What systems do people use at sessions to record the odd tune to work on at a later date? I find after say a festival weekend my head is just buzzing with disjointed A parts and snatches of B!! And in case there are copyright issues I’m not talking concerts, merely traditional music sessions.
Trisha
I use a Sony Walkman MD MZ-N10 minidisc recorder that I got for $100 on ebay. I put a little cheapo $20 mic on it. It’s nothing fancy, but it does the trick
http://www.tinwhistler.com/misc/session-05-06-05/09-blacksmith-banshee.mp3
Be careful with MD players and the like. Not all have microphone inputs. More to the point, 90% of them -don’t- have microphone inputs. The Sony site does give specs for each of their models. None of the ones at BestBuy or the like (storefronts ; online may be different) have microphone inputs. You essentially -have- to buy online. (Or at least I do. Maybe you have a fantastic store I don’t have.)
It is still a very good, very popular solution. Just don’t jump too quickly at a ‘great deal’ on an MD player before you know the specs.
I also use a Sony MD, and I love it.
But Chris A is right about checking to see if there is a microphone input. Minidisco.com is pretty good at pointing out the models that do not have mic inputs.
Two other things to keep in mind, if you are planning to upload to a computer or anything:
Absolutely true!
I did a lot of research before deciding on the model I got, and then I spent weeks on ebay looking for a good deal..
Other options include a voice recorder, or a MP3 player.
I use a Sony voice recorder and a Sony t-shaped mic. My voice recorder has several key features for me: always on, tiny size, transfer of files via USB to computer. The cons are a comparatively low sampling rate, and limited recording time. Mine does 1 hour at highest bit rate, 2 hours for medium. The newer model doubles that. The limited memory is a big deal if away for a weekend with no access to a computer to offload the files. Despite the low sampling rate, with the mic, the sound quality is comparable to music on the radio. The acoustics of the location are usually more of a limiting factor.
The hard disk based IRiver MP players are good and have enough capacity for a two week music trip. These cost $300 USD and up. The flash memory IRiver models have less capacity, and I have seen them on sale online for well under $100 USD.
I use a Sony Walkman MD MZ-N10 minidisc recorder that I got for $100 on ebay. I put a little cheapo $20 mic on it. It’s nothing fancy, but it does the trick
http://www.tinwhistler.com/misc/session-05-06-05/09-blacksmith-banshee.mp3 >
The Sony format is a proprietary format, and has a lot of checks in place to keep people from downloading music off the internet and making zillions of copies. You can get around this, but it takes a bit of effort. It’s kind of a steep learning curve to get an MD recording converted to an MP3, but once you get the procedure down, it’s not so hard
I have a Sony MZ N910 and have often wondered how to get my recordings into MP3 format. Can you give me some guidence or links to get me started?
Thanks
Mikk
I’m afraid I do it the hard way.
I plug a cord from my microphone jack in my sound card to the headphone jack in my minidisc recorder. I hit “record” in Audacity, “play” on the minidisc player, and walk away for four hours.
Then I come back, cut the sets up by hand, and save them as mp3. It’s a long painful process 
[quote=“Wanderer”]
I have a Sony MZ N910 and have often wondered how to get my recordings into MP3 format. Can you give me some guidence or links to get me started?
Thanks
Mikk
[/quote]I’m afraid I do it the hard way.
I plug a cord from my microphone jack in my sound card to the headphone jack in my minidisc recorder. I hit “record” in Audacity, “play” on the minidisc player, and walk away for four hours.
Then I come back, cut the sets up by hand, and save them as mp3. It’s a long painful process >
My understanding is that if you don’t have a HD model, that this is the only way to do it. You could put the tracks in by hand as you record, or in the MD player before you upload, but I think that computer keyboard is a lot easier to use.
If you have a unit marked HD, you can upload through Sonic Stage (Sony’s software), and edit on the computer. THEN – I use Sony’s free wav converter to convert to wav. THEN, I convert to MP3. I’m using JukeBox for that, but of course, you can use any kind of converter. Gotta use the Sony software to upload, and gotta use the Sony software to convert out of their format. Their converter only converts to wav. After you get used to it, it is pretty quick.
The advantage to the MD unit is that the upload is a lot faster – minutes, instead of the real time hours it takes with the line out. And you are uploading a digital file, not an analog. The disadvantage to the HD is that you’ve gotta do all of that converting. I think that HD is pretty new, though, so maybe Sony will improve their software and consolidate some of these tasks.
Shannon, did they definitely add support for exporting wav files? When the HD devices were first released it wasn’t yet implemented.
If so, this may mediate my feelings of frustration with Sony. However, I’m still annoyed they didn’t just make the disc look like a USB storage device and let me copy off the files.
thanks.
I found it:
http://sonyelectronics.sonystyle.com/walkmanmc/wav.html
Cool, although the engineer in me is annoyed that the solution is so convoluted, I’m happy that it works. I may have to consider getting an HD unit now. Too bad I convert the stack of MD’s I already have.
When I was shopping USB file transfer was a key factor in decision making. I use my Sony voice recorder all the time and the thought of endless hours transferring files to the computer, or buying and keeping a large stack of MD media is not a pleasant one.
Again, there are other choices. MD generally gives the best fidelity for the cost, but for me, there were several other factors (tiny size, always on, USB).
If you want to spend hundreds of dollars and dozens of hours to get blurry recordings of sessions onto a computer so that you can then spend even more time editing them, and THEN spend even more time trying to figure out whether that note was an E or a D (or which guy was playing the melody) - then go right ahead.
Weeks later you will have leaned one or two tunes.
You wanna be a recording engineer or a whistle player?
Go to a session to have fun. I consider it a great session if I remember one new ornament on a tune I already know.
Try this - buy a $40 cassette recorder with a decent speaker. Attach a good microphone (>$20). Bring them with you, along with a pen and notebook. Write down the names of the tunes you liked. During a break go up to the musician who played that tune and ask her if you could record her playing that tune twice - once slowly for learning, once at speed. Buy her a beer. Go home with three or four tunes clearly recorded and learn them.
A second alternative - write down the names of the tunes you liked, and download them in ABC format from the many websites devoted to that. Have your 'pooter play the tune over and over at whatever speed you want until you learn it. No cost in time or technology. Then do something nice to karmic-ly balance the niceness of the folks who uploaded the ABC tunes for you.
I agree – this is quite convoluted. I think Sony is working on a new version of Sonic Stage, but it looks like it still won’t convert their proprietary format to wav – only an analogue recording.
I also play in an orchestra, and record performances. I agree – we need to keep the purpose of our recording in mind.
There is no right or wrong in any of the choices. It is a good idea to think it through and decide what features are most important. Just as with the instruments, different people have different budgets and preferences. For some a $400+ Edirol is an impulse buy and a small expense, for others a $50 MP3 recorder or cassette recorder is a major budget item.
I am happy with my choice and would do it again (Sony voice recorder plus Sony t-mic), but understand that other people have different priorities and will make different choices.
