TIPS FOR GREAT RECORDINGS

(Tips that will make your -- and our -- transcription experience the best it can be)

• If this is going to be an in person interview, find a quiet room where you won't be interrupted. Turn off any electrical appliances (computers, phones, HVAC, if possible, etc.) that might cause RF interference or electrical "hums" on the tape. Close the door and window(s).
• The three most important things to remember about recording are: quality, quality and quality. If it's important enough to record and have transcribed, it's also important enough to spend a little extra to ensure that you have good quality equipment and tapes. The little extra you'll spend up front on your recording equipment will be recovered on what you will save in transcription costs with a good quality recording.
• Make certain both you and the interviewee have lapel microphones (mics), hooked up in tandem to a single recorder. Radio Shack or any other Audio-Visual supplier can help you with this. The approximate cost for hook-ups and mics (but not the recorder) will be somewhere around $60. This is not a lot of money, considering the end results you'll obtain. If you feel confident enough, the ideal method of recording is to have a remote lapel microphone, but this may be a bit daunting to amateurs.
• Your primary interest is in recording what the interviewee is saying. (Believe it or not, we've received countless tapes where the interviewer's questions can be heard perfectly, but we've had to strain to hear the responses from the interviewee!) So if you have only one microphone, make certain it -- or the recorder -- is placed as close to the respondent as possible.
• If you're recording by phone instead of in person, borrow or purchase a recording device that allows you to plug the phone line directly into it. (The cost is about $10-15 at Radio Shack.) This will give you spectacular results, assuming you have a clear phone line. Do not -- repeat, DO NOT -- listen to anyone who tells you you'll get the same results by using one of those little microphones that sticks to the outside of the phone handset. You WILL be sorry! (And so will we if we have to transcribe the audio.)
• Use standard sized audiocassettes of high quality (preferably), not longer than 90 minutes in length (60 minutes is preferred). If you're using microcassettes, make certain you do not record on the slow speed (long play). This "stretches" the tape and effects sound resolution. The regular, or higher-quality speed setting, is the "2.4 cm" position. Never use any microcassette tape longer than 60 minutes in length.
• Prior to beginning the "real" interview, record a couple of practice questions or just a bit of chit-chat, then play the tape back so the individual can hear their voice and become comfortable with the process.
• Always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS make tests prior to recording. And not just at the beginning, but each and every time you begin recording after an interruption or the interviewee changes his/her seating or physical position. We cannot stress this strongly enough! Even a slight difference in position can sometimes make a severe difference in sound pick-up, especially if the subject is not fixed with a lapel mic.