Ain't Technology Sumpin'?

          There comes a time in every pianist's practicing when the need for outside listening becomes imperative. Those of us accustomed to teachers yearn to hear the words of those oracles again, then recall some words spoken to the effect of "you can't take lessons forever". Grow up. So the forlorn pianist turns to self-recording practice. Alas, the difficulties of getting a reasonably priced machine that gets a decently clean recording of what is fundamentally a percussive instrument, are, shall we say, great. (Note to pesky brothers: that is percussive,  not percussion. ) Audacity to the rescue. The free recording software Audacity, that is. I just discovered this great little gadgety software, tried it out, and am thrilled with the quality for the price (note: I am sure that is would sound even better on a computer that is not prehistoric). It records straight from the computer, and of course one can plug in a microphone for even better sound. We plan to use it to record sermons also. . . keep an eye on that church website.

  (Note to hard-studying brothers; what a great way to check foreign language pronunciation!)