LINGUIST List 14.720

Wed Mar 12 2003

Sum: Correction: Field Recording Equipment

Editor for this issue: Steve Moran <stevelinguistlist.org>

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  • Jim Long, Field Recording Equipment

    Message 1: Field Recording Equipment

     Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 16:35:09 -0500 (EST)
    From: Jim Long <jimlongworldpassage.net>
    Subject: Field Recording Equipment


    Editor's Note: Due to an error, part of the original message was omitted in Linguist 14.707.

    Many thanks to the several people who responded in depth to my query regarding field recording devices: (Linguist 14.606). The responses were helpful, detailed and from personal experience, in all, most valuable. Respondents pointed out the possibilities for downloading to computers without redigitizing for phonetic analyses, the need to work with copies of tapes (rather than original recordings) when transcribing, prices, and a number of other aspects that enter into a choice of recording gear. MiniDisc recorders seem to be the most popular, but a summary would not do the responses justice, so here they are, arranged by device and only very slightly edited (salutations and such deleted).

    A. Overview of field recording equipment

    1. Mark Jones Dept. of Linguistics University of Cambridge "Mark Jones" <markjjoneshotmail.com>

    I'm a phonetician at Cambridge University. There have been a number of posts recently on this subject on the linguist list, so if you haven't already, search the archive. They mentioned the use of MP3 and portable CD recorders.

    I don't know your background, so I'll be basic. What you need depends on what you are going to do with the data. I've used Mini Disc, which has great capacity (2.5 hours per disc on mono) and the recorders are small and relatively cheap. However, for acoustic analysis, they are not ideal, as the compression system used distorts some amplitude and frequency components.

    DAT is standard for phonetic fieldwork, though I'm planning to acquire an MP3 recorder which can store files as .WAV files so that the digitisation process is eliminated (always a huge pain). As far as I'm aware, standard cassettes remain cheap and good quality, even for acoustic analysis. So I wouldn't necessary go for new media if you can find a good portable cassette recorder. Remember, the recording is only ever as good as the mike, and the recording levels etc. Cheap mikes for computer use often have great range and good signal/noise ratio. Lip mikes can be very useful.

    2. Tsui, Wai-ming. The Chinese University of Hong Kong "CUHK email" s020274cuhk.edu.hk

    Peter Ladefoged has an article on field study in the book The Handbook of Phonetic Sciences. It might be useful to you. Besides, I've heard that a digital/audio recorder model number UA-30 manufactured by Roland is quite good for field study. The price is around US$200.

    3. Bartek Plichta http://bartus.org plichtabmsu.edu

    Here's the download link to Plitchta.s talk at NWAVE: Best Practices in the Acquisition, Processing, and Analysis of Acoustic Speech Signals.

    http://bartus.org/contents/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=getit&lid=7 =modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=getit&lid=7



    B. Minidisc

    1. Dave Eberhard Field Linguist Brazil "Dave & Julie Eberhard" dave-julie_eberhardsil.org

    I have had my best field recordings made from a minidisc recorder. The model I used was a Sharp 722. It's small, rugged, and digital - and has no motor noise that can sometimes be heard in taperecorder/walkman recordings. It has a rechargable internal battery that is long lasting, as well as an external AA battery pack that extends the life of the internal battery. It also came with a remote controller that is handy during ellicitation sessions.

    Minidiscs are better than tape for elliciting lots of material - you can record up to 250 tracks per disc and then later access any track you want with a twirl of a jog dial.

    By buying a digital headset mic to go with it, it makes a great field recording unit.

    2. Brigitte Pakendorf Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Inselstrasse 22 D-04103 Leipzig Germany pakendorfeva.mpg.de

    I can really recommend the Sony MiniDisc recorder. I took one along to the field, and it was amazing. The recording quality is impeccable, there's no background noise at all - and you can get up to 5 hours (sic!) of recording on to one MD, with no loss of quality. (At least on the newer ones with "LP4" mode.) The machine is very small and fairly light (though the charging element is relatively heavy and bulky), and the discs obviously don't take up much space, either. The batteries last quite a long time, too - at least, I don't recall having had any problems with the batteries; in a total of about 5 months in the field doing actual work (and I recorded all my elicitation sessions) I mainly used the rechargeable battery, plus in addition 8 or 10 little AA batteries as backups. The playback button is a bit tricky and takes a bit of fine motor control and practise, but I got the hang of it fairly quickly.

    There were two disadvantages, though: fairly often, when trying to rewind just a few seconds, my finger would sort of slip and I'd end up at the track mark, which then meant having to fast forward to where I'd been - rather annoying when you're busy transcribing a text. And after about 8-9 weeks of (admittedly heavy) work with a lot of transcription, the rewind button actually went haywire - I sent in the recorder when I got back, and they said it had been dirty... So I had to do my transcriptions off the little dictaphone I'd taken along as a backup, though I did still record everything on my MD recorder as well, for work back here at home.

    Of course, these MD recorders aren't cheap: I believe I paid nigh on 350 USD 1.5 years ago. But I do think the two advantages of brilliant sound quality and length of recording that is possible are really worth it.

    3. Dr. Jonathan Marshall Lecturer Department of English Language University of Edinburgh 14 Buccleuch Place Edinburgh EH8 9LN < J.Marshalled.ac.uk>

    We use minidisk recorders. A 2.5" disc holds 650 Mb, or 74 mins stereo (148 mins mono) digital sound. You can add track markers during or after interview, and upload file to PC etc. Crisp, clear sound, and a very small machine.

    4. Guido Vanden Wyngaerd K.U.Brussel Vrijheidslaan 17 B-1081 Brussel <guido.vandenwyngaerdkubrussel.ac.be > I used to work for a dialectology project which involved interviewing people at home. We used a Sony Mini-Disc recorder with a small stereo microphone. The stereo mike was not because we require stereo recordings but because the sound quality is far superior to that of the mono microphone. This setup is small, unobtrusive, relatively inexpensive, and gives excellent quality. I could recommend it to anyone doing fieldwork.

    5. Kathryn Remlinger, Ph.D. Associate Professor of English: Linguistics Department of English Grand Valley State University 1 Campus Drive Allendale, MI 49401 USA remlingkgvsu.edu

    I was using a walkman for years to collect my field data. It finally gave out and I got a Sony Minidisk Walkman MZ-R700 and a Sony Electret Condenser Mic ECM-MS907. Both are battery powered, with an optional AC plug for the recorder. I get near perfect recording. Playback is easy and the equipment is compatible with other media. The kit is very small--I can carry it in a jacket pocket, and the disks hold 5 hours of recording. Overall, it's great. I transfer the data to a cassette tape for transcribing and to a regular sized CD for use in presentations.

    You might contact Bartek Plichta at Michigan State University (plichtabmsu.edu) He gave a good paper at NWAVE two years ago on recording equipment--that's where I learned what to shop for.

    (Note the entry for Plithta at A.3 above.)

    C. DAT (Digital Audio Tape)

    1. "Christian Huber" Christian.Huberoeaw.ac.at

    I am presently working as a field researcher for the "'Phonogrammarchiv' of the Austrian Academy of Sciences". At least, I can tell you what equipment we use when doing fieldwork in the Himalayas (as suggested by our techicians). For recording we use a Sony DAT walkman (recording at 16 bit/48 kHz):

    Sony TCD-D7, Sony TCD-D8 or Sony TCD-D100

    (personally, I like the Sony TCD-D100 best). We use DAT tapes of no more than 120 minutes. The choice of microphones seems to some good extent dependent on your recording philosophy (and, of course, what recording situations you expect). Most people making field recordings for the "Phonogrammarchiv" use AKG C41X microphones in an ORTF stereo arrangement (which simulates the way sound is perceived by human ears). This gives you a realistic stereo effect when listening via headphones (thus gives you good results when e.g. recording a festival or performance of musicians) but may be troublesome in elicitation situations, as you record also a lot of background noise that you might prefer not to capture on tape. Since my elicitation sessions are pretty interactive it is important for me not only to record the informant's voice but also my own (otherwise it might happen that you end up with some answer without a clue to what the respective question was). Therefore I need some stereo solution. On my last field trip I used an AKG C420 headset mike for the informant and an AKG C417 lapel mike for myself, which worked out better than ORTF stereo wrt unwanted background noise but still does not seem to me to be the optimal solution (fortunately my informants found it cool to have the headset on but people may differ in that respect). Since I do not exclusively rely on the recordings but also try to write everything down as a session proceeds the cable of the lapel mike is a little disturbing every once in a while (especially if the mike happens to fall out of the clip). Thus I'm quite interested to learn what microphone solutions other people came obout. If not working with headsets or lapel microphones it is useful not only to have a small tripod with you but also some mike stand that allows you to place the mike(s) somewhat higher above the ground. Depending on what your recording circumstances are it may well happen that there is no table around, and even if you're sitting round a table it is often advisable not to place the mike on the table itself as one might hit the table or instigate other noises by means of the table that end up on your tape much louder than you would ever expect. I use a telescopic camera stand on which you can also fix a microphone.

    >ease of playback and rewind (to hear again),

    You should not use your DAT tapes for transcribing. Rewinding and going over one spot on the tape again and again will sooner or later damage the tape (ie erase information, especially when making excessive use of the pause key). We therefore transfer the recordings to audio cassette or minidisc for transcribing (audio cassette walkman or minidisc walkman). I use the Sony MiniDisc Walkman MZ-R700 for listening again or transcribing in the field. It's very small, light and easy to handle. If you should opt for some such solution also make sure you've got the necessary transfer cables. All the gear I decribed above is easy to handle and carry (important in an area where you better be able to carry all your stuff). If you get some new gear better try it out before you go in the field, especially to learn how to operate the recording level properly. As for batteries you should pay attention to the fact that batteries' lifetime may vary according to environment conditions (moisture, cold, ...). I usually prefer to bring all batteries (Duracell) with me rather than try to fetch them in the area. Also note that rewinding a tape costs a lot of energy (much more than recording) and calculate the number of batteries accordingly. Since in the area where I work electricity is often available but pretty unstable, I do all recording sessions exclusively on battery-supplied power. For listening to the recordings I use electricity from the plug (where available). In the latter case one has to care about the voltage (and also make sure one has the right plug adapters). DAT tapes have the advantage of capturing data in a digital format, however, in the general case you cannot transfer them onto your hard drive right from the walkman. You need a (non-walkman) DAT recorder/player for that (or pay a hell of a lot of money to Sony for the necessary piece of technology not supplied with the walkman ...). For working on the data with computers we use WaveLab, but I guess there is cheaper software available. If you use an audio cassette recorder be aware of the fact that you need professional equipment (analogue-to-digital converter) to digitize your data properly.

    > foolproof

    If I can handle the stuff described above, you can as well.

    2. Richard Wright Assistant Professor Phonetics Lab Director University of Washington Department of Linguistics Box 354340 Seattle, WA 98144 rawrightu.washington.edu

    I have had quite a good experience with the Sony mini-DAT D7 (predecessor to the current PCM-M1). Small, relatively cheap, easy to operate. One problem is microphone input; if you go from a XLR cable (typical for most good microphones) to the Sony mini-phone input you have to make sure you match the impedance or you'll get a 60 Hz hum (it can be done, you've just gotta be clever or get someone to build one for you). The other problem is the medium; DATs are pretty expensive to buy and only really used in professional recording circles (hard to send one to a pal who wants to take a look at your data). Here's a little review (and I see an ad for an adapter). http://www.sonicstudios.com/d100rev.htm

    If you're willing to pay a little more and lug a little more, I've really loved the Tascam DAP-1: XLR inputs, coaxial digital and analog outputs, phantom power (for the unpowered microphones).

    Here's a price comparison page http://www.micsupply.com/dat.htm

    There's an option that I'm currently exploring: CD recorders. They record direct to a CD so there's no redigitizing or digital transfer, and audio CDs are cheaper than DAT tapes. One word of caution though, you have to use really good CDRs (not the cheap bulk ones) or you can get recording errors: look for Mitsui Gold CDs.

    Here's a price comparison for Marantz/Superscope Portable CDR http://www.micsupply.com/cd-r.htm

    D. Cassette tape

    1. Simone Mueller Institut fuer Anglistik Justus-Liebig-Universitaet Otto-Behaghel-Str. 10B 35394 Giessen GERMANY Simone.Muelleranglistik.uni-giessen.de

    If you are interested in equipment that works with regular MCs, I can recommend two:

    TCS-580V Stereo Cassette-Corder (VOR) + Stereo/Zoom ECM-ZS90 microphone The recorder has walkman size; the mic is also small. The recorder has the option to cut out longer pauses; the disadvantage of this option is that the first syllable is usually not intelligible. So we rather went for including the pauses.

    Marantz PMD 221 + Crown PZM-189 microphone The recorder has half the size of a sheet of paper; the microphone is flat.

    Both yield good quality.



    E. Direct to memory devices, CD writers, and misc. other approaches

    1. Cory R C Sheedy | Department of Linguistics | University of Arizona crcsu.arizona.edu

    The best I can suggest, if money's not an issue, is the Marantz PMD690 (http://www.marantzpro.com/Products/PMD690.html). It's a digital audio recorder that works with Flash memory or an IBM Microdrive. If you can afford it, it's well worth the expense.

    2. Ferenc Bunta ferigabiimap3.asu.edu

    There are 2 methods I would highly recommend. Both are digital. 1. Portable digital recorder with a good microphone. A lot depends on how much money you have. If money is not an issue, you may get something like Marantz's CDR 300 that records onto a CD. I'm not sure about battery power with this device.

    If you are on a tighter budget, I would get a digital hard drive recorder (like Nomad Jukebox 3 by Creative Labs). You can record onto it (using a preamplified mike), download onto a computer, upload files, et cetera without much difficulty. It has batteries, so it is completely portable, and the quality of the recordings is pretty good. In addition, I really like the idea of not having to re-digitize recordings (because it saves time, and the quality is not compromised).

    I would avoid MiniDisc recorders, because even if they do have a USB port, they typically do not allow downloading onto a computer. You can download samples onto the MiniDisc recorder, but you may not be able to download your recordings onto your desktop/laptop. Thus, if you want to work with wave files, you'll probably end up re-digitizing your recordings.

    2. An external sound card (like SoundBlaster Extigy by Creative Labs) + your laptop and a good mike. In my opinion, this is the best way to go if you can set it up. It does require an external power source, so if you want to use a battery-operated machine, this is not the way to go.