This paper is a compressed version of a tutorial which was presented during the 1986 training course of the International Pharmaco-EEG Group, in Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy. The paper starts with a discussion of some basic features of the encephalograph, sketches the frequency modulation recording technique and presents some fundamental rules and concepts concerning digital data acquisition. Patient safety is a further aspect of the tutorial. Finally, two calibration procedures are outlined.