I don't know how many others use a voice recorder but I recommend it. The obvious use is at music lessons to capture all of the great instruction and advice, plus record my teacher playing what I need to practice. I have a Sony Digital Voice Recorder ICD-PX720 and it has the ability to adjust the playback speed from +100% to -50%, without distorting the sound. The software (Sony's Digital Voice Editor) provided for my computer also does the same with the added feature of being able to play any mp3 as is or adjust the playback speed same as the recorder. I couldn't find tabs for John Denver's "Country Roads" so I downloaded an mp3 of the song. I then used the software to play back and slow down and was able to figure how to play on the mandolin. I can even transfer downloaded songs to the handheld recorder, play back, and adjust the speed as needed.
I have a Tascam digital recorder. I think recorders are a must for any musician. You can record lessons, practices, concerts, etc.
A digital recorder is on my list of things to get too. On another thread somewhere it was mentioned as good for feedback to hear what you are doing. Phil
wow, brilliant idea. much easier than dragging out recording gear, and seriously useful! I'll have to go get a voice recorder now, but as I'm prejudiced against Sony's software, I'll find another style
Sounds like a good idea..but after that rootkit thing I'd never use anything by Sony again.
There's several really good digital recorders, including the Tascam I mentioned. Zoom H2 is another one that everybody seems to like. Under $200.00. Great recording capabilities and other bells and whistles.
I use the Sony ICD-P520. It's an older model. I think I paid $50 for it. Works perfectly. Recorded all of my lessons on it and still reuse them. Nice thing is it has plugs for an external microphone. The built-in one works fine, but the quality definitely gets a boost from a higher quality external mic. I use Audacity for manipulating audio files, slowing down the tempo to learn a new song. It's free and open source.
Zoom H2. Works for general recording, and handles even my Great Highland Bagpipes
I'm using and am pleased with the Tascam DR-07. Not only does it record in stereo direct to .mp3 or .wav format, during playback you can slow it down while keeping the same pitch (not as nice as The Amazing Slowdowner, but fine for a field unit), you can also set an "In" point and an "Out" point and have it repeatedly loop between those points, super useful for learning a difficult passage. About $130 at Amazon, and it consistently gets great reviews all over the Internet.
