Recording Remotely
Recording remotely
Recording remotely often requires more work and resources on the part of the person or people you're interviewing. The extra work of recording remotely can also be an opportunity to share skills with people you're interviewing (provided they're interested), as they will probably be downloading free apps they can use to interview others in the future.
If you're interviewing someone who has their own audio practice and equipment, you can look to the Transom article mentioned on the recording home page for strategies. Most of the time, though, this probably won't be the case.
Either way, it's important to start a conversation about expectations and capacity when you first reach out about an interview, and to check in with your interviewee(s) throughout the interview and production processes.
Sounding your best:
Below, you'll find a compendium of options for recording remote interviews. But whether you're chatting on zoom on a computer and recording on voice memos as your interviewee does the same, or you have to send them a list of questions, recording environment matters—for both of you. Take steps to minimize background noise, and encourage them to do the same. And always, always, get thirty seconds of background/silence in your recording environment to smooth out any blips in production later.
You want to maximize your control over what sounds are in the final piece. Find somewhere quiet.
Look at the photo of the living room. Cushions, blankets, and a fuzzy rug? Fabric is great at absorbing unwanted sound. This space is an audio practitioner's dream!
Cars make great spaces, too. They're almost like recording booths.
When you don't have to worry about someone else, there are lots of ways to create good recording spaces in your home
Consider recording a closet surrounded by clothes to help dampen sound.
Make a pillow fort with your comforter and some chairs and record inside!
What are my options for recording live, remotely?
1. Anchor (free app)
Resources necessary: To use this option, either you or your interviewee must have access to a smart phone. Someone with a smartphone can initiate the recording and send an invitation to someone else with either a smart phone or web access via a computer. All parties also need to be willing to make an Anchor account and have access to wifi.
For step by step guidance, from downloading the app to exporting your recordings, check out our Anchor App Guide for Interviewing Remotely.
Anchor is free and available on IOS and Android. Sessions can also be joined (though not initiated) via a web browser.
Anchor can be the most natural method of interview as it is most like having a phone conversation.
Can have up to 5 people in the interview at a time while recording.
Note: the Anchor app mixes down everyone’s audio into a single track which you can export. If you want separate audio tracks for yourself and the interviewee(s), look at the methods below.
2. Live/Dual Recording
Resources necessary: To use this option, you and your interviewee must both have access to both a smart phone, a computer, and an internet connection.
Conduct the interview over Zoom, Google Hangouts, or another live platform on your computer. You will also record your own voice via smartphone so that you get the best audio recording quality
Make sure to wear headphones on the device you are using for zoom so that your smartphone records clean audio without the zoom chat in the background.
While you are speaking, both you and your interviewee will record your/their side of the interview on your/their smartphones. For step by step guidance on how to record on a smart phone, check out this MML cheat sheet.
This option also allows you to interview multiple people at once. Multiple people can join the chat as long as everyone records on their end.
Zoom allows you to record a call, which can be helpful as a back up.
Once completed, ask your interviewee to send you the audio file they recorded on their smartphone so that you can use it in the audio editing process.
Note: Each person (you and all interviewees) should record thirty seconds of silence in their own environment in addition to the main recording. You will need this later to make the interview sound smooth.
With either method—
EMBRACE silence! Waiting until just past the point of comfort to ask a follow up question can lead to some beautiful, unexpected answers.
Bring your question sheet along, but keep it to the side. Check it once before the end of the interview to make sure you've hit all the key questions. But mostly, trust yourself and allow yourself to be present! You've got this.
Before concluding the interview, ask your interviewee if there's anything else they want to share.
Leave the microphone running just a little bit past the official "end" of the interview. Usually, people keep reflecting on the questions and can share compelling information just at the last second.
Asynchronous Options
The options above allow you to maintain an organic back and forth with the person or people you're interviewing and to respond in the moment with new questions, which can be key parts of a good interview. The following options use fewer tools and don't require you to connect live.
3. Interviewee has a smartphone
Send your interviewee your questions and communicate that you will reach out if you have follow-up questions.
Let them record their answers on their own time on their smartphone using this guide. Ask them to email you this recording (and thirty seconds of silence/background in their environment!).
If necessary, develop follow-up questions and send to your interviewee, and ask them to self-record and send when finished.
4. Interviewee doesn’t have a smartphone:
Email the interviewee your questions and they can email you back their written responses.
Gain typed consent from the interviewee for their written responses to be spoken by an alternative subject.
You can put together this podcast story by asking someone in your home, or remotely like someone in your class, to narrate these responses (with the stated clause in the final podcast that this is dramatized audio version) into an audio recording using the above smartphone guide.
Share your audio track with the interviewee to gain feedback and consent for the style and aural delivery of their written responses. Make changes, if necessary.