My recorder is a tiny Sony digital with a 16 hour capacity I got from Radio Shack. It's small and handy but it is a battery hog so I keep a spare set of rechargeable batteries in my purse. I got it primarily for when I'm driving. It's supposed to be non-computer compatible (there are more expensive models you can download to a computer) but I found I can hook a patch cord to the earphone jack on the recorder and to the line in on my computer. Then I use a freebie audio recording program (Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) to record the playback.

I still use pen and paper for lyric ideas when I'm not driving. I find I can use PrintMusic for writing down music faster than doing it by hand (I tend to agonize over making my handwriting readable; without much success, may I add) plus it has the bonus of being WAY easier to edit and check if I did it correctly. Most of what I do are three and four part a cappella vocal arrangements and since I'm not an instrumentalist, having playback to check what I've written is really handy. It saves me a lot of that ephemeral (and almost fictitious) commodity known as spare time.


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Jeannie

Jeannie