If you use your phone, make sure to turn on airplane mode and hold your phone 6-8 inches from your mouth (use a stack of books on a chair or table to bring your phone to mouth level). The Public Radio station WBUR from Boston has a helpful guide for iOS and Android phones: How To Record A Voice Memo.
Zoom recordings will work, but beware. The recordings are compressed so that the files are small in size, leaving you with lower quality sound files. But it will work, and Zoom captures video, which might be perfect for your project and visual documentation adds to the historical record too. Download or access Zoom through Middlebury here.
The Middlebury Library has a wide range of digital recorders and an all-in-one 'Podcasting and Oral History' kit. Search MIDCAT (go/midcat) for 'Podcasting and oral history audio equipment.'
If you are enrolled in a Film and Media Culture class, you are lucky! FMMC has a Film and Media Culture Equipment Room with a large assortment of audio, video, lighting, and computer equipment. But don't ask unless you're enrolled in a course.
To learn how to make podcasts and for tutorials using the software below, visit LinkedIn Learning at Middlebury a video-based online instruction resource that can teach you just about anything, including how to make a podcast.
Middlebury students, faculty, and staff have access to Adobe Creative Cloud. Adobe software is installed on public lab computers and can be downloaded on personal computers and computers owned by Middlebury (and assigned to you). Linked-In Learning (go/lil) provides excellent step-by-step tutorials. Learn more about how to log-on to Linked-In Learning here (including without a LinkedIn account!).
Free, open-source audio editing platform; great for beginners, becomes more and more limited as you move to multiple track recordings. In other words, it's perfect for oral histories, but less ideal for complex podcasting with music and multiple voices. Download Audacity for free for Mac or Windows.
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation for Microsoft Windows and OS X, available on all machines in Axinn 011 and in the Sound Surround Suite (Axinn 012). Learn more at the Middlebury Film and Media Production Hub.
App for iPhone and iPad is a portable recording studio for iOS devices.
