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Recording Devices with Slow Down Feature


Pam B

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I have a friend who needs a way to record lessons and sessions, then play them back slowly, and archive them, without the use of a computer. (Yes, there are still people in the U.S. without them!)

 

My suggestions is a Sony MD player - certain models have a digital pitch control for slowing down and speeding up, she could get a set of external speakers for practicing and she could use discs for archiving.

 

I know it would work, but was wondering if anyone had any other suggestions. I did a forum search and read a lot of the previous posts, buy most of them referred back to a computer for the "slow down" feature or for archiving.

 

Any thoughts are appreciated! Thanks!

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If your friend is looking for long-term storage solutions without involving a computer then I suspect that micro-cassette, minidisc and chip-based recorders are the only options. The desire to change playback speed without impacting pitch eliminates the micro-cassette models.

 

I think minidisc offers the most flexibility for editing but it's getting difficult to find much support for minidisc (including discs) other than on the Internet. A few years ago you could buy them at many traditional "brick and mortar" stores. The only mindisc models I'm aware of that allow you to change playback speed are the high-end Sony models and I think those still run well over $300.

 

I use minidisc recorders myself, but I have noted others using small digital recorders such as the Olympus WS-321M and they report being quite pleased with the results. Many such small digital "dictation" recorders are capable of slowing playback without changing pitch. In the case of the 321M it is able to playback at speeds 50% slower to 50% faster (50% to 150%) in 12.5% increments. It is designed to easily interface with a computer to transfer and store files long term but can also be used without one. The problem with such recorders is that they don't typically offer in-unit editing and file naming is often none too friendly.

 

There are more expensive chip-based recorders designed specifically for musical purposes but their cost is close to the high-end Sony units and I don't have any real familiarity with them so other than observing that most are intended to be used with a computer I will leave comments on that topic to others.

 

My guess is that your friend is trying to spend as little money as possible, so here's a notion...

 

I did a quick check on Amazon.com and see Sony mindisc players (MZ-NE410 model) selling for $34.99 plus shipping. To be clear, this is not the latest minidisc technology, but it's pretty inexpensive and (when connected to a microphone) it will record and play back music with a decent sound and permit one to edit tracks. Bear in mind that a microphone isn't provided with the unit referenced.

 

I checked Amazon for the Olympus WS-321M and came up with a price of $62.29 plus shipping. you might find other models that have variable playback speeds for a little less if you look around. They don't always flag that detail on the packaging or even some websites so I suggest you look up the user's manuals online and see just what the unit offers. For example, refer to page 84 of the WS-321 manual. Your friend could buy one of each for a total of about $100 plus whatever tax and shipping applies.

 

With this combination, they can record on mindisc and edit the results, storing their recordings on mindiscs for long term retention. If they want to work on learning a tune by slowing it down, they can play the mindisc recording over a speaker and record it onto the Olympus and then use its variable playback speed functions.

 

I recognize some possible issues here, as mentioned above the mindisc technology isn't the latest and your friend might find either the cost too high or the notion of using two different units too complex, but it's just an idea that would provide them a functional setup to record and organize tunes as well as learn tunes at variable speeds for less than half the cost of a high-end Sony unit.

 

To be clear, I don't have a vested interest in any item mentioned and this is only a notion, not a recommendation.

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The Tascam DR1 is a quite amazing device, I've used minidic and olympus digital recorders, but the DR1 is in a class of its own as a musicians' device because of the combination of features it has. It combines high quality digital recording with a slow downer, looper, transposer, metronome, tuner, effects, overdub etc etc. You can record a session tune, slow it down, play it back phrase by phrase. If you want to connect it to a PC you can - transferring mp3's and wav's to and from is a breeze. But you don't need a PC to use it.

 

It has a long battery life, recharging is by USB, but that is not a problem if you don't have a pc, you can pick up a usb mains charging adapter on the web for a few pounds (£3.99 on Amazon).

 

Consider this a high quality swiss army knife for musicians who are learning and wanting to pick up and practice new tunes.

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I did a quick check on Amazon.com and see Sony mindisc players (MZ-NE410 model) selling for $34.99 plus shipping. To be clear, this is not the latest minidisc technology, but it's pretty inexpensive and (when connected to a microphone) it will record and play back music with a decent sound and permit one to edit tracks. Bear in mind that a microphone isn't provided with the unit referenced.

Trouble is, that minidisc model doesn't have a microphone input jack, according to several of the consumer reviews posted on Amazon.

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You are right Michael, I let the "recorder" in the name throw me and didn't check in to the details.

 

I remember now that there used to be several minidisc models carried in local stores that would accept music downloads from computers but didn't have microphone input jacks. It's been a few years since I last looked at the minidisc market and that had slipped my mind. At this point I'm not altogether certain that Sony is even still making new minidisc units. I took a quick look at the SonyStyle website and didn't see any minidisc recorders other than some reconditioned units but I still see several places online selling new MZM200's for $350 US and up. I have an RH-1 myself and I'm happy with it.

 

It's a shame that minidisc technology has been essentially bypassed and abandoned but I think the market for people that want to make their own live recordings is pretty small and it seemed Sony was more interested in the mp3 and iPod player crowd but crippled the usefulness of their minidisc units (because of music sharing/pirating concerns) to the point where people turned away from it. As far as music player technology goes, current multi-gigabyte iPods, iTouches, etc. are much more useful and user friendly than a minidisc. I'd still recommend a minidisc recorder (like the MZM200) to someone that wants a good portable field recorder that offers many useful onboard features (editing, looping, slow-down. etc.), but recognize the usefulness of the current crop of chip-based recorders, especially if they are used in conjunction with a computer to store, edit and format the recordings.

 

I think if I was a musician in the market for a portable field recorder with slow-down ability and on a tight budget, I'd opt for one of the under $100 digital recorders such as the Olympus I mentioned in my prior post. I seem to recall that you used something like that a few years ago at a Noel Hill class and were satisfied with it. If one has more money at hand and access to a computer, there are a lot of other choices. I haven't used a Tascam DR-1 but have talked to people that love them and I see them priced at under $200. My local drug store now sells 2 Gig chips for under $16 so certainly the media is easy to come by.

Edited by Bruce McCaskey
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I have a friend who needs a way to record lessons and sessions, then play them back slowly, and archive them, without the use of a computer. (Yes, there are still people in the U.S. without them!)

 

My suggestions is a Sony MD player - certain models have a digital pitch control for slowing down and speeding up, she could get a set of external speakers for practicing and she could use discs for archiving.

 

I know it would work, but was wondering if anyone had any other suggestions. I did a forum search and read a lot of the previous posts, buy most of them referred back to a computer for the "slow down" feature or for archiving.

 

Any thoughts are appreciated! Thanks!

 

 

OMG! just buy a computer!

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I think if I was a musician in the market for a portable field recorder with slow-down ability and on a tight budget, I'd opt for one of the under $100 digital recorders such as the Olympus I mentioned in my prior post. I seem to recall that you used something like that a few years ago at a Noel Hill class and were satisfied with it.

Good memory, Bruce. I had a Sony digital recorder that served me well until it was stolen out of my car. I replaced it with an Olympus DS-30, currently $112 on Amazon.

 

I think something like this is perfect for recording music lessons and for grabbing tunes at a session, and the built-in slow-down feature is a big help for learning. But archiving those recordings without losing quality would require a computer, or perhaps a minidisc recorder that has a line-in function. I suppose you could rig up a poor-man's archive by connecting the headphone jack to the input jack on a cassette recorder (remember those? ) :lol:

 

Perhaps Pam's non-computer-owning friend could prevail on someone to periodically download files from the recorder to a computer and burn them on CDs. This is easy to do with my Olympus -- you just connect it via a USB cable and it behaves like an external drive.

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