Use a Microphone

TRAINING MANUAL LINKS – WHOWHATWHENWHEREWHYHOW?

Anything that records sound, and can have the sounds loaded onto your computer for sound editing, works for Eat Your Radio. That includes video cameras, Droid phones, Iphones, still cameras with a video setting, a computer with an internal microphone.  For video camera recording and computer recording, it can help to have an attached microphone, so that you can get the microphone closer to the person’s voice and further from any noisy hum of the equipment.

EatYourRadio Pick: H2 Zoom Handy Recorder.
One of our favorite “microphones” is a combination microphone and recorder called the H2 Zoom Handy Recorder.  It’s durable, it has good quality sound, and it’s easy to use. Read the training manual and practice a few recordings before you actually go out and get sound for something you need. That’s true for any recorder.

Tips for ANY Sound recording:

Wear Headphones – so that you can hear how the sound is recording. Ears work differently than microphones do. You’ll get a better idea of how the sound will be if you keep those headphones on!
Hold the Microphone a hand-width away from the person’s face. Hold the microphone like it’s an ice cream cone and you’re about ready to take a bit. You get the best sound when the microphone is close to your mouth. That’s true for most people talking in a normal voice.  There is an exception.  TEACHERS often have such loud voices, you can hold the microphone a little bit further away from them.
Before you start an interview – Let the person you’re recording listen through the headphones.   You must get a bit closer to a person in order to do an interview, than most people like to be.  But you can help the person you’re interviewing understand why.  Let the person hear how good a voice sounds when the mic is close.