Capture creative ideas with your Olympus Digital Voice Recorder
Filed Under Olympus Digital Voice Recorder Tips |
In this post over at songwriting tips blog, BloggingMuses.com, they talk about using digital voice recorders as a way to record songwriting ideas and save them for later. While this article primarily talks about how to use an iPod in such a manner, the same method can also be employed with the Olympus Digital Voice Recorders. I use mine in this manner all the time, and it works great. I use my WS-320M in this manner all the time.
(Reprinted and edited for relevance with permission)
Capture Creative Ideas With Your Olympus Digital Voice Recorder
There is no denying digital tools are making inroads into the world’s personal listening (and now viewing) habits. Almost 15% of the world’s internet population is now subscribed to iTunes (Feb 2005). Most musicians today carry an iPod or some variation with them on the road. It is much easier than carrying a CD collection around.
Remarkably (but not surprisingly), iPod accessories and digital voice recorders are being released at a furious pace. Many of these can be taken advantage of by the songwriter to capture ideas.
If it is with you all the time - use the iPod or Olympus Digital Voice Recorder as your personal song idea recorder. There are several competing products out there today that provide voice recording capability on your iPod, and various digital voice recorders from Olympus to fit your needs and budget.
Currently I use a WS-321M Olympus Digital Voice Recorder. I used to use an iTalk with my iPod, but now I am exclusively using my Olympus.
When I want to listen through my impromptu recordings, I will put the memory stick from the Olympus Recorder into my laptop and migrate over the .WMA files. When I open them in iTunes it asks if I want to convert them to MP3. Of course I do.
The beauty is when I pull them into iTunes.
Melody Lines and Chord Progressions
If it was a chord progression I recorded I can add notes and chord progression in the “Properties” page of the audio clip. If I capoed my guitar, or if the chord progression was an open tuning, I’ll make a note of that here too.
After I have a handful of clips I’ll either (a) put them into an iTunes playlist or (b) burn the clips to CD to listen to while I drive my car.
This gives me a chance to come up with melodies, phrases, or whatever to accompany the audio clip. If I do, I also use the voice recorder to make audio notes of that.
Lyrics and phrases
If the audio clip I recorded was simply a lyric or phrase, with no implied melody, I will transfer it to my notebook when I am home and delete the clip from the iPod. I usually try to delete lyrics or phrases from all my capturing devices as soon as I get them to my notebook so I don’t have “lyric fragment clutter” (LFC). “LFC” is where you have tons of scraps of lyrics laying around and you don’t remember which ones you have captured to your master notebook or not.
There are many reviews of these devices at various places, like iLounge and Amazon.com. Find the Voice Recorder that works best for you.
Read our own review of the Olympus WS321M Digital Voice Recorder.
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As a songwriter, an olympus digital voice recorder is a great way to keep track of ideas. Thanks!