How to make and add a recording to Language Landscape
You will need:
1. A recorder - this can be a smartphone, video or still camera, dictaphone, audio recorder or the webcam or microphone on your computer. If you're using an external device, make sure you can get the recording off it and onto a computer so you can add it to Language Landscape.
2. Metadata sheets so you can note down the details about the recording and the person you record
3. A consent form so you can get the person's consent (you could also do this by recording them giving consent)
4. Someone to record! (this can of course be yourself)
Step 1 - test recording
Make a test recording of yourself. Find the best distance for recording by talking and moving the microphone around. If you're making a video, get the subject clearly in the centre of the frame and make sure that if they make a gesture it won't be cut off by the edges of the frame. Make sure your fingers aren't in the shot!
Step 2 - finding someone to record
If you don't want to add a recording of yourself, you can find someone else to record. Wherever you live there are bound to be opportunities to make an interesting recording. Find someone who looks friendly and isn't in a hurry, explain what you're doing, and allow them to get used to the idea of their recording being on the web before asking for their consent. You can record their consent or get them to sign a consent form.
Step 3 - deciding what to record
Think of something you can do in the time you've got available. Single recordings are quick and easy to do. If you want to start a project you might need to devote a day or longer to it. If the person you're recording doesn't know what to say, you could suggest something like a traditional song, a joke, a nursery rhyme or an idiom.
Step 4 - making the recording
Do a test and listen back to it. When you're happy that everything is working, start recording. Let the person know that the recorder is on and listen/watch. While the recording is going, try to make sure that throughout the sound and picture are clear and even, and (if possible) that there aren't any loud noises which will drown out the person's voice. Once you're happy with something you've got, stop recording and write down the details about the recording and the person. Respect their privacy if they don't want to tell you something about themselves. Give them your and/or our email and web address so they can see what you've done with the recording and get in touch if they want it to be removed in the future.
Uploading your recording
Get the recording off your device onto a computer and save it as a file. If you don't want to upload the whole recording, you can edit the bits that you want with editing programs such as Audacity. Save the edited recording as a separate mp3 file - you can also do this in Audacity or other programs such as iTunes. Put it in a folder on your computer's hard drive where you will remember it. Then log on to Language Landscape.
On the homepage click SIGN IN. Sign in or register for an account. When you've signed in, you will see a list of different types of information. You need to add information about the languages and speakers in your recording as well as information about the recording itself. We'll look at these one at a time.
Languages
The first thing to do is to have a look at the list of languages currently in the database. If the language you have recorded isn't there, you can add it by clicking on Add Language. You can also add the 'parents' of the language here. If you're not sure what the parent language of your language is, you can skip this step. Press Save in the bottom right corner to save the language. When you've finished adding and saving the languages in your recording click on Home in the top left corner to go back to the main screen.
Subjects
The next thing to do is to add information about the speakers or 'subjects' in your recording. Click on Subjects and then on Add Subject in the top right of the screen. First add the person's full name (if you know it). In the box below the website will generate a nickname for the person based on what you type in the Full name field. The nickname not the full name will be displayed on the site so if you don't want the person's full name to be shown you can shorten or change the nickname. Add the other information about the person. You can type their date of birth in the format dd/mm/yyyy. Upload a photo of them if you have one. Then add all the languages the person speaks, and all the languages their parents speak if you know that. Click Save. When you've finished adding the people in your recording click on Home in the top left corner to go back to the main screen.
Recordings
Now you're ready to map your recording. Click on Recordings then Add Recording in the top right corner. First, click on the Choose File button and choose the mp3 file you saved earlier. Then add the time and date of the recording. You can either choose the date from the calendar or type it in in the format dd/mm/yyyy. If you don't know the exact time when the recording was made just put in an estimated time. Next add the place where the recording happened. This is a very important piece of information for Language Landscape as we want to map exactly where recordings happened. Try to be as specific as you can about where the recording happened - give a street address and city rather than just a city. Click or tab out of the Place field and check to see if the marker is in the right place in the embedded map. You can check by zooming in and out using the plus-minus buttons on the left side of the map.
When you're happy with the location you can add the rest of the information. Highlight the speakers and languages in the recording, and add the topic and genre of the recording. If the topic or genre or your recording isn't there you can add them by clicking on the blue plus sign next to the field. Add any keywords you think should be associated with the recording and a short description. You can add further information by clicking on Advanced options. You can also add a transcription and/or translation of the recording by clicking on Add another Transcription and Add another Translation. You can add the recording to an existing Project by clicking on Add another Project. Click on the blue Project bar which appears and select the project you want to add your recording to from the dropdown list.
When you've added all the information for your recording, click Save. Go back to the homepage and your recording will appear on the map!
Problems?
If you have any problems or queries about any aspect of the upload process please let us know by tweeting us @langlandscape or emailing us: admin@languagelandscape.org
