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Topic: Good God! HELP ME! Recording Interviews
| Author | Message |
| testing123 | Posted – 2/12/2008 10:29:11 PM | show profile | email poster Okaaay....in a medium sized nutshell: I got high on weed last October watching a bootleg DVD of a seminal '70's rock concert by a then big star, who is now a H U G E star. Watching the DVD, I said, "Someone ought to write a book about this show! I am SO stoned." The rest is not history yet, 'cause the rest is happening right now. I am writing the book and it is selling. In 2010 it will be history. Maybe 2009. Among a truckload of other work, I have eleven interviews coming up with concert principals in next two months and interviews with about forty audience members and many peripheral persons related to the show on that night in 197_ scheduled for May. Most interviews are being scheduled, outlined and prepped for now. I need to know what phone, recorder and adapters, etc. I should get for phone interviews. I have scanned this site but see nothing too current. Technology changes. I use a Motorola Razr now, but will dump it for whatever I need short of land line or a secretary/assistant who can type wicked fast. Please help me. Thanks. |
| MPLS Writer | Posted – 2/12/2008 11:02:07 PM | show profile I do all my phone interviews on speaker phone and use an Olympus digital recorder (they have various models -- for your needs, I'd go with their high-end -- I think it's around $300 -- and will have enough memory for many hours and is quite high quality sound). I've bought various plug-in devices for phones, but they've never quite worked out so I can't offer too much advice about that. For me the bigger deal is play-back and transcribing. I load the digital file into my computer from the recorder. The software that came with the recorder allows me to tag it, slow down the speed, cut out background noise, etc... I also invested in a foot pedal that allows me to start and stop the playback without having to take my fingers off the keyboard -- this is an absolute necessity if you plan on doing a lot of transcribing of long interviews. |
| testing123 | Posted – 2/13/2008 1:06:37 AM | show profile | email poster Perfect! I hope you see this message. Thanks! That's about perfect feedback. I welcome others if anyone is reading. I did read a couple posts on various threads I've found about using speaker if you have a good recorder, and that this recorder's playback is great. Yeah...my interviews are long and technical. I will look in this device. I will be back....thanks! |
| testing123 | Posted – 2/13/2008 1:07:58 AM | show profile | email poster Can you share the model name or # of your Olympus? Thank you. |
| chucho | Posted – 2/13/2008 4:24:55 AM | show profile I have the Olympus WS-320M -- very nice, sleek, easy to use, built-in USB -- i's basically a one giga thumb drive that has an I/O (3/4 jacks, one for mic, one for headphones) and a built-in mic. The newer one will have a different model number -- this one is a couple of years old. Records up to 32 hours of decent-resolution audio. |
| testing123 | Posted – 2/13/2008 10:03:55 AM | show profile | email poster Sorry to sound like a dolt, but i am techno-dumb. Where did you guys buy these things? Olympus web site? Radio Shack? i'll start shopping today. Thanks for the help! |
| MPLS Writer | Posted – 2/13/2008 12:23:02 PM | show profile I have the DS 330. I bought it a number of years ago (on a budget) and it has served its purposes. It records up to about five hours of audio -- and I'm always back at my computer and able to download the audio before I use all that space. If I were buying a new one today, I'd probably go with something higher end -- like the DS 2300. |
| MPLS Writer | Posted – 2/13/2008 12:23:51 PM | show profile Forgot to say... I think I got mine at a Best Buy or Circuit City. |
| chucho | Posted – 2/13/2008 4:02:00 PM | show profile I bought nine on Amazon for $90 new. Whatever you get I would highly recommend the built in USB plug and this it takes a AAA or a AA (not a rechargeable). |
| testing123 | Posted – 2/13/2008 8:14:22 PM | show profile You guys have offered solid guidance. Thank you! I shopped Olympus today and have four models scoped out. I will buy one. Last question, so I hope someone's still around... Recording off speaker phone directly into the recorder: Thoughts? Some of the product descriptions cite hyper sensitive recording capability with the ability to filter out background noise. This is the way for me which is most appealing: Straight from speaker into recorder... Anyway, can anyone add to this angle? Again, thanks! |
| testing123 | Posted – 2/20/2008 12:38:09 AM | show profile | email poster Bought One. It's Good. Thank You! Got one. Olympus 4100PC. It looks like it came from a cereal box and feels the same, but it records dust hitting walls at full speed. And as for interviewing off speaker phone? Excellent. 25% slow playback, USB cable for downloading. I like. Of course on the day of the first interview I'll have pressed "pause" instead of "record" but I'll work it out. Thank you everyone for the help. |
| chucho | Posted – 2/20/2008 6:59:53 AM | show profile Radio Shack sells a nifty gadget for about $15 that plugs into the phone. You plug the receiver into the gadget and the gadget plugs into the phone. It records the I/O signal from a hand-held receiver or headset. As far as recording speaker phone conversations, I'd say simply placing the recorder near the speaker will work fine, however the Radio Shack gadget is going to record more cleanly as it is recording the signal itself rather than catching the sound waves from the speakerphone which will pick up ambient sounds in the room. It's probably worth noting that states have different laws about recording phone conversations, but from a journalism ethics standpoint, it's best you inform the person with whom you're speaking, whether it's illegal in your state or not to seek consent. Most sources don't mind, tho. Tell them it's for the sake of accuracy. |
| chucho | Posted – 2/20/2008 7:00:52 AM | show profile Er, let me rephrase this: "but from a journalism ethics standpoint, it's IMPERATIVE you inform the person with whom you're speaking" |
| Stanley_Milgram | Posted – 2/20/2008 9:25:32 AM | show profile the cheapest solution is the one I use -- Hot Recorder and VoIP, ideally Skype. You download Skype for free, but a few bucks worth of credit so you can call a regular phone (this costs about .02 a minute to any number -- mobile or land -- in the U.S., Canada and to landlines in most of the Western world; calling another Skype user is free). Then you download Hot Recorder (also free). Hot Recorder records your Skype conversation right onto your computer's hard drive. No external parts. Nothing to break. Nothing you have to go out and buy. Only thing to remember is to set the recording to "mono" since sometimes stereo recordings overlap your voice and your interviewee's voice because of differentials in the upload and download speed of the audio. |
| barbara9 | Posted – 2/20/2008 1:16:58 PM | show profile If you plan to conduct interviews with a cell phone, the device from Radio Shack that plugs directly into the phone is likely to cause a lot of interference that the person on the other end can hear. I use an Olympus TP-7 mic, it plugs into your recorder and fits into your ear between the phone. There is no interference at all. My Radio Shack has them for $19.99 or you can order them from Olympus. It will plug into any recorder or directly into the computer, depending on what inputs you have. |
| bdure | Posted – 3/6/2008 4:26:13 PM | show profile | email poster TP-7 and an iTalk I second the endorsement on the TP-7. It even fits between my Bluetooth headset and my ear. It's no less comfortable than iPod buds. I record those interviews -- and my in-person interviews -- with an iTalk that plugs right into my iPod. Pros: Easy to sync up with my computer, giving me a backup version. It's easy to pause playback on iTunes -- just hit the spacebar. So for transcribing, I can flip between Word and iTunes, hitting the spacebar to stop and start. Cons: I notice on phone conversations that I sometimes lose 1-2 seconds at a time, maybe once or twice every 10 minutes of conversation. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because I'm often jostling the iPod by typing while I'm doing the interview? Not sure. I'd love to splurge on a foot pedal, though. Where could I find a cheap one? |
| jkdscribe | Posted – 3/7/2008 2:08:34 PM | show profile Just to add to the questions... I do not have a landline and so I conduct my phone interviews with a cell phone. This wouldn't be a problem except that the cell phone signal causes a LOT of interference. I have to put my sources on speakerphone and set the recorder across the room. And when on speaker I can tell, with it being a cell phone, that the signal isn't that good. Advice? |
| JimmyG | Posted – 3/7/2008 5:57:56 PM | show profile If the recorder is causing interference with the cell phone signal or vice-versa when placed closed together, use an external microphone. Then you can place the recorder sufficiently far away, but get a better recording for the mic being close to the sound source. In general, sound quality is better with an external mic (at least a decent one) than any built-in mic. Testing123, I'd invest in a good mic and be sure to archive all my recordings carefully because you never know where or how you might be able to use them for other-media spinoffs from, or promotions for your main work (publisher's web site, etc.). |
| testing123 | Posted – 3/8/2008 9:32:44 PM | show profile Thanks Jimmy G and all others... I have been testing this on calls (placed on speakerphone) for a couple weeks from start of call all the way thru to downloading to my PC and all systems are a-ok. I will look into an external mic, tho.... Thanks! |
| snappiness | Posted – 3/9/2008 12:29:36 PM | show profile | email poster I love my Olympus 4100PC, I use it in the field. For phone interviews I use cellphone and type. I can type pretty much as fast as they can talk, so I try to do most of my research on the phone and then just go into the field for color. I have noticed that my bluetooth headset gets interference sometimes from my wireless keyboard, I have to put phone behind me so the signal isn't crossing between keyboard/PC. I'm thinking of getting a hard-wired cellphone headset instead. |
