This is Peter, he speaks Bola. He's one of the readers I am recording this month. We are recording an audio version of the entire Bola New Testament for play on AudiBibles and cell phones. Previously a Jesus Film was also created, and we're converting that to play on cell phones too, as many Bola speakers have cell phones capable of playing video. (amazing isn't it?.. they live in huts made from bamboo and grass, but have cell phones that play video. They have no power in the village to CHARGE their cell phones, but they find places to charge them.)
Peter reads at what I am guessing to be a fourth or fifth grade level. He's young and enthusiastic so his reading is good, but he often makes mistakes. This is where I come in. I edit my recordings on the fly to make sure that post-production is faster. I use Adobe Audition or Audacity for my recordings, I use an AKG mic, or a Audio Technica, I'm using a SHURE USB interfance with a RANE pre-amp. I don't run throuhg a compressor or a noise gate, but I could use this DBX if I wanted to. I don't want to. Peter doesn't shout. (-;
As you can imagine the process of recording has a lot of stop and go. A word is missed, or mispronounced. It is VERY important we be grammatically correct for multiple reasons
1 - it's the Bible.
2 - People listening to this, and looking at the Bible, may in fact increase their reading ability so we want to be accurate with pronunciation.
For this reason, I'm recording, checking levels, pausing, editing, restarting, etc,... AND scanning the Scripture in a foreign language for words that may have been skipped. Meanwhile one man sitting next to me.. Peter, checks to make sure pronunciation is accurate.
It can look like a rather boring process... three men, in front of mic's... saying things like 'stop, start over, good job... pause...' and then being quite for long periods of time. If you were to watch me do it, you might think I spoke Bola. I don't. But I can read.
Peter, has a heart for the Bola people getting God's Word, or he wouldn't be here. His home is way across the ocean on another island in West New Britain (Kimbu).
He tends to get down on himself when he makes mistakes, but I remind him, that's why we have editing. When he makes mistakes, culturally, he becomes more shy, and thus more quiet.
So for you audio geeks... imagine, that every couple of verses, I have to stop, and restart, and also check my levels, because the readers get shy when they make mistakes.
You have to learn your reader.
PETER starts off a -12 or so, maybe -9, but after a few mistakes, goes down to -10db
But if he doesn't make mistakes, he jumps up to -6 at times. I have to keep an eye on the mic gain.
Pastor Benjamin, rarely makes mistakes, he reads at a high school level. However he is older and his voice gets tired more quickly, so we take breaks, and often only do 1 chapter at a time. Which means, I'm always checking levels, editing out long pauses, etc.
So, what may look boring to the casual onlooker, is actually an adrenaline filled, constantly vigilant, always looking at things, trying not to tweak or make changes but reacting when I need to.... high energy process.
Which is why when I get home, all I want to do is sleep.
People ask me 'why are you so tired'.
Yesterday, a translator tried his hand at recording and said 'wow, I got home, and just fell asleep instantly.'
SEEEEEE!
