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Visible recordings

 

In visible recordings, a speaker knows that he is being recorded. This knowledge has an impact on the speech produced: speaker stress  phenomena such as a more formal style of speech, a high rate of errors, unnatural pronunciation and prosody  can be observed. The environment  in which the speaker produces speech, and the task the speaker is asked to perform also determine the style of speech to a large extent.

In many real world situations and applications microphones  are present - use of the telephone, dictation , speaking in radio or television studios , traffic guidance, e.g. flight control, etc. Speakers in these situations are used to microphones , and the speech they produce is adapted to the task at hand. In these cases, visible recordings should pose no problems.

In general, if speakers are asked to perform a task that requires some cognitive activity , they quickly forget that they are being recorded. Thus visible recordings can be used even for recording very natural and spontaneous speech  if the speaker feels comfortable in the recording situation and is occupied by the task to be solved.

Visible recordings are usually made in recording studios  or in environments   set up specifically for the recording, e.g. sample office rooms, application simulations, etc. Hence, most recording parameters such as microphone  calibration and positioning, recording equipment, can be chosen for maximal quality.

The major advantage of visible recordings is that the recording itself can be monitored on-line  to ensure a high technical quality of the recording. Furthermore, speakers have in general agreed to being recorded prior to the recording, so the risk of producing material that may not be used is greatly reduced.

Recommendations

  1. Get written permission for the recording prior to the recording itself.
  2. Put speakers at ease with a friendly conversation before the recording session starts, preferably in the room where the recordings take place, so that the speakers can get accustomed to their surrounding.
  3. Explain to the user the significance of the task and the recording procedure.
  4. Allow the speaker to get accustomed to the environment  and the task by doing some practice recordings.

 



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Next: Environment: Studio vs. on Up: Data collection dimensions Previous: Clandestine microphone recordings

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