[DMFA Radio] - Radio Series Project - RoDP work-in-progress Jun 2013

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Any massive failures in my pronounciations I'm putting down to accent, so if you correct me, you're RACIST.

Actually, that's pronounced rah-sist, y'know... just trying to help...

[rabid_fox]

That's it. I'm getting the PC Police in here. Neeernawneernawneernaw.

[AnizInDisguise]

So, has anyone even listened to my recording yet?

That is all.

[Tapewolf]

Here's that test:
(a bunch of different takes toward the end.  I shaved 5 minutes of bad takes off of this one)

It's nice, but rushed.  Like the gabbled version of the psalm in "Return to Babel".  Do you think you can slow down?  Usually I'd run it through the timestretching engine in Audacity, but in 1.3 is bombs out with an invalid opcode (what did they DO?)

So, has anyone even listened to my recording yet?

I've been trying to think how to put this.  Would you prefer me to be honest or tactful?

[superluser]

It's nice, but rushed.  Like the gabbled version of the psalm in "Return to Babel".  Do you think you can slow down?  Usually I'd run it through the timestretching engine in Audacity, but in 1.3 is bombs out with an invalid opcode (what did they DO?)

Are the lines themselves rushed, or just the spaces between the lines?  Recall that these lines are edited, and that I tried to take out as much dead air as I could.

So, has anyone even listened to my recording yet?

Two things:

1.) Pop filter.  I don't think you'll be able to get around using it.  You're breathing right into the mic, and it's overpowering all of your lines.
2.) I'd lower the register.  He's not Alfred E. Neuman.  He's a 400 year old incubus who's been in higher education for most of that time.
2b.) Erm, no offense, but has your voice changed, yet?  It might not be a good idea for a long term character to be voiced by someone whose voice is not going to be the same next year.  Voice matching is going to be hard.

(The mispronunciations have already been addressed and other assorted advice I'll leave to Tapewolf, once he decides on tact or honesty)

[Tezkat]

So, has anyone even listened to my recording yet?

That is all.

I believe what what people are trying to say, AnizInDisguise, is that you sound like a fourteen-year-old. I personally happen to prefer a higher pitched voice for Abel (my own is pitched pretty high, and I believe that Goatmon improved his performance by raising the pitch), but yours has a youthful quality which would be a bit out of place on an adult. A voice like that could work very well for, say, one of the basement rats, but it doesn't really work for Abel.

Are the lines themselves rushed, or just the spaces between the lines?  Recall that these lines are edited, and that I tried to take out as much dead air as I could.

Honestly? Your Abel needs to cut back by several cups a day. Speaking that quickly gives the whole performance a very nervous, manic feel that flattens out any other emotionality you may have tried to infuse into the role.

[RushFox]

Are the lines themselves rushed, or just the spaces between the lines?  Recall that these lines are edited, and that I tried to take out as much dead air as I could.

Honestly? Your Abel needs to cut back by several cups a day. Speaking that quickly gives the whole performance a very nervous, manic feel that flattens out any other emotionality you may have tried to infuse into the role.

They were pretty entertaining though! Especially the part where you said "Ti'Fiona" countless times. That had me rolling! 

I don't mean anything negative when I say this, but perhaps the nervous manic feel can be used for another character. There's talent there, just slow it down for Abel. Alright? 


BTW, what do you guys think of my efforts? I keep hearing about everyone else...

I mean, I get kinda paranoid when I'm excited about something I created. Writing, voicing, anything. It's just part of who I am!

I guess you can say that's why I put out so many recordings. However, most of it is because this is the most fun I've had in a long time. It's one thing when your just reading aloud to yourself or for an attentive brother (who was in one of my extra recordings that we did just for fun), but when you are doing it for something like this... Well, you guys know what I mean! 

Anyways, if anybody wants me to repost the box.net recordings up again, just let me know.

[techmaster-glitch]

I know I'm not really a part of this, but...
On the subject of pronunciations, specifically the cu-bee and cu-bye pronunciations, It's just two different ways to pronounce it, both are acceptable. Example: In the video game StarWars: KOTOR, some of the NPCs pronounce Twi'lek as twee, and others pronounce it twye. Both pronuciations are used, and by different NPCs.
My point is, if everyone can get over two pronounciations, cu-bee is just as ok as cu-bye, cuz I pronounce it cu-bee. (Namely becuase cu-bye just doesn't sound right to me, said aloud. neither CU-bye or cu-BYE seem to sound right.)

[Aridas]

Um, that's not true. Star Wars is a fictional game. Whatever language they speak is their business. That doesn't make the pronunciation of a real word meaningless. You're not going to say octo-pee or cack-tee, are you?

[Tezkat]

Well, Cubi is hardly a real word, either. Still, consistency is very important, especially in an audio play.

If someone walked up to you and mangled your name, wouldn't you correct them? Names are a very personal thing. They're part of your identity.

For instance, I used to pronounce Jyrras to rhyme with "cirrus", which was apparently closer to how his original player pronounced the name. I remember Amber once commenting that, based on people she met at cons and such, more than half the fans pronounced his name "jih-rus" or "jee-rus" instead of the "jai-rus" that she prefers. But we decided early on to go with the latter in this project. And it wouldn't make sense for his circle of friends and family to mispronounce his name.

Likewise for common words like Cubi. Furrae has had a telecommunications network for centuries, so we'd expect to see some standardization of pronunciations. When someone comes in and starts pronouncing words differently from everyone else, the immediate impression it creates is: "You're not from around here, are you?" Sometimes that can be a good thing, but it isn't always appropriate.

BTW, what do you guys think of my efforts? I keep hearing about everyone else...

I mean, I get kinda paranoid when I'm excited about something I created. Writing, voicing, anything. It's just part of who I am!

I guess you can say that's why I put out so many recordings. However, most of it is because this is the most fun I've had in a long time. It's one thing when your just reading aloud to yourself or for an attentive brother (who was in one of my extra recordings that we did just for fun), but when you are doing it for something like this... Well, you guys know what I mean! 

Anyways, if anybody wants me to repost the box.net recordings up again, just let me know.

Give it time.

I haven't listened to very much of your stuff yet. Indeed, I haven't done much more than a brief scan through everyone's auditions. There have been several hours worth of recordings posted so far. I'm starting to doubt that I'll ever get around to listening to them all.

Unfortunately, the noise remains very prominent in all of your clips. Granted, the recordings have improved a lot, especially with regards to the popping problems you had, but that's still a mark against you that has nothing to do with your voice or acting skills.

As for your perfomance... I heard some good emotional range in Abel's story and some of the other arcs. There were places where your tone sounded a bit too conversational when Abel should have been snarkier or angrier, though.

I'll need more time to go through your work before I can make more specific comments.  You certainly sound like you're having fun.




More general stuff that Tezkat learned this week (not targeted specifically at RushFox):

WAV files are not so good for auditions. I've got over half a gig of material from RushFox alone, and I'm still not done downloading all of his stuff. All actors should keep the original raws around for production clips, but uploading uncompressed files for a voice test is unnecessary--and even undesirable in that quantity.

Speaking of quantity... There seems to be a general trend here to post quantity over quality. The point of an audition is to show us what you've got. You should take some interesting lines and practice them until you can wow us with your talent. I've already noticed several dialogue-heavy strips in which the acting will die halfway through a line as it becomes obvious that the actor has stopped paying attention to his performance and switched to reading off the page. I feel kinda bad for the people who have already recorded entire arcs knowing that we can only use one of them...

[Aridas]

Well, Cubi is hardly a real word, either.

Suuuuure. Being that we're using it as a short form so we don't have to say incubus/incubi or succubus/succubi all the time, we'll have to say all those words don't exist.

[Tapewolf]

On the subject of pronunciations, specifically the cu-bee and cu-bye pronunciations, It's just two different ways to pronounce it, both are acceptable.

I'd accept that for Warp-aci (in actual fact we've standardised it wrong - it's actually pronounced "warp-ah-see", as such I'll accept that as well as "warp-ay-see").
'Cubi is contracted from a real word, though : 'Succubi' (and 'incubi').  That makes the difference.  It simply isn't pronounced "sukkoobee".

Well, Cubi is hardly a real word, either. Still, consistency is very important, especially in an audio play.

For that matter, nor is "'droid" - it's a contraction of a longer word, like "'cubi" is.  I don't believe I've ever heard anyone pronounce that differently, though.

I'd have to agree with you about the quantity of clips, though.  I've got 50 minutes of Rushfox samples from yesterday alone.  I'm not sure I have the patience to listen to 50 minutes of monologue in a single sitting like that.

They seem to be well enough done - bar the noise and the fact that I can barely hear some of them on the mac with the volume at maximum - but there's a lot of them to sit through and to be perfectly honest there's something slightly missing from the SAIA arc set.  I can't put my finger on it.  If you win the vote, I will of course use them - but they just don't really grab me the way Goatmon's rendition does.

**EDIT**

Are the lines themselves rushed, or just the spaces between the lines?  Recall that these lines are edited, and that I tried to take out as much dead air as I could.

The lines themselves.  It's like they're at like double-speed or something.  I can't retrofit them to any of the existing recordings because it will mean resequencing them.  The voice is fine, but the pacing is just too fast.

[superluser]

Honestly? Your Abel needs to cut back by several cups a day. Speaking that quickly gives the whole performance a very nervous, manic feel that flattens out any other emotionality you may have tried to infuse into the role.

Hey!  I'm only pronouncing it...twice as fast as everyone else?    Yeah, I'll look into slowing it down.  Maybe I should try slowing down my normal pronunciation, too.

They were pretty entertaining though! Especially the part where you said "Ti'Fiona" countless times. That had me rolling! 

I don't mean anything negative when I say this, but perhaps the nervous manic feel can be used for another character. There's talent there, just slow it down for Abel. Alright? 

I'm not sure about the proper intonation on that, so I left in all the takes.  Same with the ``When is Dan going to arrive here?'' line.

RushFox, I don't think I've listened to yours, yet, so I can't offer feedback.  Give me a day or so (I've got other things that I'm supposed to be doing), and I'll let you know.

(Namely becuase cu-bye just doesn't sound right to me, said aloud. neither CU-bye or cu-BYE seem to sound right.)

The word, as transmitted into English, is pronounced  IN-kyoo-bai (in the OED) or IN-ky@-'bai (in AH4).  The final syllable gets a minor accent in the American pronunciation, but no accent in the British.  In the shortened version, `cubi, the pronunciation should be the same as the final two syllables.  (Finding that American pronunciation was a real shock to me, since I've never heard anyone pronounce it with a schwa.)

This is all pretty irrelevant, since you do the pronunciation that the director tells you to do.  That's the way voice acting (and acting in general) always works.  So it's whatever Tapewolf decides.

EDIT: Oh, speaking of executive decisions, what about ``Isn't that the one you (sic) waste time eating muffins?''  Should I insert a `where' in there, or leave it out?

[Tapewolf]

They were pretty entertaining though! Especially the part where you said "Ti'Fiona" countless times. That had me rolling! 

Yes, that brought back some fond memories
http://dmfa.it-he.org/dmfa/dmfa_disaster_outtakes.wav.mp3

[RushFox]

BTW, what do you guys think of my efforts? I keep hearing about everyone else...

I mean, I get kinda paranoid when I'm excited about something I created. Writing, voicing, anything. It's just part of who I am!

I guess you can say that's why I put out so many recordings. However, most of it is because this is the most fun I've had in a long time. It's one thing when your just reading aloud to yourself or for an attentive brother (who was in one of my extra recordings that we did just for fun), but when you are doing it for something like this... Well, you guys know what I mean! 

Anyways, if anybody wants me to repost the box.net recordings up again, just let me know.

Give it time.

I haven't listened to very much of your stuff yet. Indeed, I haven't done much more than a brief scan through everyone's auditions. There have been several hours worth of recordings posted so far. I'm starting to doubt that I'll ever get around to listening to them all.

Unfortunately, the noise remains very prominent in all of your clips. Granted, the recordings have improved a lot, especially with regards to the popping problems you had, but that's still a mark against you that has nothing to do with your voice or acting skills.

As for your perfomance... I heard some good emotional range in Abel's story and some of the other arcs. There were places where your tone sounded a bit too conversational when Abel should have been snarkier or angrier, though.

I'll need more time to go through your work before I can make more specific comments.  You certainly sound like you're having fun.




More general stuff that Tezkat learned this week (not targeted specifically at RushFox):

WAV files are not so good for auditions. I've got over half a gig of material from RushFox alone, and I'm still not done downloading all of his stuff. All actors should keep the original raws around for production clips, but uploading uncompressed files for a voice test is unnecessary--and even undesirable in that quantity.

Speaking of quantity... There seems to be a general trend here to post quantity over quality. The point of an audition is to show us what you've got. You should take some interesting lines and practice them until you can wow us with your talent. I've already noticed several dialogue-heavy strips in which the acting will die halfway through a line as it becomes obvious that the actor has stopped paying attention to his performance and switched to reading off the page. I feel kinda bad for the people who have already recorded entire arcs knowing that we can only use one of them...

Yes, I realize that noise is a bother. Friggin computer. Like said, when I try to remove the noise from the recording through the Audacity program, it literally sounds like I'm talking through a tube. I'd rather let a professional deal with it. Sorry... 

As for the wavs, I was simply going by the FAQ you guys gave me, and that WAV files tend to preserve the quality of the recordings, which I know you appreciate. Again, I tried to split up the files, and I might work on splitting up the second part of the SAIA arc, except...

I'd have to agree with you about the quantity of clips, though.  I've got 50 minutes of Rushfox samples from yesterday alone.  I'm not sure I have the patience to listen to 50 minutes of monologue in a single sitting like that.

They seem to be well enough done - bar the noise and the fact that I can barely hear some of them on the mac with the volume at maximum - but there's a lot of them to sit through and to be perfectly honest there's something slightly missing from the SAIA arc set.  I can't put my finger on it.  If you win the vote, I will of course use them - but they just don't really grab me the way Goatmon's rendition does.

I need know what I need to fix and where. If it's the fact that I screw some lines up, or lack a broadcasting voice, I can fix that. Mind you, this my first time behind a mic, period. Hell, I'm willing to work it out with you via PM if need be. If it seems like I'm begging, I'm not. I believe that criticism is the first step to improvement, and I'm willing to take the next step. I realize that Goatmon may already be there, due to him having more experience with this sort of thing, but I want to be there as well. It'll take some work.

As for the plethora of voicing, I realize I may try your patience with that, but I've already explained why I did it. I guess I'll leave it at that for now, and I will just re-do previous lines from now on, that you guys feel I could have done a better job on. That's all.

Thanks for listening, at least! 

[Tapewolf]

EDIT: Oh, speaking of executive decisions, what about ``Isn't that the one you (sic) waste time eating muffins?''  Should I insert a `where' in there, or leave it out?

Yes.  Add the 'where'.  I'm assuming it as an omission since Abel doesn't seem to have done it anywhere else.

[AnizInDisguise]

I've been trying to think how to put this.  Would you prefer me to be honest or tactful?

Completely honest. And I honestly never expected to actually get the part. I did this for fun.

[RushFox]

Hmm, I'm having some difficulties on my end. I'm trying to re-do some of the SAIA lines (not all), and I tried to make it a little louder, hopefully to get past the noise and all. However, when I get to the parts where I make louder noises (NOOOOO!!! I JUST MADE THAT OUTFIT!!) , it never seems to be at a safe level and cracks, even at 0.1 input level.

I could post an example, but only if you guys REALLY want to hear it. I'm going to practice a little moderation since I basically spammed you guys with voice-overs. This is just a little problem I'm having right now...

P.S. If there are any lines you really want to hear again (re-done of course), let me know by PM. No use spamming this board unless you think everybody deserves a listen, right?

Edit: Aww, what the heck... I'll give you this at least. DMFA #524-529. Perfect example here.

http://www.box.net/shared/zl36nzt1am

Edit 2: I also included a couple different voices as well... Hehehehe... 

[Fuyudenki]

Um, that's not true. Star Wars is a fictional game. Whatever language they speak is their business. That doesn't make the pronunciation of a real word meaningless. You're not going to say octo-pee or cack-tee, are you?

(and Tapewolf's comment, which I'm too lazy to cull)

In my(and Tech-Glitch's) defense, while "Cubi" is short for the plurals, "incubi" and "succubi," it is also singular, and used as a gender-neutral singular multiple times in the comic.  At this point, Latin pluralization rules no longer apply, so as awkward as "kyoobee" may sound to some of you, we're not breaking the linguistic rules as much as you may think.

likewise, I haven't seen anybody try to promote a "warp ay-sah-ee" pronunciation for "Warp Aci," either.

I will, however, abide by standardized pronunciations for any voice parts I may acquire.(not more than one speaking part, or they'll sound too similar.)

[Tapewolf]

I've been trying to think how to put this.  Would you prefer me to be honest or tactful?

Completely honest. And I honestly never expected to actually get the part. I did this for fun.

Very well.  I'm gonna have such a guilt trip over this in the morning, but this is my honest opinion of what it was like to listen to.

Firstly, Abel sounded like a girl.  Yes, he's somewhat effeminate-looking and we can't really decide on his orientation, but going by 428 he's certainly not ashamed to be male.

Secondly, the pronunciations were... different.  Different enough to spark a sub-thread about how they should be pronounced.
That wouldn't be so bad, but I'd already pointed out how we're generally pronouncing "'Cubi" in a post which you responded to.  Granted I'd just had a frustrating evening with some other project, but knowing that it made it rather demoralising to listen to.  And the name... I was like "Uh? Did he just say 'Apple'...?"

Now, you are by no means the first person to pronounce things differently to what we're expecting.  James (Dan) has slipped and said "koobi" once or twice even though he knew better   Heck, even I didn't know how "Mow" was pronounced until they posted the "Questions-for-Amber" video from AC last year.  But to be honest, that's one reason I was hoping for a shorter clip, so that we can catch any potential problems early before you get too deep into it.
Tezkat has mentioned the mic noise problems.  There seems to be clipping as well.

Now, no offence intended, but have you considered the Nirfy role...?

[Fuyudenki]

wait, how is "mow" pronounced?  I say it like "ow," with an M stuck on the front.

Better yet, is there a link to this video?

[Tapewolf]

wait, how is "mow" pronounced?  I say it like "ow," with an M stuck on the front.

Well technically it should be pronounced "moe", as in "Time to mow the lawn."
In the Mab-mail video, she pronounces it like "cow".

Better yet, is there a link to this video?

There must be, but I can't find it.  I don't know if it's still up.  I do have a copy myself though.

**EDIT**
Hell, yeah!  http://idisk.mac.com/admford-Public/APFAnswers.avi?disposition=download+9788

[AnizInDisguise]

Now, no offence intended, but have you considered the Nirfy role...?

Um, no. Who's Nirfy? It's not coming to me.

And don't feel guilty, because I HATE it when people feel guilty for being honest with me.

[Aridas]

Well technically it should be pronounced "moe", as in "Time to mow the lawn."
In the Mab-mail video, she pronounces it like "cow".

Pretty sure that's because it was short for Mab O Wisp.

[RushFox]

wait, how is "mow" pronounced?  I say it like "ow," with an M stuck on the front.

Well technically it should be pronounced "moe", as in "Time to mow the lawn."
In the Mab-mail video, she pronounces it like "cow".

Better yet, is there a link to this video?

There must be, but I can't find it.  I don't know if it's still up.  I do have a copy myself though.

**EDIT**
Hell, yeah!  http://idisk.mac.com/admford-Public/APFAnswers.avi?disposition=download+9788

Holy... 


Does Amber know that the Mow Hat could also work as a toque? Was this before or after she moved to Canada? 

I think this the first time I've seen Amber outside of her comic form. Does she usually go by "Mab" at cons?

[Tezkat]

Suuuuure. Being that we're using it as a short form so we don't have to say incubus/incubi or succubus/succubi all the time, we'll have to say all those words don't exist.

"Cubi" is the proper name of a fictional race. Regardless of its etymology, that opens the door to a variety of pronunciations.

For the record, many of my old pen and paper gaming buddies did in fact pronounce "succubi" with a schwa ("suck ya bye" rather than "suck you bye"). If one is to believe the AHD, that's the preferred American pronunciation, but it would sound terrible if contracted.

In the end, it still comes down to one version being right for this project because we say so.

likewise, I haven't seen anybody try to promote a "warp ay-sah-ee" pronunciation for "Warp Aci," either.

Ooooh, how about Warp-Açaí? Just the right colour for my familiar, too... teleporting antioxidant goodness!


By the way, when I first saw "Warp-Aci", the first thing I thought of was "Warp Aco" (the cleric type toons who provide taxi services in Ragnarok Online).

EDIT: Oh, speaking of executive decisions, what about ``Isn't that the one you (sic) waste time eating muffins?''  Should I insert a `where' in there, or leave it out?

Yes.  Add the 'where'.  I'm assuming it as an omission since Abel doesn't seem to have done it anywhere else.

If I recall correctly, we actually decided some months back to revise the script with the missing word inserted. We really should compile a list of our script revisions somewhere...

Um, no. Who's Nirfy? It's not coming to me.

And don't feel guilty, because I HATE it when people feel guilty for being honest with me.

Nirfy is a forumite who makes cameo appearances in Dr. Ink's lab and again outside Abel's room. For the most part, she does nothing but glomp every cute bishounen ("bee show nen") she meets.


I would personally disagree with Tapewolf in that I think you sound more boyish than girlish, but the point is that your voice doesn't sound like a mature adult.


We still have an opening for the brown basement rat. We've been playing the other rats with very youthful voices, so you'd fit right in. He only has a few lines scattered throughout the comic, but people keep signing up for the role and then disappearing.


As another experiment, listen to the clips I posted of Jyrras and Abel in "Life is Wonderful":

Best. Jy. Lines. Evar. (#631-633)
They really do have a card for everything. (#639)
I made an outtake of an outtake. How sad is that? (#648)

Try to mimic my Jyrras's vocal characteristics and speaking style, and let us know how it turns out.

Holy... 


Does Amber know that the Mow Hat could also work as a toque? Was this before or after she moved to Canada? 

I think this the first time I've seen Amber outside of her comic form. Does she usually go by "Mab" at cons?

It was taped at last year's AC, so that would have been before she moved.


In general, I find that people at cons will go by real names for people who know them in real life and online nicks for people who know them from the net. How they introduce themselves to new people varies. I usually introduce myself as "Tezkat" at furry-ish cons--that's what's on my conbadge, anyway.

[Aridas]

"Cubi" is the proper name of a fictional race.

That got made up 'cause everyone was doing it, as far as I remember. Since it's being used as a short form to cover both words, you have to pronounce it the way you'd pronounce it on those words.

[Tapewolf]

And don't feel guilty, because I HATE it when people feel guilty for being honest with me.

That's very commendable.

Nirfy is a minor female role - see Keaton's recent takes.  So far no-one has been able to do the excited schoolgirl effect that it really calls for.

For the record, many of my old pen and paper gaming buddies did in fact pronounce "succubi" with a schwa ("suck ya bye" rather than "suck you bye"). If one is to believe the AHD, that's the preferred American pronunciation, but it would sound terrible if contracted.

I'm easy with relatively similar pronunciations, particularly since the characters themselves would likely have different accents.  But I don't like wholly different ones.

In general, I find that people at cons will go by real names for people who know them in real life and online nicks for people who know them from the net. How they introduce themselves to new people varies. I usually introduce myself as "Tezkat" at furry-ish cons--that's what's on my conbadge, anyway.

Woah.  Does that mean you're attending AC?

[superluser]

RushFox, I don't think I've listened to yours, yet, so I can't offer feedback.  Give me a day or so (I've got other things that I'm supposed to be doing), and I'll let you know.

OK, I listened to RushFox's Abel #424-426 3rd Try.  Here goes.  The voice sounds very nasal, almost as if you're in the head register, not the chest register.  This may be partly because your mic doesn't seem to pick up the bass very well.  Whether this is bad, I'll leave up to everyone else.

The ``look cuter in skirts line'' almost sounds like he's flirting with Fa'Lina.

I'd like to get people's opinion of the new roommate line.  In my opinion, the ``anyways, Fa'Lina'' bit should be rushed, but the ``I'm going to need a new roommate'' line should not be rushed.  It's not like he's trying to buy a pint of Old Harper.  He doesn't look like he's barreling through it, but rather trying to get the point as non-confrontationally as possible.  Once Fa'Lina yells at him, he's free to react however he wishes.

(And-yes-i-do-understand-the-irony-of-me-telling-you-to-slow-down)

[Tezkat]

That got made up 'cause everyone was doing it, as far as I remember. Since it's being used as a short form to cover both words, you have to pronounce it the way you'd pronounce it on those words.

Obviously, you don't. By your logic, the more commonly accepted American pronunciation would shorten to "kya-bai", which sounds ridiculous. Don't assume that everyone in the world talks like you do. That's what's causing our pronunciation issues in the first place.

Woah.  Does that mean you're attending AC?

Nope. I'm afraid that I have no plans to attend AC this year. It's kinda out of the way for me. Next year, perhaps... Who knows?

I'll probably show up at some of the smaller local cons like C-ACE and Anthrofest, though.

I'd like to get people's opinion of the new roommate line.  In my opinion, the ``anyways, Fa'Lina'' bit should be rushed, but the ``I'm going to need a new roommate'' line should not be rushed.  It's not like he's trying to buy a pint of Old Harper.  He doesn't look like he's barreling through it, but rather trying to get the point as non-confrontationally as possible.  Once Fa'Lina yells at him, he's free to react however he wishes.

What made RushFox's third try version sound off to me was the pause before "new roommate", which made it sound like he was uncertain as to what he wanted--especially since there's a more assertive just made up his mind change in the voice right after the pause. ("The roast duck sounds good, but I think I'll go with... a new roommate. And an apple fizzy drink, please." )

The key to reading that line well, in my opinion, is to come off as sheepish but not apologetic. Personally, I favour doing the opposite of what superluser suggested here: drawing out the first part ("Anyways Fa'Lina... there's some bad news coming... so don't get mad...") and then rushing the second half slightly so that you almost blurt it out in one go ("I'm going to need a new roommate. There. I said it. You're gonna get mad, aren't you? This is soooo not my fault!").


A lot of the delivery and intonation issues were fixed on RushFox's fourth try, but for some reason the recording quality on that take was much worse.