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- If you hear pops or thumps when you pronounce a ‘P’ sound, move
the mic a little to the side so your breath won’t go straight into the
microphone.
- If you are recording outside, you may need to put the mic closer. The wind
and your breath might be a problem.
- It’s better to try to prevent these problems by finding a good recording
location, than to try to remove the noise on the recording later in the
studio.
- Put the microphone between the interviewer and the storyteller. The recording
equipment should be near the interview team member who is monitoring
it. This person should watch that the recording equipment is working well
and the disk or tape does not run out. If the disk or tape is getting near the
end, she should alert the interviewer at a suitable pause in the interview
and change the tape or disk before it runs out. You can put the recording
equipment off to the side, but don’t hide it from the storyteller since this goes
against the principle of trust in an interviewing relationship.
- Make sure the storyteller is comfortable. Have water or tea on hand.
- Quiet is very important in getting a good quality taped interview. Ensure that
the interview won’t be interrupted by phones, TV, radio, children or other
relatives, noisy appliances or noise from the road.
- Set an atmosphere of trust. Remind the storyteller once again of your group’s
oral history principles. Assure him that he can set the pace, take a break or
stop the interview at any point. Advise him that you may need to come back
for more sessions.
- At the beginning of the recording, identify the storyteller – with her full name
and date and place of birth, the interviewer, and the date and place of the
interview. Also record the names of the storyteller’s parents, her brothers
or sisters and children and when and where they were born. This will
help identify the interviewee in the future when people are listening to the
recording.
- The storyteller may be ready to launch directly into his life story or
information about the theme you are researching. If he needs some prompting
or you have decided that direct questions are acceptable, start with general
open-ended questions: “Tell me about your childhood.” or “What is the first
thing to think about when planning to build a qajaq?” You can move to more
specific questions as you get more information.
- As the storyteller speaks, either the interviewer or one of the interview team
members makes notes on additional questions or clarifications you would like
to ask for when he is finished speaking on a specific subject.
- Don’t speak immediately after the storyteller stops talking; he may just be
pausing for a breath of air or to gather his thoughts together.
- If it helps the interview team or the storyteller keep facts and dates straight,
print up a timeline or sheet with dates and names of important players in the
stories. Take this sheet to the interview in order to refer to it.
- Use prompts such as photos, tools, clothing or maps to encourage people to
remember and talk about a topic.
- You may have brought along a camera to take pictures of the storyteller or
interesting items he shows you. Ask if he minds if you take a photograph.
Keep notes about what each photograph is about, when and where it was
taken, and any technical information.