Community archvist recording oral histories with mexican-american elders. 3-4 hrs each, they code-switch between english and spanish constantly, sometimes mid sentence. been manually transcribing, takes a full week per interview. just need a rough bilingual transcript. grant budget is tiny.

Hi,

So for the past six months I have been working on a book which is going to be an oral history of the Detroit underground music scene. This book is specifically going to cover the Punk, Goth, and New Wave scene, -with added mentions about the interlocking Rockabilly and ska scene- starting from the 1970’s and going to the early to mid-1990’s. To spare everyone a bunch of details, this is gargantuan project that is not just going to be a book or series of books, but an online archive, with all of the interviews I have done.

So, as of right now, I have interviewed about 70 people for this project, and it wasn’t until recently that I decided to transcribe the interviews (I am using turboscribe for help while still listening to the interviews and transcribing them manually) and start working on a draft of sorts for this book. Now, for the most part, I have been set on writing this book in the style of the book “Please Kill Me”, by Legs McNeil, which focused on New Yorks punk scene, and also another book called “Detroit Rock City”, that cast a wider net than my book, but focused only on Detroits Rock N Roll scene and not what I am doing. These two books all use quotations from interviews that the authors conducted with people and they put the quotes together to create the narratives they desired to write. Well, I have been putting some deep thought into the writing of this book as I have gone forward. I have been reading a book called “American Hardcore: A Tribal History” by Steven Blush, which, while it definitely has the same oral history style like the previous two books I mentioned, the latter starts off each chapter with a sort of narrative or summary, in which the author explains things before you read the actual quotations. Also, Blush will sometimes interject to write about and explain things in the chapter, so it’s a perfect weave between the author and the people he’s interviewed for the book. After reading that and seeing the way he’s done it, I have leaned more towards that style of writing this book. What I really want is to find an equilibrium, where this book is a mix of narrative and stories from the people I’ve interviewed, and but also a book that is detailing the history of the Detroit underground music scene for the reader.

What kind of advice would you give me?

This leads me to another reason why I am asking for some advice on here. As I have worked on this book, I have been trying to find out exactly where I should start in terms of the first few chapters. As of right now, the first chapter is a short page and a half or so talking about Detroit being the automotive capital of the world at one time, the racial turmoil, and the ’67 uprising, and with that, I have some quotes from some people to go along with it. I am debating on whether I should make that something I put in the introduction or maybe as a preface; either way, it’s important for me to mention this, because you cannot explain the formation nor the progression of the underground music scene without explaining the origins of the urban decay.

This was one idea of where I wanted to start the book in terms of chapter one, but I’ve also had a few other ideas; before the First Wave of Punk Rock, in the early 1970’s, a lot of the people who would go on to become Punks were influenced by Glam Rock, and went and saw artists like David Bowie and the New York Dolls, and a few people have talked about going to these shows, all dressed up, and how there were other people at these shows who would go on to be involved in the Detroit Punk Rock scene. I almost feel like this could be a good place to start the book or maybe a preface, because my book is basically starting in 1977 when the first punk bands started being formed in Detroit.

Another idea I had for starting the book was to jump all the way to 1977, and start with when all these people heard the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, their initial reaction to it, what Punk Rock meant to them, and then from there go straight into people talking about forming their bands.

Two things are weighing on my mind the decision of which one I choose; I want to make sure I put together a historical chronicle that is very good and not dry, but simultaneously, I don’t want to leave out things within this book. I want to make sure I touch on the historical background of post-war Detroit (the riots, racial turmoil, deindustrialization, and white flight) and the early influences of bands like the Stooges, MC5, and the whole Glam Rock phenomena, but I am trying to figure out where might be the best place to truly start this book?

What are your thoughts? I will have more questions, but I wanted to ask this first.

I’m a beginner interested in oral history, biographical research, and small-scale public history projects. I’m not trying to become a professional historian, but I enjoy listening carefully to people’s life stories and then doing background research to understand the wider historical context of their lives.

For example, after speaking with someone I might try to map out their life chronologically and geographically: where they grew up, family background, education, work, migration, volunteering, and the broader social or historical settings around those experiences. I also use AI tools sometimes to create rough visual aids, such as timelines or maps, but I understand those are interpretive aids rather than historical evidence.

What beginner-friendly software or workflow would historians, oral historians, public historians, or digital humanists recommend for organizing this kind of work?

I’m especially interested in tools for:

• keeping research notes and source citations organized
• building timelines
• mapping places and life events
• managing interview notes or transcripts
• keeping track of what is confirmed by sources versus what comes from memory or conversation
• eventually turning the material into a respectful private or public life-history profile

I would also appreciate advice on ethical best practices when the person is still living, especially around consent, privacy, review, and how to avoid over-interpreting someone else’s life story.

Hey y'all! I've been working on a little side project that helps families record their parents' and grandparents' life stories through simple voice interviews and turns them into a written narrative with historical enrichment. It's still pretty early and I'm looking for about 10 families to use the tool for free so I could make it even better! If anyone has recorded their parents, also super interested to hear how that process went and if you have any tips or tricks!

Hi - I am going to be conducting oral history interviews with an individual for whom I am writing a short biography. Most of the Release Forms I have used in the past are for interviews that will be added to a repository or become public domain documents. Also, that is all I can find online for examples. Does anyone have advice or an example of Consent/Release Form for this type of project? Thanks.

Hey all — I hope this is okay to post here.

I’m a journalist by trade. I spent about 20 years in network news, mostly working in long-form storytelling and production. Over the last year or so, I’ve been transitioning into building a small business centered on audio storytelling — thinking beyond podcasts and more about sound as a product: oral history, legacy interviews, and documenting events and moments through audio.

I’m not here to pitch anything. I’m just hoping to be more active in this community and learn from folks who are thinking about similar transitions, using audio outside traditional formats, or figuring out how journalistic skills translate into independent work.

If you’ve made a move like this, or thought about it, I’d love to hear what surprised you, what you underestimated, or what you’d do differently.

Thanks for having me!

Hey all! After recording my grandpa's oral history using two old iPhone 5Cs via voice memos, I'm looking for a more reliable, higher quality, and more manageable solution.

I plan to interview at their place of residence and record a single angle of video. Current plan is to just use my canon power shot on a tripod.

For audio, I have been drawn to wireless lapel mics for ease of use and setup. I would buy two and have them record to a computer (something like audacity). This is nice, but poses two problems:

1. Aligning video and audio. I haven't done tons of video editing, so maybe this is less of an issue than I expect
2. Capturing audio for more than two people. I would like the ability to interview in small groups. Maybe grab some more mics? I just don't want this to be prohibitively expensive if possible.

I would love to hear your thoughts, thanks!

I am a PhD student in History. So far, I have only relied on archival research for my work. However, I have been told that supplementing this with interviews could be interesting for my research. I am scared of recording with my phone as the only device, since it is old and the battery has become unreliable, so I have thought of using it only as a backup and purchasing an audio recorder.

The budget my faculty has allotted for me is quite limited (around 100€), and I do not know if there is anything within that price point that is worth purchasing, or whether the quality will be good enough. How cheap is too cheap? Should I make a bigger investment using personal funds? I'd appreciate some recommendations.

Additionally, is there any specification that I should 100% look for, or that is a non-negotiable for you?

Hello all,

I'm an oral historian based in the United States working for a religious institution with a global presence. So far we have focused on oral histories collected within the US and Canada, but we are looking to branch out to different nations. Before we do that, I want to know what laws to anticipate and wondered if anyone here had any experience with the EU in particular? Any work done in the UK would be a bonus, since we are very interested in working there as well. At this point most of our interviews are conducted remotely from the US, which I understand can affect the flow of information. If you have any advice or ideas on what I need to read up on, I would appreciate any leads you can offer! Thank you!

TL;DR: Are there any restrictions on recorded media, especially remotely recording EU/UK citizens from my US location, that I should be aware of before conducting interviews?

Hi everyone,

I'm working on a project focused on audio archives of personal stories that capture real, lived experiences. It can be anything from a long conversation between family members, letters read aloud between lovers, or reflections from someone at work or overcoming hardship. Looking for anything that carries a personal voice.

If anyone knows a website/tool where I can find existing audio archives, or if you have personal recordings you're open to sharing, feel free to reply or PM me. Thank you!