Basic Recorder for Guitar

[donmcc]

Hello friends, I am aged 68, living in the UK and taking lessons for the Classical Guitar with no pick-up. I am wanting a digital recorder to record and send my solo efforts in WAV or WMA etc format via the Web to friends mainly in the USA and was thinking about something simple like the Olympus WS-100 Digital Recorder. I am not after Hi-Fi or Stereo, just a basic recording (Maybe I will work up later to something more elaborate). Many Thanks, donmcc.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

First, don, let me say how great it is that you're learning a new instrument in your middle age. Congratulations.

For what you describe, the WS-100 should work just fine for you. It's not going to give you the best fidelity; because of it's microphone it's going to sound basically like most typical portable tape recorders with built-in mics do. Buf it that's not an issue, if you're just looking to documet your playing and don't mind it sounding that way, you're fine with the Olympus.

When I was taking harmonica classes a couple of years ago, several students used devices just like that to record the classes. They may or may not have been the exact same model, I don't know, but I know a couple of them used the Olympus brand, and they worked great for them for that purpose.

G.

 

[Dr Biscuits]

Hi Don - I don't know that you'll be very happy with the results of this recorder - it will record the sound, but it's basically voice-memo recorder so you can imagine what it will sound like (to be fair, I've never used one, but looking at it's specs I'm imagining it'll be comparible to the usual ones in it's class). The advantage is that it would be dead easy, just hook it up with USB... and it's fairly cheap too.
If you are thinking about recording something with a bit of quality (even later on) you may want to look into a soundcard and microphone set up for your computer, but it will be more expensive...
One thing I would NOT recommend is recording with a pickup directly, but it doesn't look like you're going down that road anyway.
Good luck!

 

[Dani Pace]

Welcome Don, You can download any of several recorders which should serve your purpose well. I recomend Audacity, it is a multitrack recorder which is very simple to use and works with most soundcards so the only piece of gear you would need is a mic. Another good program (also downloadable for free) is Kristal, it's similar to Audacity but has a different look to it. N-Tracks has a limited version (3 track) which is free to download also. Any of these should work to record a single acoustic guitar on your pc so you can share your music with your friends. By the way, welcome to both the world of home recording and the world of guitar playing, I wish you the best in both.