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Lab equipment is available for student and faculty use. All equipment, including availability, is listed on our website. To borrow equipment, please fill out the Equipment Request Form.
Need to record some data, and not sure which equipment to check out?
Use this quick guide to choose an appropriate recorder and any necessary accessories for some common scenarios. Click on the links below to watch some tutorials of how to use the equipment. As always, consult the LingLab RA (linglab@georgetown.edu) or your professor with additional questions.
First ask yourself, what type of data do you need to collect?
Data for Discourse Analysis: To record small groups (and if you will not be doing any phonetic analysis), use a small unobtrusive digital recorder with a built-in mic (all of the recorders in this section can also take a ⅛’’ lavalier mic, but you won’t use this in a group setting). Choose from:
Olympus Recorder (168, 169) - records to MP3
Olympus LS-14 PCM Recorder (170) - records to WAV or MP3
Olympus VN-8100 Recorder (46) - records to MP3 and WMA
Sony ICD-PX333 Recorder (166, 167) - records to MP3
Sony PCM Recorder (140) - records to WAV and MP3
H2n Recorder (157) - records to WAV and MP3
Phillips Voicetracer Recorder and Mic (158)
Sociophonetic Data: You want quality recordings of individuals or pairs made “in the field” for phonetic analysis. Use a digital recorder that is compatible with good external microphones and records to WAV. All of these recorders record in WAV format (among others). They also have built-in mics and are compatible with ⅛’’ mics, but external mics will get much better recordings.
Choose a recorder:
Zoom H4n (141, 159)
Marantz (7, 9)
Olympus LS-100 Recorder (171)
Choose 1 or 2 Audiotechnica lavalier mics (163, 164, 165),
+ one XLR M-to-F cable (118, 119, 120….) per mic
You need to provide your own batteries for the recorders; each comes with an AC adapter, but generally you will want to avoid plug-in power as this can contribute line noise to your recording. You also want to make sure you have an SD card big enough for your anticipated recordings (the one that comes with the recorder may not be sufficient, depending on your needs). As a rule of thumb, a 1 hour interview recorded as a mono WAV file at a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz and depth of 16 bits will require 303 MB of space. In this format, you could record for three hours on a 1GB card.
Laboratory Phonetics Data: You want quality laboratory recordings of individuals or pairs for phonetic analysis or for perception-experiment stimuli.
Option 1: Use a digital recorder that is compatible with good microphones, records to WAV, and sits on a table in the sound-attenuated booth.
Choose a recorder:
Zoom H4n (141, 159)
Marantz (7, 9)
Olympus LS-100 Recorder (171)
2. Choose 1 or 2 mics:
Shure Omnidirectional Dynamic mic (51, 52)
Sennheiser Dynamic mic (53, 54)
3. + one XLR M-to-F cable (118, 119, 120) per mic
4. + one popper stopper or windscreen per mic
5. + one mic stand per mic (107, 108)
Option 2: Record directly to Praat or other programs on the desktop computer outside of the soundbooth via the patch panel.
1. Choose 1 or 2 mics:
Shure Omnidirectional Dynamic mic (51, 52)
Sennheiser Dynamic mic (53, 54)
2. + one XLR M-to-¼’’ TRS cable (179,181) per mic (patch panel to mbox)
3. + Mbox two-track mixer (185)
4. + one XLR F-to-¼’’ TRS cable (180, 182) per mic (mics to patch panel)
Here are some of the LingLab’s recommendations and tutorials:
A Selection of our Amazing Recorders:
Both of these recorders are useful for discourse analysis and sociophonetic research. If you’re interested in collecting phonetic data, you will need to ideally equip a lavalier microphone to the recorders to get a more accurate recording. For discourse analysis, the internal microphones are sufficient on their own. These recorders record to WAV.
A Selection of our Incredible Microphones:
The Shure Omnidirectional dynamic microphone and the Olympus ME51S Stereo mic are great for picking up audio from multiple sources in one room. The condenser lavalier mics are ideal for phonetic research.
Our Computer Systems:
Dell Studio PC XPS 9100: For users who prefer Windows.
iMac M1 Chip: For Apple users.
Some Extremely Helpful Computer Walkthroughs:
ELAN: Transcribe spoken language and annotate linguistic elements to analyze discourse, gestures, and other communicative features.
Praat: Analyze the phonetic aspects of speech, visualize spectrograms, track speakers’ pitch, and analyze formants. The link will connect you to a playlist of videos that walk you through an abundance of tools that Praat offers for phonetic research!
R + R Studio: Compute statistical data, conduct experiments, and visualize results through graphs and charts.
Python: Code with this versatile programming language for any number of linguistic tasks, including building experimental paradigms, natural language processing (NLP), and developing complex computational models.
PsychoPy3: Create and run psychology and neuroscience experiments that explore language processing, perception, and cognition.
Audacity: Record and edit audio files, adjust pitch and tempo, analyze spectrograms, and reduce noise.
MS Office: Word, Excel, and Powerpoint → the essentials for documenting linguistic data, organizing data, creating presentations, and writing papers.
For more complex set-ups (including recording video and using the Ultrasound), email linglab@georgetown.edu.
Can't find what you're looking for?
Check the library inventory. The Gelardin Media Center has a large selection of high-quality equipment available for student loan, and is open all day throughout the week. See their hours here.
Want to make a suggestion for the lab to purchase equipment?
If you believe the lab would benefit from purchasing a particular piece of equipment, let the lab committee know by sending an e-mail to the lab assistant. Please include information about the function of the equipment, pricing, and comparable equipment.
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