Equipment

At St Levan we have used a minidisk recorder. They’re small and a bit fiddly to operate but, because they are digital, their sound reproduction quality is excellent. Added to that they fit in a pocket and they’re not too expensive. We have used a Sony ‘Walkman’ type of recorder – but be sure that you’re picking the model that has the ability to record from an external microphone and has the relevant plug-in point for it.

You will need to buy an additional microphone, not just the internal microphone. We bought a little clip-on variety which cost around £30 and has the benefit of recording in stereo. The clip means that you can affix the microphone to the speaker’s clothing but if this isn’t possible or not desirable, then place it as close as possible to the speaker. On one occasion at St Levan an interview was carried out with an elderly man who was lying prone in bed. His voice was strong although physically he was not, but the microphone clipped to his bedcovers captured his memories perfectly.

For interviewing outdoors a hand-held unidirectional microphone is best. For group interviews we found that an omni-directional microphone was a good investment. It’s small, and discreet but picks up all the speakers equally well.


Image: The type of recorder and microphones used on this project

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