Re: [Harp-L] recording your own practices




I highly recommend MiniDisk for practice and, assuming your band/act sounds good live, easy demo quality recording.


I have a pocket sized Sony Minidisk recorder and stereo mic I bought (as a package) from Guitar Center several years ago. It's fantastic. More than adequate for recording practice. In fact, some charting tunes I did for mp3.com (back when they paid artists for the number of plays our tunes got) were culled from live Minidisk recordings of gigs.

Pros: Sounds good. Better than cassette, not quite up to CD. IMHO the sound is "warmer" than CD. Fits in your pocket. Goes anywhere. Stupid-simple - press a couple of buttons to record. For double recording time, you can record in mono. Better pocket size units can be set to manual volume control, although I've never had need for this - the AGC (automatic gain control - sets volume automagically) in mine works flawlessly. YMMV. MDs are erasable and reusable.

Cons: Generally not as powerful and flexible as HD and other pro recording formats. Last time I checked, MD blanks can be expensive.

If you have a laptop with HD space (yeah, sure ;-), you might want to look into a simple recording program for it, such as Total Recorder (PC, around $30, I think) or Audiocorder (Mac - shareware, but the unregistered version works fine - there's just a commercial recorded when you begin recording). Your laptop may come with an audio recorder program.

Whatever your choice, if you have a garbage microphone, you'll get a garbage recording. Fortunately, you can get good quality electret recording mics for around $40.


-IronMan Mike Curtis
http://www.IronmanCurtis.com
http://www.SouthlandBlues.com
----- Original Message ----- From: "Nick Kirkes" <nick.kirkes@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 9:51 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] recording your own practices



H-L,

I've been wanting to start recording my own practices (and lessons that I
take) but I haven't been able to decide on the type of device to use. I
tried using a standard tape recorder, but the recording quality was so bad
that I took it back. I've been thinking about Mini-disc recorders, but have
seen mixed reviews. If I'm going to spend the money, I'd rather it be
something that is well received by people using it for the same purposes as
me. I have an iPod for all my music, so a minidisk would only be useful for
recording practices, lessons and live shows.


Anyone doing this and if so, what are you using? Pros/Cons?

I know it's not directly harp related, but I've heard nothing but good about
the habit of recording yourself when you practice and I'd like to start
doing that.


Thanks,

Nick
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