Recording For Teachers

There is value in audio recording for teachers, whether one is a music teacher recording their students and ensembles or a classroom teacher recording oneself or their students. Music and classroom teachers have various reasons for wanting to record their students, such as hearing what is being produced in rehearsals and having students reflect on their own performance and musical progress. Teachers may desire to record their students, but they may not know how to do so. Simple recording tools such as cell phones do not produce quality recordings, and unless they have specialized training, teachers may not be familiar with other kinds of recording equipment or how they can set up equipment in order to obtain a good quality recording. I searched for resources on recording equipment and techniques, but I could not find a single source that teachers could consult to learn about the basics of recording equipment and techniques. Teachers have limited time and may also have limited financial resources. The purpose of my project was to create a free and easy-to-use resource for teachers to answer their questions on recording and give them the tools that they need in order to get started with making basic, high quality recordings. The research process included research about different kinds of recording hardware and software, documenting recording techniques for different settings and instruments, and interviewing teachers about their needs. The product that that resulted from this project is a website, Recording For Teachers (https://sites.google.com/view/recordingforteachers/). This website features information about recording equipment, the recording process, how to produce shareable files, and an interactive means of posting questions.