<p>D is an MT major and a voice recorder is a must for recording voice lessons. D also uses it to practice monologue material, learn lines and vocal warm ups.</p>
<p>A handheld recorder can be a good tool for self-diagnosis and correction of problems with your speaking voice. Say your voice & speech teacher keeps pointing out habitual deficiencies with some of your back vowels and you’re having a hard time ‘getting it’ - a common problem. It can be good to actually hear it yourself. You never really know exactly what you sound like otherwise.</p>
<p>My D does a lot of Shakespeare, and where she does it, they are sticklers for perfection. They want it exactly as written, and, as fishbowl says, they are perfectionists for how the words are stated. True Shakespeare fanatics want the words said a certain way. The tape recorder really helps, especially for that type of play.</p>
<p>Chrissy, thanks for replying. I didn’t doubt you, it’s just that I have never known any actors who have used a recorder for that type of work. My D went to an arts h/s, four years of Tisch, and has worked at Stratford, Steppenwolf, and is now working in the UK. We have family members and friends who have been stage actors for decades back to when my grandparents were still alive so it’s just something that’s new to me! I’ve always said that it’s good to learn something new everyday. :)</p>
<p>I would definately say headshots! You never know what auditions may come up or when they may come in handy.</p>
<p>The only acting students I know of who use a recorder to learn lines are kids who struggle with some reading issues; hearing the lines (they read them into the recorder and then listen) is easier for them to <em>get</em> than it is through the written word. That said, my D attended a well known arts hs and took four years of both Lessac and Linklater approaches to speech/voice as well as training in a number of dialects, and no one every recommended a recorder. But as fish said, I could see where it might be of use in identifying problems and working on them. (MTs definitely need voice recorders.)</p>
<p>My D has a mind like a steel trap and memorization never has been a problem. She is always the first off book. She just likes to hear things sometimes because then she has the “experience.” She isn’t just “reciting” her lines to learn them. But the main time she needed the recorder was for music, like I said, when it was required to have.</p>
<p>The personal steamer-DD really appreciates it! Also-BRITA filter/Container for fresh clear water.</p>
<p>We just started using a Brita filter at home… those things are great!</p>
<p>A portable drying rack so the jeans don’t become too short in those industrial dryers!</p>
<p>I am bumping this from the old years from 3 ago–</p>
<p>I am curious what kind of recording device a theatre major should own. Should it be via computer (laptop), external recording device, or something on an iPod Touch/iPad?</p>
<p>I understand an external recording device is probably the best choice, but I am curious what you other students use. o:</p>
<p>Hey, call me old school.</p>
<p>The point of theatre is that it is LIVE, not recorded. When you record it, it becomes another medium entirely (eg film, television, radio . . .).</p>
<p>I did once stage manage a show where the director would record the cast using just an ordinary tape recorder, then have them rehearse to the tape recording of their own voices (but alas about four or five cast members (it was a big show) were absent when the tape was made, so in fact the recording had ME impersonating those cast members . . .)</p>
<p>The sound booth today usually has both a tapedeck and a CD player. It’s been a while since I have worked a sound booth, but I think a tape recording would be easier to cue up for sound effects cues.</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>Hatsukoi, if you have an iPhone or latest-generation iPod, that may be all you need, esp. since you’re interested in theater (as opposed to MT). A couple of years ago–more recently than this thread was begun!–I bought a couple of nice hand-held audio recorders for a documentary class that I teach, and by last year they were pretty much never used, as we just use iPhones. If your computer is a Mac, by the way, you’ll have a completely easy time uploading what you record with the iPhone. Same with the iPod, and the quality is fine. All of that said, I wouldn’t worry about it now–once you get to college, see if you really need it!</p>
<p>I do not have a iPhone or latest-generation iPod. ): My MP3 is cheap and basic and does not have a recording option. My phone is also the same (very old, basic)-- I only use it for calling, sometimes people text me or I text people because I’m on a plan to do so. I doubt my phone’s quality is any good.</p>