Microphones, Oral History, and that “Radio” Sound in the Field: Shotgun Microphones
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Microphones, Oral History, and that “Radio” Sound in the Field: Shotgun Microphones

This is the third post in the series Microphones, Oral History, and that “Radio” Sound in the Field about the microphone options for trying to achieve “broadcast quality” recording when not in a studio. The first post in the series focused on handheld electronic news gathering (ENG) microphones; the second post focused on lavaliere microphones….

Microphones, Oral History, and that “Radio” Sound in the Field: Lavalier or Lapel Microphones
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Microphones, Oral History, and that “Radio” Sound in the Field: Lavalier or Lapel Microphones

In my earlier post Microphones, Oral History, and that “Radio” Sound in the Field: ENG Microphones I talk about my ongoing quest to achieve broadcast quality recordings out in the field and launch a series of posts that “explores ways to achieve broadcast quality audio with that radio or studio sound.” One of the more…

Microphones, Oral History, and that “Radio Sound” in the Field: ENG Microphones
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Microphones, Oral History, and that “Radio Sound” in the Field: ENG Microphones

I have always tried to record oral history interviews in the field that were broadcast quality and sounded like studio recordings. I want to achieve a sound that has minimal ambient noise and gives the listener that close-mic’d sound that you hear when you listen to radio personalities such as the hosts of All Things…

Superscope PMR61: An Unexpected Surprise
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Superscope PMR61: An Unexpected Surprise

In just the past few years, professional quality portable audio recorders have continued to evolve and improve.  I am the director of the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History in the University of Kentucky Libraries where we loan dozens of professional-level recording kits to our interview project partners. In so doing over the years, I…

Video Oral History in 360°: The Ricoh Theta S Video Camera
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Video Oral History in 360°: The Ricoh Theta S Video Camera

First, to experience this post to the fullest extent, switch your browser to Chrome (for now), or watch the YouTube clip below on your smartphone using the YouTube mobile app.  Trust me, it is cool. We talk a lot in oral history about “shared authority” and about co-creation.  Oral history, by definition, involves, at minimum, an…

Recording Phone Interviews: JK Audio QuickTap
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Recording Phone Interviews: JK Audio QuickTap

First up for my reviews of analog devices for digitally recording telephone interviews will be the JK Audio QuickTap which costs $59. The QuickTap is an inexpensive way to easily interface your landline telephone with your digital audio recorder.  A few things are required for the QuickTap to work: Your digital audio recorder must have a…

iOS Recording: Rode iXY-L
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iOS Recording: Rode iXY-L

The Rode  iXY-L ($199.00 USD) brings high quality stereo recording to your iOS device turning your iPhone or iPad into a powerful portable recorder.  The Rode iXY-L microphone is Rode’s newly updated iOS microphone attachment that is compatible with Apple’s Lightning Connector on newer iOS devices.  In conjunction with Rode’s Rec App, The iXY-L records and exports a multitude of formats including the uncompressed Wave,…

Recording Phone Interviews
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Recording Phone Interviews

We now have amazing opportunities for conducting remote oral histories using a range of Internet-based tools like Skype or Google Hangout.  Through a webcam and a microphone, “face to face” or audio interviews via the Web are now quite easy to conduct.  The challenge is effectively recording these interviews.  I have to say that I…

Testing 1-2-3: Zoom H-5 Microphone Test
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Testing 1-2-3: Zoom H-5 Microphone Test

Here is an initial audio test of the Zoom H-5 digital audio recorder using the standard X/Y microphone module, an external (XLR) lavaliere microphone, and the optional MSH-6 Mid Side Stereo and XYH-6 microphone modules. Example #1:  Mic: Standard X/Y microphone module Position: Directly at source Settings: 24/96 .wav   Example #2: Mic: External lavalier…