Gorp
Family oral history
Sit down with your grandmother and a shoebox of photos. Record one story at a time, note which photo she’s talking about and when, and keep her voice next to the words.
Try one topic and a 20–30 minute conversation first.
What you end up with
A reviewed story note, the original voice recording, and labeled photos you can preserve together.
Before you start
- Choose one theme: a childhood home, a family recipe, a move, or a favorite photograph.
- Bring three to five photos or objects. Give each a simple label, such as photo-01-front-porch.jpg.
- Ask what may be recorded, kept, and shared, and who may receive it. Make it easy to skip a question or take a break.
Start with a small story
Ask one open question, then give the person time to answer. Follow their story rather than working through a rigid questionnaire. Write the narrator, interviewer, date, topic, and agreed sharing preferences in My notes.
Use a title such as Grandma Rosa — The old neighborhood — 2026-10-04. Add names and unfamiliar terms to Settings → Recording → Personal vocabulary before recording.
Record and check the actual sound
On a Mac, follow the recording setup guide and listen to the audio check before the interview. For an in-person conversation, place the microphone where it can hear both people. For a remote call playing on this Mac, check both microphone and system audio.
Away from a Mac, use your usual recorder, such as Voice Memos. Listen to a short test, then export the finished audio to the Mac and import it into Gorp. Gorp’s own iPhone and Watch recorders are coming; you don’t need them for this.
Use photos to invite a memory
Ask who is in a photo, where it was taken, and what happened around that moment. Take a separate picture of the original photo or object, with permission. Avoid interrupting a story to photograph every item.
Say the label aloud: “We are looking at photo 01, the front porch.” Note the approximate audio time and the filename in My notes. Gorp does not automatically connect phone photos to recording timestamps.
Bring the photos and voice into one note
Move the audio and photo copies to the Mac. Open the recording's note, then choose Add → Attach file… for each photo. Keep the original scans or photographs separately too.
Use the outline below as a custom note template in Settings → Templates. Select it in the note, then use Insert outline if My notes is empty. If you already wrote notes, paste only the sections you need so you preserve them.
Transcribe without rewriting the memory
Choose your transcription and note-writing providers in Settings. For a local workflow, select a supported on-device recognizer and local writer. A recording stays saved even if processing needs a retry.
Review names, dates, places, and speaker labels against playback. Add a correction or an uncertainty note instead of silently making a memory sound certain. The generated note is a topic guide to the recording, not a replacement for the person's voice.
Make a small chapter together
Review one story with the narrator when possible. Ask what should be corrected, kept private, or saved for another conversation. Replay and check every quote you plan to share.
A simple chapter can be a reviewed note plus a photo folder and the original audio. Record each photo filename and its spoken reference in the note. Gorp can attach photos, but it does not yet make a designed photo-and-audio storybook or publish a family archive.
Preserve the archive and share a chosen copy
Export a portable Gorp bundle for a restorable copy containing the note, retained audio, transcript, and attachments. Re-import a test copy into a separate library or another test installation before relying on it as your only backup. Keep an additional copy on storage you control.
For reading outside Gorp, export Markdown with audio or a Word/PDF note and include chosen photo files separately. Check the exported folder before sharing: a full bundle can include private rough notes, the complete transcript, and all attached materials. Removing a sentence from a shared summary does not remove it from the original audio.
Questions to try
Use these as prompts, then follow the conversation.
- What do you remember about the place in this photo?
- Who taught you that recipe or skill?
- What would an ordinary day have looked like then?
- What changed when you moved?
- Is there a story you wish someone had asked you about?
- What should we come back to next time?
A photo becomes a story reference
What you put in My notes
Narrator: Rosa; interviewer: Sam Topic: The old neighborhood Sharing: family only, review with Rosa first photo-01-front-porch.jpg — around 06:20 Rosa describes the Sunday visits. Unsure whether the photo is from 1962 or 1963; ask her brother before adding a date.
What you are aiming for
A chapter about Sunday visits, a named photo to open, a passage to replay, and a date left visibly uncertain.
Your starter template
In Settings → Templates → Browse starter templates…, add an editable copy of this template and save settings. Or create a Blank template. Name it “Family oral history”, paste the outline and guidance below into their matching fields, and save settings. Choose the template in your note; use Insert outline if My notes is empty. The download is a text worksheet you can keep, not a one-click import file.
Download the starter worksheet ↓Outline
## Session and sharing preferences ## Stories in their own words ## People, places, and dates to check ## Photos and objects discussed ## Questions for next time
Note-writing guidance
Organize this oral history by story or topic. Preserve the narrator's perspective, uncertainty, and distinctive phrasing. Separate memories from independently checked facts; do not resolve conflicting dates or fill gaps. Include only photo names and descriptions supplied in the draft, transcript, or permitted materials; never invent people, dates, or photo-to-audio links. Label any quotation as unverified until a person reviews its audio. Record sharing preferences only if explicitly provided; do not assume consent. Keep unanswered questions for a later conversation. Do not turn the narrator's life into a generic meeting summary or action list.
Newer tools worth trying
These are in the current Mac preview. Nothing is shared or added to Reminders until you review it and say so.
On the Mac, attach a photo, open its details, add a caption and link it to a saved audio file and time. Listen at that moment to check the connection.
On the Mac, choose Add → Story chapters…. Write a chapter in your own words, select only the passages and photos you want to include, and inspect the complete sharing preview with the narrator. Save as reviewed, then export the chapter folder. It contains HTML, Markdown, chosen photos and exact selected audio clips; keep the full source bundle separately.
Check the exported folder in your browser before sharing it. Browser playback from a local folder hasn’t been tested widely yet. A chapter does not remove private words inside a selected audio range; choose ranges carefully.
What still needs your judgment
- Photo references and approximate times are entered by you; there is no automatic photo timeline.
- Check any generated quotation, name or date against the recording before you pass it on. Keep disputed memories attributed to the narrator.
- Sharing a full bundle shares more than the polished note. Review the audio, transcript, rough notes, and photo selection first.
For processing choices and data flow, see the privacy setup guide.
More interviewing guidance
For broader oral-history practice, start with these resources.