AUDIO ARCHIVES
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How does Audio Archives work?

Audio Archives travels to your home to record you having a conversation with your loved one. The conversation is typically interview-style, with you asking your friend or relative questions about his/her life. Audio Archives will facilitate the conversation, so don’t worry if you don’t know what to ask or how to ask it. There's also a pre-recording phone consultation to help you design an outline for the interview. We provide a list of sample questions that have been effective in previous interviews, too. We then edit and produce the audio into a polished segment. Music is often added for effect. Expect to receive your edited recording on a CD approximately three to five weeks after the recording session. We can also deliver your audio files on a jump drive or through Dropbox.  


Whom shall I interview?  

Interview your mother or your father--or both of them together. Ask them how they met. Find out if they have a favorite child. Interview a teacher who influenced your life. Interview a veteran in your family. Sit down with a young child and ask what he or she wants to be as an adult. Get your siblings together and make a recording for your parents. The interviews make great gifts for Mother's/Father's Day.    


Popular recording styles
  • Child interviewing parent
  • Parent interviewing child 
  • Grandchild interviewing grandparent  
  • Couple talking about how they met
  • Group of siblings talking about their childhood
  • Group of friends or family celebrating a significant event (birthday, graduation, wedding, new baby, holiday meal, etc.) 
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What does it cost? 

The sitting fee for a 75-minute recording session with two people is $200. Groups of three or more will pay $250 to sit and record. Rates for final audio segments vary depending on the type of recording you want.
 

Full Conversation, Short Showpiece or Both?
Tell us how to edit your recording. Do you want the full conversation, or do you just want the highlights? 

Full Conversation—$200
A 75-minute recording session will yield approximately 60 minutes of edited audio. We will clean up the tape and give you a polished version of your full conversation.

Shorter Showpiece—$200
This shorter version contains highlights of the longer conversation and is set to subtle music. Short segments range from 10 to 15 minutes in length and make for great gifts and entertainment at weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, and holiday parties. We can also set the audio to photos, creating a slideshow presentation for events.   

Slideshow (approximately 10 minutes) $200
You give us the photos, and we make a slideshow to go with your short audio segment. (You must purchase the showpiece to get the slideshow.) 

We will work with you on price if you want to record for a longer period of time over multiple sessions. 


Please contact us if you have an idea for a recording that you don't see listed here. We are happy to discuss creative ways to capture the voices you love.  


What's behind the cost?  
Editing
The bulk of the cost comes in the editing process. Every recording tells a precious story. It requires skill to edit the tape, knowing what to cut and what to keep with respect to the overall narrative.
We comb through the entire piece of tape to clean up any discordant noises that happen as a natural part of conversation. We carefully edit the audio to remove foreign background noises, logistical conversation among the participants, comments from the facilitator, plosives, "ums" and any lengthy pauses or shuffling of people and equipment. 

Equipment
We use high quality recording equipment to capture your conversation with the best sound possible. Think of the difference between photographing a wedding with an iPhone versus hiring a professional photographer with the right camera for the job. There is no comparison. 

Every participant has a microphone in our recording sessions. The 
microphones we use are professional-quality and are very sensitive. They pick up your voices clearly and crisply. They also pick up every sniffle, smack and swallow. It can take hours to remove unwanted smacks, awkward breaths and incomplete sentences from the final tape. Yet taking the time to carefully clean up the audio improves the listening experience of the final product and makes the recording a valuable heirloom for your family to enjoy. 

Facilitation
Many of the recordings we do happen in an interview format. We work with you before the recording to ensure that all participants go into a taping armed with the best questions to ask for the occasion. Then, we help facilitate the conversation so that you get the most out of the experience. 

Please email us if you have any additional questions about the cost. We'd love to hear from you. 

Thank you!

record@audioarchivesaustin.com
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Photo used under Creative Commons from Heaton Johnson V