No Woman, No Cry

[Trebor]

The GF is resisting me "decorating" all of the walls with even new padding, but says she'll go for a more compact situation, such as the one you illustrated with the PVC and the comforters ...

As temporary-measure, what about putting an ironing-board on top of a desk*, (it usually stands on the floor),
then draping the quilt/duvet over it to make a tent.

Not as comfortable, or stable, as that PVC-pipe tent, but has the advantage that you probably already have the materials.

[ * If you get the moving blankets, put one on the desk first ].

[kozikowski]

You have a very good recording environment to begin with, so almost anything may get you over the edge.

Do remember you need to start and stop a job with the same environment. A recent poster did an upgrade and/or software update in the middle of a production. It didn't go well.

Don't do that.

Koz

[James H]

You have a very good recording environment to begin with, so almost anything may get you over the edge.

Do remember you need to start and stop a job with the same environment. A recent poster did an upgrade and/or software update in the middle of a production. It didn't go well.

Don't do that.

Koz

Reading you 5-by-5.

Besides the resources in this forum, are there any other sound engineering resources that I can use? I can read "Apply Audio Book Mastering 4," and do the steps, but I don't know what all the effects are or what they mean. I need some kind of "Sound Engineering 101" website that explains better, in a format that, say, a bright 16 year old child, or a Golden Retriever, can understand. This is the "guy still recovering from a TBI that has the desire to be an obsessive engineer" talking here.

ETA: Found this site: https://theproaudiofiles.com/
Looks like as good a place as any to start.
My apologies if I sound snippy. Juggling spinning plates, flaming bowling pins, and riding a unicycle through an obstacle course since Friday.

-JH

[James H]

"There's another little exercise that's handy. The H4 has a sound meter, yes? Make a constant oooooooo sound and see the difference between the H4 meters and the Audacity bouncing light meters. There may not be any, and yes I know it's rough to perform and look at the H4 meters at the same time. I expect them to be within about 6dB of each other. Let us know. -Koz"

This is an impossibility. I can't be in the same room as the PC that Audacity is running on, remember? The PC is the "cement factory." And "rough to perform and look at the H4 meters at the same time," well, that's an understatement. I'd either have to use some kind of bicycle mirror or become Stretch Armstrong.

-JH

[kozikowski]

I can't be in the same room as the PC that Audacity is running on, remember?

I do forget you're using the H4 as a stand-alone recorder. In that case, it's a little more involved. Do the "ooooo" thing and announce where it is on the H4 meters. Nobody will stop breathing if you don't hit it exactly.

"ooooooooo, minus ten."

You don't need to be in front of it, either.

Now transfer that file and see where Audacity reads it. I have one combination that's some distance off between two recorders and it's good to know that.

Koz

[kozikowski]

Drag-select some text in your forum writing and click the fat quote marks at the top.

That will form a tan quote banner in your posting.

Screen Shot 2018-12-05 at 9.30.02.png (26.1 KiB) Viewed 448 times

That's called marking up your text.

Koz

[James H]

Ahh, I see!

Thanks, that helps.

[Trebor]

... a Golden Retriever, can understand ...

I'm a bit slow on the uptake myself : it only just occurred to me that because you're recording in stereo, rather than mono, then de-reverb plugins can be helpful in your case.

Some of the reflected (reverb) sound can be excluded by de-reverb plugins because it comes from a different direction than your mouth, (only possible because H4N has two microphones pointing in different directions, recording at the same time).

''we've been robbed of money'' (stereo), before-after de-reverb plugin only.flac

de-reverb only (via Dyvision Reverb Remover), needs noise-reduction & de-click

(1.98 MiB) Downloaded 21 times

Now the bad news: those plugins are expen$ive, $50 - $500, and they can introduce computery processing-artifacts.

Treating the room with sound-deadening material is the best option, but a de-reverb plugin could be used in addition to squeeze out any remaining reverb, if you're recording in stereo.

The de-reverb plugins also employ expansion, (aka transient shaping),
so either de-reverb or expander, but not both plugins.

[kozikowski]

Now the bad news: those plugins are expen$ive

Or, you could stick with the ironing board and moving pads. One-time solutions.

Koz

[James H]

I talked with an ACX rep this morning.

I'd like to create my ACX account, take the survey, and submit my sample today or this weekend, weather and sound environment permitting. It's going to be raining pretty hard here today and into tomorrow afternoon and a cold front is moving in, so I might have to turn off the heater and maybe unplug the fridge (direct LOS from my recording position on the couch in the living room). The only sound deadening improvement(s) I'll have over my last reads is the wind muff; maybe some thermal curtains over the sliding-glass patio door we've been thinking about buying and hanging for a while now.

She suggested a sample of at least 5 minutes and I think I read on the ACX site no more than 10.

She said content doesn't really matter, and I have hundreds of books on the shelves behind me here in the study. So, I could read from any of those, but I don't want to infringe upon any copyrights. I wouldn't be selling from my sample, right? Then again, I could read from a couple of Wikipedia article printouts I have, one about George Washington's farewell address, the other from an article on Bactrim, the multi-spectrum antibiotic. Pretty dry stuff, but I can probably make either of those reads sound good. I could also read from our iPad Air, but I'm not sure if that would introduce any Wi-Fi interference noise.

Or, I could possibly print out other suggestions anyone might have, and read from those.

As always, any advice is greatly appreciated.
-JH