Self-producing an Audiobook

[sally alison]

I would appreciate advice on 1] the recording levels I should use for my intended audio-book 2] Should I record in mono or stereo and if I record in mono will the subsequent CD playback in stereo 3] should I save as mp3 or wave (it will eventually be sent to a CD discmaker). Any other advice would be very welcome as this is my first attempt.

[kozikowski]

2) Mono. Mono is a thing. It's not just one of the two stereo channels. Almost all stereo systems "know" what Mono is and will play it to both stereo speakers. Most CD services and systems "know" to make a CD which will play to both stereo speakers.

3) Uncompressed WAV. In Audacity-Speak, File > Export as WAV (Microsoft) 16-bit. You can make WAV into anything else with little or no loss in quality. MP3 is a playback format, not a production format. If you edit an MP3, its quality degenerates. It is pointed out that ACX demands submission in MP3. True, but they also have to store all their reader's work on servers which cost money, and they have very stringent requirements as to the quality level of MP3 to submit. It's not just ratty, play it on an iPod quality. WAV is much better. WAV is recommended for personal archive anyway, whether you submit lower quality to ACX or not.

A side note: WAV matches CD quality. They're the same. Making an MP3 in the middle needlessly reduces sound quality.

1) The volume and quality levels for AudioBook are not a mystery. But passing can be a little rough. Submission quality is slightly different from recording quality.

Record in Audacity such that the -6dB (yellow) level of the recording meters gets touched on occasion.



You can pull the Audacity sound meters bigger to make them easier to see. I like mine full-width.

After you finish, adjust volume and any other effects and filters needed such that maximum peaks are lower than -3dB, RMS (Loudness) level is between -18dB and -23dB and the noise level (when you stop talking) is lower than -60dB.

http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 23#p297423

Audacity forum publishes ACX-Check which is an Analyze tool to tell you the condition of your work with respect to ACX.

http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Nyqui ... #ACX_Check

We will note ACX-Check will only tell you the technical specification. After you pass that, you still have to pass Human Quality Control and one of their failures is "Overprocessing," where you pass ACX-Test, but your show sounds like a bad cellphone.

If you submit a sound test, we can sometimes tell you which processing or corrections to make.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/Test ... _Clip.html

It's very common to meet two of the three specifications, but not all three at the same time.


Since you're self-publishing, you can do whatever you want, but it's good to match existing, published works.

Let us know.

Koz

[kozikowski]

A very common error is read the whole book and only then find out if it's good enough. Do submit a short sound test before you plunge in.

Koz

[kozikowski]

That is the simplified version. I'm glossing over and simplifying to avoid getting into the deep weeds more than seems good. For example, in the distant history I once had a CD burner program that would fail if I submitted a mono sound file, so I can't say they all work unconditionally. That and when we say "make a CD," we mean make an Audio CD. Audio CD is a thing. That's the only one that will play music in your mum's Buick or Lori, my lorry.

I'm assuming by your email you're in the UK. I'm in California, so there is always going to be a 8 or 9-hour shift between our two times. Other elves are scattered. Some are in different time zones.

Koz

[sally alison]

I am very grateful for the valuable information you have given me. I will go through tomorrow and come back to you. If I have understand correctly 1) I need to record in mono, removing the lower stereo track 2) I should set the amplification at 2.3 db - I am not quite sure how to do this because when I go to 'amplification' the suggested level seems to be higher, does it mean I should set the "New Peak Amplitude (dB):" level to -2.3.
I should just like to ask two more questions: am I right in assuming that I do not need to worry too much about the recording level on my mic as the Audacity programme will adjust to the correct level for me. I also take it that I do not need to make any adjustments to the 'properties' menu.
Excuse me if my questions are juvenile, but this is a new language and a field in which I am ignorant.
I will certainly send a clip and I would appreciate your opinion.
Thank you again.

[kozikowski]

Your postings will go through moderation until the forum gets accustomed to you. One day your postings will magically appear on their own.

There is a dividing line between Hardware and Software. I addressed (briefly) the Audacity software portion since that was the question. Upstream of that is the hardware portion. You have to master both to get a good recording out the door.

Who made your microphone? Did someone set it up for you? Do you have a nice, quiet, padded room to record in?

People get all excited when I call it a "studio," but a studio is a comfortable, air conditioned, quiet room with no echoes. The original people who owned my house had a son who played drums. He played them very loudly. They soundproofed the third bedroom by gluing acoustic tiles on the ceiling and walls. I got lucky. A studio is the exact opposite of a kitchen.

We can give you hints for operation when you tell us what you have. Don't leave out any manufacturer names or part numbers. We live on fine details.

A recent recording was made with a Beyer M58 microphone plugged into a Shure FP33 sound mixer. The mixer was connected to a Behringer UCA-202 Stereo USB sound adapter and then on to my 15" MacBook Pro computer...and Audacity 2.1.2.

That's the microphone. I did not use the wind sock for my recording.




Koz

[kozikowski]

I should just like to ask two more questions: am I right in assuming that I do not need to worry too much about the recording level on my mic as the Audacity programme will adjust to the correct level for me.

No. You are replacing the recording engineer who would be setting volume for you. The systems that do automatically set volume such as your cellphone, don't sound very good when you have to listen to them for entire 20 minute chapters at a time for enjoyment.

There are specific recording recommendations, but they do slide around a bit with different microphones, systems and environments.

This is where you tell us what you have.

Koz

[kozikowski]

Can I predict the past? You wrote a delightful paper book and somebody said you should self-publish an audiobook because they heard it wasn't that hard.

Nobody here is going to tell you that you can't self-publish, we have a pretty good track record for getting people published, but it is a skill set more closely resembling radio acting and engineering than writing and publishing. You don't need a soundproof room or good voice to type a novel or script.

Koz

[sally alison]

Please help. My visuals have disappeared during a recording I was making, but the sound is still there. How can I get back the normal visuals ? This has happened before and I had to start recording over again.

[kozikowski]

??? I'm lost. Do you have pictures with your work? Do mean your blue waves vanished?

What happens if you File > Save when it does that? Does it let you save a Project?

Koz