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Choosing Equipment
Some useful websites and tips for choosing recorders and other equipment related to oral history:
- Baylor: http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/66424.pdf
- Baylor also has a good glossary of technology terms to help you know what some of the jargon means:
http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/79809.pdf
- Baylor also has a good glossary of technology terms to help you know what some of the jargon means:
- Oral History in the Digital Age: http://www.ohda/matrix.msu.edu
- The Audio Field Recording Equipment Guide:
http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org/archive/res_audioequip_retired.shtml - H-Oralhist furnishes a serachable archive of topics, including equipment:
http://www2.h-new.msu.edu/~oralhist/
Basics for a recorder:
- Get a digital, not tape, recorder
- Lightweight
- Can record in either MP3 or WAV
- Can record at least at 120kbps
- Has an external light letting you know the power is on
- Has a screen that lets you know how much memory or space is left
- Can use both batteries and a power cord
- Has internal/external memory card that can somehow enable transfer to a computer
- External cards are easiest to transfer, but can get expensive;
- Internal memory cards only require a USB cord, but those can get lost easily and memory capacity can be limited (usually up to ten hours though, and that's a lot!)
To microphone or not to microphone?
- Microphones appropriate for recording oral history interviews should be condenser types (not dynamic types). Condenser microphones require a power source (called phantom power) supplied either by the recorder device (referred to as phantom power) or a separate battery. For the most secure and least noisy input, select a microphone with a balanced XLR connection, not a stereo mini-plus connection. See Baylor's glossary for help with terms, but essentially you want a microphone that has some kick, but can be easily supplied with power. Dynamic microphones, which can simply just be attachments to a recorder, are not good for picking up individual voices. They are most often used for theatrical productions where you want to capture all the dialogue on stage.