Hear Me Speak!

[vampiredust]

Okay, so it took about 40 attempts to get a version I liked:

I decided to read this:

Border Crossing

Cows come first,
their shadows creating long
fingers across the road.

Cars follow, hooting
rattling bells and a couple
of shepherds

who give us a look
as guards raise eyebrows
at the jumbled letters

etched like cold metal
on our documents.
We are strangers here,

in that place where stars
end and the long road
to purgatory begins.

--------
you can get the recording here

 

[Angeline]

Okay, so it took about 40 attempts to get a version I liked:

I decided to read this:

Border Crossing

Cows come first,
their shadows creating long
fingers across the road.

Cars follow, hooting
rattling bells and a couple
of shepherds

who give us a look
as guards raise eyebrows
at the jumbled letters

etched like cold metal
on our documents.
We are strangers here,

in that place where stars
end and the long road
to purgatory begins.

--------
you can get the recording here

It's not working, Chris. Says the site is currently unavailable.

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

I heard it, it's great to put a voice to the words, Chris. Thank you - now you've given us a taste - more, please!



Ooops - I just tried it again and Ange is right.........isn't she always?

 

[unapologetic]

I got the same message just now.

It's not working, Chris. Says the site is currently unavailable.

Update this thread when it's fixed?

 

[Angeline]

I heard it, it's great to put a voice to the words, Chris. Thank you - now you've given us a taste - more, please!



Ooops - I just tried it again and Ange is right.........isn't she always?

only in my dreams

 

[WickedEve]

I heard it.
Where are you from? You don't sound southern. Not that it's a problem... not really.

 

[vampiredust]

fixed

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

My guess is central England - possibly London area with a bit of Brit Public School - ie BBC - thrown in.

 

[unapologetic]

fixed

Ugh, I still can't get it. Maybe too many people are trying to listen at the same time. I'll try again later.

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

only in my dreams

I'm betting a certain sharp-eyed avian would agree with me.

 

[vampiredust]

if anybody is having probs with the new link, let me know

 

[wildsweetone]

i think i'm hooked on listening to poetry readings.

 

[unapologetic]

I finally got it

Thanks for emailing it to me. You have a great voice, and the poems not bad either.

 

[Liar]

Very nice. I like the relaxed, non-contrived style of your reading.

You could perhaps slow down the tempo just a liiittle bit - whithout the text in front of me, I would have missed some of the meaning towards the end.

 

[RhymeFairy]

Okay, so it took about 40 attempts to get a version I liked:

I decided to read this:

Border Crossing

Cows come first,
their shadows creating long
fingers across the road.

Cars follow, hooting
rattling bells and a couple
of shepherds

who give us a look
as guards raise eyebrows
at the jumbled letters

etched like cold metal
on our documents.
We are strangers here,

in that place where stars
end and the long road
to purgatory begins.

--------
you can get the recording here

Mmmmmm Yummy. I had to hear the voice.
Seems we peeps have a thing for that ~

Love it, and I agree with Liar.
Slow down a bit. Let us taste ... your words. All in all
very delicious reading ~

 

[bluerains]

your voice

is quite becoming to the verse ..sounds very methodic to the ear...enjoyed hearing you read..thanks for sharing..blue

Okay, so it took about 40 attempts to get a version I liked:

I decided to read this:

Border Crossing

Cows come first,
their shadows creating long
fingers across the road.

Cars follow, hooting
rattling bells and a couple
of shepherds

who give us a look
as guards raise eyebrows
at the jumbled letters

etched like cold metal
on our documents.
We are strangers here,

in that place where stars
end and the long road
to purgatory begins.

--------
you can get the recording here

 

[Tzara]

Okay, so it took about 40 attempts to get a version I liked:

I decided to read this:

Border Crossing

Cows come first,
their shadows creating long
fingers across the road.

Cars follow, hooting
rattling bells and a couple
of shepherds

who give us a look
as guards raise eyebrows
at the jumbled letters

etched like cold metal
on our documents.
We are strangers here,

in that place where stars
end and the long road
to purgatory begins.

--------
you can get the recording here

You have a good voice for reading poetry, Christian. Melodic and deep, so you don't sound squeaky or thin. I agree with some of the others that this sounds just a bit rushed, but you read way better than some "established" poets I've heard.

I'm curious about what you thought of the experience. When I tried to record myself reading one of my poems, I also did a whole lot of takes, but never quite caught the cadence I was trying for. It seemed like every take I would sound unnatural somewhere during the reading (even though the entire recording was maybe 20-30 seconds). It's a hard thing to do well.

Keep at it. It's kind of fun, isn't it?

 

[vampiredust]

Thank you everyone for your kind words

I thought it was kind of fun to try it

I've done a couple more recordings

Karen, you don't need much equipment: just a mic and some software you can download for free. You can plug it into your pc's soundcard (mine doesn't have that capability, though, so i've plugged it into my speakers) or a free mic socket and away you go.

 

[wildsweetone]

Thank you everyone for your kind words

I thought it was kind of fun to try it

I've done a couple more recordings

Karen, you don't need much equipment: just a mic and some software you can download for free. You can plug it into your pc's soundcard (mine doesn't have that capability, though, so i've plugged it into my speakers) or a free mic socket and away you go.

okay... i've got a mic, where do i find the software?

 

[vampiredust]

try this one

 

[wildsweetone]

halfway there. trying to figure out how to get it onto here now

 

[wildsweetone]

okay, lessee

There's always hope

Every new year coal comes in the door
and luck walks out.
Luck is meant to stay

my grandmother swore
on the family bible that it would,
but some perverse bending
steers it away,
scuttling down a road
I've grown tired of walking.

I remember once, when luck went,
when my brother left home
to join some ragged crew
that believed flowers
really did grow up damp, peeling wallpaper
and that smoking pot cured all ills.

I wondered then, if there was a point
to the tradition,
to the carrying of coal,
when famine and festering were prevalent.

Hope always underscored
the last word.

There's Always Hope - Audio

 

[vampiredust]

V nice, Karen

You have a smooth sounding voice

Nice pace and every word was digested neatly

 

[Eluard]

This is a very nice idea, V! lovely to hear poets reading their own stuff. It inspired me to have a go and so I did a recording of We Meet in Venice, and I have it now as an mp3 file. However I agree with Tzara: every take I did was unsatisfying at some point, so in the end I just settled on something that was good enough.

Now can anyone give me a hint on how to post the mp3 here so that it can be listened to — I don't have a web page, or a myspace page unfortunately?

Edit: I'm beginning to see that a web page is the only way to do this.

 

[wildsweetone]

Chris suggested i try geocities after i tried everything else i had. seems to have worked okay.

now i've just got to work on the voice. lol