers
Nicola

[kozmikdave]

My God!

What is that sweet smell drifting across the Pacific? I don't have a problem with any Yank accents. I was just trying to reassure Absolon's Sword who wrote

As always, I envy the Brits and Aussies their cool accents. Americans have to write twice as well to sound half as profound.

Now you want to fart in my general direction! I get no thanks for trying to be nice!

Seriously, there are some very low tech things you could be doing. To get rid of popping sounds from b-words & p-words etc., get some nylons/pantyhose, and after you have tried them on and paraded in front of the mirror a few times, take them off your head, stretch them over wire coat hanger (eqivalent) and fix them between your mouth and the microphone. Or you could pay good money for a commercially produced pop-guard (but that would be stupid, wouldn't it?)

Talking into a microphone scares some people. Get pretty close to it and imagine that you are talking to someone on the other side of the room. Time to get that imaginary friend out of the closet and be bold. People who sing to themselves always think they sound loud as it echoes around their sinuses. Don't be scared to look and feel stupid. You will notice the difference.

When recording, most programmes/recorders have a red zone which flashes up when the incoming sound is too loud. If you record in this area, it will distort on playback. So practice reading as loud as you can and keep nudging the recording volume down until you are just below this level. Of course your neighbours and family will think you are mad, repeating the same thing over and over. Hell, a couple of drinks and I do that in autopilot. And anyway, they knew you were mad in the first place.

So stop trying to record with your head under the blankets, reciting in torch-light. Be brave, take those stockings off and go for it.

Next week I will check and see what has improved and if nothing is going on, I shall repeat these instuctions in sonnet form - and no-one would like to see that, would they?

Cheers
Dave

[Nicola]

I have upgraded the audio player and included a dial-up version which hopefully will play better for those without broadband. The sound quality has been improved and should be a bit clearer. There is also an arrow next to each poem which enables you to save it to your computer and listen again at your leisure.

This is an ongoing project and we have decided to include poems which may not have been featured but have been well received in the experienced section. If anyone is interested in doing a recording please contact us.

Thanks to kozmik for his help and 'Handy Tips' (I have included his rendition of 'Dance').

[Minstrel]

Vast improvement. Well done.

Minst

[Nicola]

I have uploaded Lia's recording of The Collar. Sounds great I think.

Who's next??? Anyone can have a go if they have a featured poem or one which was posted in the experienced section and received a positive response.

[Nicola]

Have just added three more by Kris. 'Carp', 'Bingo' and 'I was meant to possess a beard'. More to come soon.

[Lia]

Kris, I like the new audios. My favourites now, would have to be ‘Great Grandad‘, ‘I was meant to possess a beard’ and ‘Silent Sands‘.. all for different reasons.

Have you been to readings?

Lia