SUMMARY

In this episode, the HPR_AudioBookClub reviews Revolution Radio by Seth Kenlon. You can download this AudioBook for free from https://aesdiopod.com/books/.

Pre-Spoilers

• Thaj: I really loved this book. It hits me in a lot of the right spots as a person. I thought it had a very cinematic feel about it. I enjoyed the story, but in many ways I enjoyed the world it was set in even more.
• x1101: Slow start, but finally builds to a very engaging story exploring many interesting social and political issues
• Pokey: Slow start, really liked the story right from the start, but found the setting a little far fetched.

We all liked the pace of the story, as well as the reading and the audio quality. Overall this is a very polished work, even though there is some noise intentionally added at times.

BEVERAGE REVIEWS

As usual, the HPR_AudioBookClub took some time to review the beverages that each of us were drinking during the episode

• Thaj: I am a sad panda because they grocery store had no lemons to make my AWESOME homemade lemonade. Unfortunately, I had to resort to pre-made lemonade that tastes like sugar water. Check this nutritional information
• x1101 Dogfish head 120 minute IPAThis beer has a nice hoppy and citrus nose to it with a smooth, silky mouth feel. This beverage features subtle hoppy notes and a slightly smoky finish. Also, ~15% ABV, so I might have been a touch loopy the rest of the show
• Pokey had a Sam Adams Summer Ale. Nice flavor, but not a lot of it. Refreshing with a hint of citrus. Very drinkable, but not mind blowing. I suspect this beer appeals to a wide audience. I've been on more of a "specialty" beer kick for a while, so this was almost disapointing.https://www.samueladams.com/craft-beers/summer-ale/

Other Links

• Catechism of a Revolutionary[Thaj]

OUR NEXT AUDIOBOOK

Street Candles by David Collins-Rivera
https://www.cavalcadeaudio.com/stardrifter.html

We're still really excited about this AudioBook not only because the author is an HPR community member (lostinbronx), but also because the book is really good!

David Collins-Rivera's personal blog: https://www.cavalcadeaudio.com/index.html
David Collins-Rivera's HPR correspondent page: https://hackerpublicradio.org/correspondents/0107.html

NEXT RECORDING

Our next book club recording will be 2014/09/09T23:00:00+00:00. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601#Times If you'd like a Google calendar invite, or if you'd like to be on the HPR_AudioBookClub mailing list, please get in contact with us on the HPR mailing list 'hpr at hackerpublicradio dot org'

OUR AUDIO

This episode was processed using Audacity https://audacity.sourceforge.net/. 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).

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.

Next we use the "Compressor" effect with the following settings:

• Threshold: -30db
• Noise Floor: -50db
• Ratio: 3:1
• Attack Time: 0.2sec
• Decay Time: 1.0 sec
• "Make-up Gain for 0db after compressing" and "compress based on peaks" were both left un-checked.

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.

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 its 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.

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.

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.

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 to save after every major transform, you will wonder how it ever got that reputation.

FURTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

If you liked Pirate Radio, you may also like The movies THX-1137, Logan's Run or The Illustrated Man.

FEEDBACK

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.
As always; remember to visit the HPR contribution page HPR could really use your help right now.

https://hackerpublicradio.org/contribute.php

Sincerely,
The HPR_AudioBookClub

P.S. Some people really like finding mistakes. For their enjoyment, we always include a few.

1: The HPR_AudioBookClub doesn't laugh at anyone for reviewing tea, nor any other drink. We intentionally call the segment a "beverage review," not a "beer review" so that no one should feel alienated. Also because some of us drink wine.

2: The HPR_AudioBookClub does laugh when people try to spell flavor with a "u"