Re: [ARSCLIST] Industrial Design Historians Seek Help in Selecting Technology

[David Lennick <dlennick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

That's called a double ender. We used to do them all the time at the CBC.

Cutting and splicing works only when each participant speaks and then stops. 
Pretty hard to mix when you have an animated give and take conversation, but 
probably not as difficult to do it electronically..

dl

Marcos Sueiro wrote:
> I just realised that my explanation of a tape sync was very poor. You 
> need *two* separate people to record (with good mics, etc) the 
> interviewer and interviewee separately, but simultaneously, so that one 
> person is recording the questions and another, in a different location, 
> the answers. Then you edit these together into a seamless interview.
>
> I hope this makes sense.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Marcos
>
> Marcos Sueiro wrote:
> > Hi Barbara,
> >
> > If you want to do telephone interviews, you will get much better 
> > quality by using a high-quality microphone on the interviewer's side 
> > (Shure SM7, ElectroVoice RE-20 are classics; Rode 
> > http://www.rodemic.com. makes some very nice ones at good prices) and 
> > an interface like this one: http://www.jkaudio.com/broadcast-host.htm.
> >
> > Even better quality is achieved (but with far more work) by doing a 
> > tape sync: You hire someone to record the interviewee and interviewer 
> > separately at their locations,  and later edit it all  into one 
> > seamless interview. This is how radio interviews are often done.
> >
> > To record in person, it depends a lot on the setup and how noisy the 
> > environment is. Tabletop PZM mics often work well because they are 
> > less physically intrusive and distracting for the interviewee: 
> > http://www.crownaudio.com/mic_web/pzm.htm (tip: place them on a mouse 
> > pad to dampen tabletop rumble).
> >
> > Finally, although expensive, I have only heard good things from the 
> > Sound Devices family of audio recorders: 
> > http://www.sounddevices.com/products/702.htm. Marantz also makes 
> > well-respected machines such as the PMD-660 http://tinyurl.com/goyv7.
> >
> > Make sure you record your oral histories as good-quality wav files, 
> > and only generate the lower-quality file when you are ready to podcast.
> >
> > As for archiving, I would use hard drives with redundancy, be it tape 
> > , RAID, or all of the above.
> >
> > Good luck!
> >
> > Marcos
> >
> > > 1. We have just conducted our first podcasts to be available online 
> > > in the near future.  These were done over the phone through a 
> > > contracted conference-call company. The sound quality is good for the 
> > > interviewee but the interviewer's in-phone mike is causeing some 
> > > 'slurring' sounds.  Could you recommend an external mike for a phone? 
> > > Is there something more low-tech which might be used to reduce this 
> > > problem (I've heard that covering the mike holes with something like 
> > > cotton or foam works)?  Is there a particular model of podcast 
> > > quality phone that you can recommend?   
> >
> > > 2.  For non-podcast oral histories done by phone what equipment would 
> > > you recommend? Phone make and model? Mike to attach to phone?
> > > 3.  For oral histories done in person what equipment would you 
> > > recommend?
> > >  
> > > 4.  What is the best way to archive these until they find a permanent 
> > > home and which would be acceptable to a library?  On what media: cd, 
> > > dvd, dv or magnetic tape?  Is it okay to house them in a standard 
> > > climate controlled self-storage unit?
> > >  
> > > 5. What cataloging system do you recommend?  What easy-to-use 
> > > software might facilitate transfer to a library archive in the 
> > > foreseeable future?
> > > Any help you might lend will be greatly appreciated.  We have an 
> > > impending deadline to use our budget so time is of the essence.
> > > Thank you in advance for your responses,
> > > Barbara Egan
> > >   
>