Suggestion for a handy recording app?

Playing/Techniques
#1

Hello, Bachido gangs!

I would like to have an app to record music for learning / practice purpose. Any suggestion? When I have a lesson, I was using IC recorder (yes, very old school, LOL) to record how Sensei plays, and listened to it home when I practiced. I have been wanting to get an app, but there are so many.

I would like to have one that is easy to record, and store and organize the songs, e.g. keep them in a different folders by name, category, etc. It would be great if I can listen them in my computer too, by copying without too much hustle. I am pretty low tech even though I live near Silicon Valley… LOL. I would love to hear any suggestion.

Thanks!!

S

#2

I use one of ZOOMs handy recorders (that is actually their marketing name) with 2 microphones for stereo sound and a simple camera that isn’t super good, but is enough when the sound is what’s important. The sound recording is really good!

This is the one I have: http://www.zoom.co.jp/products/q3hd

But you should take a look at their different products and see which one suits you best. That’s all I have tried when it comes to handy recorders.

#3

Just realized you wanted an APP and not a physical product. I’m sorry I can’t help you there as I don’t think the mobile phones are very good at sound recording.

#4

Well, thank you anyway. :slight_smile: It’s only for practice, so I wouldn’t expect quality sound, but it is only to remember my lesson on pacing, tone of sound, pausing, etc.

#5

what kind of phone do you have? If you have an iPhone 5, a recording app is already on board - otherwise I use iProRecorder. It cost 3 dollars - you can put markers on recordings, label them, date, send them in emails, etc. I had been using that app for a couple of years (starting with my iPhone 3GS) and, boy, did I get my money;'s worth out of it! :slight_smile: I think it’s also available on the other app markets (Android, Kindle, Amazon).

#6

Mobile phones can sometimes have quite good little mics in them, actually. I was just looking for an app for my Android phone, and after some research decided to try RecForge Lite, but haven’t actually tested it yet. I have used Smart Voice Recorder and ASR before, and they both work (the latter with cool Dropbox sync), but for some reason I forget, I wanted to try something else. (And I wiped my phone and started anew a couple months ago, so…)

In terms of physical devices, the Zoom H1 is awesome. Great quality stereo sound, very easy/reliable interface, etc etc, for only $100. Not great for listening from, but you can copy the files to your computer and organize as you please…

#7

lol - Luke, I love the way that your avatar has “boy genius” written under it. :slight_smile:

And congrats to you and to your lady! I hope that you both have many wonderful years together!

#8

I have a “first edition” Zoom H4, which works very well. I use it most often to record choir rehearsals and voice lessons, and get decent results with the built-in stereo mics.

I haven’t tried any Android apps, but after a quick search it looks like RecForge Pro ($4) has the best ratings. RecForge Lite is trialware (free, but crippled). Like Kyle, I’ll probably try this out on my phone.

Recording quality will be limited by the built-in mic. An external mic should provide an improvement, but the typical headphone/mic jack will probably only support a single input channel (i.e. not stereo).

USB Audio Recorder Pro looks intriguing if you want to record from a USB audio interface.

#9

Hi, Lorraine, Luke (the Boy Genius!), Dan,
Thank you for your comments. I have iPhone 5, so may start with Lorraine’s suggestion. $3 sounds very reasonable, it’s a price for a cup of coffee, not even latte!
Thanks again,
Happy Shamisen!

#10

Audio Recorder ia a direct and real-time sound recorder software which offers professional recording features with MP3, WAV, AVI support. With it you can record sound from Microphone, Line-in, streaming audio from the Internet, or music played by Winamp, Windows Midea Player, Quick Time, Flash etc. It is able to automatically detect the recording formats your sound card supports and then set ther application’s parameters for the best possible performance.

To record wih audio recorder:
1.Make sure you have an audio input device, such as a microphone, connected to your computer.

2.Open Sound Recorder by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button. In the search box, type Sound Recorder, and then, in the list of results, click Sound Recorder.

3.Click Start Recording.

4.To stop recording audio, click Stop Recording.

NOTICE: If you want to continue recording audio, click Cancel in the Save As dialog box, and then click Resume Recording. Continue to record sound, and then click Stop Recording.

5.Click the File name box, type a file name for the recorded sound, and then click Save to save the recorded sound as an audio file.

It’s extremely easy to use audio recorder. Online Discounts and Coupons for Digital Audio Recorder Software are available here.
http://www.ifcoupons.com/categories/audio-recorder/

#11

I have been using a pretty good streaming audio recorder called TunesKit Audio Capture, but it can only be used on Mac / PC. It is still good enough for me to recommend it to you. It automatically archives your recordings by the source software. The audio quality is the same as the origina, and the tracks can be saved as different formats so that you can play them on different devices.
You can try to record your sensei’s lesson if it is delivered online.

#12

The handy recording app? The first one coming to my mind could be Audio Capture created by AudFree, which is compatible with Mac and Windows OS.
One of the most advantages of this tool could be that it captures the data from apps playing the music. It will do this before recording music and you play the music. And then recode them to a new file, the same as the original one.
Besides, its a smart multi-track audio grabber that can capture multiple audio tracks from different sources simultaneously, which can save you lots of time. Sound nice? Right!

© 2020 Kyle Abbott