This is a quick guide to recording an interview through the phone or online for those who are use to using computer programs. If you need a better guide, please see our full article. Try this method with your friends and media peers, and tell us what you think!
It will sound like both people are in the same room. The quality of the sound will be great, and you will no longer have to record at phone line quality ( unless you want to ). It is easy to set up for both interviewer and interviewee, so don’t be afraid to ask an interviewee to record themselves as well.
For the person who is interviewing:
1. Get Audacity and Get LameMP3 encoder. You must have a microphone, and your sound card must be working to record from the microphone.
2. Open Audacity. Look for microphone volume, and make sure it is recording from “microphone” or “line-in” ( whichever works ).
3. Test it. Hit record. Play it back. Make sure you sound good.
4. Contact interviewee, make sure they did the same as above. Press record, and begin interview.
5. Stop interview, get the MP3 from the interviewee ( interviewee file ). Export your file as an MP3 ( interviewer file). Go to File—-> Export as MP3.
6. Open new Audacity file, import Interviewer AND Interviewee MP3 file.
7. Move tracks around so that it the conversations are linear ( ie: sound good ).
8. Export track as MP3. Now you got an interview track!
For the person being interviewed
1. Do steps 1-4 above. For number 5, just export your file.
2. Email the MP3 as an attachment to the interviewer.
3. ( Optional ): Go to Audacity folder and find the uninstall button. Uninstall file.
You are done. Easy as pie, and the interview comes out in really good quality!
