How to set RMS on recorded chapters

[kozikowski]

There are no obvious voice distortions caused by echoes or other wall, ceiling reflections. So your studio seems to work. Can you breathe in there? That's the only significant problem with closet studios. Oh, there is one more. There's a famous story of an audiobook performer who locked herself into a hotel closet by accident—with the microphone running.

You are reading on the cusp of multiple different tools, versions, releases and services. I would probably stay where you are. Where are you? Which version are you using? Which Mac?

If you get a system to work DO NOT Upgrade, Update, or Improve anything. If you have auto update selected, turn it off temporarily. There are a number of people on the forum who got stuck with the last Mac update which temporarily killed Audacity and some of its tools. Then there was an Audacity version that had troubles managing sound files. The current Audacity, 2.4.1 is a little brittle and is scheduled to be replaced soon.

Once you get something working, freeze the machine until you start a new book.

More later.

Koz

[kozikowski]

SiddharthasampleBEST.aup

AUP isn't a sound file. It's a list of instructions to tell Audacity how to put your show together from all that stuff in the _DATA folder. That's where the actual sound is—in little pieces.

This is one complete Audacity Project.



They have to be together in the same location or folder, they can't be one inside the other, you can't rename them, and it has to be the name you gave them inside Audacity.

If you want to submit a show sound file to the forum, you can't go much over about 20 seconds of mono (one blue wave). Drag select what you want and export it the same way you did the voice test.

Koz

[sonrisajones]

Wow, this is so cool! Thank you! Hum removal is in the current Audacity or do you recommend upgrading to the latest version? Yes, I'm in the US and of course that means we have both weird hums in our houses and want the latest and greatest - just kidding. I live on a mountain and it's extremely quiet but I do have a refrigerator a room over (the house is a big barn like structure) I've spend the whole day adding fabric material to the corners of the closet where I record, yet sounds like the hum is still there...

I will review the returned sound file (those happy cows) you've sent back, and download version 2.4.4, next.

Warmly,
Linda

[sonrisajones]

OK, yes, just got this - will abort the update. Yes, I can breathe in the closet but it's getting dicier as I add fabric - now I'm a little nervous!

I live on a ridge in Big Sur, California, have been here 20+ years. This is the latest in my gig economy endeavors due to high risk factors during this pandemic - don't want to go back to my front-line tourism job. I have been working on submitting my own book to Audible, Romancing the Sur, available on Amazon in print and ebook form at this point. Very happy with it - a well received rendering of what it's like to live "on the edge" if not in a closet!

Thank you again, sorry to be a bit frazzled.
Linda

[kozikowski]

Let's see you're still using the slightly older mastering, so you will still be using RMS Normalize (later Audacity versions have a built-in one called Loudness Normalization).

This is the hum remover I'm using.

de-hum.ny

(2.11 KiB) Downloaded 8 times

It shows up in Audacity as "Hum Remover." I posted the settings.

Noise Reduction is in two passes. Drag-select some typical noise. Effect > Noise Reduction > Profile.
Then select the whole chapter and Effect> Noise Reduction at the settings I posted > OK.


Analyze > ACX Check. Either one works. The longer one has more information, but you only need those three readings.



Which Audacity and which Mac?

Koz

[kozikowski]

sorry to be a bit frazzled.

It's a bit more complicated than buy a microphone, plunk it down on the kitchen table and whip out an audiobook, no matter what the ads say.

My joke is to read books, make a fortune and retire to a tasteful villa on Côte d'Azur. You may have loused up the joke. Hard to beat Big Sur. Rustic Cabin? Is it rustic? How rustic is it?

Koz

[sonrisajones]

It is so rustic it needs a new roof! Fortunately this is on the eaves, not yet above the closet. This winter it's time for a new tarp.

But it is a breathtaking spot - feeds the soul. It's actually been lovelier here than ever, so quiet.

Thank you again for your help! I just installed the de-hum plug-in and will follow your instructions.

Have a great weekend out there (where are you?)

Warmly,
Linda

[sonrisajones]

OH my! That worked great!

[kozikowski]

The system has two goals. It has to pass the ACX specifications for technical quality and it has to sound exactly like you. The ACX philosophy is that it has to sound like someone telling you a fascinating story over cups of tea.

That last part may seem obvious, but many people find an insane urge to spruce up a bad recording by applying effects, corrections, and filters so the technical specifications are met, but the voice sounds like a bad cellphone. No, they won't like that at ACX any more than you would like listening to—or paying for—a story in cellphone voice.

There is one production trick that helps "even out" the volumes and theatrical projections. Listen to yourself on headphones. After you get used to it, it's amazing how that keeps your volume levels stable over a long read. The instant you start to wander off for any reason, your headphone voice drops and you snap yourself back to good volume. That's one reason almost all theatrical reads have the performer on headphones.



That's Chris Pratt voicing Emmet in The Lego Movie.

The only technical catch to that is you can't plug the headphones into the computer. They have to go into the interface, mixer or microphone.



Koz

[kozikowski]

No, I don't recommend listening on earbuds. They were handy for the photo.

Koz