Audio is a powerful medium for capturing human experience and human expression. In the context of cultural sustainability efforts, audio is a useful tool for documenting local knowledge, exploring values and perceptions, and building resources for understanding and supporting cultural practices.

Intended for students, community members, staff members of non-profit cultural, community and social-service agencies, as well as professional researchers interested in learning more about audio recording options, this workshop will provide a basic introduction to the use of contemporary digital audio recording equipment in the context of ethnographic and oral history interviews.

Attendees will receive a thorough introduction to the fundamentals of digital audio, types of common field-recording microphones, and the use of digital audio recorders. The workshop includes hands-on exercises with equipment in a simulated interview setting. We will use the TASCAM DR-40 and mobile devices for these exercises, but the fundamental skills demonstrated will be applicable to most currently available digital audio recorders. In addition to the use of this equipment, we will also cover the selection and purchase of audio recording equipment and Android and iOS recording apps.

Instructor: Andy Kolovos, VFC Director of Archives and Research

Recording Audio for Oral History will be held at The Vermont Folklife Center in downtown Middlebury. Attendance is limited to 14 participants. Tuition is $95 ($55/students). You may also register by calling the Vermont Folklife Center at (802) 388-4964.

If you cancel up to seven days before the event, we will issue a refund minus a $10 fee.

This workshop is a part of the Vermont Folklife Center’s Cultural Sustainability Institute series. Cultural Sustainability provides a framework for examining human experience in the present with an awareness of the past and a view toward the future.