Recording a telephone interview

[hiddendriveways]

I know someone who is making a documentary and needs to interview some people over the phone in order to complete the project. We are wondering what the best way to achieve the best sounding recording of a phone interview would be. If anyone has any experience in this area any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Sam

[friendlybunny]

I've used the JK Audio Inline Patch (http://www.jkaudio.com/inline-patch.htm)

It works great and sounds good. The only problem for me is that the person on your end of the line has to talk on the phone, not a mic. You can patch in a mic but, it doesn't always work very well. You do get good separation though.

If you want both actors to have the "telephone sound" on their voice, the inline patch will work great.

I need to have my end of the line be recorded clean, so I'm thinking of getting the JK Audio Broadcast Host when it comes out.

good luck,

-fb

[soundguy]

psc makes a similar box called a phone tap which might be easier to find, but likely more expensive as well. any place that deals with production sound can get you one, turner audio, cofffey sound, lsc, etc... Patch it in between the line and the phone and it captures the line and seinds it out via an XLR. simple to use and is generally what you are hearing when you hear an actual phone conversation in a movie.

dave

[NewYorkDave]

For the best results, the device to use is called a "hybrid." This is a circuit that separates the send and receive audio, and it's what they use on radio and television call-in shows, interviews, etc. Gentner is one of the major manufacturers. The good ones are expensive, but it might be possible to rent one... Or, you might be able to convince a local broadcast station to let you use their facilities during off-hours to conduct and record your interview.

For a cheap and dirty, a 600:600 ohm coupling transformer can be used to couple a tape recorder to the phone line. Rat Shack sells (or at least used to sell) a cheap one that will work. The transformer will act as a "holding coil" that will seize the line, so be sure to disconnect the transformer after you terminate your call. You can record on two-track and record the phone line to one track, then the interviewer's voice only to the other track. You might be able to manipulate it in postproduction (through phase reversal of one track and mixing of the two, for instance) to cancel most of the interviewer's voice out of the telephone track.

[NewYorkDave]

It looks like a number of Gentner hybrids and interfaces are available on eBone:
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dl ... ry=gentner

And here's a hybrid from Symetrix that looks suitable:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... gory=23792

[moogrocker]

If your looking for cheap and fast, Radio Shack has a connecter that you plug in your phone and has a 1/8 in jack to hook up to a recorder. It sounds phone quality but if you are doing the interview over a phone thats how its going to sound anyway. The one time I had to use one it worked out great and at 10 bucks you can't beat it.

John

[Professor]

I'll second the vote for the Gentner telephone hybrids. They really aren't terribly expensive, especially at their entry level (maybe $400-500 for a base unit). These are definitely what the pros use, and for good reason. Listening to a telephone interview where both parties have the 'telephone' sound that was then recorded to something like analog tape is really dificult to stand after a while. The hybrid will allow you to use a good microphone and headphone on your end and the recordings will sound that much better - that's why the radio DJ always sounds good and the caller sounds like a caller. These are also really easy to pick up cheaply on eBay, etc. as the link above shows.

Another possibility if you must have one is any of the Marantz portable broadcast recorders (cassette, MD, or memory card). Most of the models have a telephone jack right on the side of them and a hybrid system built right in. Check them out at www.superscope-marantzpro.com

-Jeremy

[DeafinONEear]

or for even dirt dirt cheap, here's the Negativland's suggested way of getting HiFi sounds onto Ma Bells wires. Although this is a send device, but I don't see why you couldn't build two and modify them with outputs....

[Roman Sokal]

i use one of those super cheap little suction cup microphones from radio shack- goes to a wire and an 1/8th inch mono mini jack. although they're meant to stick more to old school phones, i just use an elastic to hold it there, and adjust the volume of the phone to balance the interviewee's voice out my voice, or just to be able to hear trhem more if the connection sucks etc. a cheap and very effective tool that little mic is- and likely under $10