"The Night Before Christmas" in our own voices!

[RadioJonD]

Kelly Ann started a thread about favorite accents. - http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11459

This thread got me hyped on an idea I’ve had for about the last four years. Is there enough interest? So far,there hasn't been any.

I've tried for about the last four years to have folks record Christmas greetings, poems, stories, etc. to share on a Christmas CD. Now, with Merry Christmas Radio, I would like to do the same!

In my four years of asking, not one person has ever sent me anything. Dare I bring it up again?

I would really like to put together "The Night Before Christmas" using as many of you as possible.
i would love to! what an amazing idea! the only problem is, i am not very technological, how would i record my voice for you??
The best way is to use a digital audio recorder (like the ones students use to record lectures). Record, upload to computer, and send as a wav/MP3, etc. Another method is to just use a video camera in the same manner. You don't have to worry 'bout what's on showing on the screen. Just make sure the audio quality is good.

[Maureen]

Ooooh yes - I'm definitely in!! Haven't a scoobie how to do it (even with your explicit instructions!) but I'd love to!!

[JOHNOR]

ok you lost me! as i say, i am not technological in the slightest, i don't have one of those voice recorder things! is there any other way?

[officepro4u]

Count me in!!!! Do we record the entire 'Twas the Night... and you'll edit our voices in and out?? I think this is a great idea!!!!

[RadioJonD]

Yes, Diana. In the case of our reading "The Night Before Christmas", each participant would have to record and submit the whole poem. Then I would edit all the audio into the finished work. If you have a favorite passage, let me know and I’ll try to edit to where you are reading it.

Those submitting greetings, song intros, original poems, etc can mostly say what you would like. Examples are, “This is RadioJonD (or Jonathan) from the Merry Network wishing you and yours the Coolest Yule ever this year!” Or “Merry Christmas!, I’m _____ and this is my poem/message/favorite tune just for you on Merry Christmas Radio.”

You get the idea. If you wanted to send messages to MCR DJs, we would love that as well. Something like, “Cool Yule Y’all! This is RadioJonD and you are listening to my close and personal pal, Jayish!; right here on Merry Christmas Radio!”

These are examples. Be original and creative!

[dvdguy]

Yes how will this work? Theres not that many parts, its really just a narrator
isnt it?

[RadioJonD]

ok you lost me! as i say, i am not technological in the slightest, i don't have one of those voice recorder things! is there any other way?
I suppose I could accept mailed audio cassettes if anyone has a recorder laying around they could use.

[RadioJonD]

Yes how will this work? Theres not that many parts, its really just a narrator
isnt it?
Depending on the number of participants, each one will be reading a particular passage. For instance, OfficePro4U starts: “‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house…” the next person says, “…not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…”, etc. If there is an overwhelming number of participants (which ain’t ever happened yet), we can just have two or more versions!

Again, I’ve tried this several different times at various forums and haven’t had the first bite. It may not fly here either. There is always a rush of enthusiasm and then no one sends anything. I’m cautiously optimistic this time.

[Maureen]

If I can figure out a way to record it, I'll definitely send it. I think my MP3 player has a built in microphone so I'll look into that

[RadioJonD]

If I can figure out a way to record it, I'll definitely send it. I think my MP3 player has a built in microphone so I'll look into that
Yep! Many MPs players also record voice! Thanks for pointing that out, Mo! Record, hook to a computer, and send the file. Easy!

[CharlestonNole]

Some digital "still" cameras even have a simple video/audio mode.

That's what I use for you tube videos.

[RadioJonD]

1- Speak in a normal conversational tone
2- Position the microphone two to three inches from and slightly lower than your mouth
3- Don't be tense. Just picture us all around a table having a friendly convesation
4- Make sure your recording environment is quite. Turn off TV, radio, phones, etc.
5- If you mess up a line, pause for about three seconds and pick back up at the beginning of that line. This avoids stopping and starting your recorder. Remember, I can edit.
6- Avoid recording in a large room (too much reverb)
7- Do not hold the recorder/mic in your hand. Sit it on a table.

Most folks do not like the sound of their own voice. I know I don't like mine. That doesn't stop me from talking with friends though!

[Maureen]

Funny you should say that. I did a wedding on Saturday which was webcast. When I got home, I went onto the internet to watch it and was surprised at the timbre of my voice. I always hear it "lower" than it actually came across!

[RadioJonD]

...
You speaking of recording greeting's and such made me think of this. I wonder if Jeff could put it at the top of the forum page .We could record a brief message and hear what each other sides like .

If I remember right once the thing is set up you dial a phone number and record your message.

http://www.snapvine.com/gadget/get_codes_lt?br=g&key=ms

[RadioJonD]

I'll do it!! Assign me some lines! I have a mic built right into my computer! Recite the whole poem please!

[dvdguy]

Jon can I record a quick spot & send it to you to see what you think?

[RadioJonD]

Jon can I record a quick spot & send it to you to see what you think?
Sure! It may be tomorrow before I can listen.

email all submissions to RadioJonD@yahoo.com

I suppose we could cut the amount each person has to record by just choosing certain sections. The reason I don't want each person to read/recite just one line is for the overall flow of the poem.

[trackrebel]

I would love to take part....just gotta find out how to do it....I think my cell has something to record....I don´t know if I can put that on the notebook tho...If not....I´ll record a tape....and send it to ya

[RadioJonD]

I would love to take part....just gotta find out how to do it....I think my cell has something to record....I don´t know if I can put that on the notebook tho...If not....I´ll record a tape....and send it to ya
Good! A German accent is needed, especially for the Donder and Blitzen part!

PM or email me for a street address if you want to send a tape/CD, etc.

[trackrebel]

alright...can I let You know tomorrow?

problem....I don´t have the book....the poem...anybody can post it? :D

[Maureen]

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
http://www.kidsdomain.com/images/spacer.gif

Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On Cupid! On, Donder and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

[RadioJonD]

has fourteen stanzas/verses. So far we have five or six folks on board.

One person per stanza would be nice. One person per line would be great! (Time consuming for me, but great!)

Now that Mo has posted the poem (thanks BonBon!), broken down into twenty-eight 2 liners, perhaps we can get down to business!

[trackrebel]

Sire...I will try my very best!

[RadioJonD]

Though there isn't really a time frame on this, I would like to have all submissions by at least mid November to hopefully have the poem edited for MCR by Christmas 2008.

[RadioJonD]

And another is on it's way! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

I'll let those folks come forward here if they wish and maybe share how they recorded and sent their submission. Perhaps they will also offer reading tips.

I'm getting so excited about this!

[officepro4u]

I had so much fun recording mine!! I think it is a great idea and I hope everyone that said they would do it, will actually do it.

Diana

[RadioJonD]

Can you share how you recorded and sent the file please? Do you have any tips for others?

I might add that Diana's reading is spot on as to what we want! She sounds as if she is reading to a small group in a room and is neither too loud nor too soft! There is hardly any background noise at all. Her cadence and pitch is consistant with any famous person you have ever heard read the poem (except maybe, Louis Armstrong!).

Diana has given me permission to air her complete reading on a future 'Mistletoe Mix' show! After we finish and air our group effort, I'll give everyone that wants equal opprotunity to be a star on Merry Christmas Radio!

Great job, Diana! Who is next?

[officepro4u]

WOW ~ what a nice compliment Jon! I enjoyed doing it so much!!

I have a digital voice recorder that I used. I am a verbatim court reporter and it is what I use in court. I saved the audio in MP3 format on my desktop, attached it as a file and sent to you. I'm pretty sure no one else will have the type of equipment that I have, but thought I'd tell you anyway what I used to record.

Recording tips: It only took me 3 minutes to record this so I silenced my cell phone, turned the ringer off on the regular phone, put the dogs out in the backyard, kids were at school, turned off the TV and started talking. I read it like I was reading it to my kids or to a classroom full of kids with wonderment in their eyes! I used expression, which I think is essential to a good reading.

This was actually the very first time I have ever done this. I enjoyed it so much, I went on to record 2 or 3 more Christmas Poems just for myself.

Diana

[Faithmom6]

I was thinking we could've phoned in our voices to you and YOU could record it!
I want to do this too. I will have to wait for my husband to get home to help me record it and all.
This is way toooo much fun!! Thanks for this!!!

[RadioJonD]

The sound quality would leave a lot to be desired via phone. I would have to purchase a microphone made for telephone recording too.

Don't let the fact that you don't have high tech equipment discourage your participation! Many MP3 players have a voice recording feature even if one doesn't use it. Check yours to see if it has this feature.

I hope dvdguy will share his method too.

Again, you may send me an audio (or even a video) cassette with your contribution. Just use a name brand cassette and avoid store brands. Make sure the record heads (the part that touches the tape) is clean too.

I will also accept CDs but if you could record and save a file to CD, you could just as easily e-mail the file to me.

[dvdguy]

oh yes, my method was to hook my bluetooth headset to the comp & then use the sound recorder.

i saved the file to the comp & emailed it to jon

[RadioJonD]

Yesterday! Who's next? We need readers! The more, the merrier! At this point, family members and friends are welcomed too!

The other Merry Network forums don't seem very interested.

[trackrebel]

I still have to figure out how to do it....:(...I really want to, tho....I think I have a microphone laying around somewhere....that would be the easiest and cheapest way

[Mumof2]

HMM I bet I could figure it out! Im thinking about it,Im a lil scared..lol

[steven-and-angela]

I am gonna have to go find a microphone!

[RadioJonD]

There is nothing for which to be scared, Victoria! We're all friends here and we very much need someone who sounds like a Kennedy!

Steven, work on it Buddy Roe! I can just hear Daniel Boone now!

[JanaBanana]

My voice sounds strange to me on a recorder :D

[JOHNOR]

being an actress and all i would have loved to have taken part, but i just don't have the equipment :-?

[AuntieMistletoeDear]

It just so happens ... I'm listening to my old buddy Burl singing Holly Jolly Christmas on Merry Christmas Radio ... that could be the reason I'm going to toss my voice into the merry ring ... to top it off, JayIsh just gave me a nod to the song.


http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y273/AuntieMistletoe/ani-elf-104x172happy.gif I'll see what I can do.

I think I'll be relying on a friend of mine to help me out. Her computer has more features than mine has for stuff like that.

I have a mic on my new MP3, never used it yet. My family had a tradition of reading the story every Christmas Eve before our Christmas guests arrived. I can recite it without the book in hand, but I'll likely have the book nearby so the pictures add to the tone of the words. Nope, I won't be able to get the entire family involved. I might have to offer two versions though, one with my real voice and one with my storytelling voice which will sound like a mouse or some kind of Muppet character telling the story.

Yule never know what you're going to get until it reaches you. HaHa.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y273/AuntieMistletoe/santa-reindeer1.gif

[JayIsh]

Once again, we see who the brains of the radio operation is!!!

I LOVE this idea Jon!!!

You da man!

[Storeytime]

JonD,
Can you record straight to Audacity with a microphone? I believe you can and it's got a free download. I'll get mine in soon.

[RadioJonD]

JonD,
Can you record straight to Audacity with a microphone? I believe you can and it's got a free download. I'll get mine in soon.
I think you can! Go for it!

Still only two submissions in at this post. We may have to push the finished product beyond Christmas 2008. Again, if you have a simple audio cassette recorder, use it and send me the tape! Pm me for my address. Also see the recording tips in a previous post.

[AuntieMistletoeDear]

cheesy I ran into my friend at the Mall today. She tells me, I can do it all with my system using my MP3 mic. I'll try to get it done on the weekend (next). I can control most of the noise, but not sure about O'Malley. I'll try and do it when he's napping.

I hope you get more offerings in your inbox/mailbox in time.

[Janey]

I would love to take part but not sure if I can - I know I'm new here so I might not be wanted :D

If I can take part how much of it do I say?

I also have a bit of a lisp but everyone manages to understand me fine? I'm scared now! :D

[dvdguy]

Jon i'm still working on mine. I'm having an issue where my recordings fade in & out

[AuntieMistletoeDear]

cheesy Don't worry, Janey - being new doesn't mean you can't participate. The idea is to recite the entire poem and then RJD will edit the story using different voices from around the Globe.

If he doesn't get enough material, he might have to wait until the New Year to work on it. It takes time.

:-? Unfortunately, I won't be able to record my version this weekend due to my voice being out of whack. I don't sound like myself and can't finish more than three sentences without having a coughing fit.

[RadioJonD]

I would love to take part but not sure if I can - I know I'm new here so I might not be wanted :D

If I can take part how much of it do I say?

I also have a bit of a lisp but everyone manages to understand me fine? I'm scared now! :D
Auntie is right, Janey! Any member in good standing of all five of the Merry Network forums is welcome to contribute!

This forum (MMC) is the only one to have expressed any great degree of interest in the project, so the burden is on y'all I guess! I need voices!

How is it that people can do all manner of things with video over the internet but can't record and send simple audio recordings? Audio is a lot easier to manage than video.

If one has a video camera that they can use, record your audio on it and send it to me. It will take more time but I can rip the audio from your video. Also the audio cassette option is still open. You can record and send the audio cassette to me in the mail. PM me for an address.

[Maureen]

To be honest, it WAS easier than I thought it would be. I used the mic on my MP3 player and RJD was able to clear up the crackles and whatnot.

You just plug your MP3 into your PC when you've finished (like you would to put stuff on in) but this time you're saving onto your PC instead of vice versa. Then you just email RJD and attach the sound file to it.

Honestly it was REALLY easy cheesy

[dvdguy]

Ok you should have 2 more now

[MrsH]

Ok you should have 2 more now


Yes, the hubby and I did ours today...and I threw in a little freebie MCR plug to boot!

[RadioJonD]

¡Muchas gracias por las lecturas, MrsH & dvdguy! Very well! That makes four readings received! Thanks also for the MCR plug, MrsH!

Who is next?

[kelly ann]

C'mon people ...get recording!!!!!!

Im going to figure out a way to do this If I can...even though I really hate my Welsh accent!! lol

[RadioJonD]

Don't worry, Kelly Ann, most folks hate the sound of their own voice, including me! But, hey, YOU started this whole biz when you opened the thread about our accents!

It's all about a sampling of what we all sound like together!

[Mumof2]

RJD How many have you got already? and how many do you need total?

[RadioJonD]

I've gotten four. I guess there is no minimum, but at least fourteen would be good since that's how many stanzas are in the poem. If we could get twenty-eight, that would be enough for each rhyme!

Maureen has posted the poem on page three of this thread. She has it broken down into twenty-eight lines.

[trackrebel]

hi RJD....I´m trying to record it over at my mom´s....somehow my tape-recorder don´t work nomore....I will try it...I can´t promise....but I try it...since this project sounds so so nice

[RadioJonD]

Go for it trackrebel! We need accents!

[trackrebel]

Go for it trackrebel! We need accents!

don´t want to disapoint You guys....even tho there is probably some type of accent....it won´t be a huuuuuuge German accent...:D

[Storeytime]

Gosh darn it, Jon. Perfectionism will be the ruin of me. I've been trying to hook up two mics to my computer, went and bought an adapter, downloaded a free audio recording software. Can't get sound in. I'm begining to think I've got two bad mics. They're both Shures. I've tried Audacity. No luck. So, my next move was to get out my old recording computer that's collecting dust, still trying to find time. I guess I just need to do it on the video recorder and be done with it. Mine is a DVD recorder. I'm not sure how to take that to computer. Either I need a quick tutorial or I'll have to mail you the DVD.

[MerryCarey]

Is there a deadline on this? I'd love to get in if I can find the time!

[Storeytime]

Is there a deadline on this? I'd love to get in if I can find the time!

Me too. I haven't had time to do this yet, but I think I can get to it this weekend if it's not too late.

[RadioJonD]

No deadline! No rush! I see this project as an ongoing deal with re-edits as more folks contribute! That's the good thing about the year 'round MCR! It's always Christmas content!

[RadioJonD]

Is there a deadline on this? I'd love to get in if I can find the time!Got one more! Thank you very much MerryCarey! That makes five!

[CharlestonNole]

I'm excited to hear this....

[MerryChristmasLydio]

Kelly Ann started a thread about favorite accents. - http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11459

This thread got me hyped on an idea I’ve had for about the last four years. Is there enough interest? So far,there hasn't been any.



The best way is to use a digital audio recorder (like the ones students use to record lectures). Record, upload to computer, and send as a wav/MP3, etc. Another method is to just use a video camera in the same manner. You don't have to worry 'bout what's on showing on the screen. Just make sure the audio quality is good.

I would love to, but I have no way of doing it. Matter of fact, I'd probably sing about it instead of just talk about it. LOL!

[whychristmas]

I have no idea how I missed this thread!!! Are you still taking new ones rjd? If so I'll get mine done tomorrow hopefully ;)

[RadioJonD]

Yep, keep 'em coming!