Tips & Tricks: Four Reasons Why a Digital Recorder Should Be in Every Fiddler’s Tool Kit

Hearing yourself play any instrument is kind of like hearing recordings of your own voice. It is terrifying, but one of the best things you can do to improve your playing! I know that I am guilty of not doing this enough. After recording my first CD, I learned to record myself at home before I go to the studio. This is a good habit whether you are releasing a CD or not! Here are the kinds of things I notice when I listen to a recording of myself.

1. All of my little mistakes are obvious. I pick up the big mistakes when I practice, but smaller inaccuracies in my playing (notes that aren’t clear) become obvious in a recording.

2. Any little squeak or squawk is amplified. I think of my playing as being very clean, so I am always surprised to hear squeaks when I listen back to a recording of myself.

3. Tuning, tuning, tuning! Again, all inconsistencies become obvious to me!

4. When I was taking lessons, I remember my teachers complaining that my dynamics were not varied enough. There is nothing like hearing a recording of your own playing to realize that they were right!

You don’t need to spend a lot of money on fancy equipment in order to do this. Most computers now come with recording software and there are digital recorders at all price points as well. The important thing is to get recording and listening to your own playing! It is terrifying, but an important step improving your playing!

Leave a comment to let me know if you have experience with this and how it helped you with your fiddling!

photo credit: Beverly & Pack via photopin cc