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8.5: Using a Microphone

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    305821

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    While using an external mike can be an extra nuisance during an interview, the added sound quality is well worth the effort.

    There are basically two types of external microphones: A standard mike with a cord, and a wireless or lavalier mike. Let’s take a look at the advantage both have to offer and also explore the best way to record telephone calls digitally.

    A standard mike with a cord is helpful if you are interviewing more than one person at a time or you want to include your voice on the audio clip so listeners can hear the full interview instead of just selected quotes. It is also the best way to gather natural, or environmental, sound, which can be spliced into the audio segment to enhance the listening experience.

    Gathering natural sound is not the same as background noise. Interviews should be done in a setting that allows the voices to be recorded without interruption. Separate from the interview session, however, it’s always a good idea to search for those sounds that will help describe the setting. Are there power tools being used? Is it a noisy office with lots of chatter and phones ringing? Is it an outside setting where you can hear the bugs and the birds?

    If there is natural sound to be had, take just a few minutes and record it — without anyone talking. “You might feel silly just standing there holding your mike in the air, but when you get back to edit your stuff, you’ll be glad you have it,” said Kirsten Kendrick, a reporter and morning host on KPLU radio, an NPR affiliate in Seattle and Tacoma.

    You should record natural sound in uninterrupted 15-second increments. That way you’ll avoid the problem of not having enough to use in editing. You can always make a clip shorter by cutting it but you can’t make it longer, so make sure the material you’re working from is long enough to cut from.

    Assignment

    Find the NPR station near you or listen online from NPR’s Web site. The public radio broadcasters do a masterful job of weaving natural sound into their reports. And as a listener, you get a better sense of the setting for the story when you hear what it really sounds like.

    A wireless or lavalier mike is most helpful when your goal is to capture the voice and words of one person and you’re “in the field.” While they might be intimidating at first, wireless mikes are really very simple.

    clipboard_ef3eec52e2f87bffb3bd584c18aeada31.png

    There are two halves: A battery pack and miniature mike on a cord that clips on the person you want to record (this sends the signal), and a battery pack and cord that goes into your recording device (this receives the signal). Here’s how to get started:

    1. Clip the mike on the lapel of your subject and give them the battery pack to put in their pocket. Don’t forget to turn the device on!
    2. Connect the receiver pack to your recording device, turn it on, and put it in your pocket or purse or handbag. Then operate your recorder as you normally would: Hit the record button when you’re ready and pause button if there’s a break in the action.

    This page titled 8.5: Using a Microphone is shared under a CC BY-ND 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark Briggs via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.