Farayand Virtual World

* Audio flash recorder : No tape , no disc

IT WILL RECORD ONLY 45 MINUTES OF UNCOMPRESSED SOUND IN STEREO

When Alan Lamax and his father, John, began making their famous field recordings of Southern folk singers in the 1930s, they had to build their 350-pound recording machine into the back of their Ford. It etched the songs of cowboys and former slaves onto aluminum discs, and used two 75 pound batteries for power.

The amateurs who follow in the Lomaxes' path – the tourists who carry a sound recorder instead of a video camera, the garage bands cutting their first demos, the redio reporters and concert bootleggers have it earsier.

From wire recorders, through the variants of tape, to the leap into digital systems, portable recorders have become smaller and cheaper and much better sounding.

In recent months portable sound – recording has taken the next big step, away from moving parts entirely and into the state memory storage. Instead of the familiar cassette or digital tape or the minidisk, the new machines store sounds on the same flash memory cards, about the size of a quarter, that ate used in ,millions of digital cameras.

Logic would say that flash memory should spell the end of the two current choices for digital recorders, the awkward DAT ( digital audio tape) and Sony's durable Mini Disc.

There are also several hard drive systems and some that combine hard drives with flash memory, but they are for amateurs .

Flash memory has no moving parts, so there is no danger of the microphone's picking up machine noise. And most important – the feature that for many will offset the disadvan tages of flash memory – is the ease of transferring a recording to a computer for mixing, emailing or burning to a CD, since the computer recognises the flash card as an external drive and allows the user to cu and paste files directly onto the hard drive.

Marantz has been producing a large flash recorder for two years, purchased mainly for courts and institutions such as the Maryland state Senate, New machines store sounds on the same flash memory cards that are used in millions of digital cameras Which uses it to record committee hearings and floor sessions. But this spring several companies have brought smaller flash recorders on the market, including the Marantz PMD 660 which is about $500 (Dh1,835), clearly aimed at the professional, and the Edirol R-I which is about $440 (Dh 1.615), whose built – in music effects will appeal to amateur musicians. Both units have serviceable built – in stereo microphones.

Of course, most flash – memory users will reuse their flash cards, just as they do in their cameras. But the technology of flash memory means the new recorders are battery hogs, a disadvantage to true portability.

Drawbacks

The Edirol R-1 could not quite get through two hours of recording a choir rehearsal on its two AA batteries when I tried it, and the Marantz, with four Aas, could manager just four hours of recording and playback before the batteries gave out. (My ancient Sony Minidisc recorder, by contrast, can record for more than three hours on a single AA battery and still have juice to play back through earphones ).

These drawbacks may delay the widespread adoption of flash reorders by users not within reach of a wall outlet. National public Radio, whose worldwide deployment of reporters puts a premium on convenience and flexibility, is experimenting with replacing the Sony Minidisc untis it now gives its staff with flash recorders, but the network is not yet sold.

“ we want to get away from moving parts, desperately,” said Joseph L. Mills, and electrical engineer at NPR who is hepling to develop the network's next recording platform. “ DAT Should never have been born, and the Minidisc has its limits but we're not ready to commit to flash memo yet.” Once you start cleaning out files and searching back and forth and making constant access to the memory, the will eat up the battery, “Gustafson said.

“ But if you're gathering sounds like bird songs or thunder and lightning, you're going to have better results from the battery.”
Giving students a CD recording of their performances, made easy with the use of flash memory, can help keep children and their parents committed to music education, Morales said. And the flash recorders push – button easy with the use means' a teacher can rest the unit on a podium and do without an aaisstant to operate a recorder during a performance.

“That what this technology is bringing us – we're trying to keep these kids in music “ as other activities compete for their attenactives compete for their attention, she said. “ Given them these recordings has proven to be a real motivator to keep them on track.”

(Source:Gulf News)