This is 'old faithful,' my Olympus DM-420 with my added directions. I do not know how anyone keeps all of the cords and accessories straight although some may work on more than one device (it is my experience often that this is not the case). I actually considered buying a label maker - these are pieces of colored paper held on with tape - but I decided it was not worth the cost at this time; function, not fashion is my goal. Today, I completed and emailed the transcript of my class interview (which lasted approximately 29 minutes) off for approval of the co-researcher. Because I am using this blog as my journal and I did not want to share too many details relating to someone else, I redid my notes (see the prior post that shows the format) so the interview is supplemented with 7 pages of 3 column notes plus one analytical memo. I am going to select a segment of this tape to try some detailed, not quite Jeffersonian, transcription because the inflections seem to be quite clear despite less than ideal tape quality. Here is the process I followed to improve a poor quality tape: I uploaded the recording from the Olympus using Olympus Sonority software. I have never used this software for anything other than as a means to remove the recordings from the recorder.
Version#1 - I imported the recording into Audacity - which is free and has a lot of features. I slowed the tape down to about 86% of actual speed, taking advantage of the fact that Audacity will do this without changing the pitch. This means that people do not sound like the Quaaludes have just kicked in during your interview (there is a drug reference that may give you a hint of my age). I next used Audacity's noise removal feature. To do this, I needed to sample a segment of the tape. Unfortunately the noise that was present was not consistent. Because I did not have the ear pickup installed correctly, I ended up with a super sensitive recording of my side of the phone conversation with a low volume, although essentially very clear, recording of the other end. The differences in volume took some getting used to. Noises I had included: writing, flipping the pages over (I used a notebook with binding at the tops of the pages), the furnace coming on, a conversation down the hall, me pouring water and drinking tea. Audacity did an impressive job, especially given this instability in the sounds. If I was more skilled and felt like I would have benefited much from greater effort, I could have segmented the tape and sampled different types of noise so the removal process was different based on different noise patterns. I frankly did not think the result would justify this effort. I kept this recording on the hard drive of my MacBook. Version#2 - I planned to use F5 for transcription so I could use my foot pedal and use the active time stamp function that is included in this software. I ended up typing the entire interview with F5 although I omitted difficult to hear dialog. For the purposes of this transcript, the critical thing I wanted from F5 was a time stamp every time the speaker changed. Since I was working with a slowed down recording from Audacity, I wanted accurate, real time, time stamps. Version#3 - After noise removal, the Audacity tape had a low volume phase sound running through it which did not really present a problem other than being something I noticed. However, there are times when a slowed down recording is not helpful - some words become more, not less difficult to discern. Audacity (based on my limited knowledge) applies the speed change to the entire tape - it basically saves an altered file. My first thought was to use noise removal and not speed change to another version, but I was curious enough to do a little searching around to see what other alternatives were out there. I found WavePad (free version; I may eventually upgrade but the sale lasts for a few more days) and found it had a much easier to use noise removal feature. It had a more custom option, but I used the standard one and, for me, I liked the sound of the recording better than the one I created using Audacity. However, the Audacity tape also had an unnatural pace so that probably contributed to its unnatural sound. While using the WavePad version, I still found the phone/co-researcher hard to hear in places due to the low volume, so I downloaded the trial version of "Boom" which is basically a volume (or bass, or other elements) booster. This is a $6.99 program so I will go ahead and buy it when the 7-day trial runs out because I feel as if I have already gotten value out of it. The WavePad recording was more intuitive to navigate than Audacity - I just move the pointer and push play wherever I want to start the playback. Both of these programs provide a visual image of the sound patterns. I used all three recordings to transcribe although I found myself relying most on #3 (after having created a 'skeleton' outline with #1). I did revisit #2 for things that were very difficult to hear. I was not able to use my footpad with the WavePad recording. I actually used two adjacent computers - I typed on a desktop (let's face it, if you type the larger keyboard is nicer and I have a number pad on my iMac keyboard) and ran the tape on my notebook. I was able to listen, type, turn slightly, and pause the recording when necessary. I often use two computers for writing (read on one; write on the other) and have been happy to speak with others who do the same or at least use two monitors ('happy' because it means that I am not that strange). The last thing I ended up doing was using earbuds rather than headphones - I found the low volume portions easier to hear with the buds than with my headphones, which are large and not that snug fitting. Not counting the time spent reengineering or researching (or procrastinating, or blogging about my problems), this tape took me roughly twice as long to transcribe as a normal quality tape - so approaching 5 hrs rather than 2.5. I also paused a lot to write my reflections which contributed to the longer transcribe time. I ended up with a few in comprehensible gaps but that can happen no matter what - sometimes it seems, you just cannot understand someone. I was very glad I took notes during the interview because I captured some key phrases which were also in some cases difficult to hear on the tape. I do find that context helps a lot, sometimes when something is difficult to hear, if you keep going, you will either hear a word repeated or get some other clue from the context. Overall I was very happy with all of my software experiences. WavePad does many of the things that Audacity does although I am really not certain how they stack up, feature for feature, next to each other. I tend to think that the free version of Audacity has more functionality than the free version of WavePad but the paid version of WavePad may be comparable or better. I plan to do more research on sound engineering in general so I can understand the terminology used by the software and do a better job in the future should I need to try to correct tapes. I also plan to test my equipment (and especially add ons) more carefully in the future!
24 Comments
9/5/2022 08:32:26 am
Really informative article, I had the opportunity to learn a lot, thank you. https://freecodezilla.net/download-the7-wordpress-theme-free/
Reply
9/12/2022 12:45:22 am
Really informative article, I had the opportunity to learn a lot, thank you. https://odemebozdurma.com/
Reply
9/14/2022 04:48:10 pm
Really informative article, I had the opportunity to learn a lot, thank you. https://bit.ly/site-kurma
Reply
9/30/2022 07:57:10 am
It's great to have this type of content. Good luck with your spirit. Thank you. https://bit.ly/site-kurma
Reply
10/4/2022 02:22:35 pm
I think this post is useful for people. It has been very useful for me. Looking forward to the next one, thank you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/van-escort/saray-escort-van-escort/
Reply
10/5/2022 06:04:43 pm
I follow your posts closely. I can find it thanks to your reliable share. Thank you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/giresun-escort/espiye-escort/
Reply
10/7/2022 08:29:18 pm
Thank you for your sharing. I must say that I am successful in your content. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/manisa-escort/kirkagac-escort/
Reply
10/8/2022 04:56:36 am
Thoughtful and real content is shared. Thank you for these shares. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/denizli-escort/baklan-escort/
Reply
11/21/2022 11:09:18 am
Hemen Göz At evde para kazanmaya basla: https://sites.google.com/view/evden-ek-is/
Reply
12/9/2022 10:36:26 am
Uygun fiyatlardan takipçi satın al: https://takipcialdim.com/
Reply
12/15/2022 10:06:31 am
takipci satın almak için tıkla: https://takipcim.com.tr/
Reply
4/27/2023 08:38:46 pm
Steroid Sipariş: https://www.anabolickapinda14.com/urun/
Reply
8/9/2023 10:58:04 am
Steroid Siparis Steroid Fiyatlari Steroidler Anabolizan Orjinal Steroid Steroid Satis Steroid Satın Al Steroid Siparis Et
Reply
8/15/2023 10:50:32 am
https://www.sporunuyap8.com/ teşekkürler
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI am Sheryl L. Chatfield, Ph.D, C.T.R.S. I am a member of the faculty in the College of Public Health at Kent State University. I also Co-coordinate the Graduate Certificate in Qualitative Research and I am a member of the Design Innovation Team at Kent State. Archives
February 2024
Categories
|