Recordings are Our Middle Name

Recordists are expert at creating makeshift recording studios
Recordists are expert at creating makeshift recording studios
A recordist training session in Ecuador a few years ago
Translating and checking translations
Travelling can be very draining and expensive and is not always an option

The distinctive heart of GRN's mission is the use of audio recordings to speak God's word in thousands of languages and dialects.

Poor recordings could potentially distract listeners and cause confusion. It is important to use culturally-appropriate recordings which are effective and clear to break down barriers to receiving the Gospel. We know God's word is powerful and we will always seek to proclaim it clearly. There is little value in offering recordings of poor quality just to complete the task. It is for this reason that recordist training is a high priority for GRN in Australia and internationally.

The Value of Training

Kenny, an experienced UK recordist, recently travelled to Pakistan to train Salas, a recordist. Salas found the training a valuable experience. He learned a great deal and was extremely appreciative of Kenny and the encouragement he received from having a more experienced recordist as a trainer and mentor.

Salas shared their team's plan to record materials for a language group with no Christian believers: "Please pray for us as we try to make recordings in this unique language. There are only a few hundred speakers. The people make their living through dancing, playing musical instruments or metal work. There are no Bibles nor Bible stories in their language. Pray that we may share God's love with them."

Unfortunately organising recordist training is a tricky logistical operation and the current political climate is making it increasingly difficult to organise the transfer of people and equipment across borders. A recordist training event planned for last year had to be cancelled due to the imminent threat of terrorism in the host country. This meant that recordists missed out on vital extra training to expand their capabilities. Costs are often prohibitive for recordists attending from poorer countries. These countries generally rely on GRN centres such as Australia, Switzerland and the USA to fund this training.

African Recordist Training

The next training course is an upgrade for our African recordists and will take place in Togo from March to April 2017. The recordists will come from a number of locations in Africa, including: Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, Kenya and Cameroon. The trainers are experienced field recordists and studio engineers. These include: Kenny from the UK, Recordist Training Coordinator Jon from Thailand and Anton from South Africa.

Knowledge and Skills

There is an extensive list of things recordists have to know and skills they need to attain before they become proficient recordists. The topics covered at the introductory training courses are diverse and include partnership development, cross-cultural communication, linguistics, translation principles, script selection, electronics and a knowledge of sound and hearing. Recordists can improve their skills by doing further training in more specialized areas. Ultimately, these recordists can become trainers themselves.

Online Recordist Training

A new training initiative for GRN is the provision of online training. This will not replace the face to face training by experienced field recordists but should assist recordists to prepare for training courses and revise content following training. It is hoped that this training will reduce the amount of face-to-face time required and thus the overall cost of training recordists. It may benefit any recordists who cannot attend training due to political unrest or other reasons.

Pray that God will make funding available for this training.

Pray that GRN recordists will be well trained to produce recordings of high-quality.

Pray for future training planned in Africa and Asia; that God will equip the trainers.

Pray for GRN members who create learning content for online training in addition to their current roles.

Pray that God's word may be heard more clearly, in more languages and dialects and with greater impact than ever before!

Related information

Global News - Latest news about the ministry and resources of the Global Recordings Network from around the world.

News - What's happening in Australia and the globe.

Australia - Information about Australia

Recordist Training - an ongoing project - Funds are required to cover the cost of running essential recordist training courses. Includes travel, equipment, accommodation.