Comments on: Reading Aloud 7: Breathing

By: Mary Robinette Kowal

Mary Robinette Kowal — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 16:46:09 +0000

Oh! Whoops! Those computer manuals can be dangerous, eh?

By: Amal

Amal — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 11:43:50 +0000

So I started listening to the “special treat,” got about five seconds in, blushed, looked around, and turned it off. Not office safe, madame! ; ) Certainly not in the UAE, anyway.

By: Maggie

Maggie — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 20:35:12 +0000

Ooo! Great! Thanks.

By: Mary Robinette Kowal

Mary Robinette Kowal — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 02:33:50 +0000

Is that why the glaciers are retreating.

By: Jason Sizemore

Jason Sizemore — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 02:18:35 +0000

Your voice can melt the snows of Iceland, my friend.

Ha! Thank you for the special treat.

By: Mary Robinette Kowal

Mary Robinette Kowal — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 02:15:33 +0000

::batting eyes::
Mr. Sizemore. Please. I’m a married woman.

By: Jason Sizemore

Jason Sizemore — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 02:12:04 +0000

*gasping for breath*

Mary, never has storing a computer been so sexy. Will you play with my wireless mouse?

By: Mary Robinette Kowal

Mary Robinette Kowal — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 17:43:21 +0000

Jason, you are so in luck. The piece I’ve got planned for next week is on vocal fatigue.

Maggie…. Well, okay. I can’t remember exactly what I did for that, but what you really want to hear is how stickily cute I can be. I’ve just recorded Lesson 2 on Character Voices, and you can hear me being four-years old there.

Personally, I would re-record the mistake. Unless you are recording on tape it is really easy to stop, back up to the beginning of the sentence and start again. May I recommend Audacity as an excellent and free audio editor program? I’ll do a piece on live performance though to cover how to handle the things that can go wrong, and there are more than you would think.

By: Maggie

Maggie — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 16:41:38 +0000

I have two questions:

We want to hear your young fairy voice (I believe) that you were practicing for Sesame Street.

What do you do when you make a mistake, or cough, or have to clear your throat, or take a drink of water?

I know that a person can take a break when recording a reading, and one can take a drink then. I also recall readers for the talking books for the blind making mistakes and just saying something like, “Excuse me,” and moving on. But would you re-record the mistake?

By: Jason Erik Lundberg

Jason Erik Lundberg — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 16:38:31 +0000

I really dig these lessons as well, Mary, and the audio examples help quite a bit. (And you can count me as another Jason who likes the breathy reading. )

Okay, a question from me: On my own podcast (shameless plug), I occasionally read pieces that go over a half-hour, and I notice that my voice at the end is higher than it was at the beginning, presumably from exertion. What techniques might you use to build up endurance and ensure consistence for longer performances?

By: Mary Robinette Kowal

Mary Robinette Kowal — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 15:56:54 +0000

I’m glad you’re enjoying it. I’m going to go back and add audio to the first pieces of the series. I’ll let you know when it’s up.

And someone needs to ask a question soon, ’cause I’m running out of material.

By: Maggie

Maggie — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 15:13:11 +0000

This is really great, Mary. I’m enjoying your reading aloud series .