I want to take a moment to introduce you to a site a friend is putting together related to books called “eBook Tree Saver“, a nice name for a site, because of the paperless nature of ebooks. It’s still under construction, but I like the concept. eBooks, and audio books alike are paperless, and save trees.
Right now she has a partial listing, including free ebooks, some nice recipe ebooks and more, so take a look and see what you think. Bookmark it, as it is still under construction with lots more to come!
I can’t seem to get away from thinking “medical” when I post to my blogs after our experience with our son in the hospital last week. So when I came upon a site called http://www.medicalmags.com/ or “MedicalMags”, how could I resist visiting?
There are quite a few publications available at the site that would be of interest to those in the medical field…and many software resources as well. Oddly, even though I was visiting the site because it sounded like it was a magazine site, and I was thinking about reviewing it for this book blog, there were other things that interested me, and not all book-related.
When we were in the hospital for my son, I wondered if there was a way to get a box of the latex gloves that the nurses used, there was a box of 100 in the room, and I thought they’d come in handy for a number of things even here in my home. Well I found those at the site as well, and the price is good so think I’ll order some.
But this is a book blog, if you are in the medical field, consider MedicalMags.com as a valuable resource. It’s a family owned operation, drawing from experience of many in the medical community. They will serve you personally, and with a smile
As promised in the previous post, I did a little homework, and found a simple explanation on making your own audio book that someone had posted to a popular article site, very basic information…easy enough for even me to understand
This article was written a few years ago, so I don’t know what improvements have been made to the technique since, but this is a great start, enjoy!
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My name is Alan Twigg and I’m writing this article to offer advice to anyone thinking of creating their own professional audio books.
In the New Year I came up with the idea of creating professional children’s stories and offering them for download on the internet. The thing was, however, while I had someone to write the stories - my mother - and someone to market the stories – me, I knew nobody who knew about how to record the stories professionally. I knew it must be reasonably easy, since I only wanted to create an audio book containing speech.
I started doing research on Google - but all the articles I found contained so much technical gobbledygook – I was soon put off. So I went to my local music store for advice on what to buy. I decided to use my computer to create the audio books and this is what I bought:
1 microphone stand
1 pop-screen (that’s a piece of material that is placed just in front of the microphone to stop your “Ps” from popping)
1 studio microphone
1 software program (Wavelab)
1 USB Audio/MIDI interface (TASCAM US 122 with phantom power)
1 pair of headphones
It all came to 650 euros (800) dollars.
I connected my Audio/MIDI interface (this is basically a really good sound card in an external case) to my computer using the USB cable provided. I then set up my microphone and attached the microphone cable to the MIDI interface. After installing the software, I was ready to go.
The results have been great and I find Wavelab software powerful and incredibly easy to use.
Some Audio Book recording tips
I first get my entire copy ready before starting the recording. I pin the sheets of paper with the text that I am going to read in front of me onto the wall. Then, at about 8 inches away from the microphone, I start to talk. The more natural you can be the more interesting you will sound to your listeners. I found that the best thing to do is to stand in front of the microphone and make gestures in the same way as you would when talking to a close friend. If you stand there stiff like a statue, you’ll come across in the same way in your recording.
Another thing that I like to do before starting the recording is to get myself into a really good mood. Again, this will add to the impact of your recording. I always listen to a few uplifting songs and get enthusiastic before starting. You should also try to make sure that you keep the same distance from the microphone.
And that’s it – I hope that this article will save you a little bit of time setting up your own home recording studio and I wish lots of success with your audio books.
The author of this article is Alan Twigg. My business is Playtime books, which offers new and contemporary audio books for the 3 to 10-year-old age group. You will find this site at http://www.playtime-books.com.
Today I was visiting a site that has a selection of sound effects and music, and it made me wonder how many people have ever made their own Audio Book? With the technology that is available to record and save your recordings, then mix with background sound or music, it doesn’t seem impossible…I’m going to do a little research and see if I can find some “how too” information for you in my next post.
I remember when my grandmother was ill years ago, and bedridden, living hours away, I wanted to do something to cheer her, but was busy mothering young children. The idea occurred to me that I could read to her, so I made my own audio tapes to my grandmother, talking to her and reading to her from books. I loved doing this…and at that time recording was done with a small tape recorder and cassette tapes.
Now to think what I could do with my computer, recordable CD’s, and some music and sound affects from a site that offers free sound effects, music, and economical downloads, just tickles my imagination. I guess there are things that would have to be looked into, for example, I couldn’t just read ANY book and offer it for sale because of copyright laws, etc., but if it was something I had written myself, and wanted to makes my own audio of it, then it should be okay.
Thanks to audiomicro.com for inspiring my curiosity, I’m going to go look around a bit and see what I can find any information doing an audio book, and hope to be back with a post for you soon.
The Bible is the greatest book ever written, and I believe the source of all Godly wisdom and knowledge. It is a powerful, life-changing book, God’s letter to man, giving man a historic timeline of the past, present and future, as it relates to His people and what He has planned for them.
The Old Testament shares everything from creation, to the fall of man, to how man, living under law, disobeyed and rebelled against God, and the consequences, to prophesies that would be fulfilled in the New Testament, and have yet to be fulfilled.
The New Testament shows God’s love for man, His creation by his ongoing pursuit of man, providing a way for man to come close to Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ, who’s birth Christians are about to celebrate. It is a powerful, dynamic book, and you can sense this power as you listen to the entire Bible narrated by celebrities, clergy and more in “The Bible Experience” audio book.
I just had the opportunity to listen to Nick Cannon as Adam, in the familiar interchange between Satan, Adam, Eve and God in the book of Genesis. The music of the Prague Symphony Orchestra playing dramatically in the background, the feeling put into the voices of the actors reading the parts, all of it blended together into such a powerful piece that, if the actors themselves have not had a real encounter with God through Christ, the words that they are reading will stay with them and follow them until they do if they chose to, a gift that all of us have available to us for the taking.
Approximately 400 of today’s award-winning actors, preachers, directors, musicians and more make the Bible as professional an experience as you would expect of a fine Hollywood production.
Visit The Bible Experience website for more information, and take this code with you so you can download the Nick Cannon audio sample free: GEN3SPRK What a wonderful gift for yourself, or someone you love.
The Bible is the greatest book ever written, and I believe the source of all Godly wisdom and knowledge. It is a powerful, life-changing book, God’s letter to man, giving man a historic timeline of the past, present and future, as it relates to His people and what He has planned for them.
