Audio: PSD300 - Make your own practice CD's!

How would you like to be able to record your students during your band sessions, and then immediately play back those recordings to give them on-the-spot feedback? Or maybe you'd like a better way to record individual and group rehearsals, performances, and auditions … something that provides great results, is easy to use, and doesn't cost a fortune.

How would you like a way to make your own custom take-home practice CDs? These might be recordings of different sections, or songs in a changed key or at a slower practice tempo.

While anything is possible with the right technology and budget to pay for it all, what band directors have really been searching for is a cost-effective, portable, stand-alone piece of hardware, that doesn't have a steep learning curve.

With the advent of Superscope's popular line of music practice and recording tools, the wait is over. The Superscope PSD300 CD Recording System was designed with music educators in mind. It is as easy to use as a tape recorder, while recording directly to the modern media of CD-R (write-once) or CD-RW (rewritable) discs.

If you're just looking to manipulate music in real time, the Superscope PSD230 professional CD player is a great choice. Simple controls allow the real-time manipulation of any music CD. At the touch of a button you can:
- Change the tempo of a song without affecting the original key as much as -33% to +50% in 1 percent increments
- Change key without affecting tempo as much as an octave in half steps or finer tunings
- Reduce a lead vocal in many stereo recordings
- Select portions of songs to continuously repeat

Direct-to-CD Recording
With the PSD300, Superscope combined the capabilities of a PSD230 CD player with a CD recording drive, stereo XLR or ¼" mic/line (selectable) inputs, a built-in microphone, and all the mixing and recording capabilities needed to make outstanding live recordings directly to inexpensive computer CD-R/RW discs. When finalized, CD-R discs will play back in most all CD players. Using the PSD300, if you have a good pair of microphones placed correctly to capture a rehearsal or performance, you will make a very good recording. Because the unit has two drives, it's easy to duplicate CDs on the spot.

How are music educators and musicians using the PSD300 today? At Dakota Ridge High in Littleton, Colorado, band director Wiley Cruse uses his PSD300 to record most every day. "I always have a mic stand set up, ready to go. I'll put it in my backpack and take it anywhere, he says. "I've recorded our marching band from the top of our practice scaffolding. I've also recorded All State audition performances to CD. I've recorded seniors who need to mail a CD to college music departments that they are applying to as part of their music scholarship and application process. More college music programs are looking for CDs instead of tapes from their applicants," he says. "And it's always helpful to the student to hear how they sound on a recording, particularly when they hear themselves playing along to professional CD accompaniment."

Wiley's students also use the PSD300 to easily make their own practice CDs by recording an ensemble section to use for accompaniment at home. He also composes songs on a computer using MIDI-capable software, and outputs songs on CD. Students can then take these practice CDs and slow the tempo without the key changing, using the PSD300. They can experiment with songs played in different keys and at different tempos.

"The PSD300 CD Recording System is an invaluable resource," says Cruse. "Once you own it, you'll find more ways to use it than you ever thought possible."

Leroy Eversgard, band director of Jane Addams middle school in Bolingbrook, Illinois, last year hired an outside recording specialist to record his an annual concert. The specialist used a digital audio tape recorder, and returned a finished CD of the concert a couple of weeks later. For less than the cost of this one-time charge, this year Leroy recorded his concert using a PSD300 and had a CD in hand the same night. His band boosters then duplicated this CD and sold it as a fund-raiser.

"With the PSD300," he says, "You can start and stop recording just like a tape recorder. Better yet, you can create your own CD tracks and play back the track you want, instead of fast-forwarding and rewinding tape."

In summary, Superscope's family of portable music practice tools offer a great way to manipulate music for music practice. They are easy to use. They can save you time and help your students advance faster.