What do you sound like?

[Shipwreck John]

Have you ever wondered what everyone sounded like?

Now is your chance to find out. Here is what you need to do to post a sound file. you will need a windows movie maker..... you can get it here if you don't have it.

Movie maker download

You can make a video or a soundbite, and convert it to one of the following files:

Valid video extensions are: 3g2, 3gp, 3gp2, 3gpp, 3p, asf, avi, divx, divx, dv, dvx, flv, gif, moov, mov, mp4, mpeg4, mpg4, mpe, mpeg, mpg, qt, swf, wmv, xvid.

Windows movie maker will make it a WMV file.

then you will need to post it using a program that will give you a wayto post things to the internnet

I use photobucket: Photobucket

Once you have done that, post it with the http:// button and we can hear what you sound like.

here is me:Shipwreck

Sorry about the poor quality but I couldn't get my digital converter to work

Stupid Converters!!!!

[Rumba Rue]

Better to ask Mad Jack what I sound like, since I've talked to him on the phone quite a bit.

[Hester]

Hi, Shipwreck:

From your video your accent sounds like you're on the southeast coast of the United States. Virginia?

I'm afraid the technical instructions you've given are a bit beyond me.

But, if you'd like to hear my voice, you (and anyone else who's interested) can download this mp3 of me singing an 17th-century Robin Hood ballad:

Robin Hood and the Scotsman

(The file will be available for download for the next 7 days.)

Cheers, Hester

[Black Syren]

Well Done Shipwreck! And now I can really tell where you are from. I will have to try this, Hester I cannot open the file once it's downloaded, can someone assist me please?

[Christine]

Shipwreck and Hester, you both sound great! Thanks for sharing!

[Hester]

Hester I cannot open the file once it's downloaded, can someone assist me please?

Hi, Siren:

Sorry you couldn't open the file. As I mentioned to Shipwreck, I'm not terribly techy, so I don't know what to suggest.

Christine seems to have gotten the file open. Maybe she has a suggestion.

Cheers, Hester

P.S. I looked at Shipwreck's profile and see that I guessed wrong on the accent -- Georgia, not Virginia.

[Shipwreck John]

Sounds Great Hester!!! Much better than I could ever sing. The Wifie says I should always sing solo!! (In the shower where no one else can hear) As for you dear, you have a BEAUTIFUL Voice!! Thanks for sharing!!

Well Done Shipwreck! And now I can really tell where you are from. I will have to try this, Hester I cannot open the file once it's downloaded, can someone assist me please?

Thanks, and Cheers to thee for the idea!! Do you have an mp3 player such as Musicmatch? if so you you should be able to download Hester's song. here's a link to check it out.......Musicmatch

[Christine]

Hester I cannot open the file once it's downloaded, can someone assist me please?

Christine seems to have gotten the file open. Maybe she has a suggestion.

All I did is click on the link and when it asks to either open or save I clicked open. I have real player tho so maybe that's why it just played with no problem.

[Hester]

Sounds Great Hester!!! Much better than I could ever sing. The Wifie says I should always sing solo!! (In the shower where no one else can hear) As for you dear, you have a BEAUTIFUL Voice!! Thanks for sharing!!

Hi, Shipwreck:

Thanks for your kind words on my caterwauling.

And don't lose heart over your own singing! Everyone's been telling me for years that I "can't" sing ... and it's only now that I'm in my 40s that I've become confident enough to say they're wrong.

I signed myself up for a beginner's singing class at the local music conservatory last spring. Turns out, according to my teacher, that I not only CAN carry a tune, I'm usually on key too.

Indeed, I believe everybody can and should sing if they enjoy it.

As modern people used to overproduced, sanitized, homogenized pop "singers" on the radio and CD, we seem to have forgotten what the human voice actually sounds like, in all its raw, imperfect variety and beauty.

According to my singing teacher, one of the reasons that people become so discouraged with their own attempts at singing is that they often try to sound like their favourite recording star, instead of finding their own voice. As well, we often attempt material that's not even in our range, just because we like the song.

And in contemporary society, we're quite cruel and overly critical of one another's (and our own) singing. Strangely, insulting another person's singing is almost a reflex action with most people.

As a fan of folk music, I've been going back to field recordings of original sources, and many of those people would not be considered "good" singers by contemporary standards, yet there is a joy and an honesty in their singing.

So, Shipwreck, keep belting out your songs with glee ... whether in the shower or elsewhere. And if you wife doesn't like it, she can buy some earplugs!

Cheers, Hester

[LongTom]

Excellent points, Hester. To add my two pence, most people probably don't realize the sheer amount of technical processing that commercially released recordings go through.

To start with, they sing take after take, and paste together only the best bits of each one. How many performers get the benefit of that?

Then they correct everything to death: mute breaths and swallows, nudge timing, even pitch problems. ( I was floored the day I saw Paul Simon on a newscast at an outdoor concert...singing out of tune!)

Then they fiddle and tweak with the sonic characteristics: pan, level, equalization, compression, reverb, aural expansion, other effects, microphone polarity to fix cancellation problems, comb and notch filters to remove hum or hiss ... ad nauseam.

This is not to say that the professional performers aren't really, really good at what they do. But it is to say that the folks behind the editing desk turn it into something that mere mortals cannot, and should not, expect to compare themselves against. Nor should listeners make such a comparison.

You listen to recordings from the 30's, 40's, 50's, and they often don't sound "professional" by today's recording standards. But they do sound like the real thing.

[LongTom]

Apart from that rant, I also want to say: Well Done, Hester and Shipwreck John!

[Shipwreck John]

Shipwreck, keep belting out your songs with glee ... whether in the shower or elsewhere.

Thanks for the vote of confidence Hester!! My head swelled up so big I can't get my tricorn on! Seriously though, I agree with you. If you like it, do it, no matter what everyone else says.

[Zephaniah W Nash]

I'm going to try to post this, but no promises. First time I've tried posting a video from PhotoBucket, so please bear with.

It's 2.23 Meg, so it would be a long download. Voices plus movement. What'll they come up with next...?

Pirate story time...

[Scrounger]

Ahoy Shipwreck John Fanx For The Tip & Hints For Sounds Im Learning a lot fanx to ideas like that I Will Post Bac If Sussefull mate

[Hester]

I'm going to try to post this, but no promises.

Alas, Cap'n Zeph:

When I click on your link the photobucket screen says, "oops, no video".

[Zephaniah W Nash]

Hmmm, could be that I had it private...

Switched it to a public file, maybe that will let others view...?

If that doesn't work, anybody that knows more about video on PhotoBucket, please give me any pointers you have.

Thanks!

[Shipwreck John]

I'm going to try to post this.  First time I've tried posting a video from PhotoBucket, so please bear with.

Switched it to a public file, maybe that will let others view...?

Had no trouble viewing Mate. Good Job with the story too!! :)

[Hester]

Switched it to a public file, maybe that will let others view...?

Hi, Capt. Zeph:

That did the trick!

Ah, and I see you were reading Jane Yolen's wonderful Ballad of the Pirate Queens!

I love that book -- and the illustrations are terrific.

I've even been working on setting the text (which is in traditional ballad format) to the folk tune of "The Mermaid".

Yes, that's a ballad just beggin' to be sung!

Cheers, Hester

[Zephaniah W Nash]

Yes, we definitely love the book, and has led a few of us to consider adding Calico Jack, Bonny and Reed into our work...