Untitled BFRPG Audio Project

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Solomoriah
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Re: Untitled BFRPG Audio Project

Post by Solomoriah »

toddlyons wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 1:58 am Cool. :D Here's a second edit, with the content re-ordered and with music added.

1. Tell me what's wrong with it. What can I fix to make it of sufficient release quality?
I'll give you an opinion soon, but I'd like to hear from other project members first. Guys?
toddlyons wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 1:58 am 2. This is an introduction plus Chapter 1. What's the series title?
I have no idea. Not normally an audiobook consumer, so I don't know how things are done. The book is the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game Core Rules; series, I don't know. We are "The Basic Fantasy Project" but that's a "publisher" (more or less) or "production company" (again, more or less) and not a series.

Open to suggestions.
toddlyons wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 1:58 am3. It'll need cover art. Apple's preferred size is 3000x3000 px.
This, I can handle. Is a "square" version of the cover good enough?
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Re: Untitled BFRPG Audio Project

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Okay, said I wasn't going to comment on the audio, but...

Two things so far: First, Apoqulis is "a-POC-you-liss." He was a character created by my late friend Danny, and was actually left in the dungeons beneath the pyramid in The Lost City when he opened a door and peeked inside, and met the gaze of a basilisk. None of that matters to you, and I do not feel that you need to redo your absolutely stunning rendition of the first part of the Intro Story just because of that.

Second thing, and I'm afraid I do think this needs addressing... when you switched from the intro text to the back cover, you announced it; but, when you switched back to the Introduction section, you did not, and I found it jarring. Were I not the author, I'd probably find it confusing.
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Re: Untitled BFRPG Audio Project

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OKAY... so what's the music? Dramatic.

You have a perfect voice for this. Many YouTube reviewers have read the back cover, but none so well as you. (I'm actually a bit surprised how popular it seems to be...)
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Re: Untitled BFRPG Audio Project

Post by toddlyons »

Solomoriah wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 6:22 pm when you switched back to the Introduction section, you did not, and I found it jarring. Were I not the author, I'd probably find it confusing.
I can probably cut in some connecting verbiage to fix that. My mixer settings were accidentally bassier than usual for that session, but I remember the settings, so the insertion should be invisible.
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Re: Untitled BFRPG Audio Project

Post by toddlyons »

Solomoriah wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 6:11 pmThis, I can handle. Is a "square" version of the cover good enough?
Sure. I just didn't want to presume to use that cover. It's so iconic. Love at first sight for me.

I'm totally flexible on the title. It can be the last thing decided, if anyone knows what to call it.
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Re: Untitled BFRPG Audio Project

Post by toddlyons »

Solomoriah wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 6:30 pm OKAY... so what's the music? Dramatic.
That's "The New Order" composed and conducted by Aaron Kenny. He's released it royalty-free, but I'm not clear if this applies only to use on YouTube :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDsvtIH0To0

Given that no profit will come from this, I think it's fair use, but it's "easy" to replace the music if it poses a problem.

Well, easy to swap one track for another. Finding something as good would take time. I just don't have another good substitute on-hand. I actually listened to that track a few times before recording to get my mood right for the delivery of the story.
Solomoriah wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 6:30 pm You have a perfect voice for this. Many YouTube reviewers have read the back cover, but none so well as you. (I'm actually a bit surprised how popular it seems to be...)
Thanks! And also for the "absolutely stunning" remark. That really means a lot coming from you.

I'll work on another cut this week. In the meantime, I'm happy to hear other feedback. If this goes well, I'm open to other projects for other books... though anything chart heavy will be weird... I won't know how I'll address those until I start rehearsing those sections. If people have ideas about how to script around that, that would be helpful, too.
Last edited by toddlyons on Sun Sep 20, 2020 10:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Untitled BFRPG Audio Project

Post by Bumblepig »

toddlyons wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 8:51 pm I'll work on another cut this week. In the meantime, I'm happy to hear other feedback. If this goes well, I'm open to other projects for other books... though anything chart heavy will be weird... I won't know how I'll address those until I start rehearsing those sections. If people have ideas about how to script around that, that would be helpful, too.
It sounds so great. I listen to a lot of Audible books and as a narrator you're right up there with the best IMO. Choice of music is also superb.

I was wondering how you would deal with charts. Read aloud, it'll be about as exciting as the genealogies in Leviticus. In audio books I've sometimes heard the narrator just refer to an external doc (e.g. a PDF released with the audio) where the material is visual or otherwise just doesn't work in a narrative. If you took that approach I'd suggest citing the chart by name and its section if that's not obvious from the preceding narrative. You *might* even summarize what's in the chart. (I'd think such summaries would be authored or at least approved by Solo.) For example, "The Thief Abilities table lists the percent chance that a Thief will be successful in using each type of ability. As the table shows, the chance of success rises as the Thief gains levels."
Just an idea... it's an interesting problem because there are so many charts. And by the way, some tables probably should be read aloud, like the spell lists.
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Re: Untitled BFRPG Audio Project

Post by toddlyons »

Bumblepig wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 9:33 pm I listen to a lot of Audible books and as a narrator you're right up there with the best IMO. Choice of music is also superb.
Thank you! That's very kind of you. And thanks also for the chart and table advice. I'm happy to weave in any quasi- or officially authored bits for citing these. I have a dual monitor recording station and it wouldn't be too hard to have the PDF book on one side and the extra descriptions on the other.

I saw Chris's latest video where he held up a hardcover of the first (?) edition of the game, mentioning that the actual changes of the first edition to third aren't all that significant. That said, if the page numbers remain constant between versions, that also might be a way to reference. Of course, it kills the audio version if 4th edition is inexplicably re-written from scratch. :lol: I hope that doesn't happen. It seems like TSR did it to try to shift copyrights out of authors hands and convince consumers to purchase new sets of books.
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Re: Untitled BFRPG Audio Project

Post by toddlyons »

I'm just reading through comments on the Aaron Kenny video and in response to a person telling him that someone is using the music in an ad on Facebook, he replies, "The music from the Audio Library is actually property of Google, so it's up to them to pursue any action."

Other comments suggest that it sounds like it was used in / inspired by / a blatant rip-off :lol: of the Dune soundtrack (1984). There are certainly similarities.

Again, if it's replaced, it did its job in inspiring me to do a good read-through. I'm pleased to read that the consensus so far is that this edited test recording might be good enough for release. It makes me more certain I have the time to do this, and do it well. For commercials, I'll usually record several takes and cut together the best phrases to make the final version. Very time consuming, but always great results.
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Re: Untitled BFRPG Audio Project

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Page numbers change with new releases, unfortunately, due to artwork, reflowing, etc. The 1st edition is several pages shorter than the 3rd.
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