Choosing the Right Recording Equipment
Launch library · evergreen read
A recording that fails partway through an interview cannot be recovered, no matter how good the conversation was. Reliable, well tested equipment is not a glamorous part of the craft, but no other preparation matters if the record itself does not survive the sitting intact. Even reliable gear deserves a check immediately before every single sitting, without exception.
The choice of equipment also shapes the interview subtly. A large, visible microphone can make a subject more self conscious than a small, unobtrusive one, and an interviewer fumbling with unfamiliar gear at the start of a sitting loses some of the calm authority that helps a subject settle. A large case full of cables can itself feel intimidating to a subject unused to being recorded.
Redundancy is worth the modest extra effort: a second recording device, running independently, protects against the single point of failure that has cost more than one interviewer an irreplaceable conversation over the years. That second device rarely gets used, but on the one occasion it does, it justifies the extra weight in the bag many times over.