Anyone ever used a Micro Track?

[hibbert6]

Hi - I'm a middle school music teacher and really wish someone would invent a digital boombox so that I could record my students during rehearsals and play back immediately. Like with pushbuttons! Because "immediately" means not turning my back on the kids for more than 3 seconds, nor leaving them with nothing to do for more than 15 seconds. After that is mayhem.:eek:

So, as no digital boombox seems to be out there, I'm looking at a Micro Track II. My question is this: How quick & easy is it to use? Is that a one-touch record button on the front? If so, that would be an awesome start, although the kids will usually sit still with excitement as I prepare to record them. It's the delay in getting playback ready that causes them to go wild. So, what's involved in playing it back for the kids? (I have a stereo system to play back through.) If the Micro Track will record and play with one button each, my dreams would be close to fulfilled. ( I had a Zoom H2 at my other school but the toggling was confusing (I'm old) and distracted me from the kids, which created chaos.)

Dave

[jpleong]

The Microtrack will be more of the same. Recording is easy with the one-touch button but playback means some scrolling through menus. Do you, by chance, have a computer in your classroom? Software may be a better solution -even the free Audacity allows for easy playback after recording.

What you need is something with more buttons...! But that probably means a more expensive recording unit. You may find it useful to go to a music store and see if you can try the various units in the store before buying.

JP

[DAS]

Call your Sweetwater sales engineer. He or she ought to be able to find something suitable.

[hibbert6]

Thanks, DAS. Chris at Sweetwater has been working with me for 2 years on this. Fortunately, he never addresses my "luddite-ness"! ;)

I do have a computer, but it's behind the kids - not a very good option. But if I brought my own laptop & used it with a digital recorder, how would the software facilitate easier playback? Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Dave

[jpleong]

Thanks, DAS. Chris at Sweetwater has been working with me for 2 years on this. Fortunately, he never addresses my "luddite-ness"! ;)

I do have a computer, but it's behind the kids - not a very good option. But if I brought my own laptop & used it with a digital recorder, how would the software facilitate easier playback? Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Dave

In any DAW once you hit "Stop" you can hit "Home" or scroll to the beginning and simply hit "Play." More screen real-estate and shortcut-keys means you can see/access/use functions more easily and quickly than with a small handheld recorder.

JP

[hibbert6]

JP,

Thanks. So do you mean that I would simply record onto my laptop? Just plug in a mic and go???

Dave

[yeahforbes]

Given the simplicity you're after, a USB microphone might be the ticket. In that case, then yes to your question. However, the gain settings on those are probably (I've never used one) optimized for close proximity speaking, like a few inches max. If you are trying to record the whole classroom singing, you might need a more sophisticated setup which I know you don't want to hear.

Can anybody with USB mic experience say whether or not it could handle a room? Also, I assume that using two in stereo would not work because there is no way to synchronize the converters.

[jpleong]

I have sent Blue Snowballs to off-site content developers. They have an omni mode which could work but, you're right Forbes, not a whole lot of gain. Of course, depending on how loud the ensemble, it may be advantageous.

I'd actually recommend a simple USB stereo interface. Maybe like the Presonus Audiobox or the M-Audio Fast Track Pro. Even the Transit could work in a pinch -I think it comes with the same T-Bar microphone that ships with the Microtrack. The cost prohibiter is the need to add mics on top of that so perhaps a USB Mic would be the best way to proceed. hmmm...

I just did a quick search and found the Yeti: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Yeti/

It looks like Blue actually designed it for the Dave's exact situation. Dave, why don't you give Sweetwater a call? Maybe see if their return policy could work in your favor to try before you commit.

JP

ps - here are some free/inexpensive audio recording applications. If you have a built-in mic on your laptop, you could try them out first.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
http://www.cockos.com/reaper/
and if you have a Mac, Garageband is nice and free, too.

[hibbert6]

JP -

That BLUE microphone looks great!

OK, so now, what do I do with it? What else do I need to record my (small ) instrumental groups, just so that they can hear what they sound like? (mono is fine)

I have:
Laptop
Stereo system

I assume that it's a software package I'll need, but it needn't be fancy.

Thanks a million for all this help!

Dave

[Justin]

The snowball is a good desk mic, it rejects noise very well, so it's not as good for recording at a distance, you'll want to talk to one of our sales engineers for a recommendation on other Blue mics.

[jpleong]

JP -

That BLUE microphone looks great!

OK, so now, what do I do with it? What else do I need to record my (small ) instrumental groups, just so that they can hear what they sound like? (mono is fine)

I have:
Laptop
Stereo system

I assume that it's a software package I'll need, but it needn't be fancy.

Thanks a million for all this help!

Dave

My software recommendation, if you're on the PC, is to use Adobe Audition. It's the best bang-for-buck application (especially at Academic Pricing) and is a jack-of-all trades.

Call Sweetwater, they can give you all the details, answer questions, and help outfit you...

JP

[hibbert6]

Arbiter: I was admiring the Blue "Yeti" mic instead of the Snowball. The Yeti seems perfect, if not overkill. Anyone know any different?

JP: I checked out Adobe Audition - seems waaay too fancy. Do I even need software to record onto my laptop? One of my students said he thought there was something in Windows Media Player that would work.

Dave

[jpleong]

I provided links above for free software (Audacity in particular) that is simple to use. Windows used to have a Sound Recorder application but it was pretty terrible.

JP

[Tye]

I used audacity for many years doing simple recording and it worked pretty well and was super easy to use. The one problem i had was when i tried to record instrument by instrument, it had latency issues. But if your using it to record everything at once you shouldn't have any problems with that.

[hibbert6]

Tye - Thanks! That's just what I needed to hear!

JP - I will try the Audacity. When I clicked on the link and read about Audacity, it seemed way too complicated. But if both you AND Tye say it's simple to use, I'll give it a shot!

Again, thanks a million.

Dave

[jpleong]

The website and software were both made by programming nerds so you just have to wade through their jargon and conventions. Best suggestion is to get a nerd to help you out.

It really is as easy as downloading the software and installing it (and the mic). You don't have to worry about the other tangents their website takes you as that stuff is all about bug fixes and improvements, etc...

JP