FOLLOWING UP
After the initial visit, follow it up with another visit at a time that suits both you and the contributor(s) – the contributor will probably have thought of more songs in the meantime and will be more ready and willing to sing them for you. However, the opposite case may be true and they might feel less inclined to contribute on the second or subsequent occasion. Don’t worry or be forceful – using the subsequent meetings as an opportunity to just chat about things can be both a great reassurance to contributors and an opportunity for you to get to know them better
Offer to provide a copy of the recordings on a medium suitable to the contributor, usually CD or DVD these days. Many contributors will not require or request this though.
Keep them informed about the progress of your work and what you intend to do with it and always check with them before publishing any of the recordings on the Song Collectors website or in any other way.
When you get home, write up details of the recording session – who, where, when and what. You would be surprised how much you can forget in a few days. You may find that a Word document is useful, as it is easily searchable for key words.
Always keep a back-up copy of your recordings and notes!
