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American Music Teacher, August-Sept, 2003 by George F. Litterst

Regardless of the recording device you use, be aware of the recording volume level. Simple recorders use an automatic volume level that results in a compression of the music's expressiveness. The soft parts of the performance become louder in the recording, and the loud parts become softer. Using automatic volume level, however, makes the recording process very simple.

Professionals typically set their own recording level. This usually is not possible on low-end recording devices. When you set your own recording level, your objective is to set the level as high as possible without the recording meter penetrating the red zone. If you set the volume level too low, the recording may sound too soft. If you set it too high, you will get distortion. Using the automatic volume level avoids these problems.

Once you have made your recording, you need to get it into the computer.

2. Getting Your Recording into the Computer

Regardless of whether you have captured your recording to an external device or you plan to record directly to your computer's hard drive, you need a method of getting the sound from the performance into the computer. If you have recorded your performance to an external device, you must be able to attach the audio output(s) of your recorder to the audio input(s) of the computer. Similarly, if you plan to record directly to your computer, you must be able to attach your microphone(s) to the computer's audio input(s).

Desktop and laptop computers vary widely with respect to audio inputs, and some do not have any audio inputs at all. So you may have to struggle a bit with the issue of adapting the connectors of your recorder or microphone(s) to the audio inputs of your computer or face the prospect of adding an audio input feature to your computer.

If you have a computer with USB ports, you can easily add acoustically dean audio inputs with an audio/USB adapter. Good examples include Roland's UA-1A and UA-1D audio interfaces (www.rolandus.com). These audio interfaces (under $100) provide excellent sound input and output ports for your computer and connect to your computer's USB port. The former device uses the traditional analog connectors (RCA), and the latter uses digital connectors. If you have recorded your material to a digital device (such as MiniDisc or DAT) that has a digital output, the digital connectors will give you an uncorrupted transfer of your recording to the computer.

To pass the audio from your external recording device or your microphone(s) into the computer, you will need some sort of audio recording software program. Some computers and sound cards come with very nice audio recording programs.

Many MIDI sequencing programs also include a feature for recording digital audio tracks. If you have a sequencer, you may already be able to record audio. Sequencing programs usually are much more complicated than most people need if all they want is the ability to record a simple audio file. Note that some CD authoring programs also include an audio recording feature.