<h3>SUMMARY</h3>
<p>In  this episode, the HPR_AudioBookClub discusses Cybrosis by P. C. Haring.</p>
<h3>Non-Spoiler Thoughts</h3>
<ul>
<li>Everyone agreed that the audio quality and engineering was excellent. The voice acting was just as good. pokey was bothered by something in the main character's voice that he likened to (but wasn't) hearing someone chew gum while talking. </li>
</ul>
<h3>BEVERAGE REVIEWS</h3>
<p>As    usual, the HPR_AudioBookClub took some time to review the beverages   that each of us were drinking during the episode</p>
<ul>
<li>Thaj: Just a big latte mug full of good old fashioned Swiss Miss hot chocolate</li>
 <li>x1101: <a href="https://www.bevreview.com/wp-content/image_mountaindewlivewireofficial1.jpg">Mt. Dew LiveWire</a></li>
 <li>pokey: I had no special beverage this month, so I took the opportunity to review my water filter and a brand of coconut oil that I particularly like.  <a href="https://www.aquasana.com/">https://www.aquasana.com/</a>,  <a href="https://www.spectrumorganics.com/spectrum-naturals/coconut-oil-organic-virgin-unrefined/">https://www.spectrumorganics.com/spectrum-naturals/coconut-oil-organic-virgin-unrefined/</a></li>
<li>semioticrobotic: </li>
<li>pegwole: </li>
</ul>
<h3>Things We Talked About</h3>
<p> All of us felt that there were quite a few cliches in the story. </p>
<h3>OUR NEXT AUDIOBOOK</h3>
<p><strong>Triplanetary</strong> by E. E. "Doc" Smith
 <br/><a href="https://librivox.org/triplanetary-first-in-the-lensman-series-by-e-e-doc-smith/">https://librivox.org/triplanetary-first-in-the-lensman-series-by-e-e-doc-smith/</a></p>
<h3>OUR AUDIO</h3>
<p>This episode was processed using Audacity <a href="https://audacity.sourceforge.net/">https://audacity.sourceforge.net/</a>.    We've been making small adjustments to our audio mix each month in    order to get the best possible sound. It's been especially challenging    getting all of our voices relatively level, because everyone has  their   own unique setup. Mumble is great for bringing us all together,  and for   recording, but it's not good at making everyone's voice the  same  volume.  We're pretty happy with the way this month's show turned  out,  so we'd  like to share our editing process and settings with you  and our  future  selves (who, of course, will have forgotten all this  by  then).</p>
<p>Mumble    uses a sample rate of 48kHz, but HPR requires a sample rate of  44.1kHz   so the first step in our audio process is to resample the file  at   44.1kHz. Resampling can take a long time if you don't have a  powerful   computer, and sometimes even if you do. If you record late at  night,   like we do, you may want to start the task before you go to  bed, and   save it first thing in the morning, so that the file is ready  to go the   next time you are.</p>
<p>Next we use the "Compressor" effect with the following settings:</P>
 <ul>
  <li>Threshold: -30db</li>
  <li>Noise Floor: -50db</li>
  <li>Ratio: 3:1</li>
  <li>Attack Time: 0.2sec</li>
  <li>Decay Time: 1.0 sec</li>
  <li>"Make-up Gain for 0db after compressing" and "compress based on peaks" were both left un-checked.</li>
 </ul>
<p>After    compressing the audio we cut any pre-show and post-show chatter from    the file and save them in a separate file for possible use as outtakes    after the closing music.</p>
<p>At    this point we listen back to the whole file and we work on the    shownotes. This is when we can cut out anything that needs to be cut,    and we can also make sure that we put any links in the shownotes that    were talked about during the recording of the show. We finish the    shownotes before exporting the .aup file to .FLAC so that we can paste   a  copy of the shownotes into the audio file's metadata. We use the    "Truncate Silence" effect with it's default settings to minimize the    silence between people speaking. When used with its default (or at    least reasonable) settings, Truncate Silence is extremely effective  and   satisfying. It makes everyone sound smarter, it makes the file  shorter   without destroying actual content, and it makes a  conversations sound  as  easy and fluid during playback as it was while  it was recorded. It  can  be even more effective if you can train  yourself to remain silent   instead of saying "uuuuummmm." Just remember  to ONLY pass the file   through Truncate Silence ONCE. If you pass it  through a second time, or   if you set it too aggressively your audio may  sound sped up and   choppy.</p>
<p>At    this point we add new, empty audio tracks into which we paste the    intro, outro and possibly outtakes, and we rename each track    accordingly.</p>
<p>We    adjust the Gain so that the VU meter in Audacity hovers around -12db    while people are speaking, and we try to keep the peaks under -6db,  and   we adjust the Gain on each of the new tracks so that all volumes  are   similar, and more importantly comfortable. Once this is done we  can  "Mix  and Render" all of our tracks into a single track for export  to  the  .FLAC file which is uploaded to the HPR FTP server.</p>
<p>Remember    to save often when using Audacity. We like to save after each of  these   steps. Audacity has a reputation for being "crashy" but if you   remember  save after every major transform, you will wonder how it ever   got that  reputation.</p>
<h3>FURTHER RECOMMENDATIONS</h3>
<h3>FEEDBACK</h3>
<p>Thank    you very much for listening to this episode of the HPR_AudioBookClub.    We had a great time recording this show, and we hope you enjoyed it  as   well. We also hope you'll consider joining us next time. Please  leave a   few words in the episode's comment section.
 <br/>As always; remember to visit the HPR contribution page; HPR could really use your help right now.</p>
<p><a href="https://hackerpublicradio.org/contribute.php">https://hackerpublicradio.org/contribute.php</a></p>
<p>Sincerely,
 <br/>The HPR_AudioBookClub</p>
<p>P.S. Some people really like finding mistakes. For their enjoyment, we always include a few.</p>


