Larry,

 

I have a Roland R-09 wave recorder - it's about the size of an mp3 player and operates basically the same way. You punch one button to record digitally. Then,  with one "headphone" (for lack of a better word) cord, it plugs into my little Cube monitor and plays right back. Great sound quality - I use it all the time in class to record the the kids, fix something, and then play the two things back to back to see if we actually "fixed" it.  I also record my accompanist (saves money so she doesn't come out as much since we practice with the recordings), and my student's individual sight reading tests. Versatile little gadget and even a technology idiot like me can work it easily.  I think it was around $200, but worth every penny.

 

Mary Jane

I'm with Mary Jane on this, Larry.  Don't start getting involved with the computer and all that if all you seek is immediate feedback in the rehearsal setting.  There are quite a few handheld recorders on the market right now. My studio actually uses the Zoom H3n to do some live recording, but there are quite a few options in the $200 to $500 range. Pick one out that you can plug into your stereo for playback, and you'll be good to go.

 

Tom Tropp

SoundByte Studios

www.ChoirCD.com

I have a less expensive digital voice recorder that I started using this past week, a Sony ICD-UX-523. I paid less than $100 for it and it is easy to use!  One clicks on "Record" to record and then "Stop" when done. To listen to it, I put the 1/8" cord from the stereo into the headphones jack of the digital voice recorder, set up the stereo for Aux, and click on play. Or I can put the built-in USB connection into my computer and play it back through Windows Media Player. Then the kids start picking out what we did wrong. 

 

I had tried a SuperScope 300, which was already in the district. It uses a CD-R and is VERY fussy about the brand of blank CD-R that it uses. It's also wasteful as you cannot erase unless you purchase the CD-RW type.  But what I liked least about it was the amount of time it took to set up, as I did not want to use the built in microphones. 

 

 

Donna

 

 

I use the Zoom recorder mentioned by Tom and I really like it. I have even used it to record my concerts when I wasn't able to get my usual technician to do a more formal recording, and I edit it in Garage Band. We use it for the high school choir to record at one of our beautiful Missions and it does a great job - easy to use and play back immediately.

Larry:  I've debated whether to chime in on your question, but I think I really need to.  I know you're just asking for HOW to get set up, but may I suggest that before getting bogged down in the details you rethink the WHY of it?  What do you hope to accomplish?  How valuable to you is your rehearsal time?  And how efficient do you picture the process being?

 

Meaningful learning from recordings is never an instantaneous process.  Just for starters, it takes exactly as long to listen BACK to something as it does to record it in the first place.  That means that you've automatically committed twice your rehearsal time to it, but that's just for starters.  Your students will NOT know what they're hearing, and will NOT know how to interpret it.  That's fine, because it's your job to teach them that. but again the time commitment goes up by at least a factor of 4 when you start down that road.  What they WILL hear, instantly and deflatingly, is that THEY do not sound anything like the slick sound of well-engineered studio recordings, and they'll want to know WHY and what they can do about it.

 

Now I've spent many hours in many different recording studios over the years, from the late '50s on, including large ones, small ones, highly professional ones, holes in the wall, and Warner Bros., Disney, and Decca studios on both coasts.  Someone without that background often thinks that recording is quick and easy:  just get set up, start the recorder, sing your song, and you're done.  But it simply doesn't work that way. 

 

I made a point of getting my main university ensemble into a recording studio for an album at least once a year, and other ensembles as often as I could promote the funding to pay for it.  And even with experienced college students the first 40 minutes are basically a throw-away as they get used to the sound of the studio, the sound of each other IN the studio, the sound of accompaniment playback, and the use of playback speakers or headphones.  Not until you reach that point are you going to get any useful takes, and that's already assuming that you're recording music that's thoroughly learned and has been performed in public more than once.  But even so, it's very difficult for you to be both conductor and producer at the same time, and I was very fortunate to work with a recording engineer who knew what I wanted and could tell me, "you don't even want to listen back to that one; try another take right away."

 

And then you've got a "sweet spot" of from less than an hour for inexperienced singers to up to almost two hours for experienced ones, when they can profitably listen to playbacks, hear for themselves what needs to be fixed and rebalanced and cleaned up, and jump right back in for another take to get it better.  But once the voices start getting tired their critical abilities will be at a very high point, but their ability to do anything about it will start deteriorating quickly, and it's time to pack it in for the day (or at least to take a pizza break, which for college students IS a Food Group!!!).

 

As a very rough rule of thumb, it takes about 10 times as long to get a good audio recording as you might think possible.  The only thing that takes longer is getting a decent film or video, which can take hours or days for a single minute of finished film.  And it's that balance between time, money, and stamina that ALWAYS has to be struck whether you're simply using recording as a learning tool in class or going for a truly good result, and that leads to the dreaded words, "we can fix it in the mix!!!"

 

So all I'm really suggesting is that you think through your goals carefully before committing to them, and then try to spend the least amount of time using the technology that you can while still approaching those goals.  And that holds true even if your intention is simply to take the recordings home and go through them on your own rather than dedicate rehearsal time to playbacks, because you'll still be committing YOUR time to it.  But any of the currently available small stereo recorders can do a very fine job for you, so the technology itself is no longer the kind of problem that it once was.

All the best,

John

We too use the Zoom recorder and it is small, fits on a tripod and can be set to accomodate large or smaller spaces.  It really has been a great tool for us in rehearsals.

Okay, Larry, I think I totally get you.  I am not going to suggest that you buy any other additional equipment because I'm assuming that you need to use the equipment you have already and you need a program that you can use with them. 

 

There is a free recording software download called Audacity.  If you go to Audacity.com they will direct you to the correct link or you can Google Audacity recording software.  It is so easy and it's like having a recording studio on your computer.  I used it in my last district on a Dell laptop and now I use it on a Macbook.  It is super easy, and most of the time, the internal mic on the laptop is enough to grab the sound of the choir and let them hear what they just did.  I even use this software and my laptop, without an external microphone, to record All-State and All-Northwest auditions for my students.

 

If you want to make really nice recordings of your group, you should absolutely buy another device, but if all you want is something to use with your existing equipment, then Audacity is exactly what you need.  As you go to their website and download it, you will want to download the LAME document if you plan to save your files in the MP3 format and make sure you remember where you downloaded it to.  There are additional files with extra recording gizmos but you probably won't need them.  Download Audacity and the LAME document. 

 

This will give you exactly what you need without buying any additional equipment.