One of my greatest fears has always been the risk of recording a one-of-a-kind oral history interview and having an unknown digital data or technical failure. I spend a lot of time obsessing about best practices and, recently, mostly focusing the majority of my attention on the recording machines. I haven’t thought about the importance…
The Oral History in the Digital Age project and the folks at Michigan State University’s MATRIX Center have launched “Ask Doug” to assist you in making a decision on choosing a digital audio recorder. For more than 10 years I have taught numerous workshops on digital audio recording and oral history. I now sometimes get…
In 1890, folklorist and anthropologist J. Walter Fewkes declared that the study of folklore “cannot reach its highest scientific value until some method is adopted by means of which an accurate record of the stories can be obtained and preserved.”[1] Since then, there have been many revolutions in recording technologies that have transformed our capabilities…
The following is a video tutorial on the setup and basic use of the Tascam DR-100 MKII digital audio recorder. This video includes basic tips and a visual walk through the initial setup and configuration of this recorder. Here is a link to view the earlier post featuring the video introduction Tascam DR-100 MK II: A…
The Tascam DR-100 MK II is a new and improved version of Tascam’s DR-100. Although not perfect, I loved the DR-100. Like its predecessor, the DR-100 MKII is a professional level, two-channel audio recorder that records up to 24-bit 96khz uncompressed wave files files to SD or SDHC flash media. It has 2, high-quality, XLR-microphone…
This is a recorder that is very popular because 1)it is inexpensive 2)it has XLR inputs 3) records 4 channel audio 4) is super easy to use. Although the preamps are not as good as other recorders in the class, the 4 channel recording (really 3 since the onboard mics have very little stereo separation)…
Quick Summary: Memory: SD memory cards Sample rate /Bitdepth: up to 24/96 Microphone Input type: XLR Phantom Power: yes Interface: USB 2 Cost: $550- 600 Some of the most popular and trusted recorders over the years have been made by Marantz. In terms of cassette recorders, there was no better. Logically, as Marantz moved into…
[Discontinued] Quick Summary: Memory: SD Sample rate /Bitdepth: up to 24/96 Microphone Input type: External: XLR Internal: Omni and Uni Directional Phantom Power: yes Interface: USB 2 Cost: $ 300 One of the many recorders I have been recommending over the past few years is the Tascam DR-100. The DR-100 is a nice blend…
The Zoom H2 was a popular entry level recorder for conducting oral history. While not the best recording quality, it is incredibly easy to use. Although it has been replaced by the Zoom H2n, this is still a popularly used recorder. Although this recorder is easy to use it is really flimsy, actually broke it…
