HERO radio play project!

Read up to page 95, will probably stop for now.

Well, I really wish I could be Valentine, because damn, does he get all the best lines, but I think my voice just isn't deep enough to suit him well. I recorded myself doing his little "city of desire" monologue anyway, though, because he is like the best character ever.

I was a bit worried on whether or not it was possible for me to do the narrator, since he was very androgynous and I wasn't sure if he was supposed to be a guy or a girl or what. But then the dolphins confirmed that at least who Eira used to be was a boy, so I was like OK. I recorded a bit of his narration here:

http://vocaroo.com/?media=vDxRZtwupbkb2TjhY

Also I'm pretty sure they're all supposed to have British accents or something, but I'm not very good at accents. I could brush up and give it a shot, if I were to play Valentine at least (unlikely), but I think I can get away with not having one as the narrator, since he is "different". And hay, maybe golems aren't British, I dunno.

Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember them, you are not alone.

I don't think the accents will be a problem. When a lot of us confessed to being incapable of doing a good British accent, sort of thing, it seemed that the better option would be to just stick to American (and possibly localize the bits of Cockney slang that Valentine uses to other slang).

There are other male speaking characters, but I suppose you haven't heard much of Ganymar yet at page 95, and the rest don't have as extensive lines as these two three, I think. Hm. Actually, have you tried experimenting with the quality/pitch of your voice? Because it's doubtful that we'll have twentysome people on this project, so some of us will need to multipart anyway. I'm planning on playing around myself... when the roommate isn't in :P

survival of the tight-lipped

[1]

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.

Yeah, you're probably better suited for the narrator than Valentine, Sporky.

the future we had hoped for

I was actually thinking the fisherman, but that feels very wasteful of human resources, since the fisherman is only in one act. Hence question about different voices.

Tzetze, Serpent? D'Urfe? Ganymar? No, maybe not the Serpent. D'Urfe or Ganymar.

edited 15th Nov '10 5:43:36 PM by Aoede

survival of the tight-lipped

I think that I should probably go on an archive binge, huh.

I'd be okay with any character, though. Well... I do like Ganymar...

edited 15th Nov '10 5:45:17 PM by Tzetze

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.

Another Ganymar. Possibly a bit quiet, but it's described as "Ganymar's answering whisper".

With regards to doubles, my only hope is that I don't have to talk to myself.

edited 15th Nov '10 5:48:25 PM by Ponicalica

the future we had hoped for

Well, audiobook readers do it... but good audiobook readers are kind of amazing and unbelievable. Blrgh.

@ Tzetze: Any time is a good time to archive-binge HERO :P

MORE PEOPLE OFFER OPINIONS ABOUT VOICES N STUFF otherwise it'll be, like, "HERO as kind of imagined by Aoede".

edited 15th Nov '10 5:57:38 PM by Aoede

survival of the tight-lipped

You can be the director

Also waiting for my dishwasher to finish before I make some stuff due to it's loud noise.

edited 15th Nov '10 6:16:12 PM by Dorkus

I'm a lazy, forgetful, mercurial nogoodnik who handles responsibility like a screaming baby, mon. Also need to find resources on adapting from visual media into radioplay form.

Can't wait to hear it!

survival of the tight-lipped

I'm pretty sure that if you're the director on this your main responsibility with this will be pestering everyone else.

edited 15th Nov '10 6:30:45 PM by Ponicalica

the future we had hoped for

Sounds terrible.

Also, seriously, what do y'all think of each other's voices? I didn't post Tzetze's voice sample up, because it isn't a reading, but all the reading samples are up in the first post. Ideas! Brainstorming! Feedbacky... things!

survival of the tight-lipped

Tzetze: Smooth baritone, not brassy enough for Valentine, not clipped enough for Ganymar. Good for a big brother figure like the Serpent, or a Reasonable Authority Figure like D'Urfe, I think.

Poni: You could use a little work on pacing your breaths (take a breath at the end of every sentence instead of that with the commas), and avoiding the trail-off at the end of sentences ("lost" and "thing" were long enough for me to think it sounded unnatural).

I shall also upload a reading of Juno's first monologue post-haste!

Brassy? Could you explain how that works in a voice? It seems pretty subjective. Anyway, how do you know he couldn't change his voice to sound that way-ish? I think he'd work fairly well for Valentine.

Oh no wait I was thinking of Poni. Sorry, I still get some tropers mixed up sometimes, there are like a bajillion of you, it's nothing personal.

Tzetze could still be good though.

I'ma upload me doing some different (and probably very silly) voices soon

edited 15th Nov '10 7:11:27 PM by Sporkaganza

Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember them, you are not alone.

Well, we can ask him to try it out, but IIRC he doesn't like vague artsy descriptions of tonal qualities :'D  ^*

I kind of know what Leradny's talking about, I think, but I'm afraid I'm not going to be much help... a bit strident, perhaps? Loud, with slight gratingness on the high end (but not necessarily enough to be annoying).

And ooh, Reasonable Authority Figure. I should add that to the character sheet.

edited 15th Nov '10 7:12:35 PM by Aoede

survival of the tight-lipped

I've basically given up on adjectival description of sound, so eh. I just need to read the comic again so that I can remember who exactly the Serpent and d'Urfe are. >___>

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.

Here is me trying out my vocal range and making a fool of myself. It's what actors do best! (I consider myself a small-time thespian. Very very small-time. BTW, I know my voice didn't fit, but was my acting for Valentine any good?)

Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember them, you are not alone.

Stepping in to say: "Brassy" usually means "attitude" (mostly for the British, and mostly applying to Cockney accents). Valentine is Hot-Blooded and Fiery Tempered while Tzetze's voice is calm. If he reads for Valentine with a little more energy, though, I think that could work.

Spork: That is awesome, and yay for more thespians! I should do a recording for Vin.

edited 15th Nov '10 7:17:48 PM by Sharysa

Oh - and I've been thinking more about the narrator/protagonist, since I like him too (second fave besides Val), and I'm not totally sure if I can find his voice. I can't really picture what he might sound like in my head - I usually don't hear voices when I read text. What were your impressions of what he might sound like?

Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember them, you are not alone.

1. Pfahaha, I wish I had similar range.

2. I think of the narrator's voice as soft (as in the texture, not the volume), measured, and slightly childish in quality.

edited 15th Nov '10 7:23:00 PM by Aoede

survival of the tight-lipped

Poniboy is encouraging me to contribute. So, I recorded part of the City of Desire scene. Thoughts?

dysfunctional human artistry

Yeah, that sounds about right. Lemme give it a shot heer:

http://vocaroo.com/?media=vwKuOygvxqG9NZ1UC

Also is it just me or does the protagonist kind of remind anyone else of Louie W?

Ooh, nice. I'd like to hear you recording a bit of Valentine being more sarcastic/brash/witty though.

edited 15th Nov '10 7:29:18 PM by Sporkaganza

Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember them, you are not alone.

Iverum, I think you and Tzetze are vocal range twins. Different qualities, though. /has no vocabulary for this junk

^ I think it's just the non-contraction. Course, I read HERO way before I met Louie W, but I never looked at Louie W's posts and thought "Whoa, Lostish" either.

Your voice is bright, Spork'! Actually, that's probably the wrong word. Whatever. The opposite of an auditory manifestation of flattened affect. Er.

survival of the tight-lipped

You mean, like, lively? Or, like... I don't know.

Fun activity: Come up with adjectives least suited to describe a voice while still being plausible for people to actually use.

Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember them, you are not alone.

Any suggestion for where you want me to read some Valentine lines?

A lift is something that goes up and down.

edited 15th Nov '10 7:44:07 PM by Iverum

dysfunctional human artistry