Technical Issues
One of the most asked-about areas in oral history work is recording equipment. Should I record on a cassette recorder, or on a CD or minidisk, or should I be looking at solid state recorders… Part of the problem is that technology is changing so fast that it’s difficult even for professional oral historians to keep up.
While the technical area is one that is dealt with at AROHA training workshops, we can provide here some basic information and contacts for anyone, or groups, thinking of starting a project.
The first point to make is that you don’t have to have the most expensive equipment. Even modestly priced recorders can, if used properly, get good results. This means, though, learning to use your equipment in the best way possible, lots of practice on friends and family.
A few rules of thumb on equipment:- the cassette recorder, now rapidly going out of fashion, using 60-minute cassettes (30 minutes each side) is still one of the most reliable means of recording. A separate microphone should be used if at all possible. A built-in microphone picks up the sound of the recorder motor;
- mini-disc recorders, though usually more expensive are now producing very good recordings and these can be transferred, via a computer, to other outputs;
- if you or your organisation can afford serious archival recording equipment, talk to the experts – you will see some links here on this page; but…
- best of all, find yourself a technical friend who can interpret the masses of information you are likely to be bombarded with and confused by;
- when buying equipment, consult first with an expert about where and how you will archive your recordings – and what technical standards you should record to.
One of the aims of AROHA is to identify equipment suitable for different levels of affordability and for different situations. We’ll keep you posted.
Here are some links to recording equipment suppliers. The array is confusing, even to technicians in white coats. Please let us know of your experiences and recommendations.
http://www.d-mpro.eu.com/users/folder.asp