MENC Forums

I have a Zoom H2, and I love it!  Very easy to use, and it makes great sounding recordings!  I think the cost was between $100-200.  It connects via USB to your computer, and it's simple to transfer the files and burn CDs.  I agree, it really helps students understand what they ACTUALLY sound like!

We use the Superscope recorder.  It's compact and works well both for concerts and classroom.  I just plug it in, test the settings, and record.  And it burns the CD.

I use my Mac laptop w/ iSight... then put it online for the kids to evaluate and practice with.  It seems to be helpful. 
Last year I just bought a cheap digital recorder and then would plug it in to a computer with speakers for them to hear.  That was a simple purchase at Radio Shack for less than $50.  The sound quality is not that great, though, and I had to put the recorder at the back of the auditorium to get a decent sound.

The Zoom H2 recorder is the way to go.  I use mine all time to record anything (concert bands, marching bands, tuba ensembles, ...everything) and it DOESN'T distort.  Definitely worth the investment. Easy to use, records to .mp3, awesome.

The Zoom H2 is great.  If you have a good microphone and a computer, Audacity works really well too (and it's free)!

As mrg149 mentioned, you can download Audacity, a digital recording program, for free. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
The only other thing you'd need, if you're just doing it for rehearsal purposes and don't need a "professional" quality recording is any microphone and an adapter so that you can hook the microphone into the line-in or microphone jack of your computer.
Even a mic like you use for announcements at concerts will work (put it on a stand) - but just look at what kind of connection it has at the end of the cable to check if it's a 1/4" plug or an XLR plug (the 3-pronged kind).  The line in or microphone jack in your computer (usually right next to where your computer speakers get plugged in) will be an 1/8" jack.  Then, go to Radio Shack (or you can find easily online) and buy an adapter so you can plug the mic in - if you have a 1/4" plug, you would want a 1/4" female to 1/8" male adapter or cable; if you have  an XLR connection, you'd want an XLR female to 1/8" male adapter or cable.  You can usually get one of these for under $20 or so. 

There are one or two settings on your computer that you have to check to make sure that you can record through the line in or microphone jack... if you have Windows, couble click on the little speaker icon in the bottom right hand corner of your screen.  Choose Options, then Properties, then select Recording.  Click OK.  Then, you'll see a box that says Recording Control.  If there is an option to check Microphone or Line-In, make sure that you select the jack that your microphone is plugged into (and, make sure Mute is not selected).  YOu can also adjust the recording levels by sliding up and down, so if you do a recording and find that the recording level is too soft you can turn it up for next time, or if it's distorted you can turn it down (you have to kind of play with it to find the level that works with your group in the space you have).  You would have to look at the instructions for Audacity for how to set up a recording track, but it's pretty simple.  Basically the cheapest way to go, if you already have a microphone, all you have do buy is the adapter - it'll at least tide you over until you get all your new equipment, without having to shell out a lot of money in the meantime.  AND as an added bonus, you can actually make mp3 or wav files with Audacity, so if your computer has a CD burner you can make a CD of your recording (or, you could post your mp3 to the web if you're so inclined!). 

I've also used the sound recorder on my mp3 player, works ok in a pinch but the built in mic isn't very good (I might use it for evaluating but not for something I'd make into a CD).  I haven't tried this but you can do a line in recording (again, you'd need an adapter to make sure your mic had the right connection to fit into the line-in jack), and that might sound a little better. (I have a Creative Zen, rather than an iPod.)

Hrm.. I wonder if we could convince the MENC site guys to let some of the forum members start a FAQ or guide section?  When I asked this question on the old boards, the answers were just as good.  The wealth of knowledge here is amazing.

Playback on the H2 Zoom is simple.  Just plug in an external speaker source into the headphones jack and it will play back.  You can also plug it into your computer via USB, then just drag the audio from the Zoom to your desktop and play them through itunes. You don't need to use audacity to playback the recordings.  Be sure to set the recorder to record to mp3 to make things easy.  It uses SD cards for memory, and you can get 20 hours of recording on a 2GB SD card.  You can use Garageband with it, just import the audio to it.  The sound quality is great, and accompaniment tracks would be very high quality.

I have an H4 that I like, it cost a bit more than the H2 though, I think the main difference is that the H4 has more options for pluging in external mics

I have used the Marantz Professional CDR310.  It has an internal hard drive and you can burn to cd.  Just search for it.  Really good quality and super easy to use.