East Midlands Oral History Archive
Information Sheet #3 What equipment to use for oral history
What equipment should I use for oral history?
The problem with giving advice about recording technology is that the information will probably be out of date in a few months time. Until recently many people used minidisc recorders, but most have now changed to solid state recorders. Although prices have fallen these can still seem expensive and are not within everybody's budget.

This sheet explain:

W hat equipment is available for the recording of oral history. Make some suggestions of the types of tape recorder and microphone you should buy. Suggest where you can buy this kind of equipment.
Realistically you will have to look at how much money you have and decide which of the currently available recording devices you can afford. The following list doesnt claim to be exhaustive but it will give you an idea of the types of recorders available,

Recording devices

Oral history has been conducted on everything from wax cylinders to huge reel-toreel recorders, to portable cassette recorders, to ultra-small minidisc machines, to digital recorders which record onto memory cards. Open reel tape recorders, such as UHERs, were used for interviewing by organisations like the BBC for a long time, and a lot of oral history has been done using these. While the sound quality on these machines is very good, they are heavy and as the quality of portable recorders has improved they have gone out of use. Cassette recorders vary in quality from the cheap Sonys and Phillips, at around 30, to the high quality Marantz (if you can still find one), at around 330. Whatever you use make sure you are using an external microphone rather than an inbuilt one. This will avoid the sound of the recorders motor coming through on your recording and will enable you to be more flexible in how you record the sound. It is also useful to have a sound level indicator to help to avoid distorted recordings. As well as minidiscs and solid state (no moving parts) recorders, it is now possible to record onto a laptop computer equipped with suitable software. You will need to be confident that your computer wont crash though!
Centre for Urban History University of Leicester Leicester LE1 7RH Phone: 5065 Fax: 5062 Email: emoha@le.ac.uk www.le.ac.uk/emoha
One thing to bear in mind is how you will listen to your recordings in future. For example, CDs are well established and likely to be with us for the foreseeable future, while other formats may not be. These are details of the sorts of things you can buy (all require a microphone):
Not unless you can insert an external microphone, which you may not be able to do.
Sony cassette recorder. No sound level indicator and you should use a microphone - up to 30.
Analogue or digital dictaphones 20180 or more. May work best with external microphone, as the quality isn't great.
More equipment suggestions overleaf

Microphones

Minidisc recorder 80250. Standard minidisc recorders are becoming increasingly difficult to find, although Sony's latest Hi-MD format will allow much more information to be stored on one disc, which can then be transferred easily to a computer. Not the first choice for interviewers it once was. The Edirol R-09 (left) and the Zoom H2 (right) are examples of small high quality digital recorders which cost from 155-350. With a suitable memory card these will record hours of good quality sound which can be transferred easily to a computer. At somewhere around 370, the Marantz PMD660 is a digital recorder which is easy to use and which will accept high quality microphones. In 2009 this model was replaced by the PMD661 which is of even higher quality but which comes at a higher price.
Sony ECM-F8 table-top microphone. 15-20
The Eagle G157B is an example of a tie, or 'lavalier', microphone. 30-40.

More on Microphones

In the margin are examples of microphones that are available. There are many makes of microphone, varying from 5 to as much as you are prepared to spend. Generally you get what you pay for, although tie microphones like the Eagle G157B at around 30 will produce good results. Of the table top microphones, the Sony ECM-MS 907 will be better than the other two Sony models. If you want to use two tie microphones you can use a two-into-one adapter. There are pros and cons of tie microphones and table-top microphones. For example, tie mics can be positioned closer to the mouth but may brush against clothes, table top mics may be more likely to pick up background noises.

Sony ECM-MS 907 high quality digital microphone. 50-90
Whichever microphone you use, it is important to position it close to the interviewee and to test the sound levels before you begin. If you are using a tie microphone, positioning it upside down may help to avoid popping (some speech sounds can

Cassettes/Minidiscs

You shouldnt pay over 1 each for either cassettes or minidiscs, although Sony's Hi-MDs may cost a bit more. For cassettes use the normal ferric types, which are generally the cheapest, and use C60 tapes as they are less likely to stretch or break. When recording use Dolby B if its available.
Sony ECM-Z60 table-top microphone. 40-60

Headphones

From 4 for walkman-style headphones and 9 for larger styles.
Audio Technica PRO 41, 47. If you use this sort of h a nd - h e l d microphone. be sure to avoid cable-rattle by holding some of the cable in your hand. Your arm may get tired of holding the microphone. if you have no stand to put it on.
Where can I get all this?
Cassette and minidisc recorders can be purchased at most high street shops like Comet, Dixons etc. but we would recommend shopping around. Small specialist shops often offer greater choice. Marantz tape recorders are hard to find and may have to be ordered from suppliers. On the web, Amazon is worth a look, while the EMOHA website links to suppliers who sell microphones, the Marantz PMD660 and other similar recorders (see website address below). For more information go to the EMOHA equipment pages at: www.le.ac.uk/emoha/ training/equipment.html
the contents of this Information sheet may be copied for the purposes of training of personal study only, but the contents remain the copyright of EMOHA and must not be altered in any way.