How to record a customer interview or podcast, in person or remotely

To record a customer interview or podcast that is easy to edit, give every person their own microphone recorded to a separate track, use a camera per person plus a wide shot if you can, record in a quiet room with soft furnishings, and tell everyone in advance, in writing, how the recording will be used. For remote interviews, use a tool that records each participant separately. This guide covers in-person and remote recording, with a checklist for the day.

The one rule that matters most

Record every person on their own microphone and their own track. Separate tracks let you:

• level each voice independently;
• remove one person's cough without losing the other's words;
• see who is speaking at any moment, which makes cutting between cameras much faster;
• reduce one microphone's pickup of the other person.

Everything else in this guide improves quality. This one decides how easy the edit will be.

Microphones

• Choose dynamic microphones for ordinary rooms. Dynamic microphones are less sensitive, so they pick up less background noise. Condensers suit rooms that are better soundproofed and treated.¹ Shure notes that a condenser risks picking up the "shhh" of air vents, which dynamics naturally mask.²
• Get close. RØDE suggests about 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 inches) from your mouth for a dynamic microphone, and about 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 inches) for a condenser.¹ Shure says moving the microphone closer, within about 5 to 30 cm (2 to 12 inches), helps.²
• Speak across it, not into it. Talk towards the capsule but not straight into it,¹ which reduces popping on "p" and "b" sounds.
• Keep the distance steady. A boom arm or stand stops people drifting away mid-sentence.
• Record to separate inputs. A USB microphone per person into one computer can be awkward. An audio interface or field recorder with one input per microphone keeps everything on one clock, with a track per person.

The room

• Pick the softest room you have. Carpets, curtains, sofas and bookshelves absorb echo. Bare walls, glass and hard floors make it worse.
• Kill the noise you can control: heating, air conditioning, fridges, open windows and notifications.
• Seat people facing each other, close enough for a natural conversation but with their microphones pointing away from each other.

Cameras

• One camera per person, plus a wide shot if you have a third. The wide shot is what an editor uses when people talk over each other.
• Record landscape, framed with headroom. You can crop a vertical clip from a landscape shot later if the face sits near the centre. See podcast clip shapes.
• Put the camera at eye level, slightly off to the side of the person they are talking to, so they appear to look at the conversation, not the lens.
• Light from the front. Face a window or a soft light. A window behind someone turns them into a silhouette.
• Every camera should record sound, even from its built-in microphone. Editors sync cameras by matching their audio, so no clap or timecode is needed. See syncing cameras and audio.
• Check storage and power. Long interviews fill cards and drain batteries. Use mains power where you can.

Remote interviews

Ordinary video call recordings mix everyone into one track and compress it heavily. Use a tool that records each person separately:

• Zoom: the desktop app (Windows, macOS or Linux) has a recording setting called Record a separate audio file for each participant, available from a Basic (free) account upwards. Each person's audio is saved as its own file.³
• Riverside: records high-quality tracks for each guest and the host locally on each participant's device, then uploads them during or after the session. Audio is saved as uncompressed WAV.⁴ If a guest leaves before their upload finishes, it may need extra steps to complete.⁵

Ask remote guests to:

• wear wired headphones, so your voice does not leak into their microphone;
• use a microphone or headset rather than the laptop's built-in microphone, if they have one;
• sit facing a window or lamp in a quiet room, with notifications off;
• stay on the call until their recording has finished uploading.

Consent before you press record

Tell everyone, before the day, that you will record, why, where it will be used and how long you will keep it. If you plan to publish it, get their agreement in writing and keep it with the recording. Under UK GDPR, consent must be specific and informed, people must be able to withdraw it easily, and you should keep records of it.⁶

Our guide to customer interviews has a copy-ready consent text and an interview request email you can use.

Checklist for the day

• Consent received in writing
• Every microphone plugged in, each to its own track, and levels checked while people talk normally
• Headphones on for whoever is monitoring the sound
• Every camera framed, focused and recording sound
• Cards formatted with enough space, batteries charged or mains power connected
• Phones on silent, notifications off on any computer in use
• A 30-second test recording played back before you start
• Remote guests on wired headphones, with the separate-track setting turned on

After the recording, copy every file to two places straight away, and name them by person ("Sarah mic", "Sarah camera", "Wide").

What happens next

With a microphone and a camera per person, the edit is mostly cutting to whoever is talking. That is what podswitch automates: it syncs every camera and microphone by sound, cuts to the speaker using each person's microphone, removes mic bleed and opens the edit in Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve. Our recording guide for podswitch covers the specifics.

Sources

1. RØDE, "How to make your podcast sound professional". https://rode.com/en-us/about/news-info/how-to-make-your-podcast-sound-professional ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. Shure UK, "Choosing a microphone for podcasting". https://www.shure.com/en-GB/insights/choosing-a-microphone-for-podcasting ↩ ↩²

3. Zoom Support, "Starting a computer recording". https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0076922 ↩

4. Riverside Help Center, "About high-quality tracks". https://support.riverside.com/hc/en-us/articles/5260109014045-About-high-quality-tracks ↩

5. Riverside Help Center, "Track file uploading: overview". https://support.riverside.com/hc/en-us/articles/5456549636253-Track-file-uploading-Overview ↩

6. Information Commissioner's Office, "What is valid consent?". https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/lawful-basis/consent/what-is-valid-consent/ ↩