Channel McGilchrist communal recording of The Matter With Things

  • Channel McGilchrist communal recording of The Matter With Things

    Posted by Zak Safra on November 28, 2023 at 3:10 pm

    Dear Friends,

    Would anyone be interested in a communal recording of The Matter With Things? The idea would be to record ourselves reading parts of the book, and make the recording available to the channel organizers, such that other members of the website would have access to a recording of the work.

    I personally was only able to get through The Master and His Emissary by audio. I do use my mechanical screen reader to listen to TMWT but I thought a community reading, made exclusively for channel members might be worth exploring. Imagine if we got through the whole book. And it is SUCH an important book.

    I am posting this with the permission of Mary who runs the Channel.

    All the best,

    Zak

    Zak Safra replied 7 months ago 4 Members · 7 Replies
  • 7 Replies
  • James Willis

    Member
    November 29, 2023 at 9:30 am

    If we got enough people to make each section manageable, and someone was prepared to put it all together, I am interested in principle. But that is a big if!

    Anything to make the book more accessible – perhaps a rich variety of reading voices would carry a powerful message in itself.

    • Zak Safra

      Member
      November 30, 2023 at 6:24 pm

      Hi James,

      Well, it would certainly be a challenge but I’m willing to give it a shot.

      I wonder if perhaps different formats could be tried, for example one idea might be to just record ourselves and send it in to be posted somewhere on the channel.

      Another approach might be to arrange a meeting on the channel’s Zoom account where we read a section together, and then discuss it?

      I’m open to any suggestion. My motivation here is to really grapple with Iain’s writing, and get to a deeper and comprehensive understanding.

      It might be enough to start with just us!

      Zak

  • Eleanor Lundholm

    Member
    December 1, 2023 at 3:57 pm

    I think this is a good idea. I personally would find it really beneficial to have access to an audio version of the book. And yes, maybe a variety of voices would add an interesting dimension. If there aren’t enough of us to tackle the whole thing, then why don’t we just do what we can?

  • Zak Safra

    Member
    December 2, 2023 at 4:08 pm

    I think 3 is already an encouraging start!

    Are there any particular chapters you would want to start with?

    We would need to iron out logistical details and coordinate with Mary who manages the channel.

  • Zak Safra

    Member
    December 13, 2023 at 5:27 am

    Dear Eleanor and James,

    Shall we start with 3? We could divide a single chapter up and see how it goes?

    Are there any chapters you would like to start with?

    Zak

  • Martyn Swain

    Member
    March 13, 2024 at 1:45 pm

    I only joined the Channel last month so I have only just seen this conversation. I am a professional audiobook narrator and I was in touch with Dr McGilchrist about precisely this some time last year and was told that Dr McGilchrist is himself already recording TMWT chapter by chapter. Personally, I can’t imagine a better person to be doing this, however, if it is something that other channel members are considering, there are some important considerations to be borne in mind.

    The most critical of these is that the major audiobook distributors (Audible/iTunes etc) have quite stringent requirements for audio that is going to be distributed on their platforms. Basically, it is hard to meet these without professional audio recording and editing equipment/software. If individual members were going to undertake to record/edit chapters, without there being common agreed standards, it would be an immense undertaking to pull the production into distributable shape.

  • Zak Safra

    Member
    March 13, 2024 at 6:01 pm

    Hello James!

    At the time what I had in mind was a highly “unprofessional” reading for members only. The benefit for those recording it would be the chance to work through the book and also have a place to listen to it (here). I didn’t want to do it commercially.

    All the best

    Zak

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