Nearly anybody with a modern smartphone can make a professional sounding recording of their own voice, if they follow a few simple guidelines. But, doing it right makes a big difference.
You are ONLY going to use your phone as a recorder. You will talk to your interviewer through a video chat.
****Hold the phone’s microphone close to your mouth.**** This is our number one recommendation. It makes all the difference.
This is the BEST way to hold your phone when you’re recording your voice:
You can ALSO do it this way:
(images courtesy NPR)
Seriously, putting your mouth close to your phone’s mic makes a big difference. You can hear the difference in these two samples:
Sample 1, Microphone Close to Mouth
In this sample, the microphone is 2 inches to the speaker’s mouth, so even though the room is a little echoey, you can hear her voice very clearly.
In this sample, the microphone is more like 12-16 inches from the speaker’s mouth. Because of that you hear a lot of the room sounds and the echoes of his voice.
Record in a quiet, place without too many echoes. Do the best you can. Record in your bedroom, or a closet with coats. Rooms with lots of furniture are good. Rooms with hgh ceilings, or other people talking are not great.
Are there any sounds you can make go away? Close the windows so you don’t get traffic and lawnmower sounds. Can you unplug the refrigerator or turn off the heat for 45 minutes? (If so, don’t forget to turn it back on)
Wear headphones. Wired headphones are the best, but you can wear bluetooth headphones if you prefer. If you don’t wear headphones, than the sounds of the person you are talking to will be in your recording, and it will create interference. We want your voice only
Practice. Record yourself talking into your phone a few times and play it back for yourself. Practice different mic placements, try different rooms, and see if you can hear the difference.
How To Make the Recording
1.Open a voice recorder on your phone. On iphones, you can use this app:
For Android Phones, I find “Voice Recorder” to be the simplest and easiest to use. It looks like this:
- Put your phone in airplane mode. That will keep phone calls, text notifications, and other interruptions from ruining your recording. (Sometimes, voice recorder apps will STOP without notifying you if you receive a text or call)
- Start the recording. Usually, this means hitting the big red button, and confirming that the numbers are counting up, and the graphic is spiking up and down when you talk.
- Record the interview. You will be talking with your interviewer over Zoom.
- Record 15 seconds of silence. Once you’ve said goodbye to the Zoom call, please keep recording the silent sounds of your room for 15 seconds. Then hit the red button again to stop your recorder.
- Find Your Recording. This process is different for every app, but usually, it means finding the recording library.
7. Select your recording. It will usually be at the top, and named with today’s date. Then, look for the sharing icon.
8. Share Your Recording Once you find the sharing icon, you’ll have several sharing options..
Choose email, and email it to Leah Huck – youth@in-tandem.org or share via a google drive.
If that doesn’t work, reach out to your In Tandem team member to ask for help.
Thanks for helping us record your voice and making sure you sound GREAT.
Diamond Shoals Productions | Jesse Dukes 