Zencastr

Record uncompressed audio remotely

Zencastr is podcasting platform that allows you to record audio (and video) with remote participants.

Account

There are a few options for using Zencastr. Depending on what sort of data you are hoping to gather, you may wish to use a free personal account or the Lab's shared premium account.

Free Tier

Anyone can register for a free account on Zencastr. In fact, it is recommended that you do so to learn how to use it prior to gathering data, even if you intend on using the Lab's shared account.

A free account will allow you to record MP3 files with multiple participants, plus other limited features, including access to the beta version (not fully developed) of video recording.

Premium tier

The LingLab has purchased a premium tier account for shared use. Access to the Lab account can be booked by the day, in order for each researcher to do their recordings and follow Lab protocols for data security. See Booking below for its availability.

The premium tier allows for much higher quality data. Importantly, you can record in WAV format, which is uncompressed audio.

How it works

Zencastr records audio (and video) locally, so there are never connectivity issues. Once the recording is completed, the local file is uploaded to the Zencastr account. This also means that each participant is recorded on their own track, so you will not get overlapping speech in a single track (as long as all participants are using headphones).

Once the files have been successfully uploaded to the account, the host (experimenter or interviewer) will be able to download the audio recordings as WAV or MP3. Video recordings are saved as MOV files. To combine these files for annotation, you will need to open them in your preferred audio editor (e.g., Praat or Audacity).

Lab protocol

Please contact the Lab Manager to receive the most up-to-date copy of the Lab Protocol for using Zencastr. This includes how to book time, how to manage your files, and how to manage data security.

Booking

If you would like to book time with the Lab Zencastr account, check this calendar for free days and contact the Lab Manager.

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