by Guest blogger Alan Martin.
Photos, videos, and DNA kits live large in the 2019 family history toolkit. But audio, in all of its 96 to 160 bitrate glory, is making a comeback, and there are three reasons why.
1. Audio Creates a Stronger Personal Connection Than Video or Writing
As I looked back on videos of my family, one thing became crystal clear: their voice was the most meaningful part. I didn’t care so much how they looked or where they were. I didn’t care what they were doing. I cared about what was on their mind. I cared about what they said and how they said it. It occurred to me that the clearest window into their mind and personality was their voice, not their dress, location, or pose.
As I looked back on videos of my family, one thing became crystal clear: their voice was the most meaningful part. I didn’t care so much how they looked or where they were. I didn’t care what they were doing. I cared about what was on their mind. I cared about what they said and how they said it. It occurred to me that the clearest window into their mind and personality was their voice, not their dress, location, or pose.
Hearing someone’s voice makes it feel as if they are right there with you, even when they are gone. The human voice creates a timeless connection that becomes more meaningful than any other medium, once they are gone. Writing misses nuance. Videos land somewhere left or right of the authentic self. I became convinced that the truest picture of a person emerges through audio, and I began capturing my young family’s voice, in audio. I knew that in 40 years, my kids would cherish hearing the most authentic version of themselves. And I believed that when I was gone, they would likewise find meaning in hearing from me, in my voice. In just a few years we have already found meaning in our early audio efforts.
2. Audio is Easier than Writing or Video
Writing is hard. Aside from the physical requirement of typing or handwriting, both of which require precious dexterity that is lost with age, developing proper language structure along the way is a mental barrier. In reality, writing captures only a fraction of what is really on the author’s mind. And it misses, by its format, significant nuance along the way.
Writing is hard. Aside from the physical requirement of typing or handwriting, both of which require precious dexterity that is lost with age, developing proper language structure along the way is a mental barrier. In reality, writing captures only a fraction of what is really on the author’s mind. And it misses, by its format, significant nuance along the way.
Videos have become more accessible and easier to capture, but they remain mentally heavy and awkward. They create an “on-stage” moment that is uncomfortable for most, making it harder to become engaged in personal topics, or to ignore the camera’s watchful eye.
Unlike writing or video, audio plays a quiet but powerful role as it extracts the most authentic version of ourselves with a single touch of a button. Audio has the magical quality of disappearance. While recording, it fades into nothingness in the the background; a feat not possible with camera or pen.
3. Audio is a Lightweight and Preservable Technology
A question that requires constant revisiting when it comes to storing and preserving family history, is format. Audio can be fifty times smaller than video, making it less expensive to store, transport, playback, and back up, forever. When you consider this benefit, which doesn’t demand a trade off in quality, audio deserves to be a leading player in human history preservation.
A question that requires constant revisiting when it comes to storing and preserving family history, is format. Audio can be fifty times smaller than video, making it less expensive to store, transport, playback, and back up, forever. When you consider this benefit, which doesn’t demand a trade off in quality, audio deserves to be a leading player in human history preservation.
Thankfully, tools are available to capture family history in audio if we make it a point to use them. Smartphones put an audio recorder in nearly everyone’s hands, which delivers a file that can be shared or uploaded in any number of ways. But wherever you begin, just begin. Once a voice is gone, it can’t be replicated or replaced. Capturing it now will allow a purer form of history to live on for generations.
Alan Martin is one of the creators of Audiobiography, an audio workbook to capture voice and memory.
