First Episode of Nostradormouse for your listening 'pleasure'!

[Chris Tinniswood]

Okay. I've had a few false starts and I've re-recorded the whole book. This is the first episode, and I've given into temptation and added a few effects and my own music. I couldn't resist, and as I'm a writer, artist and musician, it was inevitable, I suppose!

I've checked the levels out on my mp3 player against JCHutchins' work, and it seems to come out at a comparable level, so give me your honest opinion.

Cheers!

[Craig Robertson]

After hearing you re-recorded the whole thing, I'm a bit chagrin to say, but I don't get the echo effect you use throughout. The levels are good, your voice wonderful, and a little echo-effect is good for dramatic juxtaposition, but I keep waiting for 'normal' narration. I'm a big believer in us all following our own muse, Lord knows I do, so I cannot say it's a negative; it's just, concentrated....craig

[Phil Brown]

I know what you mean, but it's not really an echo. Whenever Chris speaks there is some sort of background noise. Between phrases there is complete silence. The result is the appearance of an echo. I guess some sort of post production processing has introduced this effect.
I think the music and sound effects add to the depth of the work. I wish I had the time to do this sort of thing!
Best wishes,
"Wyken Seagrave"

[Chris Tinniswood]

Thanks for the comments, guys! Phil, you're right. It was background noise. No matter what I do I just can't seem to get rid of it! I did add chorus and reverb to the voice of Find. If you listen on headphones you get the full effect, but it still sounds different without.
This is what I had to do to get my recordings even half-decent: http://twitpic.com/mgi1j

Lastly, I wish I had time to do the effects, too! Still, its only a five episode book.

Cheers again, guys!

[Bryan Lincoln]

If you can link the original voice recording, I could see if I can clean it up for you. No promises, but I've been amazed at what my dynamic filters can do.

[Chris Tinniswood]

Thanks for the offer, Bryan. That's very kind of you. What file format do you want it in? Will mp3 do? If so, here is the file.

What software do you use, by the way? I'm using garageband.

[Bryan Lincoln]

I use Adobe Audition. Cost is in the $350-400 range, but I'm gearing up to do full cast audio drama so Audacity, while great, wasn't enough for me. I'll take a closer look tonight and post again.

[Bryan Lincoln]

So I had a listen. What you sent me is (hopefully) not the true original recording. It appears to be noise filtered and maybe band filtered (low pass?). The first filter is the reason it sounds noisy behind the voice parts and silent outside of them. A dynamic filter would do a better job of getting the noise out from behind your voice, but I need the background (which has been removed) to have this filter work effectively. The effect that I imagine to be from a band filter (though it could also be from the noise reduction if it was very aggressive) causes the voice to sound like it is coming from the other side of a wall. I don't have a way to add those frequencies back once they're gone.

If the mp3 you shared is the original unedited file, then your setup is the problem. Either the mic or some other strange hardware configuration, possibly related to a threshold of some kind, since the noise is high only when you speak.

If you have a file where the noise is the same outside of your speaking, I might be able to be more help.

[Chris Tinniswood]

I took a look at the original file and I had applied a filter to it, in order to try and eradicate the background noise, so I've uploaded the mp3 without any filters here.

I appreciate you taking the time to look at this for me. However, there are four more episodes to do (its a five episode book). I don't want to take liberties, but could you? Would you?!

[Bryan Lincoln]

Hi Chris,

Here's the file with the dynamic filter pass. You'll notice the noise is there in the beginning and then fades out over the 1st 5 seconds or so as the filter figures out the noise profile. Ideally, if the file started with 5 seconds of silence, the noise could be gone before you start talking and the beginning of the file could be deleted. Keep this in mind for future recordings if this noise is a recurring problem. In a couple places, the noise reappears and fades out again. I assume these are crop points where the noise is suddenly different and the filter takes a few seconds to characterize it. It doesn't happen often though, and i think this is a big improvement. You have a great voice, by the way.

I'd be happy to run the filter over you other 4 chapters as well. I don't know if posting them all here is any problem for podiobooks.com. if it is, you could get them to me with yousendit or some other file transfer method. Over 10 MB might be a problem for my email.

Hope this helps you. If so, let me know what method you want to try to get me the other files.

[Chris Tinniswood]

Thanks ever so much for this, Bryan. Its amazing the difference the dynamic filter pass makes.

I may well use yousendit, or upload them to my site and send you the links. I'll do so tomorrow.

Thanks again, and if there's anything I can do in return, just ask.

Chris

[Bryan Lincoln]

Tried to reply to your mail, Chris, but the send button seemed to do nothing. Either that, or I've spammed you. In any case, here's my message in reply to yours:

Hi Chris, I can raise the levels 1st and redo the filter, and see how it sounds. For the record, I hate levelator. I know some established people us it. I can always tell because there's that inevitable random fade that shows up. I can only imagine they don't listen to the whole file after they 'level' it.

I agree that .wav would be preferable but that there's a size issue there. I'll have my own ftp server at some point, but until then, I don't have any suggestions other that regular mail of a cd. I think working with the mp3 should be fine, though.

I'll post a volume raised version of chapter one when i get a chance.

[Chris Tinniswood]

If there's a heaven for podiobooks members, you've got a place!

I hate levelator, too. Nasty levelator.

Thanks. I look forward to the volume raised file!

Chris