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"Philosophy of Sailing": Ericson 38 Solo to Hawaii
- Thread starter Christian Williams
- Start date
Why, now that you mention it, yes--
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmwsCXaIW0Q&t=35s
Anybody want to make an audiobook? Oh, it's great fun in, er, its own way...
https://vimeo.com/287374350
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmwsCXaIW0Q&t=35s
Anybody want to make an audiobook? Oh, it's great fun in, er, its own way...
https://vimeo.com/287374350
907Juice
Continuously learning
Wow! Now I will definitely purchase the audio version. I thought you read it through and maybe did a couple retakes and edits. You sold me! You’re my hero.
Audiobooks? Yes, actors who read them do none of the production stuff. They just go to a studio and perform while an engineer monitors. It's a gig. My actor acquaintences don't enjoy it. Pay is low for the time spent. If some audiobooks annoy, and seem amateurish when the writer is famous, put that down to you get what you pay for. A good example of varying actor skills for famous authors is John Grisham--just listen to the samples of his books on Amazon. You'd think a guaranteed bestseller would merit superb voice actors. But ah! you'd have to pay them above scale. Welcome to the enlightened world of New York publishing, staffed by dinosaurs.
One example of how it should be done is Joe Morton reading Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man." I'm sure he did it mostly as a labor of duty, since the novel is a milestone in the literature of the black experience.
Personally, I like control over things and to get hands dirty, something shared I have a hunch with almost everybody on this forum. So I do it all myself. The recording gear doesn;t cost much, and is no harder to learn than diesel maintenance or making boat instruments talk to each other. The performance? It is what it is. People like to hear the writer talk (polls show that). The post-production stuff is a real bear. It is very like varnishing. Prep, sand between coats, keep the work environment clean, pick a good day, and if you screw it up do it over. The ratio of performance to finished product is at least 1:5, and often more. That means for every hour of raw, five hours of post. Trapped in a dead room in headphones, squinting at a waveform.
These are mono voice recordings. Musicians like E32-200 sailor Rick Reynolds, who has a band, deal with multiple tracks, multiple takes, and an infinite array of choices on every cut. But people do that they themselves now, too--with a better technical result than Phil Specter dreamed off. It amazes me. It is also more work than anybody can imagine, because the possibilities are unlimited except by the artist, and if you have an idea you can make it happen merely by abandoning everything else in your life.
This whole topic interests me. We have in our hands today more pure potential than anybody could have guessed. An iPhone can shoot an entire movie, suitable for theaters--several directors have done it. My editing suite for the YouTube videos, Avid Pinnacle Studio 17, costs $69.95. It can do more than we could at Universal Studios with millions of dollars of gear. Want to write music? "Band in a Box" costs under $100. You can skip Julliard. You can skip the 20 years it took Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker to create the new language of Bebop.
Formerly there were great barriers to technical knowledge, and unless you were Galileo the impediment to achievement was great.
Now anybody can make an audiobook. Or rebuild their Atomic 4 using not a wrench but Google. And all the stuff it took me so many years to figure out, like what the top batten looks like when twist is just right, is somewhere on the Internet, with video explanation by an expert.
Downside of all this potential is it makes you feel lazy.
Our grandfathers were tired, but they didn't feel lazy.
Well, of course I ought to be doing something else right now, so I guess I'd better do it. Or find some other way to put it off....
One example of how it should be done is Joe Morton reading Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man." I'm sure he did it mostly as a labor of duty, since the novel is a milestone in the literature of the black experience.
Personally, I like control over things and to get hands dirty, something shared I have a hunch with almost everybody on this forum. So I do it all myself. The recording gear doesn;t cost much, and is no harder to learn than diesel maintenance or making boat instruments talk to each other. The performance? It is what it is. People like to hear the writer talk (polls show that). The post-production stuff is a real bear. It is very like varnishing. Prep, sand between coats, keep the work environment clean, pick a good day, and if you screw it up do it over. The ratio of performance to finished product is at least 1:5, and often more. That means for every hour of raw, five hours of post. Trapped in a dead room in headphones, squinting at a waveform.
These are mono voice recordings. Musicians like E32-200 sailor Rick Reynolds, who has a band, deal with multiple tracks, multiple takes, and an infinite array of choices on every cut. But people do that they themselves now, too--with a better technical result than Phil Specter dreamed off. It amazes me. It is also more work than anybody can imagine, because the possibilities are unlimited except by the artist, and if you have an idea you can make it happen merely by abandoning everything else in your life.
This whole topic interests me. We have in our hands today more pure potential than anybody could have guessed. An iPhone can shoot an entire movie, suitable for theaters--several directors have done it. My editing suite for the YouTube videos, Avid Pinnacle Studio 17, costs $69.95. It can do more than we could at Universal Studios with millions of dollars of gear. Want to write music? "Band in a Box" costs under $100. You can skip Julliard. You can skip the 20 years it took Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker to create the new language of Bebop.
Formerly there were great barriers to technical knowledge, and unless you were Galileo the impediment to achievement was great.
Now anybody can make an audiobook. Or rebuild their Atomic 4 using not a wrench but Google. And all the stuff it took me so many years to figure out, like what the top batten looks like when twist is just right, is somewhere on the Internet, with video explanation by an expert.
Downside of all this potential is it makes you feel lazy.
Our grandfathers were tired, but they didn't feel lazy.
Well, of course I ought to be doing something else right now, so I guess I'd better do it. Or find some other way to put it off....
907Juice
Continuously learning
Put it off!!! I typically only buy audiobooks when they are read by the author. It adds authenticity. Also, you get all the real feeling and emotion the author felt when he or she was writing it. I totally get what you mean by voice actors... my wife bought the new book by Woodward and I was unimpressed. Anyway, I’m thankful.
Bolo
Contributing Partner
Christian, I understand your thoughts on how the recording/movie industry has changed over the years. I've been a professional commercial photographer for over 40 years so I learned "on film" as they say. Fast forward to now, I can shoot, process, retouch, morph, and send my images to a client from my laptop where years ago before digital it required a studio, darkroom, technicians, lots of lighting equipment, color printers and film processors and Fed Ex. But.....the one element that cannot be replaced is the good talent behind the camera and in your case the good talent behind the microphone.
Solo to Hawaii
At 76 I think about rekindling my dreams of sailing solo across either ocean (I realize the Pacific is a much longer sail) just to see how I would - if I could - handle the solitude. I very much enjoyed your YouTube sail to Hawaii and appreciated your candor. My sailing experience is very limited, having had a Westerly Pageant in L.I. Sound in the early 1970's for a brief period of time - I, too, am a New Yawker - from the opposite side of the City, The Bronx. But I think I may have run out of time to achieve the dream and so enjoyed your voyage instead.
By the way, I had named my Westerly “The Saint James Infirmary Blues” – trying yelling that one up to the bridge operator on the East River.
At 76 I think about rekindling my dreams of sailing solo across either ocean (I realize the Pacific is a much longer sail) just to see how I would - if I could - handle the solitude. I very much enjoyed your YouTube sail to Hawaii and appreciated your candor. My sailing experience is very limited, having had a Westerly Pageant in L.I. Sound in the early 1970's for a brief period of time - I, too, am a New Yawker - from the opposite side of the City, The Bronx. But I think I may have run out of time to achieve the dream and so enjoyed your voyage instead.
By the way, I had named my Westerly “The Saint James Infirmary Blues” – trying yelling that one up to the bridge operator on the East River.
Equanimity
Member II
Christian,
As a young sailor and an amateur philosopher (majored in philosophy in university), I cannot express to you enough how much I appreciated your book. I listened to your narrated audiobook via Audible, which made it all the more enjoyable!
Your stories, perspective, and overall outlook on the pursuit of sailing and its connection to the universe/philosophical thought was such a pleasure. Best read of 2019, for sure!
Thanks so much,
Mikey
As a young sailor and an amateur philosopher (majored in philosophy in university), I cannot express to you enough how much I appreciated your book. I listened to your narrated audiobook via Audible, which made it all the more enjoyable!
Your stories, perspective, and overall outlook on the pursuit of sailing and its connection to the universe/philosophical thought was such a pleasure. Best read of 2019, for sure!
Thanks so much,
Mikey
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Bob Robertson
Member III
Hi Christian,
My wife and I listened to your book while we were driving up to our boat, Minneapolis, MN to Bayfield, WI.
It was excellent.
Thanks!
Bob
My wife and I listened to your book while we were driving up to our boat, Minneapolis, MN to Bayfield, WI.
It was excellent.
Thanks!
Bob
Thank you. I have a new novel coming out in October. There aren't many stories with yachts in them, I hope some of us will enjoy it.
Video introduction: https://youtu.be/98vU5AjkE1E
Video introduction: https://youtu.be/98vU5AjkE1E
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