Microphones

Room 53 has an AKG C3000 cardioid microphone inside its soundbooth. To use the microphone, both the soundbooth computer (a Windows machine located right next to the soundbooth) and the AudioBuddy pre-amp must be turned on. The pre-amp is the small box on the side desk that the microphone is plugged into, which in turn is plugged into the computer. Press the Power button on the front to turn it on, and you should see two red lights. If the Phantom red light is not on, press the Phantom Power button in the back to turn on phantom power. If you don't see two red lights, the microphone will not record anything!

On the computer itself, you can use Praat or an OpenSesame script to start and stop recording.

SpARCL has two Sony ECM-77B Omnidirectional lavalier microphones and one Audio-Technica AT8035 Shotgun Microphone. To use any of these microphones, both the desktop computer (a Mac) and the TASCAM audio interface must be turned on. The audio interface is the long black box to the right of the Mac. The three inputs are labeled with post-its to correspond to Lapel 1, Lapel 2, and the shotgun microphone.

On the computer itself, you can use Praat, OpenSesame, or Audacity to start and stop recording.

Tips

Always make a test recording before you begin a real recording with a subject! Open up Praat to make a short test recording. Make sure there is no clipping. If there is clipping, the speaker is too close to the microphone (or speaking too loudly). Subjects should sit at least one hand-width away from the microphones on stands, and place lapel mics below the collarbone on a shirt (making sure the microphone does not rub on any clothing during recording).