Pronunciation of "Stoppard"
Salvatore Volatile
persons who seemed like they ought to know what was proper: /st@'pArd/
("sta-PARD") (say BrE /st@'pA:d/) and /'stApRd/ ("STOP-erd") (say
BrE /stA.p@d/). Which is correct, or is there some third possibility?
--
Salvatore Volatile
Derek Turner
Brad Germolene
<m...@privacy.net> wrought:
"stuh-PARD" is Dead Wrong and Wonky-American-Sounding (hi, George
Puh-PARD!); "STOP-ud" is acceptable, but the preferable one is one you
didn't suggest: "STOP-ah(r)d" (at least that's how I always hear Tom
and Miriam's surname pronounced).
Hansard is "HAN-sard". Howard is "HOW-ud". Gerrard can be either.
Test on Friday.
--
Brad Germolene
Brad Germolene
wrought:
Do they really? Odd, then, that all the radio interviewers, continuity
announcers and chat-show hosts I've ever heard introducing either of
them over the last 30 years or so should always get it wrong.
Here, for example, is John Tusa (who, bizarrely, was born in the same
small Czech town as Tom) apparently ballsing it up completely by
saying "STOP-ard":
www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/johntusainterview/ram/ajtstoppard.ram
--
Brad Germolene
dcw
It's ['stA.pA:d]. (You once complained when I used // instead of []).
David
Jacqui
The wife he's been divorced from for 14 years now?
Anyway, yes, she does say STOPP-erd, but it's more like uhd than erd.
Not a schwa, but definitely more 'uh' than 'er'. I've heard her say it
in person.
Jac
Derek Turner
> Derek Turner wrote:
>
> The wife he's been divorced from for 14 years now?
>
> Anyway, yes, she does say STOPP-erd, but it's more like uhd than erd.
> Not a schwa, but definitely more 'uh' than 'er'. I've heard her say it
> in person.
>
Divorced? Really? Shows that I am definitely not a celeb-watcher!
You're right about her pronunciation though, I was trying to come down
on one or other of the OP's alternatives.
Brad Germolene
wrought:
Yabbut she's a Geordie in denial and he's a Czech who can't even
pronounce the letter "r", so whaddatheyknow? "STOP-ard" is what
everyone from Melvyn Bragg to Magnus Pyke has always used and, by
golly, that's good enough for me.
Still, at least I hope we can all agree that the A-Team pronunciation
-- stuh-PARD -- is an absolute no-no.
--
Brad Germolene
Brad Germolene
<m...@privacy.net> wrought:
Huh? Where's Bucky? Has he eloped with Millicent?
--
Brad Germolene
Salvatore Volatile
And, as we know from Erk, Brits mispronounce Peninsula-based Hewlett
Packard as "Hewlett PACK-Ahd" (when they ought to be saying "PACK-uhd").
--
Salvatore Volatile
Salvatore Volatile
> Still, at least I hope we can all agree that the A-Team pronunciation
> -- stuh-PARD -- is an absolute no-no.
The problem is, there seem to be a class of two-syllable names that have
secondarily stressed -ard in BrE that cause problems in AmE if the AmE
speaker attempts to give it such a pronunciation.
How is "Bernard" pronounced in BrE -- I assume /BV"n@d/ ("BERN-uhd"), but
is it actually "BERN-aahd", analogously to "PACK-aahd" and "STOPP-aahd"?
In AmE, "Bernard" is "bur-NARD" as a rule. ("Barnard" is "BAR-nerd".)
Then again, I think "Bernhard" would be pronounced "BERN-hard" by the AmE
speaker, so maybe it's not some physiological problem. Cf. "Reinhold",
which is "RINE-hold" in AmE. Truly.
--
Salvatore Volatile
Adrian Bailey
news:1586m21te71e4am78...@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 15:37:33 +0000, Derek Turner <frd...@cesmail.net>
> wrought:
>
> >Salvatore Volatile wrote:
> >> I've heard two pronunciations of Tom Stoppard's surname, both from
> >> persons who seemed like they ought to know what was proper: /st@'pArd/
> >> ("sta-PARD") (say BrE /st@'pA:d/) and /'stApRd/ ("STOP-erd") (say
> >> BrE /stA.p@d/). Which is correct, or is there some third possibility?
> >>
> >He and his wife (Miriam) both pronounce it STOPP-erd
>
> Do they really? Odd, then, that all the radio interviewers, continuity
> announcers and chat-show hosts I've ever heard introducing either of
> them over the last 30 years or so should always get it wrong.
Not at all odd. I've lost count of the famous names that are always
mispronounced, from Pinochet to Navratilova.
Adrian
Brad Germolene
<m...@privacy.net> wrought:
>Brad Germolene wrote:
>> Still, at least I hope we can all agree that the A-Team pronunciation
>> -- stuh-PARD -- is an absolute no-no.
>
>The problem is, there seem to be a class of two-syllable names that have
>secondarily stressed -ard in BrE that cause problems in AmE if the AmE
>speaker attempts to give it such a pronunciation.
>
>How is "Bernard" pronounced in BrE -- I assume /BV"n@d/ ("BERN-uhd"),
You are correct, sir. (From your need to ask the question, it appears
you're not a big fan of *Yes, Minister*.)
Other famous British BURN-uds for you to Wiki up on as part of your
permanent BrE immersion course: Bernard Breslaw, Bernard Braden
(actually Canadian, but, hey, that's life), Bernard Cribbens and, last
but by no means least, Sir Bernard Winters.
--
Brad Germolene
Peter Duncanson
As long as we buy their products they don't seem to mind our
(mis-)pronunciation.
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Nick Spalding
on Tue, 21 Nov 2006 21:46:26 +0100:
Possibly even less least, George Bernard Shaw.
--
Nick Spalding
Robin Bignall
wrote:
>On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 13:35:01 +0000 (UTC), Salvatore Volatile
><m...@privacy.net> wrought:
>
>Huh? Where's Bucky? Has he eloped with Millicent?
He might have had a tendency.
--
Robin
Herts, England
Tony Cooper
<ma...@peterduncanson.net> wrote:
>>And, as we know from Erk, Brits mispronounce Peninsula-based Hewlett
>>Packard as "Hewlett PACK-Ahd" (when they ought to be saying "PACK-uhd").
Hewlett-Packard is evil...at least the division which makes the Compaq
laptops. I spent the greater part of the day removing bits and pieces
of intrusive software implants from my daughter's new Presario. They
have this one insidious program (a "subscribe to" program) - Vongo -
that is virtually unremovable. Even "Kevin" from technical support
couldn't do so after a 55 minute phone call. He worked right through
his curry break. Best we could do was disable it in Start-Up to stop
the pop-ups.
--
Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL
Peter Duncanson
<tony_co...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 20:59:46 +0000, Peter Duncanson
><ma...@peterduncanson.net> wrote:
>
'Twasn't me. 'Twas SalVo.
>>>And, as we know from Erk, Brits mispronounce Peninsula-based Hewlett
>>>Packard as "Hewlett PACK-Ahd" (when they ought to be saying "PACK-uhd").
--
Maria
>
> Hewlett-Packard is evil...at least the division which makes the Compaq
> laptops. I spent the greater part of the day removing bits and pieces
> of intrusive software implants from my daughter's new Presario. They
> have this one insidious program (a "subscribe to" program) - Vongo -
> that is virtually unremovable. Even "Kevin" from technical support
> couldn't do so after a 55 minute phone call. He worked right through
> his curry break. Best we could do was disable it in Start-Up to stop
> the pop-ups.
Even "Restore" didn't work? (That HP option has been a savior a few
times for me.)
--
Maria
Tony Cooper
wrote:
A System Restore doesn't solve the problem in any way. That restores
the systems to a previous point, and all previous points contain the
softwear that HP put in the system.
I did do a System Restore, but that was because the system went
completely wonky after installing the printer. That turned out to be
a Bios error, and there is a utility that corrected that. I can
forgive a company that puts out a product with a Bios problem because
that's just an unintentional glitch.
I can't forgive all these for-pay programs that HP puts on a 'puter
with pop-ups that urge the user to register, pay, and use the add-on.
I should be able to choose what programs I want on my 'puter that are
not part of the basic system.
Completely unforgivable is making a non-essential program unremovable.
Now I'm trying to figure out how to completely remove AOL from the
system. It is not in the Add/Remove directory. I changed the
internet home page from the AOL search function, but I want to
completely eradicate all AOL programs.
Daniel al-Autistiqui
wrote:
>On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 13:35:01 +0000 (UTC), Salvatore Volatile
><m...@privacy.net> wrought:
>
>Huh? Where's Bucky? Has he eloped with Millicent?
I really think he ought to e-mail me and explain, in all seriousness,
with the deal is with this. I have no sufficiently convincing
evidence that Sal and Bucky are the same person.
daniel mcgrath
--
Daniel Gerard McGrath, a/k/a "Govende":
for e-mail replace "invalid" with "com"
Developmentally disabled;
has Autism (Pervasive Developmental Disorder),
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,
& periodic bouts of depression.
[This signature is under construction.]
Tony Cooper
<gove...@hotmail.invalid> wrote:
>On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:36:08 +0100, Brad Germolene <ggu...@yahoo.com>
>wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 13:35:01 +0000 (UTC), Salvatore Volatile
>><m...@privacy.net> wrought:
>>
>>Huh? Where's Bucky? Has he eloped with Millicent?
>
>I really think he ought to e-mail me and explain, in all seriousness,
>with the deal is with this. I have no sufficiently convincing
>evidence that Sal and Bucky are the same person.
Search for parallels in the writing. Look for outrageous statements
of what is, and what is not. Richard Fontana's footprints are clearly
evident no matter what the name used.
Daniel al-Autistiqui
In my mind -- no, they aren't.
Roland Hutchinson
> I can't forgive all these for-pay programs that HP puts on a 'puter
> with pop-ups that urge the user to register, pay, and use the add-on.
> I should be able to choose what programs I want on my 'puter that are
> not part of the basic system.
>
> Completely unforgivable is making a non-essential program unremovable.
>
> Now I'm trying to figure out how to completely remove AOL from the
> system. It is not in the Add/Remove directory. I changed the
> internet home page from the AOL search function, but I want to
> completely eradicate all AOL programs.
It's not to late to visit www.ubuntu.com
--
Roland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food.
NB mail to my.spamtrap [at] verizon.net is heavily filtered to
remove spam. If your message looks like spam I may not see it.
Maria
> Now I'm trying to figure out how to completely remove AOL from the
> system. It is not in the Add/Remove directory. I changed the
> internet home page from the AOL search function, but I want to
> completely eradicate all AOL programs.
I wanted to do the same several years ago (after allowing AOL to be
installed by one of my children without my realizing the ramifications).
I called someone to get help in the removal. (I've forgotten who it was
that I called.) I was told that attempting to remove _all_ traces of AOL
might cause other problems, so it was better to leave it alone. When I
later replaced the PC, I was much more careful about what I and others
loaded in.
My greatest hope now (regarding computers, the Internet, etc.) is that
laws will be passed about spam. I've tried a few spam remedies, but they
are more trouble than they should be. "Bayesian"* (sp?) systems seem to
require the most work, and yet the stream of spam never abates.
*I hope I haven't called it by the wrong name. What I mean is
programs that watch for certain words and names. Spammers change words,
spellings, and names all too often for this "fix" to work for more than
five minutes.
It may be that the only solution is hefty fees for sending "batch" email
(say, email to more than 15-or-so recipients at a time).
As for unwanted programs, I think that manufacturers could probably stop
loading them in, but the result might be a higher cost to the purchaser.
(I'm fairly sure the program makers pay a fee for having their programs
installed at the "building" level. Am I wrong about that?)
By the way, I received a letter in the mail (US Mail, not email) the
other day that was a classic Nigerian-type scam, only it was from the
UK. Had I taken the offer, I would (allegedly) have made a few million
Łs for myself. (Is there already a law in the UK about mass emailing?
The letter cost Ł0.71 to mail.)
Anyway, I'd add mailing lists of all kinds to the list of things I'd
like to see regulated. Oh, and phone calls: Who gives permission to
anyone to call our home try to sell us some thing or some idea? Who
gives them permission to play recorded messages to us or our answering
machine? Who gives them permission to intrude? Who gives them permission
to have their own phone number "unidentified"? (I'd like the opportunity
to call them back and tell them off.)
Just thinking about all this has put me in a fierce mood. I think I'll
call or email Senator Levin. He's a Democrat, but he does listen and
respond (well, sort of) to my questions/complaints.
Note: I've edited this post a few times for clarity. It may now contain
some inexplicable errors.
--
Maria
Resident of southeast Michigan, near Detroit; native of east Tennessee.
There's only one 'n' in my email address, and it's not in my first name.
Mike Lyle
Maria wrote:
[...]
> My greatest hope now (regarding computers, the Internet, etc.) is that
> laws will be passed about spam. I've tried a few spam remedies, but they
> are more trouble than they should be. "Bayesian"* (sp?) systems seem to
> require the most work, and yet the stream of spam never abates.
It would be nice, but even at the address published here, I only see
about 1-4 spams a day, most of the rubbish being filtered out by Yahoo:
this majority I never see unless I look in the "Bulk" folder. Other
addresses seem to be (cross fingers) immune so far.
[...]
>
> As for unwanted programs, I think that manufacturers could probably stop
> loading them in, but the result might be a higher cost to the purchaser.
> (I'm fairly sure the program makers pay a fee for having their programs
> installed at the "building" level. Am I wrong about that?)
[...]
I'll pay, I'll pay!
--
Mike.
Nick Atty
I have a sneaking feeling it's tied in to the stronger "foreign" marking
that US use tends to put on words - the pondian difference in
pronunciation of "ballet" is very similar to that of "Bernard".
--
On-line canal route planner: http://www.canalplan.org.uk
(Waterways World site of the month, April 2001)
My Reply-To address *is* valid, though likely to die soon
Skitt
> I can't forgive all these for-pay programs that HP puts on a 'puter
> with pop-ups that urge the user to register, pay, and use the add-on.
> I should be able to choose what programs I want on my 'puter that are
> not part of the basic system.
Dell also puts a bunch of that junk on their laptops.
> Completely unforgivable is making a non-essential program unremovable.
>
> Now I'm trying to figure out how to completely remove AOL from the
> system. It is not in the Add/Remove directory. I changed the
> internet home page from the AOL search function, but I want to
> completely eradicate all AOL programs.
I have not tried to remove that from my wife's laptop yet.
--
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
http://www.geocities.com/opus731/
Garrett Wollman
Mike Lyle <mike_l...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>It would be nice, but even at the address published here, I only see
>about 1-4 spams a day, most of the rubbish being filtered out by Yahoo:
>this majority I never see unless I look in the "Bulk" folder. Other
>addresses seem to be (cross fingers) immune so far.
I have had one email address (not this one) for fourteen years. I
have had another address (also not this one) for close to thirteen
years. I have had this address for more than three years. All of
them are widely published.
I take delivery of about 100 spams a day. I don't have to look at any
of them, thanks to SpamAssassin and the CRM-114 Discriminator. I'm
sure hundreds more are rejected without taking delivery. (Actually,
now that I check my logs, it looks like about 400.)
I refuse to hide behind invalid or mangled addresses.
-GAWollman
--
Garrett A. Wollman | The real tragedy of human existence is not that we are
wol...@csail.mit.edu| nasty by nature, but that a cruel structural asymmetry
Opinions not those | grants to rare events of meanness such power to shape
of MIT or CSAIL. | our history. - S.J. Gould, Ten Thousand Acts of Kindness
Nick Spalding
on Wed, 22 Nov 2006 19:32:44 GMT:
> My greatest hope now (regarding computers, the Internet, etc.) is that
> laws will be passed about spam. I've tried a few spam remedies, but they
> are more trouble than they should be. "Bayesian"* (sp?) systems seem to
> require the most work, and yet the stream of spam never abates.
>
> *I hope I haven't called it by the wrong name. What I mean is
> programs that watch for certain words and names. Spammers change words,
> spellings, and names all too often for this "fix" to work for more than
> five minutes.
The latest version of Agent, V4.1, has Bayesian filtering, combined with
Route By Identity, which replaces a load of filters I previously had to
direct email into the correct folders and it certainly does work. I have
been using it, initially as a beta tester, since 19th June and have in
that time received 10661 emails, 4441 of which were correctly routed to
Junk with only 44 false positives and 16 false negatives.
At the time I started I had a week's worth of spam detected by a
combination of other tedious means and I trained the junk detector on that
and it started working right away on new traffic. The only training I
have had to do since was to correct the 44 false positives by moving them
to their correct folders and the 16 false negatives my moving them to
Junk. I haven't seen a false positive for weeks and only 1 false negative
in the past several weeks.
--
Nick Spalding
Salvatore Volatile
> Tony Cooper wrote:
>> Now I'm trying to figure out how to completely remove AOL from the
>> system. It is not in the Add/Remove directory. I changed the
>> internet home page from the AOL search function, but I want to
>> completely eradicate all AOL programs.
>
> It's not to late to visit www.ubuntu.com
You are correct, sir. Perhaps Coop will join the Free world yet.
--
Salvatore Volatile
R J Valentine
...
} I really think he ought to e-mail me and explain, in all seriousness,
} with the deal is with this. I have no sufficiently convincing
} evidence that Sal and Bucky are the same person.
There was that reference to his speech recording that I highlighted for
you. Google "McGrath".
--
rjv
Maria
> Salvatore Volatile wrote, in part:
>> How is "Bernard" pronounced in BrE -- I assume /BV"n@d/
>> ("BERN-uhd"), but is it actually "BERN-aahd", analogously to
>> "PACK-aahd" and "STOPP-aahd"? In AmE, "Bernard" is "bur-NARD" as a
>> rule. ("Barnard" is "BAR-nerd".)
>>
>> Then again, I think "Bernhard" would be pronounced "BERN-hard" by
>> the AmE speaker, so maybe it's not some physiological problem. Cf.
>> "Reinhold", which is "RINE-hold" in AmE. Truly.
>
> I have a sneaking feeling it's tied in to the stronger "foreign"
> marking that US use tends to put on words - the pondian difference in
> pronunciation of "ballet" is very similar to that of "Bernard".
All this puts me in mind of a thread from 2002. See:
http://tinyurl.com/yfs5g7
Here's an excerpt:
From: Robert Lieblich Date: Mon, Nov 18 2002 6:34 pm
Maria ... wrote:
> Martin wrote:
>> Was listening to Scott Turow on BBC Radio 4 this morning, and noticed
>> that he started by calling a fellow-guest BerNARD, but then after a
>> few people used the more Br.E BERnad, he switched the stress.
>>
>> Which made me wonder about changing one's pronunciation depending
>> on the situation. I know the way I talk depends on who I'm talking to
>> - cabbies, royalty, boss, friends, beggars - so my accent slips
>> between RP and a kind of Mockney, but do others do this?
> Oh, Martin...if only you knew what stress it has caused here trying to
> determine how to pronounce Bernard. I personally pronounce is as
> "Bernard." What a real Bernard says is up to him (or her, I suppose,
> in
> this day of naming girls with boys' names.)
>
> That debate aside, I'll go to your question: Does anyone else change
> accents depending on the audience? I certainly do. I fine-tune my
> accent
> and pronunciations almost unconsciously. It's just a way of enhancing
> communication, as long as it isn't done on purpose to mock or make fun
> of the other person. Intent matters.
>
> (And how do *you* pronounce Bernard?)
>
> Maria
> Hi, Bob.
Hi, Tootsie. Seems like traditions in newsgroups last maybe two
weeks. You'd think everyone here knows that the only answer to "How
do you pronounce 'Bernard'?" is "Bernard." But no, along come a
bunch of newbies (in other postings on this thread), arguing for
"BER-n@rd" or "Ber-NARD" or who knows? As if there's actually an
answer.
Well, I pronounce it "Bernard" -- and I don't care who knows.
Bernard Lieblich
====================================
Reply From: Maria .... Date: Tues, Nov 19 2002 9:30 pm
And as I said, I also pronounce it "Bernard." Actually, I can't imagine
any other way being proper.
(Newsgroup traditions just aren't what they used to be, are they?
They're not recognized as traditional, for one thing.)
====================================================================
--
Roland Hutchinson
> My greatest hope now (regarding computers, the Internet, etc.) is that
> laws will be passed about spam. I've tried a few spam remedies, but they
> are more trouble than they should be. "Bayesian"* (sp?) systems seem to
> require the most work, and yet the stream of spam never abates.
>
> *I hope I haven't called it by the wrong name. What I mean is
> programs that watch for certain words and names. Spammers change words,
> spellings, and names all too often for this "fix" to work for more than
> five minutes.
Just saw a new twist: You know those spams (generally bogus stock tips) that
have an _image_ of their text so that text-based filters can't scan them?
Well, the obvious (if computationally expensive) solution to that is a
filter that performs optical character recognition the image.
Yesterday I encountered a counter-measure used by the spammers: I got one
with an image containing text that was all wavy and crossed with stray
lines here and there: just the sort of thing that those "type the letters
and numbers you see here" challenges use to defeat OCR and exclude
machines.
Brad Germolene
<my.sp...@verizon.net> wrought:
>Maria wrote:
>
>> My greatest hope now (regarding computers, the Internet, etc.) is that
>> laws will be passed about spam. I've tried a few spam remedies, but they
>> are more trouble than they should be. "Bayesian"* (sp?) systems seem to
>> require the most work, and yet the stream of spam never abates.
>>
>> *I hope I haven't called it by the wrong name. What I mean is
>> programs that watch for certain words and names. Spammers change words,
>> spellings, and names all too often for this "fix" to work for more than
>> five minutes.
>
>Just saw a new twist: You know those spams (generally bogus stock tips) that
>have an _image_ of their text so that text-based filters can't scan them?
>
>Well, the obvious (if computationally expensive) solution to that is a
>filter that performs optical character recognition the image.
>
>Yesterday I encountered a counter-measure used by the spammers: I got one
>with an image containing text that was all wavy and crossed with stray
>lines here and there: just the sort of thing that those "type the letters
>and numbers you see here" challenges use to defeat OCR and exclude
>machines.
Those are pretty much the only one I get these days. But what are
those stock tips all about? What's the scam?
--
Brad Germolene
HVS
-snip-
> Those are pretty much the only one I get these days. But what
> are those stock tips all about? What's the scam?
Known as "pump and dump". They get people to buy some of the
worthless shares that they own; the share price goes up; they dump
the rest of their shares at the higher price; the price then
collapses.
--
Cheers, Harvey
Canadian and British English, indiscriminately mixed
For e-mail, change harvey.news to harvey.van
the Omrud
> On 23 Nov 2006, Brad Germolene wrote
>
> -snip-
>
> > Those are pretty much the only one I get these days. But what
> > are those stock tips all about? What's the scam?
>
> Known as "pump and dump". They get people to buy some of the
> worthless shares that they own; the share price goes up; they dump
> the rest of their shares at the higher price; the price then
> collapses.
I have heard analysis of some of these - apparently the price does go
up, although by only about 5%. This is, of course, quite enough for
the scammers since the emails cost them nothing and they can repeat
the scam forever.
--
David
=====
Paul Wolff
al-Autistiqui <gove...@hotmail.invalid> writes
>On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:36:08 +0100, Brad Germolene <ggu...@yahoo.com>
>wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 13:35:01 +0000 (UTC), Salvatore Volatile
>><m...@privacy.net> wrought:
>>
>>Huh? Where's Bucky? Has he eloped with Millicent?
>
>I really think he ought to e-mail me and explain, in all seriousness,
>with the deal is with this. I have no sufficiently convincing
>evidence that Sal and Bucky are the same person.
>
In some senses, I'm not the person I was yesterday (and I-today
recognises that there's a contradiction in there), though I believe I
have inherited much from the I-yesterday entity.
--
Paul
In bocca al Lupo!
Don Aitken
This obfuscation is beside the point. In a group as busy as this, the
identity of the poster is a significant clue as to what might be worth
downloading. And in *any* group, so far as I know, morphing is
regarded as an undesirable habit; we are entitled to know who we are
dealing with. Daniel and Donna have made their objections clear; put
me down as another who thinks that it *does* matter, and is, to put it
at its lowest, extremely irritating.
--
Don Aitken
Mail to the From: address is not read.
To email me, substitute "clara.co.uk" for "freeuk.com"
Paul Wolff
<don-a...@freeuk.com> writes
>On Fri, 24 Nov 2006 20:52:34 +0000, Paul Wolff
><boun...@two.wolff.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>In message <lqt8m297vhfeo1ijr...@4ax.com>, Daniel
>>al-Autistiqui <gove...@hotmail.invalid> writes
>>>
>>>with the deal is with this. I have no sufficiently convincing
>>>evidence that Sal and Bucky are the same person.
>>>
>>You could pause and consider whether it matters.
>>
>>In some senses, I'm not the person I was yesterday (and I-today
>>recognises that there's a contradiction in there), though I believe I
>>have inherited much from the I-yesterday entity.
>
>This obfuscation is beside the point. In a group as busy as this, the
>identity of the poster is a significant clue as to what might be worth
>downloading.
I couldn't work like that. Apart from a couple of killfile entries, I'm
pretty catholic and give at least a full second's attention to most
posts. The content is what grabs, not the authorial identity -- though
I do admit exceptions for people I have met in Real Life. But knowing
them personally still doesn't, of itself, make what they have to say
interesting. [My friends: you know, of course, that I don't *mean*
that.]
>And in *any* group, so far as I know, morphing is
>regarded as an undesirable habit; we are entitled to know who we are
>dealing with.
Ooh, that's a contentious one. I nail my colours firmly to the opposite
mast. The most I feel entitled to here is a decent news feed from my
ISP, and then only because I'm paying for it.
>Daniel and Donna have made their objections clear; put
>me down as another who thinks that it *does* matter, and is, to put it
>at its lowest, extremely irritating.
>
If a poster changes identity so frequently that no one identity ever
catches on, I'd say they were being socially inept. In practice, I'd
neither notice nor care. If they change every three months or so, I'd
notice but still not care (though I'd be curious as to their reasons,
and wonder about instability in their self-image, or whether they were
just playing games). But I can't imagine being irritated, even mildly.
Just amused.
athel...@yahoo
Adrian Bailey wrote:
> "Brad Germolene" <ggu...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
[ ... ]
> > Do they really? Odd, then, that all the radio interviewers, continuity
> > announcers and chat-show hosts I've ever heard introducing either of
> > them over the last 30 years or so should always get it wrong.
>
> Not at all odd. I've lost count of the famous names that are always
> mispronounced, from Pinochet to Navratilova.
>
I'm not sure I've ever heard Navratilova pronounced by a Czech, but I
presume it must be stressed on the first syllable, and most native
English speakers find it difficult to stress a five-syllable word on
the first syllable. (Think of "necessarily", for which the traditional
initial-stress pronunciation has all but disappeared from ordinary
use.)
As for Pinochet, I wonder what you regard as the "correct"
pronunciation. If it's regarded as a French name, of course, there is
no argument, but I imagine you are thinking of the ex-dictator of
Chile, and although I've never heard him pronounce his own name, I've
heard plenty of his compatriots pronounce it, and the "chet" comes in
all possible combinations of French ch, Spanish ch, French t (i.e.
silent), and Spanish t. In Chile ch is anyway closer to a French ch
than anything you'd hear in Spain. The commonest is probably Spanish ch
with French t, but it's far from universal and I've never come across
anyone who regards any of the others as incorrect.
athel
Daniel al-Autistiqui
I remember seeing a reference to Bucky's speech recording, but
unfortunately it didn't seem to be the same URL that I traditionally
see. (I found that every earlier mention of a speech recording seemed
to be on the AUE website, and not on Bob "Sparky" Cunningham's site.)
BTW, I am not used to googling my *last* name. Do you not, in fact,
realize that people usually call me "Daniel" on this group? I search
for that word all the time. It's not clear why you needed to make an
exception and call me "Prof. McGrath". Perhaps this was why I didn't
see your post until just now.
Tony Cooper
<gove...@hotmail.invalid> wrote:
>I remember seeing a reference to Bucky's speech recording, but
>unfortunately it didn't seem to be the same URL that I traditionally
>see. (I found that every earlier mention of a speech recording seemed
>to be on the AUE website, and not on Bob "Sparky" Cunningham's site.)
How does one make a speech recording? I know that you talk into a
microphone and record it, but what program is used? Is there something
in the basic Windows choice of programs that can be used?
the Omrud
Sound Recorder (Start | All Programs | Accessories | Entertainment).
If you have Nero, there's an excellent audio program included (Nero
Wave Editor). If not, Audacity is very well thought of, although it
might be a bit feature-rich for a simple task:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
And you need to convert the .wav file to .mp3 or it will be too big
to publish. For my money (and I did indeed pay) the best solution
for this is dbPowerAmp.
--
David
=====
R H Draney
For short samples, Windows Sound Recorder should do it...by default it's under
Start Menu -> Programs -> Accessories -> Entertainment -> Sound Recorder...or
you can use the Run menu and ask for "sndrec32.exe"....
If you want to record more than about sixty seconds, seek out a download called
"Loop Recorder"....r
--
"Keep your eye on the Bishop. I want to know when
he makes his move", said the Inspector, obliquely.
Tony Cooper
wrote:
I did a quick test and a 60 second .wav is 10,336 kb. Some questions:
1. If I wanted to make a 60 second .wav to be available to this
group, what do I do with the file to make it available? I'm used to
putting up images, but not any other type of file.
2. What should I read in making the file so it can be determined if
I'm this or that according to the Rules of Areff.
This kind of thing has never interested me before, but I am curious
now. I *think* I say words like the famous "Mary, marry, merry" the
same, but I don't know how others hear me. I don't *think* I have a
regional accent, but I don't know how others hear me.
I have no idea if I'm rhotic or non-rhotic, but - according to my
mother and my birth certificate - I'm a Taurus. I mention that
because being a rhotic is about as important to me as being a
Taurus...given the information I have no idea what it means.
I don't know how to convert a file from .wav to .mp3. I have Nero,
but the drop-downs in my Nero don't include a wave editor.
the Omrud
> I don't know how to convert a file from .wav to .mp3. I have Nero,
> but the drop-downs in my Nero don't include a wave editor.
The audio facility is not in the main Nero, but in a separate app -
go via the Start menu and you will find it. Open a .wav file and
then try to save it as .mp3. This may not work as it might try to
sell you an mp3 codec, but there's no need to pay for one. If you
have Windows Media Player installed then you will probably be able to
save as .wma which I actually prefer, but which is not transportable
to non-Windows platform.
I like dbPowerAmp as I said, but it's rather complex. If you go to
tucows and search on "wav mp3 convert" and then click Freeware, you
will find any number of free programs to convert .wav to .mp3
--
David
=====
Skitt
> I don't know how to convert a file from .wav to .mp3. I have Nero,
> but the drop-downs in my Nero don't include a wave editor.
Check out the freeware at
http://www.tucows.com/preview/247342
Bob Cunningham
> [responding to a question regarding a way to make a sound
> file, and calling attention to a Microsoft Windows feature at]
> Sound Recorder (Start | All Programs | Accessories | Entertainment).
I hadn't noticed that feature. I see now that my Windows XP
Start menu has a direct Sound Recorder icon without going
through All Programs.
Sound Recorder first produces a WAV file. For good quality,
the sampling frequency should be set to 22,050 Hz. (I think
it may default to that sampling frequency, but if it
doesn't, there's a provision for setting it.) You can then
use Sound Recorder to convert the WAV file to an MP3 file,
with a wide choice of parameters for that file. A Help file
gives good instructions for doing the conversion. I've had
satisfactory results by choosing the option
32 kbit/s, 22,050 Hz. Mono
The MP3 file will typically be about one-sixth the size of
the WAV file it came from. I haven't noticed any difference
in quality between a WAV file and its resultant MP3 file,
but usage statistics from my Web site show substantial
numbers of downloads of WAV files where the MP3 equivalents
are also provided.
It's easy to make a bad sound file, as can be heard by
listening to some of the files in the AUE Audio Archive.
It's not terribly difficult to make a good sound file, but
there are some things to watch out for that a novice might
not think of. Someone approaching sound recording for the
first time might do worse than to read my comments at the
alt.usage.english Web site:
http://alt-usage-english.org/recording_suggestions.html .
Tony Cooper
A good post, and a useful cite. However, since no one has expressed
any interest in diagnosing my voice or suggesting what to read into
the mike, I've abandoned the idea.
Skitt
> the Omrud said:
>> [responding to a question regarding a way to make a sound
>> file, and calling attention to a Microsoft Windows feature at]
>
>> Sound Recorder (Start | All Programs | Accessories | Entertainment).
>
> I hadn't noticed that feature. I see now that my Windows XP
> Start menu has a direct Sound Recorder icon without going
> through All Programs.
>
> Sound Recorder first produces a WAV file. For good quality,
> the sampling frequency should be set to 22,050 Hz. (I think
> it may default to that sampling frequency, but if it
> doesn't, there's a provision for setting it.) You can then
> use Sound Recorder to convert the WAV file to an MP3 file,
> with a wide choice of parameters for that file. A Help file
> gives good instructions for doing the conversion.
This is weird. I tried to convert a short .wav file to MPEG Layer-3 format,
and, while something appeared to be done, there was no new file created, at
least not one I could find. A cockpit problem, probably. I tried several
times, though. When I try to leave Sound Recorder, it tells me that the
.wav file has been modified and asks me if I want to save it. If I say yes,
it overwrites the old .wav file with a new .wav file, but there is no .mp3
file anywhere.
I have another free program (Zortam Mp3 Media Studio) that does the job
beautifully.
Bob Cunningham
<ski...@comcast.net> said:
> Bob Cunningham wrote:
> > the Omrud said:
> >> [responding to a question regarding a way to make a sound
> >> file, and calling attention to a Microsoft Windows feature at]
> >> Sound Recorder (Start | All Programs | Accessories | Entertainment).
> > I hadn't noticed that feature. I see now that my Windows XP
> > Start menu has a direct Sound Recorder icon without going
> > through All Programs.
> > Sound Recorder first produces a WAV file. For good quality,
> > the sampling frequency should be set to 22,050 Hz. (I think
> > it may default to that sampling frequency, but if it
> > doesn't, there's a provision for setting it.) You can then
> > use Sound Recorder to convert the WAV file to an MP3 file,
> > with a wide choice of parameters for that file. A Help file
> > gives good instructions for doing the conversion.
> This is weird. I tried to convert a short .wav file to MPEG Layer-3 format,
> and, while something appeared to be done, there was no new file created, at
> least not one I could find. A cockpit problem, probably. I tried several
> times, though. When I try to leave Sound Recorder, it tells me that the
> .wav file has been modified and asks me if I want to save it. If I say yes,
> it overwrites the old .wav file with a new .wav file, but there is no .mp3
> file anywhere.
I can empathize. I had similar problems. After struggling
for a while, I gave up and read the Help instructions
carefully. I was then successful in doing a conversion from
WAV to MP3, but I still had to infer some details they
didn't specifically mention.
Here's what the Help file says
To change the format of a sound file
1. On the File menu, click Open.
2. In the Open dialog box, double-click the
sound file you want to modify.
3. On the File menu, click Save As.
4. In the Save As dialog box, click Change.
5. In the Name list, click the audio format
you want.
I would expand that to
To change the format of a sound file from WAV to MP3
1. On the File menu, click Open.
2. In the Open dialog box, double-click the
sound file you want to modify.
3. On the File menu, click Save As.
4. In the Save As dialog box, click Change.
5. In the block labeled "format", use the drop-down
menu to select "MPEG Layer-3"
6. In the block labeled "Attributes", use the
drop-down menu to select suitable attributes;
for example, "32 kbit/s 22,050 Hz Mono"
7. Click "OK"
8. Back in the "Save As" box, in the block labeled
file name, choose a file name, making sure to
set the type to ".mp3".
9. Click "Save"
I think for a while--when I was in my "who needs
instructions?" mode--my main problem was I wasn't using the
"Change" button. At one time I was also not changing the
file type to MP3.
> I have another free program (Zortam Mp3 Media Studio)
> that does the job beautifully.
Goldwave also works quite well, but I'm pleased to learn
about Sound Recorder. I may eventually decide it's my
favorite way to make sound files. I see it will do a lot of
other stuff I haven't tried yet.
I've used Praat to make sound files, but it will have
nothing to do with MP3 files. I've gone to Goldwave to do
that conversion. But if I want to analyze an MP3 file with
Praat, I have to first convert it to WAV.
R J Valentine
[responding to Bob Cunningham]
} A good post, and a useful cite. However, since no one has expressed
} any interest in diagnosing my voice or suggesting what to read into
} the mike, I've abandoned the idea.
Heck, I'll diagnose your voice. I suggest you record anything that anyone
else has recorded in the AUE archives (particularly anything that Bob
Cunningham has recorded). You can't go wrong following Bob Cunningham's
lead.
--
rjv
Skitt
Thank you, Bob. That worked.
Hatunen
<exw...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>On Mon, 27 Nov 2006 18:00:41 GMT, the Omrud
><usenet...@gmail.com> said:
>
>> [responding to a question regarding a way to make a sound
>> file, and calling attention to a Microsoft Windows feature at]
>
>> Sound Recorder (Start | All Programs | Accessories | Entertainment).
>
>I hadn't noticed that feature. I see now that my Windows XP
>Start menu has a direct Sound Recorder icon without going
>through All Programs.
Now could someone could just tell me how to configure the sound
recorder to record for more than sixty seconds?
>http://alt-usage-english.org/recording_suggestions.html .
************* DAVE HATUNEN (hat...@cox.net) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *
R H Draney
>
>Now could someone could just tell me how to configure the sound
>recorder to record for more than sixty seconds?
Every time it stops, hit the Record control and you get another sixty
seconds....
Or, if you're serious about recording, download Loop Recorder....r
Tony Cooper
OK...I've recorded the following:
The car owner jumped into the water in a merry manner. As he did, he
caught a glimpse of the girl he wanted to marry. Her name, not
unsurprisingly in this context, was Mary.
An observer brought out a cot to sit on and made a drawing of the
scene. He had been taught by his father to carefully record such
incidents. His father, whose name was Bob, had died a few years
previously in a fall from a roof.
Someone brought the observer a cold cup of coffee. That reminded him
of Ferdinand, the calm cat that was written about in a book, and this
caused him no end of bother.
As an end note, I find it very difficult to read nonsense in a normal
manner.
It's up at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tony_cooper213/aue.wav
Evan Kirshenbaum
> OK...I've recorded the following:
>
> The car owner jumped into the water in a merry manner. As he did, he
> caught a glimpse of the girl he wanted to marry. Her name, not
> unsurprisingly in this context, was Mary.
>
> An observer brought out a cot to sit on and made a drawing of the
> scene. He had been taught by his father to carefully record such
> incidents. His father, whose name was Bob, had died a few years
> previously in a fall from a roof.
>
> Someone brought the observer a cold cup of coffee. That reminded him
> of Ferdinand, the calm cat that was written about in a book, and this
> caused him no end of bother.
>
> As an end note, I find it very difficult to read nonsense in a normal
> manner.
>
> It's up at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tony_cooper213/aue.wav
I like it. I've put my version at
http://www.kirshenbaum.net/AUE/car-owner.mp3
I've got a bit of a cold, but I'm not too stuffed up and I managed to
keep from coughing, and I think it sounds pretty much like me.
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |The skinny models whose main job is
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |to display clothes aren't hired for
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |their sex appeal. They're hired
|for their resemblance to a
kirsh...@hpl.hp.com |coat-hanger.
(650)857-7572 | Peter Moylan
R J Valentine
...
} It's up at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tony_cooper213/aue.wav
Thanks. Innocent enthusiasts should be forewarned that it's a seven-meg
file, in case they're on a phone line and pay for something by the minute.
It's not as big as Bob Cunningham's excellent video of his highly
articulate descendants, but only barely. Someone posted a method of
cutting the size down to one meg or less, and that might be worth
experimenting with, but not for my benefit, because I've already got the
big one. The volume sounds lower than some I've heard, but that ought to
be better for me after I move it to another computer (the dy computer I
use for the Internet has about six fans, all of which seem to be running
at full blast now; the hemateQ computer has a real quiet fan that comes on
only occasionally. But I played it through a couple of times on the
Windows Media Player, and I can tell by the bar graph that someone is
saying something.
I see now that erk has one up. I'll try to grab that, too, before I shut
down the fans.
--
rjv
dontbother
> Tony Cooper <tony_co...@earthlink.net> writes:
>
>> OK...I've recorded the following:
>>
>> The car owner jumped into the water in a merry manner. As he
>> did, he caught a glimpse of the girl he wanted to marry. Her
>> name, not unsurprisingly in this context, was Mary.
>>
>> An observer brought out a cot to sit on and made a drawing of
>> the scene. He had been taught by his father to carefully
>> record such incidents. His father, whose name was Bob, had
>> died a few years previously in a fall from a roof.
>>
>> Someone brought the observer a cold cup of coffee. That
>> reminded him of Ferdinand, the calm cat that was written about
>> in a book, and this caused him no end of bother.
>>
>> As an end note, I find it very difficult to read nonsense in a
>> normal manner.
>>
>> It's up at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tony_cooper213/aue.wav
>
> I like it. I've put my version at
>
> http://www.kirshenbaum.net/AUE/car-owner.mp3
>
> I've got a bit of a cold, but I'm not too stuffed up and I
> managed to keep from coughing, and I think it sounds pretty much
> like me.
This sounded like fun, so I've done it too. It certainly sounds
like me, but because I've been reading stories to my son almost
every night for the past six or seven years, it may sound a bit
different from my normal conversational pronunciation, except for
that reduced "to" in the "difficult to read nonsense" sentence.
You can listen to or download the 228-kb file at:
http://faculty.stut.edu.tw/~huizhe/car-owner.mp3
Frauenhofer mp3 encoding reduces ACM wave files to about 10% of
their original size.
--
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
Native speaker of American English; posting from Taiwan.
Unmunged email: /at/easypeasy.com
"Impatience is the mother of misery."
R J Valentine
} Tony Cooper <tony_co...@earthlink.net> writes:
...
}> It's up at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tony_cooper213/aue.wav
}
} I like it. I've put my version at
}
} http://www.kirshenbaum.net/AUE/car-owner.mp3
Thanks. At 295 or 303 kils, depending on whose kils you use, it's a lot
easier to download than 7 megs. The volume is also just fine. If you or
Sparky could take Coop under your wing for a few minutes, he'd be a pro in
no time.
} I've got a bit of a cold, but I'm not too stuffed up and I managed to
} keep from coughing, and I think it sounds pretty much like me.
Sounds fine here. I'll wait until I get a better listen at Coop's before
I start to make fun of either of your accents.
--
rjv
R J Valentine
} Evan Kirshenbaum <kirsh...@hpl.hp.com> wrote
}> Tony Cooper <tony_co...@earthlink.net> writes:
}>
}>> OK...I've recorded the following:
}>>
}>> The car owner jumped into the water in a merry manner. As he
}>> did, he caught a glimpse of the girl he wanted to marry. Her
}>> name, not unsurprisingly in this context, was Mary.
}>>
}>> An observer brought out a cot to sit on and made a drawing of
}>> the scene. He had been taught by his father to carefully
}>> record such incidents. His father, whose name was Bob, had
}>> died a few years previously in a fall from a roof.
}>>
}>> Someone brought the observer a cold cup of coffee. That
}>> reminded him of Ferdinand, the calm cat that was written about
}>> in a book, and this caused him no end of bother.
}>>
}>> As an end note, I find it very difficult to read nonsense in a
}>> normal manner.
}>>
}>> It's up at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tony_cooper213/aue.wav
}>
}> I like it. I've put my version at
}>
}> http://www.kirshenbaum.net/AUE/car-owner.mp3
...
} You can listen to or download the 228-kb file at:
}
} http://faculty.stut.edu.tw/~huizhe/car-owner.mp3
Another excellent recording. Whoever does such things ought to grab them
quick for the AUE archives <http://www.alt-usage-english.org> and
encourage Donna Richoux and Sara Lorimer and some of the British folks and
at least six or eight others to record the same text.
My own would sound just like that last one, only slurred and muffled.
--
rjv
Tony Cooper
<r...@TheWorld.com> wrote:
>On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 02:11:33 GMT Tony Cooper <tony_co...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>...
>} It's up at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tony_cooper213/aue.wav
>
>Thanks. Innocent enthusiasts should be forewarned that it's a seven-meg
>file, in case they're on a phone line and pay for something by the minute.
>It's not as big as Bob Cunningham's excellent video of his highly
>articulate descendants, but only barely. Someone posted a method of
>cutting the size down to one meg or less, and that might be worth
>experimenting with, but not for my benefit, because I've already got the
>big one. The volume sounds lower than some I've heard, but that ought to
>be better for me after I move it to another computer
The sound level is low for me, too. Evan's is very clear. Perhaps I
was too far back from the mike. I was following Bob's instructions.
I converted it to a mp3 at
http://home.earthlink.net/~tony_cooper213/aue.mp3
The volume is louder, but there's a skip at the beginning. It's also
kind of hollow sounding. But, it's 643 kb.
Tony Cooper
The mp3 version I converted the .wav to is much louder and clearer.
The skip at the beginning is annoying, though.
Damn, though, do I whistle that "s" in "glimpse"! Never knew I did
that. I'm going to record my next "Letter to Sis". "Sis" should wake
up every dog in the neighborhood.
http://home.earthlink.net/~tony_cooper213/aue.mp3
Evan Kirshenbaum
> Evan Kirshenbaum <kirsh...@hpl.hp.com> wrote:
>
> } Tony Cooper <tony_co...@earthlink.net> writes:
> ...
> }> It's up at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tony_cooper213/aue.wav
> }
> } I like it. I've put my version at
> }
> } http://www.kirshenbaum.net/AUE/car-owner.mp3
>
> Thanks. At 295 or 303 kils, depending on whose kils you use, it's a
> lot easier to download than 7 megs. The volume is also just fine.
> If you or Sparky could take Coop under your wing for a few minutes,
> he'd be a pro in no time.
I recorded it using RealPlayer, saving as MP3. I originally saved it
at 192 Kbps, but that resulted in an 800KB file, so I down-converted
it to 64 KBps. For recording, I used a ReTrak headset:
http://tinyurl.com/yzhbur
<URL:http://www.thegrillstoreandmore.com/image/products/
big-pics/1702527b.jpg>
It came as part of a set of retractable cables, which I bought mostly
for the USB, ethernet, and phone cables, but they've all worked really
well. This is the first time I've used the mic on the headset.
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |Giving money and power to government
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |is like giving whiskey and car keys
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |to teenage boys.
| P.J. O'Rourke
kirsh...@hpl.hp.com
(650)857-7572
the Omrud
> Tony Cooper <tony_co...@earthlink.net> writes:
>
> > It's up at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tony_cooper213/aue.wav
>
> I like it. I've put my version at
>
> http://www.kirshenbaum.net/AUE/car-owner.mp3
>
> I've got a bit of a cold, but I'm not too stuffed up and I managed to
> keep from coughing, and I think it sounds pretty much like me.
I will also make a version, but I'm just waiting for a taxi to take
me to the station to get the train to London for the day. So I may
be some time.
--
David
=====
Brad Germolene
<r...@TheWorld.com> wrought:
I was shocked on hearing TC for the first time --scared, even. He
sounded just like Dick Cheney in a particularly bad mood.
Then I listened again and revised my opinion, somewhat. Coop is, in
fact, Billy Bob Thornton and ICMFP.
(Salproofing Disclaimer: I'm talking more tone and intonation than
accent or pronunciation here.)
--
Brad Germolene
Wood Avens
<r...@TheWorld.com> wrote:
>Another excellent recording. Whoever does such things ought to grab them
>quick for the AUE archives <http://www.alt-usage-english.org> and
>encourage Donna Richoux and Sara Lorimer and some of the British folks and
>at least six or eight others to record the same text.
Remarkable. I've had a go, and so has David (my husband), who's had
30 years away down South from his Lancashire roots. For an added Brit
discriminator we thought of adding a sentence incorporating path or
bath, but it's hard enough to read it with a straight face as it is.
Here's the recording, first my version, immediately followed by
David's:
http://www.zen99844.zen.co.uk/speech/Katy%20and%20David.mp3
--
Katy Jennison
spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @
Igor (t4a)
> Tony Cooper <tony_co...@earthlink.net> writes:
>
> > OK...I've recorded the following:
> >
> > The car owner jumped into the water in a merry manner. As he did, he
> > caught a glimpse of the girl he wanted to marry. Her name, not
> > unsurprisingly in this context, was Mary.
> >
> > An observer brought out a cot to sit on and made a drawing of the
> > scene. He had been taught by his father to carefully record such
> > incidents. His father, whose name was Bob, had died a few years
> > previously in a fall from a roof.
> >
> > Someone brought the observer a cold cup of coffee. That reminded him
> > of Ferdinand, the calm cat that was written about in a book, and this
> > caused him no end of bother.
> >
> > As an end note, I find it very difficult to read nonsense in a normal
> > manner.
> >
> > It's up at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tony_cooper213/aue.wav
>
> I like it. I've put my version at
>
> http://www.kirshenbaum.net/AUE/car-owner.mp3
I couldn't resist. This is me, native speaker of German after a long
time of not speaking English at all. So, there is room for improvement.
http://home.arcor.de/t2c/Igor_t4a.mp3 (751 KB)
Bob, if it is of any use to you or someone else*, you may use this
recording without any restrictions.
* except for Conan O'Brien and a1a who was always afraid of a reverse
of the Normandy invasion (just joking).
Regards,
Igor
Bob Cunningham
When you do, please first note the serious defects in the
two recordings we've discussed here lately.
They're both recorded stereo. That doubles the size of the
file unnecessarily. Sound recorder lets you choose mono or
stereo. There's no reason to record stereo for a recording
of a single voice.
One of the files is recorded at a sampling frequency of
44,100 Hz. That's unnecessarily high and makes the file
twice as big as necessary. Set the sampling frequency to
22,050 Hz. I mentioned setting the mode and sampling
frequency in step six of the expanded procedure I posted
recently.
The posting with that procedure is at Google Groups,
http://preview.tinyurl.com/y8g7au
One of the files was recorded at far too low an amplitude.
If you use Sound Recorder, pay attention to the oscilloscope
display it gives you. Record with your mouth close enough
to the mike so that you're filling up most of the dynamic
range in that display without clipping. Using as much as
possible of the available dynamic range gives the voice an
advantage over system noises.
You can practice getting the right distance to the mike
without recording, then use that distance in making the
recording.
Evan Kirshenbaum
> On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 08:51:18 GMT, the Omrud <usenet...@gmail.com>
> said:
>
>> I will also make a version, but I'm just waiting for a taxi to take
>> me to the station to get the train to London for the day. So I may
>> be some time.
>
> When you do, please first note the serious defects in the
> two recordings we've discussed here lately.
>
> They're both recorded stereo. That doubles the size of the file
> unnecessarily. Sound recorder lets you choose mono or stereo.
> There's no reason to record stereo for a recording of a single
> voice.
Good point. I plead unclear thinking due to this cold. I've
down-converted my file to 32 Kbps mono, which cuts the size in half.
(It's now 149 KB.)
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |If we have to re-invent the wheel,
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |can we at least make it round this
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |time?
kirsh...@hpl.hp.com
(650)857-7572
Evan Kirshenbaum
> The car owner jumped into the water in a merry manner. As he did,
> he caught a glimpse of the girl he wanted to marry. Her name, not
> unsurprisingly in this context, was Mary.
Now that we're accumulating a corpus, we probably shouldn't change
things, but just out of curiousity, why is this "not unsurprising"?
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |I believe there are more instances
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |of the abridgment of the freedom of
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |the people by gradual and silent
|encroachments of those in power
kirsh...@hpl.hp.com |than by violent and sudden
(650)857-7572 |usurpations.
| James Madison
http://www.kirshenbaum.net/
Tony Cooper
<kirsh...@hpl.hp.com> wrote:
>Tony Cooper <tony_co...@earthlink.net> writes:
>
>> The car owner jumped into the water in a merry manner. As he did,
>> he caught a glimpse of the girl he wanted to marry. Her name, not
>> unsurprisingly in this context, was Mary.
>
>Now that we're accumulating a corpus, we probably shouldn't change
>things, but just out of curiousity, why is this "not unsurprising"?
Even when writing nonsense, it is impossible to avoid the OY!s of
outrageous criticism and the slinging of obAues. I feel it's best to
just jump in. Unless, of course, there are alligators in the water.
I am impressed with the different contributions, but it seems we are
headed for Dramatic Readings rather than replication of normal
speaking voice.
I intended to include certain words that might be pronounced
differently by contributors. So far, all I note is the "roof/ruff"
differences. I also intended that the reading would be difficult to
do smoothly because the concentration required to get through abnormal
word sequences would let pronunciation go unaffected.
I am seriously considering sending Katy and Dave's file to our local
PBS station. Our station strives for "high class", and those two
could make a news report of a naked man and alligator fight a high
class soundbite to American ears.
Igor's file should serve as example to television actors who think
that any character of German extraction should sound like Sgt Schultz.
Ross is dead-on. I *do* sound like Cheney.
Brad Germolene
<exw...@earthlink.net> wrought:
>On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 08:51:18 GMT, the Omrud
><usenet...@gmail.com> said:
>
>> Evan Kirshenbaum <kirsh...@hpl.hp.com> had it:
>
>> > Tony Cooper <tony_co...@earthlink.net> writes:
>
>> > > It's up at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tony_cooper213/aue.wav
>
>> > I like it. I've put my version at
>
>> > http://www.kirshenbaum.net/AUE/car-owner.mp3
>
>> > I've got a bit of a cold, but I'm not too stuffed up and I managed to
>> > keep from coughing, and I think it sounds pretty much like me.
>
>> I will also make a version, but I'm just waiting for a taxi to take
>> me to the station to get the train to London for the day. So I may
>> be some time.
>
>When you do, please first note the serious defects in the
>two recordings we've discussed here lately.
>
>They're both recorded stereo. That doubles the size of the
>file unnecessarily.
>
>Sound recorder lets you choose mono or
>stereo. There's no reason to record stereo for a recording
>of a single voice.
Agreed.
>One of the files is recorded at a sampling frequency of
>44,100 Hz. That's unnecessarily high and makes the file
>twice as big as necessary. Set the sampling frequency to
>22,050 Hz.
Not agreed. It's not unnecessarily high, since 44,100 Hz has been
generally settled on as the best rate to ensure minimum acceptable
(i.e. barely discernible) loss of quality when compressing a .wav file
to an mp3 while keeping file sizes under 10 MB for a standard-length
pop song.
Rather than insisting on stringent technical specifications, wouldn't
it be more helpful to say "keep 'em coming!"? Most people barely know
what socket at the back of their PC they're supposed to plug their
mike into, let alone what amplitudes and sampling rates are. Remember,
too, that they're hosting the files on WWW servers, so nobody on
Usenet is being inconvenienced by them -- if you don't want them,
don't go there.
If these files were being made for the purposes of scientific
comparison or even compiling an archive for the AUE website, your
insistence on standardising their technical specs might make some
sense. But they're just a bit of fun to perk up a slow week, so why
not just relax and enjoy them?
As for the bandwidth issue that I'm assuming is behind your concern
about file lengths, if people are finding 1 Mb per file (Katy's had
two for the price of one, hence its 2-MB size) too large to download,
I'd suggest they need to seriously consider whether Internet-based
audio is viable for them at all. After all, many websites' start pages
are that big these days. That said, if you really do consider it
important to reduce the sizes of the files people are posting links
to, instead of encouraging them to skimp on the quality of the
recordings by having them use an inadequate sampling rate, why not
just edit the text that they're reading out? It's twice as long as it
needs to be to serve its purpose.
--
Brad Germolene
Wood Avens
<kirsh...@hpl.hp.com> wrote:
>Tony Cooper <tony_co...@earthlink.net> writes:
>
>> The car owner jumped into the water in a merry manner. As he did,
>> he caught a glimpse of the girl he wanted to marry. Her name, not
>> unsurprisingly in this context, was Mary.
>
>Now that we're accumulating a corpus, we probably shouldn't change
>things, but just out of curiousity, why is this "not unsurprising"?
I started reading, and as I read out "not unsurprisingly" the part of
my brain not busy with the reading said "Wait a mo. Surely it isn't
at all surprising for Mary to follow merry and marry. Shouldn't this
be either "not surprising" or "unsurprising" but not both?" Anyway, I
carried on reading and when I got to the end I simply voiced this
doubt. At that stage I hadn't had time to work out whether I was sure
about it or not.
Wood Avens
<tony_co...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>I am impressed with the different contributions, but it seems we are
>headed for Dramatic Readings rather than replication of normal
>speaking voice.
It's astonishingly hard to tell, while reading, whether one's reading
the thing in "a normal speaking voice". I'm sure someone who's heard
me speak (Laura, Mike, Paul, Harvey, for instance) is much better
quaified than I am to judge whether I sounded the way I normally do.
>
>I am seriously considering sending Katy and Dave's file to our local
>PBS station. Our station strives for "high class", and those two
>could make a news report of a naked man and alligator fight a high
>class soundbite to American ears.
Gosh, how exciting!
Bob Cunningham
said:
[...]
> I couldn't resist. This is me, native speaker of German after a long
> time of not speaking English at all. So, there is room for improvement.
> http://home.arcor.de/t2c/Igor_t4a.mp3 (751 KB)
Now, *that's* a good recording. The only reservation I have
in saying that is that I think the sampling frequency of
44,100 Hz is unnecessarily high.
But, in contrast with other recordings discussed here
recently, it's recorded mono, which is good. The levels are
high, but within the dynamic range without clipping. So far
as I can see or hear, there is no discernible noise in the
recording; no pops, no clicks, no hum, no frying, and no
hand-on-mike noises.
I've resampled the file using the attributes to "22050 HZ
Mono 32 kbps". The resulting size is 189 kB, a reduction by
a factor of about four.
I've installed the two files, Igor's original and my
resampled, at my Web site. I invite comments on whether
there's any degradation of quality with the resampling.
URLs are
Original: http://preview.tinyurl.com/yh3p9h
Resampled: http://preview.tinyurl.com/ye49zq
About the text used in this recording and the other two
recent recordings, I don't find it nearly as useful as are
recordings where the sounds of interest are close together,
thus allowing easier comparison. It somewhat defeats the
purpose to have "Mary", "marry", and "merry" unnecessarily
separated.
For the purpose of comparing sounds, the following texts are
examples of the approach that I think is greatly preferable:
My father Arthur thought hot coffee horrible
Mary dear, make me merry, say you'll marry me.
Can a cat man a catamaran?
Even better for conciseness and convenient comparison would
be something like
Merry Mary married wary Harry.
Those sentences can be read in as natural a manner as can
the unnecessarily lengthy text that has been used in the
three recent recordings.
For displaying pronunciations of all of the principal
vowels, it's desirable to have a text that includes all of
them in as concise manner as possible. The "Ferdinand" text
I teach Ferdinand the calm cat to fetch cold cups
of coffee. Who knows more about tasting things?
He's used the book.
is a good try, but I've now noticed that it doesn't have the
"i" of "fit" or the "ow" of "cow".
There are people who don't approve of using personal
pronouns for non-human animals. We could accommodate those
people and at the same time include the "i" of "fit" by
saying "It's used the book". The "e" of "he" is already
represented in "teach".
For the "ow" of "cow", we could change to "Ferdinand the
loud, calm cat", or better "how to fetch".
With those changes, the text is
I teach Ferdinand the calm cat how to fetch cold
cups of coffee. Who knows more about tasting
things? It's used the book.
Are there any other important vowels or diphthongs missing?
Can someone offer a shorter text that can be read naturally
and that has all of the important vowels?
> Bob, if it is of any use to you or someone else*, you may use this
> recording without any restrictions.
The same permission extends to the resampled file at my Web
site.
About tiny URLs: Some people have said they don't trust
tiny URLs because they want to see better where they're
going to be taken. Out of respect for that feeling, I
started giving the full URL in addition to the tiny URL. But
Tiny URL now allows the user to preview the full URL before
going to the site. Does anyone disagree that this makes it
no longer necessary to include the long URL in a posting in
addition to the tiny URL?
Bob Cunningham
<wood...@askjennison.com> said:
[...]
> I've had a go, and so has David (my husband), who's had
> 30 years away down South from his Lancashire roots. For an added Brit
> discriminator we thought of adding a sentence incorporating path or
> bath, but it's hard enough to read it with a straight face as it is.
> Here's the recording, first my version, immediately followed by
> David's:
> http://www.zen99844.zen.co.uk/speech/Katy%20and%20David.mp3
You've recorded stereo with a sampling frequency of 44,100
Hz. Your file length is 2 megabytes. After I change the
attributes to "22050 Hz, Mono 32 kbps", the file size is 338
kilobytes.
I like the quality of your recording, though.
LFS
> On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 16:44:44 GMT, Tony Cooper
> <tony_co...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>
>
>>I am impressed with the different contributions, but it seems we are
>>headed for Dramatic Readings rather than replication of normal
>>speaking voice.
>
>
> It's astonishingly hard to tell, while reading, whether one's reading
> the thing in "a normal speaking voice". I'm sure someone who's heard
> me speak (Laura, Mike, Paul, Harvey, for instance) is much better
> quaified than I am to judge whether I sounded the way I normally do.
You sounded just as you normally do, to me.
>
>
>>I am seriously considering sending Katy and Dave's file to our local
>>PBS station. Our station strives for "high class", and those two
>>could make a news report of a naked man and alligator fight a high
>>class soundbite to American ears.
>
>
> Gosh, how exciting!
>
--
Laura
(emulate St. George for email)
R J Valentine
[To TOK]
...
} I like the quality of your recording, though.
I agree with Mr. Cunningham (as usual).
--
rjv
R J Valentine
} On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 05:00:34 +0000 (UTC), R J Valentine
} <r...@TheWorld.com> wrote:
...
}>Another excellent recording. Whoever does such things ought to grab them
}>quick for the AUE archives <http://www.alt-usage-english.org> and
}>encourage Donna Richoux and Sara Lorimer and some of the British folks and
}>at least six or eight others to record the same text.
}
} The mp3 version I converted the .wav to is much louder and clearer.
And twenty times shorter (IYCMD). It's right up there with those of the
_respected_ regulars. With Rey no longer around to protest and Sparking
being remarkably civil, it's almost like you made the inner circle.
} The skip at the beginning is annoying, though.
I wouldn't worry about it. It's fine.
} Damn, though, do I whistle that "s" in "glimpse"! Never knew I did
} that. I'm going to record my next "Letter to Sis". "Sis" should wake
} up every dog in the neighborhood.
Try a little foam on the microphone. It might not be you.
} http://home.earthlink.net/~tony_cooper213/aue.mp3
--
rjv
R J Valentine
...
} I started reading, and as I read out "not unsurprisingly" the part of
} my brain not busy with the reading said "Wait a mo. Surely it isn't
} at all surprising for Mary to follow merry and marry. Shouldn't this
} be either "not surprising" or "unsurprising" but not both?" Anyway, I
} carried on reading and when I got to the end I simply voiced this
} doubt. At that stage I hadn't had time to work out whether I was sure
} about it or not.
It's like ironic litotes or something that helps the reader to relax and
get her mind off the reading itself, while saluting the spirit of
alt.usage.english. It worked out well.
--
rjv
Bob Cunningham
<ggu...@yahoo.com> said:
[...]
> Rather than insisting on stringent technical specifications,
> wouldn't it be more helpful to say "keep 'em coming!"?
Do you know anyone who's insisting on stringent technical
specifications? What I object to is making files too large
for no good reason, and recording the kind of crap that some
of the files in the Audio Archive are.
Rather than saying "keep 'em coming", I would say I'd like
to see more sound recordings, but spare us the pops, clicks,
hum, low levels, and generally bad quality that we hear too
much of in the Audio Archive.
Sound files tend to be installed at Web sites. Web sites
normally have a limit of how many megabytes you can install.
I remember that as being a serious problem when I was
managing the alt.usage.english Web site. I don't know if it
still is; I think they may have expanded their allowable
limit, but I'm sure it's still finite. Anyway, why ask
someone to install or download a two-megabyte file, when a
330 kilobyte file will do as well?
>> One of the files is recorded at a sampling frequency of
>> 44,100 Hz. That's unnecessarily high and makes the file
>> twice as big as necessary. Set the sampling frequency to
>> 22,050 Hz.
> Not agreed. It's not unnecessarily high, since 44,100 Hz
> has been generally settled on as the best rate to ensure
> minimum acceptable (i.e. barely discernible) loss of
> quality when compressing a .wav file to an mp3 while
> keeping file sizes under 10 MB for a standard-length pop
> song.
Okay, I'm talking about voice recordings and you're talking
about pop songs. Maybe music has special problems with
sampling frequency, but 22,050 Hz will faithfully handle
audio frequencies up to 11 kHz. Who needs higher
frequencies than that in voice recordings? And who's
insisting on stringent technical specifications now?
R J Valentine
[context and excellent technical hints snipped]
} I've installed the two files, Igor's original and my
} resampled, at my Web site. I invite comments on whether
} there's any degradation of quality with the resampling.
}
} URLs are
} Original: http://preview.tinyurl.com/yh3p9h
} Resampled: http://preview.tinyurl.com/ye49zq
}
} About the text used in this recording and the other two
} recent recordings, I don't find it nearly as useful as are
} recordings where the sounds of interest are close together,
} thus allowing easier comparison. It somewhat defeats the
} purpose to have "Mary", "marry", and "merry" unnecessarily
} separated.
There is much in what you say. But there is another aspect. Deliberately
unseparated words of great similarity make the reading boring in the
extreme and attract the attention of other people in the house when
repeated automatically (as the Windows Media Player seems to do [and I've
discovered how to get that to open the file automatically instead of
Irfanvies, which grabbed all the extensions without having the necessary
plug-ins to handle some of them]). People who want only the words at
issue to him or her can probably easily enough manipulate the files to
isolate them in any order desired, where others might have difficulty
making a short-repetitive recording interesting.
} For the purpose of comparing sounds, the following texts are
} examples of the approach that I think is greatly preferable:
}
} My father Arthur thought hot coffee horrible
} Mary dear, make me merry, say you'll marry me.
} Can a cat man a catamaran?
For the purpose of comparing sounds alone, I agree.
} Even better for conciseness and convenient comparison would
} be something like
}
} Merry Mary married wary Harry.
And it could be used for euthanasia by boredom, to boot.
} Those sentences can be read in as natural a manner as can
} the unnecessarily lengthy text that has been used in the
} three recent recordings.
Coop tells a good story, even with nonsense. Sparky tells a short story,
which is sometimes preferable.
} For displaying pronunciations of all of the principal
} vowels, it's desirable to have a text that includes all of
} them in as concise manner as possible. The "Ferdinand" text
}
} I teach Ferdinand the calm cat to fetch cold cups
} of coffee. Who knows more about tasting things?
} He's used the book.
}
} is a good try, but I've now noticed that it doesn't have the
} "i" of "fit" or the "ow" of "cow".
}
} There are people who don't approve of using personal
} pronouns for non-human animals. We could accommodate those
} people and at the same time include the "i" of "fit" by
} saying "It's used the book". The "e" of "he" is already
} represented in "teach".
Ah, an even better topic for alt.usage.english. Without nessarily
effectively asserting that you are wrong, I note that my trusty old
_American Heritage Dictionary_ (I) has for "personal pronoun":
A pronoun denoting a speaker, person spoken to, or person or thing
spoken about. The personal pronouns in the subject form in current
English are: _I, we, you, he, she, it, they._
[emphasis in the original, but not for emphasis, but rather in lieu of
quotation marks (cf. greengrocers' apostrophe)]. Other persons object to
using an impersonal pronoun for our cousins the felines.
} For the "ow" of "cow", we could change to "Ferdinand the
} loud, calm cat", or better "how to fetch".
Much better.
} With those changes, the text is
}
} I teach Ferdinand the calm cat how to fetch cold
} cups of coffee. Who knows more about tasting
} things? It's used the book.
}
} Are there any other important vowels or diphthongs missing?
} Can someone offer a shorter text that can be read naturally
} and that has all of the important vowels?
Look at how calmly I teach Ferdinand the cat to fetch cups of cold coffee
(though you, who know more about tasting things, prefer it hot in bed).
The "fetch" and "bed" may seem redundant, but can bring out vowel
lengthening to render voiced stops, for those who distinguish stops from
plosives. The "hot" rectifies a shocking oversight.
}> Bob, if it is of any use to you or someone else*, you may use this
}> recording without any restrictions.
}
} The same permission extends to the resampled file at my Web
} site.
One might hope.
} About tiny URLs: Some people have said they don't trust
} tiny URLs because they want to see better where they're
} going to be taken. Out of respect for that feeling, I
} started giving the full URL in addition to the tiny URL. But
} Tiny URL now allows the user to preview the full URL before
} going to the site. Does anyone disagree that this makes it
} no longer necessary to include the long URL in a posting in
} addition to the tiny URL?
That is indeed an improvement on their part. Myself, I trust Bob
Cunningham and Even Kirshenbaum far more than I trust whoever runs TinyURL
with the substantial amount of information that my ISP sends along with
any Web request. One could see an example of that if you do the ordinary
snipping of a URL on a recommended picture URL on Young Kira's website to
see the whole page it is displayed on and end up shunted to a
threatening-looking page with all sorts of personal information about
oneself and what looks like a Choctaw curse (where ordinary website
designers would have an index or default page in every directory to
channel casual interest). One of my descendants used to (may still) have
a more benign-looking page that just displayed the free information you
give away every time you visit a web page. I'd hate to think you go to
the effort just for me, but I would continue to appreciate the direct URL
(which might also have longer value in case Tiny URL goes out of business
or starts charging). Call me paranoid, but I used to work in the other
side of the business.
--
rjv
Bob Cunningham
<r...@TheWorld.com> said:
[...]
> [I said]
> > Even better for conciseness and convenient comparison would
> > be something like
> Merry Mary married wary Harry.
> And it could be used for euthanasia by boredom, to boot.
I would expect to find more people who found it amusing than
people who found it boring.
Is the long text people have been recording in recent days,
which is freely admitted to be nonsense, guaranteed to not
bore anyone?
Pat Durkin
"Bob Cunningham" <exw...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:mnjum2t23b49s70d1...@4ax.com...
This is really frustrating. I am dying to know what I am missing! I
haven't been able to complete a single link to these sound files. I
get an error message stating that "an object was expected" in the first
character of the first line.
I have Windows Media Player and IE 7 in Windows XP. I have checked in
my IE Tools and lowered security in Internet and Trusted Web sites, and
have enabled just about every script and certif. question presented.
Can anyone help me to hear these files?
Robin Bignall
Don't get frozen while you're down here. It's turned cold and the
huskies have all come indoors.
--
Robin
Herts, England
Jitze Couperus
>
>I couldn't resist. This is me, native speaker of German after a long
>time of not speaking English at all. So, there is room for improvement.
>
>http://home.arcor.de/t2c/Igor_t4a.mp3 (751 KB)
>
>Bob, if it is of any use to you or someone else*, you may use this
>recording without any restrictions.
>
>* except for Conan O'Brien and a1a who was always afraid of a reverse
>of the Normandy invasion (just joking).
>
I couldn't resist either. Here we have somebody whose first 25 years
or so passed in a BritEnglish environment, followed by 35 years as
Californian.
I suppose it sounds like me, but it does strike my ears as an
exaggerated attempt to take the Mickey out of me.
To be found at
http://home.znet.com/couperus/JitzeAccent.mp3
Jitze
Tony Cooper
wrote:
>This is really frustrating. I am dying to know what I am missing! I
>haven't been able to complete a single link to these sound files. I
>get an error message stating that "an object was expected" in the first
>character of the first line.
>
>I have Windows Media Player and IE 7 in Windows XP. I have checked in
>my IE Tools and lowered security in Internet and Trusted Web sites, and
>have enabled just about every script and certif. question presented.
>Can anyone help me to hear these files?
>
My converted to mp3 files are played by Real Player. Real Player was
added to my programs yonks ago, but I see that it can be downloaded
for free at:
http://www.realplayer-hq.com/
There may be other ways to hear the files, but this one does work.
Paul Wolff
<tony_co...@earthlink.net> writes
installing RealAlternative in place of RealPlayer (maybe there are some
word breaks in there). The mp3 files don't play, but only open a
Windows Explorer screen with a big black background on which a Windows
Media logo[type image] tries to stare me out.
So if anyone could offer the key to playing mp3 audio files via
RealAlternative?
Tony's .wav file came through, with low volume. I recognised the
accent: it was American. I was impressed by the sounding of the letter
'l' [ell for those with funny fonts] in 'calm', a heretofore unnoted
phenomenon.
--
Paul
In bocca al Lupo!
Tony Cooper
<exw...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>About the text used in this recording and the other two
>recent recordings, I don't find it nearly as useful as are
>recordings where the sounds of interest are close together,
>thus allowing easier comparison. It somewhat defeats the
>purpose to have "Mary", "marry", and "merry" unnecessarily
>separated.
When I first brought up the subject of posting a sound file for
analysis of my voice, I asked for suggestions about what to read. No
one offered any suggestions.
I understand that you have decided to "punish" me by not responding
directly to my posts, but you could have found a way to indirectly
respond as you have many other times.
You had your chance, and you didn't take it, so I took the initiative.
Now some people are having some fun with this, and you chime in with
your criticisms of dialog, format, size, style, and technique.
You remind me of a small child who doesn't want to play a game, but
once he sees others enjoying the game wants to set the rules and run
the game.
Just go chart the vowel placements, Bob.
http://alt-usage-english.org/Fontana_chart.gif
--
Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL
Robin Bignall
My sound system is working fine, and I can hear the various versions,
but I can't get my mic to work, and have just noticed that the system
tray icon which gives access to the mixer is no longer present. Weird,
for the audio manager seems to be installed.
--
Robin
Herts, England
BW
<kirsh...@hpl.hp.com> wrote:
>Tony Cooper <tony_co...@earthlink.net> writes:
>
>>
>> The car owner jumped into the water in a merry manner. As he did, he
>> caught a glimpse of the girl he wanted to marry. Her name, not
>> unsurprisingly in this context, was Mary.
>>
>> An observer brought out a cot to sit on and made a drawing of the
>> scene. He had been taught by his father to carefully record such
>> incidents. His father, whose name was Bob, had died a few years
>> previously in a fall from a roof.
>>
>> Someone brought the observer a cold cup of coffee. That reminded him
>> of Ferdinand, the calm cat that was written about in a book, and this
>> caused him no end of bother.
>>
>> As an end note, I find it very difficult to read nonsense in a normal
>> manner.
>>
>> It's up at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tony_cooper213/aue.wav
>
>I like it. I've put my version at
>
> http://www.kirshenbaum.net/AUE/car-owner.mp3
>
Me too!
http://home.nyc.rr.com/bwickham/bw_aue.mp3
For the record, I am a native of New York City and still living there
for the last 64 years. I don't think I have a broad NYC accent but I
do say some words that betray me. In the "sound-alike" category, my
friends tell me that Jeff Greenfield of CNN has apparently copied my
voice pattern and vocal style. What WAS he thinking?
For the technoids: I used an ancient EV 635A mic, with no windscreen,
mounted on a mechanically isolated desk stand. It was plugged
directly into my Turtle Beach sound card and recorded using Roxio 7
software at full record level. I recorded a wave file but after
lopping off the blank ends I saved the job as a mono mp3 file.
For any of you trying this with a desk mic I have some advice based on
many years of recording announcers professionally: Do not read
directly into the mic. Stay close but put the mic to the side and
turn it so that you read at a little less than a 90 degree angle
across the mic's head. This should reduce popping yet give a full
frequency recording.
BW
Garrett Wollman
Evan Kirshenbaum <kirsh...@hpl.hp.com> wrote:
>I like it. I've put my version at
>
> http://www.kirshenbaum.net/AUE/car-owner.mp3
>
>I've got a bit of a cold, but I'm not too stuffed up and I managed to
>keep from coughing, and I think it sounds pretty much like me.
OK, I guess it's my turn, too. I read Tony's text and all of the
texts on alt-usage-english.org, plus some of the ones suggested
elsethread by Bob Cunningham. You will find the good bits by
appending a filename from the list which follows to the base URL
<http://khavrinen.csail.mit.edu/>.
368K arthur-the-rat.ogg
9.7M arthur-the-rat.wav
24K bother-father.ogg
344K bother-father.wav
40K i-teach-ferdinand.ogg
896K i-teach-ferdinand.wav
96K shorts.ogg
2.4M shorts.wav
128K tc-car-owner.ogg
3.4M tc-car-owner.wav
112K the-north-wind-and-the-sun.ogg
2.7M the-north-wind-and-the-sun.wav
384K the-rainbow-passage.ogg
9.9M the-rainbow-passage.wav
"shorts" is comprised of the texts from Bob Cunningham's message.
I used "oggenc -q0" to create the Ogg Vorbis versions. I tried
quality 6 (which is held by many to be "transparent") and found no
difference.
More significantly, due to defects in my recording setup (which could
probably be fixed if I cared to buy a mixer and a decent mike),
there's a bad buzz on the original recordings; I used a simple
noise-reducer (sox's "noisered" effect) to remove this, but it tends
to whack off a lot of the high end of the audio. So even though these
samples were made at 44.1 kHz, they sound like 16 kHz at best. (As a
bonus, Vorbis was able to compress the denoised files more than twice
as well.) I have not presented the original recordings here, just the
denoised ones.
-GAWollman
--
Garrett A. Wollman | The real tragedy of human existence is not that we are
wol...@csail.mit.edu| nasty by nature, but that a cruel structural asymmetry
Opinions not those | grants to rare events of meanness such power to shape
of MIT or CSAIL. | our history. - S.J. Gould, Ten Thousand Acts of Kindness
R J Valentine
...
} http://home.nyc.rr.com/bwickham/bw_aue.mp3
}
} For the record, I am a native of New York City and still living there
} for the last 64 years. I don't think I have a broad NYC accent but I
} do say some words that betray me.
Yet another excellent recording. For me the words of particular interest
were the "that" before "reminded" (as contrasted with "cat") and
especially the first "father". Have you spent any time in Boston?
--
rjv
Igor (t4a)
> "Bob Cunningham" <exw...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:mnjum2t23b49s70d1...@4ax.com...
> > On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 20:04:07 +0000 (UTC), R J Valentine
> > <r...@TheWorld.com> said:
> >
> > [...]
> >
> >> [I said]
> >
> >> > Even better for conciseness and convenient comparison would
> >> > be something like
> >
> >> Merry Mary married wary Harry.
> >
> >> And it could be used for euthanasia by boredom, to boot.
> >
> > I would expect to find more people who found it amusing than
> > people who found it boring.
> >
> > Is the long text people have been recording in recent days,
> > which is freely admitted to be nonsense, guaranteed to not
> > bore anyone?
>
> This is really frustrating. I am dying to know what I am missing! I
> haven't been able to complete a single link to these sound files. I
> get an error message stating that "an object was expected" in the first
> character of the first line.
You always have the option of downloading the files to your harddisk.
Left-click the link to the soundfile and choose "save as" in the
apearing menu. Then indicate the folder and confirm the download. After
having downloaded all files you are interest in you can go off-line and
listen to the files with e.g. "Winamp". You can get this little
programm virtually anywhere on the internet.
> I have Windows Media Player and IE 7 in Windows XP. I have checked in
> my IE Tools and lowered security in Internet and Trusted Web sites, and
> have enabled just about every script and certif. question presented.
> Can anyone help me to hear these files?
It is also possible that the wrong programm tries to play these files.
But this is difficult to tell from here.
Regards,
Igor
Pat Durkin
"Igor (t4a)" <t...@gmx.net> wrote in message
news:1164956544....@80g2000cwy.googlegroups.com...
> Pat Durkin wrote:
>> "Bob Cunningham" <exw...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
>> news:mnjum2t23b49s70d1...@4ax.com...
>> > On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 20:04:07 +0000 (UTC), R J Valentine
>> > <r...@TheWorld.com> said:
>> >
>> > [...]
>> >
>> haven't been able to complete a single link to these sound files. I
>> get an error message stating that "an object was expected" in the
>> first
>> character of the first line.
>
>
> You always have the option of downloading the files to your harddisk.
> Left-click the link to the soundfile and choose "save as" in the
> apearing menu. Then indicate the folder and confirm the download.
> After
> having downloaded all files you are interest in you can go off-line
> and
> listen to the files with e.g. "Winamp". You can get this little
> programm virtually anywhere on the internet.
Sorry, but I couldn't even open the websites. I kept getting the error
codes in IE7. However, I was able to click on the links and open the
sound files in RealPlayer.
Thanks to those who posted their voices, and also told me how to hear
the sounds.
Igor (t4a)
>
> You always have the option of downloading the files to your harddisk.
> Left-click the link to the soundfile and choose "save as" in the
> apearing menu. Then indicate the folder and confirm the download. After
> having downloaded all files you are interest in you can go off-line and
> listen to the files with e.g. "Winamp". You can get this little
> programm virtually anywhere on the internet.
It is *right-click*, of course.
Regards,
Igor
the Omrud
I barely had to go outdoors at all. I got a taxi underneath Euston
and it dropped directly outside the door of our new HQ in Baker
street. So I didn't really notice the weather.
--
David
=====
Salvatore Volatile
[...]
> Yet another excellent recording.
I've held my tongue thus far, but I can't any longer. I made a recording
of "Arthur the Rat" some years ago and provided it to Sparky. Sparky may
still have this recording somewhere; I have lost it. I had hoped that
Sparky would post my recording by way of some website or such, but so far
as I know he never did do.
I could make another recording, but ITLTFMM.
--
Salvatore Volatile