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I tried using a tape recorder but was disappointed by the sound quality and couldn't put it online. I went to radioshack but they only had voice recorders and I didn't know if they would work for music.

Any advice?

you can drive yourself crazy trying to get a good piano sound. if you are looking for a very fine quality recording the best thing to do is to use the virtual piano ivory (look for it online made by synthogy). hook it up to a controller and play into garageband or other daw. the sound will blow you away and you will stop trying to record acoustically forever. (it is pricey $300 or so? and you will need a dedicated hard drive to hold all of the pianos it comes with, yamaha, bosendorfer and steinway. the steinway is the best btw and this is coming from a yamaha player).

this sounds like a lot of money to spend but the sky is the limit when trying to get a good quality sound. i have heard very nice results using earthworks mics but you would need a preamp for that.

if you just need something quick i use my iphone and that works great for a rough recording.

hope this helps.

br

Check out Zoom devices.

http://www.zoom.co.jp/products/h2n

Thanks.

Get a Linear PCM recorder, you'll be glad you did.

Don't you use a keyboard? Isn't there a way to get the sound to record directly?

If you want the "real" ambient sound recording, then Zoom recorders are the way to go.

I have an acoustic grand at home, but this past summer I was abroad and rented a Roland V-piano. I used my digital SLR camera in video mode, which has a microphone input jack, to take input from the headphone jack of the Roland. That worked out nicely, plus it gave me video, too. I ultimately used a program to pull the audio track off and just kept the audio.

I'll check if the synth has a line out or something, but I would still have to digitize it.

Get yourself a pair of Manley gold reference mics and a nice A/D converter. Put the mics inside your piano, a foot or two above the soundboard, angled at 45 degrees from each other. Record and there's no problem.

If that seems too much, you can get some NT1-A mics. Or get the Zoom recorder. There are a lot of options, depending on how you want it to sound.

That sounds good but how do I turn the sound into a computer file I can upload?

If you get the mics, you can use Audacity, it's free software. Or you can pay for a more featureful sequencer.

I'm really clueless about this stuff, I think I'll see how well my phone works and go with that if it's ok.

How did you record the rags on your youtube channel?

With a digital camera but I wanted to know if I could just do audio.

i came across an attachment by tascam for iphone/pad/pod that plugs in via usb. condenser mics. very cheap. i've never used it but i assume the quality compares to other handheld digital recorders. assuming you have a mac phone or whatever, it would at least be a step up from using a lousy mic on the phone. i don't know if such things are available for android phones.


http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/829391-REG/Tascam_IM2_iM2_Stereo_Microphone_for.html

I have a samsung so maybe not.

What format does it record in?

I don't know the last time I used it was in 2009.

Well, if you're interested, you should check. I know ways of converting most formats to audio, and the sound was fine coming out of the camcorder. Up to you..

Thanks, I'll try the phone and do that if it doesn't work.

Hrodulf, the pianoclues website had a series of very helpful articles on making recordings with a digital:

recording a digital piano

If you're talking about an acoustic, I'm a huge fan of the Zoom recorders for the best balance between ease of use and recording quality.