Can I use my phone to record?

RachelDragneel · Post by **RachelDragneel** » October 3rd, 2018, 12:48 am

Hey everybody I am Rachel and just signed up I would like to find out can I use my phone to record or does it have to be my computer ? Also if only computer can u recommend and recording apps I could download ? Thanks!

amitsharma · Post by **amitsharma** » October 3rd, 2018, 2:02 am

I have used a Sony PCM voice recorder without problems or complaints from the PLer. It would be similar to recording using a phone. I think if the voice is clear and comprehensible and the noise is low enough not to be a distraction then it shouldn't be a problem.

Having said that, I should also point out that I am a newbie and still figuring my way around. I'm sure one of the mods would point you in the right direction if I'm wrong.

Also, for recording on a computer, most people here use the multi-platform Audacity, it's a free audio creation and editing program and the workflow here seems to be concentrated around that.

Welcome to Librivox.

Amit

tovarisch · Post by **tovarisch** » October 3rd, 2018, 5:46 am

RachelDragneel wrote: ↑October 3rd, 2018, 12:48 am Hey everybody I am Rachel and just signed up I would like to find out can I use my phone to record or does it have to be my computer ? Also if only computer can u recommend and recording apps I could download ? Thanks!

Rachel,

This has come up (especially in the recent years) many times. And the answer is always, yes, you can record. It does not matter what device you use or what process you follow. What matters is the final result. There are technical requirements (MP3 format, mono, 128 kbps constant bitrate, volume 87-91 dB measured using 'ReplayGain' method), and there are quality requirements (see our Wiki for tips on prooflistening). Nothing in any of those specifies what device you are to use to produce the final recording.

That said, it turns out (and some folks do not realize it in the beginning

), that it often takes more (and sometimes much more) to produce our content than just saying the words into a recording device. So, the question is for you to answer. Can you use your phone to record? If you can, by all means, do.

Post by **TriciaG** » October 3rd, 2018, 6:18 am

Editing will be your biggest issue. How do you cut out repeats and stumbles, etc.? Editing is part of the "much more" that Tovarisch mentioned. It can take 4-10 times as long as the reading itself! So it's got to be easy, or you're not going to get much done.

tovarisch · Post by **tovarisch** » October 3rd, 2018, 7:15 am

To expand a bit...

Some folks here sometimes speak the text into some device other than a computer. Yet it's a 95% chance that you will need to change something about the file your device makes. It can be the volume, or the bitrate, or the actual bits and pieces of the audio (that's the most likely part). So, changing, getting the file ready for LV, is what's usually done using a computer running some kind of audio editing software (making your computer a "digital audio workstation", DAW).

If you're lucky, you won't need to add more audio; all you do is cut away unneeded parts and tweak the volume and other tech stuff. In that case, record on your phone, transfer your intermediate audio to the computer and produce the piece there.

What if you need to re-record?

Then you go back to the device in front of which you speak, record missing pieces, bring them to your computer and edit them in. This complicates the process somewhat, doesn't it?

To me it is easier when everything is on the same device (and the internet right here, so I can look things up if I need to). To you it can be easier to switch between the recording device and the DAW for post-processing...

amitsharma · Post by **amitsharma** » October 3rd, 2018, 8:40 am

Sorry Rachel, my bad.

Ignore whatever I have said in my first post above and listen to all wonderful wisdom of seasoned volunteers who've replied below me.

Help you they can...

Amit

RachelDragneel · Post by **RachelDragneel** » October 3rd, 2018, 10:52 pm

Thank you for all the great advice is it possible for you to let me know how to get started what do I do first do I download and app then start recording?

Post by **TriciaG** » October 4th, 2018, 5:01 am

RachelDragneel wrote: ↑October 3rd, 2018, 10:52 pm Thank you for all the great advice is it possible for you to let me know how to get started what do I do first do I download and app then start recording?

Here you go: https://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Newbie_Guide_to_Recording

sjmarky · Post by **sjmarky** » October 9th, 2018, 4:00 pm

You could use an iPhone to record, edit, master (i.e., apply compression, limiter, etc.) and export as a 128kb MP3 using TwistedWave, which I think costs like $5 for iPhone and iPad. The iPhone mic is in fact pretty good. The difficulty is then using the LV uploader to upload your recordings. You can login to the uploader using Safari on an iPhone; the problem is navigating to the file, which is in an app. I found a fairly easy solution without first transferring the file to a computer, which is exporting the MP3 first to a cloud service supported by TwistedWave, like Dropbox. You can then login via Safari, then browse for the file in your Dropbox directory through the uploader page. This actually seems to work. Voila! Recording without a computer.

If you have an Android I have no idea what to do.

kayray · Post by **kayray** » October 9th, 2018, 5:05 pm

sjmarky wrote: ↑October 9th, 2018, 4:00 pm You could use an iPhone to record, edit, master (i.e., apply compression, limiter, etc.) and export as a 128kb MP3 using TwistedWave, which I think costs like $5 for iPhone and iPad. The iPhone mic is in fact pretty good. The difficulty is then using the LV uploader to upload your recordings. You can login to the uploader using Safari on an iPhone; the problem is navigating to the file, which is in an app. I found a fairly easy solution without first transferring the file to a computer, which is exporting the MP3 first to a cloud service supported by TwistedWave, like Dropbox. You can then login via Safari, then browse for the file in your Dropbox directory through the uploader page. This actually seems to work. Voila! Recording without a computer.

If you have an Android I have no idea what to do.

Wow, this is so cool. I have recorded the odd poem and short story on my phone using the iTalk recording app, but have always transferred to laptop for editing. The ability to edit, filter, and sorta-upload from iPhone or iPad is intriguing and could be very helpful as people move away from traditional computers toward phones and tablets. I now have a goal of learning this system. Thanks for the post, Mark!

sjmarky · Post by **sjmarky** » October 9th, 2018, 5:13 pm

I’ve only tried it experimentally, having no intention of actually working this way, but since the question seems to come up fairly often, I thought I’d try to work out how it could work. Now, if you added a good external mic, you might really have something.

Post by **annise** » October 9th, 2018, 5:21 pm

Thanks for the explanation, I get a number of emails asking about using phones, I'll now have something to tell them . I take it you can edit with twisted wave

Anne

tovarisch · Post by **tovarisch** » October 9th, 2018, 5:33 pm

AFAIK, Twisted Wave exists for Android as well. I never tried it myself, though.

Post by **annise** » October 9th, 2018, 5:47 pm

Thanks for the explanation, I get a number of emails asking about using phones, I'll now have something to tell them . I take it you can edit with twisted wave

Anne

sjmarky · Post by **sjmarky** » October 11th, 2018, 12:27 pm

annise wrote: ↑October 9th, 2018, 5:47 pm Thanks for the explanation, I get a number of emails asking about using phones, I'll now have something to tell them . I take it you can edit with twisted wave

Anne

In TwistedWave you can cut, paste, delete, silence, amplify, normalize, and EQ, including high and low-pass filters; and use the Apple dynamic processor, which includes several compression settings as well as soft and hard noise gates. The original audio is saved as a WAV file; you convert to MP3 by choosing the share function, setting your MP3 specs, and then New Document, which creates an MP3 copy, just like the "save as" function on a Mac. It actually works pretty well. Haven't tried a long file.