article is not going to go into traditional microphone techniques, as holds true for almost any portable music device made since 2005.
there are easier and alternative methods to record your ensemble. Some of these digital music players have a built-in microphone,
My favorite way is with a laptop computer. Many of the laptop allowing you to record your music or voice and listen to it back to
computers made in the last two or three years have a built-in micro- your headphones. You can get the
phone or camera. If you have a built-in microphone on your laptop, music out of your portable music
you are ready to record immediately. Although these built-in micro- player and into your sound system
phones aren’t necessarily the best for capturing the dynamic sounds using a simple 1/8”-to-RCA adapter
of a choir or band, they are efficient enough to make a pedagogical (the $2 cable that key and include it
recording. with your CD player). If your music
One of my favorite comput- room does not have a sound system,
er recording techniques is to you can plug your portable music 1/8"-to-RCA Adapater
attach a higher quality micro- player into a boombox type device, or
phone to the computer via a con- into a small set of speakers. This allows your students to instantly
nection to the USB port or hear back what was played. To get a higher quality of sound into
microphone-in port. This gives your iPod or other portable music player device, you can opt to pur-
you the option of using a tradi- chase a higher quality microphone.
tional microphone such as a One attractive method is getting
Shure SM-58 (the classic “ice the sound into the iPod is with a
cream cone” microphone that is sound-in attachment like the
found in many music rooms
The Macbook Built-in
Micromemo, from XtremeMac. This
across the country) or one of the
Microphone
add-on snaps into the dock connector
newer USB style microphones on the bottom of an iPod, and allows
such as a Samson condenser micro- you to use the provided microphone,
phone, or other condenser mics such as or your own higher quality micro-
XtremeMac MicroMemo
Blue Microphones Snowball. These mics phone. This type of device usually
Recorder
are easily found at your local music costs under $50. There were many
store, or through most consumer elec- devices such as these on the market for the various models of
tronics stores. They can be purchased portable music players. Competitors include Belkin’s TuneTalk
on the Internet for under $100, and Stereo and Griffin’s iTalkPro. Most of them do a pretty good job, and
Shure SM-58
are a vast improvement over the tiny, you will be generally pleased with the results, especially if you have
Microphone
$2.50 pinpoint dynamic microphone budget and portability in mind. What makes recording to an iPod
that is built into your computer. You very attractive for the casual user is the ability to download the
truly would not believe the difference until you heard it. recordings directly into iTunes. Using this method, you can store
In order to take advantage of an external and catalog your recordings with ease, and also easily prepare your
microphone, whether it is a USB style or tra- recordings for distribution by e-mail, CD, or website.
ditional plug-in style, you have to make sure
that your computer is recognizing and using Taking it a Step Further
this microphone of your choice. Your com-
puter may have several options for For music teachers wanting a higher-quality sound, a portable digi-
sound input, and you have to make tal recorder may be the best option. These are stand-alone units, slightly
Blue “Snowball”
sure that it is using the one that you
USB Microphone
larger than a traditional iPod, that allow for very high quality digital
want. This is all part of mastering what recordings. Portable digital recorders feature high quality built-in stereo
recording engineers call “signal flow’. You’ll have to go to your con- microphones, the ability to record at vari-
trol panel or system preferences and choose your plug-in micro- ous quality levels (most often higher than
phone as the input option. Once you have chosen the appropriate CD quality), and the ability to store
microphone input, you are ready to record. Conquering sound-in recordings one removable media such as a
and sound-out can often be a confounding aspect of sound record- flash drive. Some of the higher quality
ing, but is easy when after you get in the habit of checking it when- recorders also give you the ability to record
ever you add any new sound-capturing devices. through professional quality XLR micro-
The Edirol R-09
phone jacks. Several feature phantom
Enter the iPod
WAVE/MP3 Recorder
power quality that allows you to use very
expensive and superior quality condenser
Even if you don’t have a laptop or desktop computer at your microphones. Chances are, if you have these types of quality micro-
disposal in your music room, there are some low-cost alternatives phones sitting around your music room, you probably have very little
utilizing some technology that you may already own. An alternative need for this article! Some of the popular makers of portable digital
to the PC method of recording is an iPod. Almost all of the iPods
made in the last three years have the capability of recording. This
continued on next page
MAY 2009 63 TEMPO
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