This article is based on a Q&A in the Ask a Techo forum on 15 March 2004

This is not a set of instructions for using your computer to eavesdrop on your colleagues. It’s about recording and storing audio (like interviews) on your computer.

The first thing you’ll need is a decent microphone - the little pinhead size thing that comes with most laptops just won't do the job. Depending on the amount of talking you're going to do, perhaps a clip on or Lavaliere mike, otherwise a good omni-directional cardioid microphone. The microphone is probably the single most important factor in a successful recording. There's a good overview in the Audio section of the Guide book for Guerrilla Filmakers

Next up, you've got to make sure your computer's going to record the sound from the microphone. To check the computer's properly set up, try this quick exercise:

1. Open the Windows Volume Control Panel (double click on the speaker icon in the lower right corner of the screen).

2. Select Options/Properties from the pulldown menu.

3. From the Properties popup dialog, click on the Recording option and make sure the Microphone volume control is checked. Then click OK.

4. This will display the Recording Control panel. Under the column for Microphone, there may be a button labelled Advanced. Click on this.

5. Under Other Controls, make sure the MIC Boost option is checked. Then click Close and close the Recording Control panel.

Your sound card may have a slightly different method for displaying the Advanced options. Just make sure that if there is an option to amplify the microphone input that this is selected.

Next, the recording software. Anything that lets you see the input levels will do. You want to make sure you have the signal from the microphone amplified as much as possible without distortion. Might like to try Audacity - it's free and easy to use. Or try n-track studio which will also let you do some post production mixing and editing. Both programs will also allow you to compress the interview for distribution.

To minimise your final file size try to encode as a 16Kbps single channel (mono) audio sampled at 8Khz. This won't win any prizes for hi fidelity, but will still be recognisably human.

Finally, There's a nice tutorial on compressing audio files on the University of Adelaide website.