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How to Record for LibriVox
Best practices: instructions for a Test recording, and a Checklist.
If you need a basic overview, see the LV web page, About Recording for LibriVox.
Table of Contents:
Test your recording setup!
Haven't got a recording setup? You want to read the Newbie Guide To Recording!
Before you make your first long recording, please record a test:
If you're new to Audacity, don't use these instructions, instead use Testing! Audacity 101
(There's also some information on using GarageBand elsewhere on our wiki.)
* record at sample frequency 44.1 kHz at 16 bit sample size in mono
export to mp3 at 128Kbps with ID3v2 tags for Title, Artist, and Album
(if your test is a Short Works project, look at its top post; if you're doing the 1-Minute Test, Title: Test; Artist: Your Name; Album: Testing Testing)
always plug your mic in before you launch Audacity (otherwise, restart Audacity)
adjust your input level (usually needs to be increased a notch or two)
on a PC: Start > Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > click the Audio tab: Sound recording Default device - select your microphone from the drop-down menu and click Volume; most folks need to slide the volume higher to about 3/4 or 5/8 mark.
on a Mac: Applications > System Preferences > Sound: select your microphone under "Choose a device for sound input" and slide the "Input volume" up, usually to 3/4 or 5/8 mark.
and then record either a 1-minute test or a Short Works poem or somesuch
and be sure to get feedback:
are the settings correct?
input volume OK? (too soft? too loud?)
got plosives? (mic getting wind over it?)
got hum? buzz? (dc offset?) hiss? (related to input volume and computer's input selection)
LibriVox will not reject any recording that is intelligible and follows guidelines. Even if it has clipping, plosives, hum, buzz, and hiss. Yet all of those distracting things can be avoided/minimized at the time of recording. In their feedback to you, folks will give suggestions for little, quick, free adjustments to your setup for the most pleasant recording your equipment can make.
1-Minute TestRecord something like this (use this or make something up).
"People were pleased to find that Peter Piper had picked a couple pages for fable fans at LibriVox. Thankful that this was Thursday the thirtieth, the Piper anticipated forum fun and a wonderful weekend of recording! This is a test by YOURNAME. Had it been an actual LibriVox contribution, it would have been a Public Domain text, previously published and probably interesting."
Upload your test file using the LV Uploader (read about uploader)
call it yourname.mp3 and select "xx - Non-project files" from the uploader's MC drop-down list
and copy the link it provides when the upload is completePost your test file's link in one of these spots:
Listeners & Editors Wanted Forum in a fresh post (start the subject with "CC:" to get "constructive criticism")
Or if your test is a Short Works project, post in the project thread and request feedback there. Then use the feedback to get the best quality audio your setup can yield.
Checklist
Prepare all your text to be recorded
We recommend you download the text from its online link given in the project's top post. It helps to save the text to your computer and add any information you need to read; it's all in the top post in your project, but it's very very handy to copy and paste all that you need to record into a single document with the text. For instance:
Intros/outros: Chapter and title, LibriVox "disclaimer," full book title and author's (and translator's) name, chapter number and title, and any other important intro information. (It's a little different for poems!) ... text ... End of such-and-such, etc.
Personal notes, like how to pronounce a word you're not familiar with
ID3 tags for your particular reading
what to name your recorded file
where to send your recorded file
It's all in the project's top post; if you can't find or don't understand something, ask the Book Coordinator (BC) or Meta Coordinator (MC).
If you would like to spruce up text from Gutenberg (most of our projects use Gutenberg text), you might like this: http://www.sandroid.org/GutenMark/
Double-check your recording setup
Take a minute (please) at the beginning of each recording session to check your setup.
Computers return to defaults (wah!) and microphones move. Usually you have to adjust something a little to get back to your equipment's best recording setup (we are not aiming at perfection, though).
plug in your microphone before you open your recording software
then open your recording software
check your input volume and microphone selection
record a wee something ("Peter Piper packed a paper pumpkin. Thank you thirty thousand thanks. Fine fun on the forums, fortunately.")
and look at the waveform
is it tiny? (increase input volume or speak closer to the mic)
is it clipped? (decrease the input volume or back away from the mic a bit. A clipped waveform is flattened at top and bottom -- clipping causes distorted sound)
and listen to the recording (ideally on headphones)
got plosives? (move the mic outside the stream of breath, above/below/side)
need to double-check your settings?
record at sample frequency 44.1 kHz at 16 bit sample size in mono
export to mp3 at 128Kpbs with ID3v2 tags for Title, Artist, and Album
Record
Get a glass of warm water or herbal tea, and enjoy yourself. (Thanks for recording for LibriVox!)
If you've followed the steps above, you have everything you need
all the text and intros and outros and file specs (all from the project's top post)
save along the way -- it is very frustrating to lose a whole chapter because the software crashes (partly because you haven't been saving and it's holding too much in temporary memory, maybe) three paragraphs from the end. Sad, very sad.
Important: read the authorized text only. Other editions may be in copyright and we rely on folks to use the Public Domain versions (as identified in the project's top post).
Edit or get an editor
Most readers edit their own recordings. A great benefit comes from that, besides the obvious benefit of having a corrected file: the more you record and edit, the more (almost unconsciously) you'll find yourself making little adjustments to your reading style and to your recording setup that make the whole process more enjoyable.
See this great Audacity Tutorial for basics of editing in Audacity, the free recording/editing software used by most LibriVoxers
Check the LibriVox Main Wiki Page for other wiki pages about editing and editing software
Upload and post
How To Send Your Recording explains ways to provide your file to the project
Unless the top post of your project requests a different method, please use the LV Uploader:
(If you have trouble reading the image above, please message an admin)
Before you upload, you'll have to select the project MC's name from a list so your file will go to the right folder. (That's the Meta-Coordinator, MC, not the Book Coordinator, BC -- they can be two different people.) If you're sending a test file, follow your BC's instructions or call it yourname.mp3 and select "xx - Non-project files" from the uploader's MC drop-down list.
How to find the project's MC: Each project thread title has the MC initials at the end. Example: "[SCIENCE] The Voyage of the Beagle by Darwin - ks" Find those initials in the Uploader's drop-down list of MCs (in this example: "ks - gypsygirl")
When the upload is complete, a link to your file will appear.
Post your file link in the project thread to let your Book Coordinator know you're done. Folks will use that link to prooflisten your file and later to catalogue your file.
If this is your first contribution, let the BC know how you would like to be credited on the Catalog page, your Web site if you would like that with your credit.
More Information and Lots of Tips
See the LibriVox Wiki index page to spot other guides, such as: