Recording device for practice?

Hey, you can slow down a song without changing the pitch using windows media player:
Go to View -> Enhancements -> Play Speed Setting and use the slider to increases or decrease the speed.

For recording, Audacity, http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ and a cheap mic suffices for now.

Vic

I use a Sony Hi-MD and it works great.

Easy to use, MD are cheap and they hold a lot of data.

I agree with Nick. I got a Sony NetMD and a stereo mic. the results are very good. I record eveything now. short sessions with myself. jams, etc.
you can upload to computer with a bit of work. and then burn CDs.

there are some new generation devices coming out. Ive seen a small digital recorder; palm size.
now is a good time to start self recording.

oh. once you record and playback your playing..word, it will sound worse than the phone voice.

I agree with Nick. I got a Sony NetMD and a stereo mic. the results are very good. I record eveything now. short sessions with myself. jams, etc.
you can upload to computer with a bit of work. and then burn CDs.

there are some new generation devices coming out. Ive seen a small digital recorder; palm size.
now is a good time to start self recording.

oh. once you record and playback your playing..word, it will sound worse than the phone voice.

Could you guys please elaborate on this Sony NetMD product and how you use it?

a minidisc recorder is small. about the size of a cigarette pack. they take small discs that ook like CDs, but are in a plastic cover.
I bought a stereo mike that generally sells with these.
when I record a jam I place the mike in the middle of the room and hit record. its that simple.
for playback I can use the headphones on the minidisc player. I can play it on a minidisc deck I have;its plugged into my big stereo.
then I can upload to computer to burn a real CD. Sony made these to replace the Walkman. MP3s can be downloaded direct into minidisc via the USB plug.
now Ipod replaced this idea.
but there are some of us who use it for our own music.

Just bought a Boss Micro BR. Looks like it's about as capable as the BR-8 I did some recording on a few years ago, and it's about the size of a guitar tuner. Unfortunately, it's going under the tree with my boy's name on it, so I won't get to play with it for a while...
http://www.zzounds.com/item--BOSMICROBR

MD Players are very nice and high quality, but I've found that actual digital voice recorders are expensive and MD players are a little big to carry around. I recommend a MP3 Player/Recorder, which saves all files as mp3s and can be transferred to your computer via USB.

I've got one: http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/5/ that is probably much cheaper now. Runs off AAA batteries, about the size of two packs of gum. That was over a year ago, there are probably better models by this point.

Also handy for carrying with you to record song ideas, which I'm going to use it for now (either that or voicemail to myself :)

A few months ago I went out to try and buy a minidisc recorder, or something similar, but I just couldn't find anywhere local that still sold them. :(

The small recorders that I saw were mostly designed for office use, for personal dictation, and I couldn't assess how good they'd be for music. Most of them didn't seem to have an easy way to transfer to computer either, which I wanted to be able to do some of the time.

So I ended up buying a reasonably priced 8 track recorder. :shock: It was a lot more money than I'd first planned to spend (it cost about what I'd paid for some guitars) but it is so much more versatile than a straight recorder. Obviously I can record multiple tracks with it - i.e. accompany myself. But it also has a whole bunch of nifty knobs and sliders, effects, programmable drum and bass, etc.

It's bigger of course, maybe the size of a biggish paperback book, but that's not a problem. Mostly it stays plugged in where I play, but it can also be run on batteries.

It's too big to slip into my pocket - but then, hey, so are my guitars and I manage to carry them around. Plus I've got two hands anyway.... :P

Just another possibility to think about. I was a bit stunned when I came home with something quite different from what I set out to buy, but I've been pleased that I did. :)

Good luck finding something to suit.

Cheers, Chris

I'm also usually at my computer, so I can always just use the built-in microphone on my laptop and audacity, to record a sequence of chord progressions. Sure, it's noisy and not the best quality, but it's pretty simple to do.

Just bought a Boss Micro BR. Looks like it's about as capable as the BR-8 I did some recording on a few years ago, and it's about the size of a guitar tuner. Unfortunately, it's going under the tree with my boy's name on it, so I won't get to play with it for a while...
http://www.zzounds.com/item--BOSMICROBR

I've had my Boss Micro BR for a few weeks. I think it would work great for the OP. It can play MP3s and you can adjust the speed of the playback. It also can record tracks, has a bunch of effects/amp models, and a bunch of neat little recording/editing stuff that I've only begun to play with. Also has a nice rhythm option with a bunch of built in drum beats and such, that you can adjust for any BPM. I'm pretty sure it also has a built-in mic.

The only gripe with it is that I can't seem to get a very good tone from it. Although that may entirely be due to user error, as I don't really know how to dial in a good tone. But the preset effects settings all don't sound very good to me.