Upload digitised interviews, however long, and read them with speaker turns and word-level timestamps in the transcript view. Download the text as DOCX for your archive, with timestamps if you tick the option. Files up to 10 hours or 5 GB; files over 500 MB continue on the upload page. First transcript free at any length · instant preview, no signup · packs from $8 for 1,000 minutes, credits never expire.
How it works
Digitise once, keep the master, transcribe a copy.
Play cassettes, reels or MiniDiscs into a computer and save a WAV master. Make an MP3 copy if the WAV is large.
WAV, MP3 and the other common formats are accepted. The box above takes up to 500 MB; larger files continue on the upload page.
Download DOCX for deposit and printing, TXT for a catalogue system, or JSON and MD if the collection goes online.
Before you upload
A few choices at digitising time make both the transcript and the archive better.
Capture each tape side to uncompressed WAV and keep it as the preservation copy. At CD settings (16-bit, 44.1 kHz, stereo) WAV takes about 635 MB per hour, so a 90-minute cassette is roughly 950 MB.
A 128 kbps MP3 made from the master is about 58 MB per hour and uploads quickly. WAV works too: files over 500 MB continue on the upload page, up to 5 GB.
Join an interview spread across sides or tapes into one file of up to 10 hours, or upload tape by tape if your catalogue describes tapes separately.
Heavy noise reduction can make voices harder to follow. Keep any restored version separate from the master.
In the archive
In the transcript view, interviewer and narrator appear as labelled speaker turns, which makes checking the conversation against the recording easier.
Word-level timestamps show where each topic begins, so a researcher can go from a catalogue entry to the right minute of the recording.
Most oral history projects ask narrators to sign a release or consent form covering recording, transcription, access and publication. Check older forms cover putting transcripts online before you do. General guidance, not legal advice.
Read each transcript against the recording before deposit, mark interviewer and narrator in the deposit copy, and flag passages the narrator asked to restrict.
Pricing
Your first transcript is free and readable in full at any length; longer files need credits. Anyone can preview instantly with no signup. After that, one-time packs cost $8 for 1,000 minutes, $12 for 2,000 minutes or $24 for 5,000 minutes, about $0.29 to $0.48 per audio hour. Credits never expire and there is no subscription.
A single two-hour life-story interview is 120 minutes: $0.96 on the $8 pack, or free if it is your first transcript. A collection of 40 interviews averaging 90 minutes is 3,600 minutes (60 hours), covered by one $24 pack of 5,000 minutes: about $17.28 at that pack's rate.
Full details on the pricing page.
FAQ
Digitise the recording, then upload the file to the box on this page. You get a transcript with speaker labels and word-level timestamps. Anyone can preview instantly with no signup, and $0.99 opens your first transcript in full at any length.
Play the tape into a computer through an audio interface and save each side as WAV, which you keep as the master. Upload the WAV, or an MP3 made from it if the WAV is large; both are accepted.
Yes. Files can be up to 10 hours or 5 GB each. The box on this page takes files up to 500 MB; larger files continue on the upload page. Recordings longer than 3 hours need credits.
Yes, in the transcript view: each voice gets a speaker label, so questions and answers read as separate turns. For a file that keeps the speaker on every segment, use the JSON export.
DOCX is the common choice for deposit and printing. TXT, SRT, VTT, JSON and MD are also available if your repository or website needs them.
Most oral history projects use a release or consent form covering recording, transcription, access and publication. What yours needs depends on your institution and jurisdiction; this is not legal advice.
Transcripts are kept in a searchable library in your account, so you can find a name or place across every interview you have transcribed.
The first transcript is free at any length. After that, one-time packs cost $8 for 1,000 minutes, $12 for 2,000 minutes or $24 for 5,000 minutes, about $0.29 to $0.48 per audio hour, and credits never expire.
Instant preview, no signup, no card. A free account keeps your transcripts in one searchable library.