Interview? Of Course I did!
Here's a link to Tiffany's brainstorm blog entry in case you're interested:
Recording Process
We booked one of the study rooms on the top floor of the library. When we got to the library room Tiffany and I spent a few minutes going over our questions and answers. We then did a practice run of what our interview would sound like. It went great and we were eager to record.
I placed the recorder on the table and pressed record.
We heard the beep and I started talking. I didn’t make it past “Hello my name is…”. Yes, I forgot my name. We laughed. And then I forgot where we were. We laughed some more. And somewhere along the way I forgot what I wanted to ask- even though I had some points jotted down in front of me. You see where I’m going with this?
But we persevered and got through the first run. We played it back and found a lot of long silences, thoughtful hmms, joyful aha!s and tons of laughter. It helped us realize what worked and what didn’t.
We gave the recording another try.
I remembered my name and questions- but it felt too awkward. Our voices were too stiff and it sounded like we were complete strangers.
The third attempt was a huge success- perfect conversation tone, minimal laughter. But the people in the room next to us got noisy during this particular recording and ruined it.
Thankfully our fourth attempt went off without too much trouble.
Editing Process
Listening to yourself on audio during the editing process is just too odd for words- especially when you have to hear yourself say the same thing over and over again.
First I listened to the interview searching for any awkward pauses and long umms and ahhs. Not that many, so then I decided to look at our conversation- did we repeat phrases while talking? I removed those repetitions to make the conversation more fluid.
I also added some pauses in between places where we seem to interrupt each other. After all the content was edited, I decided to work on sound quality. Noise reducer was really helpful. I cleaned it up as best as I could- but at some points it sounds as though I have echoes.
But you can still some voices in the background, from people outside the room- that sound like low EVPs if you listen carefully.
I tried listening to it on different computers- but there’s only so much I can pick up after listening to it so many times. So if you guys hear some problems that I may have overlooked, I’d love to know about it.


