Recording advice...

[buffettbride]

My daughter just started taking voice lessons (she is expanding from drama into musical theatre and was just cast in the ensemble of Wizard of Oz at a local community theatre) and she gets a lot more out of the lesson when they are recorded. We've been making due with using tapes on an old tape recorder, but we'd like to do better. We don't have a lot of extra $$ to pour into this in the form of fancy equipment (lessons are already $130 a month!!).

Our recording needs are the ability to record the lesson in addition to having the ability to record the piano accompianist playing songs that she is working on. (She has her sights on making a callback for the professional production of Christmas Carol that Denver does each year and landing the role of Mary Lennox from A Secret Garden at another professional theatre company in town. She is super strong at drama and 9/10 times gets a callback and the part, but she has only been singing for a year. She finally landed a callback for Annie and almost made the final round, but did get cast in the ensemble of Wizard of Oz, so that is pretty exciting to be a muchkin and a poppy.)

What are our options? Ideally, we'd be able to get the recording in .mp3 or .wav formats so she can practice listening to her mp3 player or on the computer. We have a laptop we can bring to lessons, but it would not have connectivity to the Internet while we are there.

BNrs are smart folks, so I figure y'all will know what to do.

Thanks in advance!

[Coconuts]

How good is the microphone on your digital camera/camcorder? You'd get video as well, so she can monitor the faces she's making as well as the sound (because let's face it- it doesn't matter how good she sounds if all you see are scrunched up eyebrows and tonsils).

[Salukulady]

When my band needs to record something to take home with us for practice, we just use a small hand held tape recorder, the type people have on the desk in business meetings. Most of them will plug into your amp at home so you can play it thru your sound system. Not great sound quality but enough for rehearsal. You can get a decent one for under $100.

Also, I can record video and audio on my MAC laptop imovie.

[ph4ever]

I'd get a digital recorder. Here's some reviews on a few http://www.voicerecognition.com/solutio ... recorders/

I've seen them from $ 20.00 up

[Dutch Harbor PH]

Is there a sound system where she is performing/practicing? If so, Patch into your Mic In port on the laptop. Using Windows, record the session off the house mic....... The house Mic will be much better than the laptops mic and it will be at the source or close to it so there will be less background noise/distortion.......Convert to MP3 and transfer to the Ipod or whatever......

[flyboy55]

I have an inexpensive MP3 player that also records voice. I've used it to record myself when working out vocal harmonies. I don't know if each song file has a maximum size but the MP3 player has LOTS of room. Sound quality ain't bad for something the size of a cigarette lighter and a mike hole the size of large pin head - better than the old cassette tape recorder I have kicking around.

That would solve the format problem, as the recordings would already be in MP3 format and easy to upload to a PC or laptop.