Wow, thanks for all the suggestions. You all have definitely given us some good directions to start looking. What a wonderful resource we have in this mail list community!
Jason ________________________________________ Jason Bondy Exhibit AV/IT Systems Oklahoma History Center 800 Nazih Zuhdi Dr. Oklahoma City, OK 73105 405-522-0783 ? Office 405-522-5402 ? Fax http://www.okhistory.org Follow us on Twitter!? http://twitter.com/okhistory -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of Ari Davidow Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 6:48 PM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Digital recorder for teacher/classroom use The TechSoup bundle is for two older Flip cameras. When we looked into it, we realized that we wanted something more recent. The Flip that we did get is =great=. Easily records two hours of video, totally simple to use, saves in a reasonably high-res mp4 format. I recently took it on a trip where on one night I recorded a live band, and at other times got several hours of my mother reminiscing. Sweet. For audio recorders, I echo those who note that recent iPod Touches, along with most smart phones, come with audio and video recording ability. That's a reasonable place to start. There are a host of excellent audio devices used by oral historians, etc. A great site to read reviews is Jay Allison's "transom.org." He covers everything from apps for iPhones to wonderful devices like the recent Marantz audio recorders, Edirols, and the like. ari On Wed, Jan 5, 2011 at 5:38 PM, <dlewisarfm at aol.com> wrote: > > I've never worked with the myself -- but I've head GREAT things about the > ease and usability of the Flip Video Cameras. ....and Tech Soup is > offering a two-for bundle, -- two cameras for $175 (normally they're > about > $150 each). > > See: > http://home.techsoup.org/stock/pages/category.aspx?category=FlipVideo > > > > > - David - > David Lewis, Curator > Aurora Regional Fire Museum > www.AuroraRegionalFireMuseum.org > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: James Keeline <keeline at yahoo.com> > To: Museum Computer Network Listserv <mcn-l at mcn.edu> > Sent: Wed, Jan 5, 2011 12:05 pm > Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Digital recorder for teacher/classroom use > > > Last July my wife and I organized and hosted a successful convention > to > > celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Tom Swift series of books about > a young > > inventor. The first five stories were published in 1910 and since > that year > > there have been 105 books in five series. The first three of these > series were > > produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, also responsible for Nancy Drew > and the > > Hardy Boys among many others. > > > > As part of this convention we produced two live performances based on > a book > > from each of the first two series. Tom Swift and His Airship was from > 1910 and > > public domain. Tom Swift and the Visitor From Planet X was from 1961 > and in the > > > > public domain because the owner failed to renew the copyright. The > shows had > > voice actors from San Diego's WriteOutLoud (http://writeoutloudsd.com) > and the > > script, direction, and sound effects were accomplished by the talented > and > > resourceful Scott Paulson (http://ScottPaulson.info). > > > > > > Scott engages in performances like these to provide sound effects for > stage > > performances like the recent It's a Wonderful Life at the Cygnet > Theatre in Old > > Town San Diego for the Christmas season. In this version, the > performance is a > > 1940s-era radio show with a live audience, voice actors who step up to > the > > vintage-looking microphones, and Scott as sound effects artist on the > side of > > the stage. > > > > He has also provided sound effects and movies for silent films through > his Teeny > > > > Tiny Pit Orchestra. Recently these have been shown at New Village > Arts in > > Carlsbad in the northern part of San Diego county. In these, as with > many of > > his performances, he gets the audience involved by passing out noise > makers and > > then gives direction to how and when to use them in the program. Some > of these > > are cheap items which can be given away and others are vintage sound > machines > > that he collects at the end of the performance. In our Tom Swift and > His > > Airship show, bubble wrap was used for gunshots and cellophane for > crackling > > fire. As usual, he also had machines that made ratchet sounds and > other devices > > > > for use in the program. > > > > Here are a few clips to give an idea of how this worked: > > > > 2008 clip about Scott discussing sound effects devices > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szyht9jc8PE > > > > Tom Swift and His Airship performance at UCSD library > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M88EuLHIfWg > > > > The performances of Airship and Visitor from Planet X were highlights > of our > > convention. > > > > Looking at your project, it appears that you initially asked for an > audio > > recorder to gather the sounds and build your performance. Of course, > many > > phones, including the iPhone, come with voice recorder apps which are > fairly > > effective and save files in .WAV format. This is useful because it is > not > > compressed at this stage and easier to edit with free tools like Audacity. > > > > Another device I own which could work in this fashion is a voice recorder. > Mine > > > > is an RCA model number RP5030A. It was purchased at Fry's Electronics > some > > years ago so I don't know what the current offerings are. It also > stores audio > > in .WAV format. For my purposes, one of the key features is that the > USB plug > > that connects to the computer. It shows up as a USB mass storage > device on my > > computer (Mac) so I can simply copy the files over and then use them > in an > > editing program like iMovie or Audacity. Probably Garage Band could > be used on > > the Mac as well if that is available. > > > > > > Some voice recorders have a limited frequency response so it may be > well to look > > > > into this. Looking at the offerings of Frys today on Voice Recorders > I see one > > in the $30 range that saves files as .MP3 (a compressed format which > loses some > > data) but it does use USB so the key would be whether it shows up as a > mass > > storage device or requires special software. > > > > In the community which is interested in sounds for model railroad > layouts, they > > generally recommend using a video camera for audio recordings. The > quality is > > often sufficiently good and the devices are more generally available > than > > dedicated audio recorders. The additional advantage is that you get > to see the > > source of the sound and this can help with identifying clips. It > could also be > > a benefit to the participants and their families to see them actually > performing > > > > the sound effects. > > > > For this reason, I have found the Sanyo Xacti line of cameras (~$200) > to be good > > > > ones. I have the CG-9 model. This one records standard definition > video but > > there are HiDef models. The video is stored on an SD-HC card and the > card can > > be inserted into a card reader on the computer or the USB cord can be > used for > > transfer. The .MP4 video files are compatible with iMovie (important > for my > > workflow) as well as other programs out there. > > > > One of the special features of Wal-E talks about special effects and > many old > > devices are shown in action. > > > > James Keeline > > > > 100th Anniversary Tom Swift Convention (July 16-18, San Diego) > > http://TomSwiftEnterprises.com http://www.CafePress.com/TS100 > > > > > > > We have a series of education "trunks" that go out to schools > > around the > > > state with props and curriculum for schools to build a lesson around. > One > > > of the ideas we have is for an old-time radio trunk. One of the > features we > > > would like to have is to allow the instructor, with script and > > props, to > > > record students creating a radio show. They would then transfer > > the > > > recording to a computer to make a CD of the program. > > > > > > The questions are: Has anyone done anything like this before? Does > anyone > > > have any ideas for digital recording devices that would be easy to > > use > by > > > teachers, but also durable enough to be out on the road in a > > variety of > > > classroom situations? Any ideas or suggestions are welcome. > > > > > > Jason Bondy > > > Exhibit AV/IT Systems > > > Oklahoma History Center > > > 800 Nazih Zuhdi Dr. > > > Oklahoma City, OK 73105 > > > 405-522-0783 - Office > > > 405-522-5402 - Fax > > > > > > <http://www.okhistory.org/> http://www.okhistory.org > > _______________________________________________ > > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum > Computer > > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ > > > > > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum > Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ >
