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Reading the Hobbit
The Hobbit is very dear to me. I've been a fan ever since I can remember, starting first with the Rankin/Bass animation. I received the American radio drama version as an Easter gift in 1992 and have listened to it almost yearly ever since. I read the book for the first time at age 8 (later in 1992); it was the first proper novel I ever read. I tried to make a home movie version based off of the comic book adaptation a few years later (only ended up taping the Riddles section). I learned to play the guitar so that I could play Over the Misty Mountains Cold. And out of the love for this story grew a general Tolkien obsession that continues to expand.
I couldn't tell you how many times I've read the book at this point more than twenty years on. Lots. And lots. And I've always wanted to read it to someone, to try to share with them my own experience of reading it, impart just a little of what it has meant to me / still means to me. I'll probably never have kids of my own, and it's not really practical for me to read bedtime stories to any nieces or nephews or little cousins. So I thought maybe I'd just record it for posterity. Try to lock down my own definitive version. (Good a time as any to note that I am American, and while I've given most of the characters accents of ever-varying quality, the narration is done in my normal voice.) I recorded chapters one and two back in April of this year, but the quality wasn't as high as I would have liked (both technically and performance-wise). So at some point this August I redid chapter one. I'll get on with the others eventually--I've wanted to do more lately, but a sinus infection has not had my voice in top shape--but for now, in honor of the next movie coming out, I thought I'd share what I have and ask for feedback. Here's Chapter One. It is ~46 mins. We now have it in MP3 (62.6 MB) or |
Roast Mutton
Chapter Two is now available. It runs ~26 mins. MP3 (35.4 MB) and
Was feeling better today and since I got my errands done early, and had plenty of free time, I went ahead with the next chapter. Next one as soon as I'm able. |
This is actually really enjoyable!
Unfortunately, the file size is way too large. You're going to be hard pressed to convince someone to download them, if they're more than a gig for every two chapters. The audio quality lost going to an MP3 really won't be noticeable, your microphone quality is going to be your big bottleneck, though it sounds pretty good. Plus, lowering the bitrate to reduce your filesize is just throwing away your audio data anyway, and might as well be seen as lossy. If you really don't want to go to a lossy format though, you can convert them to FLACs, which are lossless, and still compressed. |
A Short Rest
Thanks!
Yeah, I think you're right about the file sizes... I'd thought of FLACs when I first exported, but it wasn't supported by Audition, so I just kinda shrugged it off. Did some more digging on your advice though and I think I shall now offer better options to suit people's preference. I'll edit the first two posts accordingly. While I still think 48 kHz sounds notably tinnier than 96 kHz (or the 192 kHz it was recorded at), I'll probably need to give in on that one for the sake of the file sizes. Chapter Three is also up now! (~15 mins) MP3 (20 MB) and |
Over Hill and Under Hill
After another long bout of congestion, I was finally feeling well enough to record again today!
Chapter Four is now up! (~20 mins) MP3 (27.9MB) and Fun trivia: I wasn't totally better! Doing the croaky goblin song hurt my throat so bad I threw up! #hahawoo |
Riddles in the Dark
Chapter Five is here! (~37 mins)
MP3 (50.6 MB) and Riddles in the Dark has always been my favorite chapter of The Hobbit, so I took my time and had some fun with this one. Although Andy Serkis's Gollum is highly acclaimed, he sounded nothing like the Gollum I've always read in my head. So, uh, don't expect anything similar to that. Oh, and here's a picture of eleven-year-old me trotting "splash into water" in my home movie version. Just for funsies. http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/10/mmfr.png |
Out of the Frying-Pan Into the Fire
Chapter Six is ready to go! (~31 mins)
MP3 (43.1 MB) and See ya next week. |
Queer Lodgings
Chapter Seven (~45 mins)
MP3 (62.4 MB) and This chapter contains what is perhaps my favorite song from the Hobbit, what is usually called The Dwarven Song of Wind, which as far as I know has never been included in any film or radio adaptation. The melody I made up as a child. I have tuned it here so that the lowest note in the song is the bottom of my normal register (a low D; I can hit a low C if I'm warmed up--or liquored--enough, but it's a fairly huge strain...) |
Flies and Spiders
Chapter Eight wut wut. (~48 mins)
MP3 (66.4 MB) and I was surprised that this chapter turned out to be the longest yet; I didn't figure anything would beat out the first chapter. Wellp, now I've got a week to figure out a non-Glenn Yarbrough barrel song... |
On the off chance that anyone is paying attention to my update schedule, there will not be a new chapter this week. I've had some viral equivalent of strep throat since Friday and I've still got a bit of a croak to my voice. Also, my roommate's orchestra rehearsal was cancelled tonight, and him being gone Wednesday nights is the reason I do it then in the first place. For a number of reasons: This way he doesn't have to worry about not making noise, I don't have to worry about inconveniencing him, and he doesn't have to freeze to death because I have to turn the heat off for hours at a time when I record. (The heating unit is basically in my room, and it is loud as hell.)
EDIT: 2/19/14 -- Still sick with a croaky voice, and fairly congested on top of that. Hopefully I'll be well again in time to do chapter nine next week... EDIT: 2/26/14 -- Well, I'm feeling all better, but I only just got home and my roommate will be back any minute. Rather than stay up super late (it's 10 PM; if I started now I might get done by 4 AM) and risk bothering the neighbors, I'm gonna aim for Friday, since I'll be home by six. Roommate will be home then, but he'll just have to put up with me. :P |
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