| With a recording accessory, you can use the iPod to record your voice or other sounds. This can be a handy way to capture information on-the-fly for use later. For example, if you use a vehicle for business use, you might want to use the iPod to keep a verbal log of that use that you can document on paper later. note | There are some funky ways you can record a few seconds of sound without a voice recorder unit, but it requires more maneuvering than you are likely to want to do except as a novelty. If you are interested in this method, use Google to search the Internet for this information. |
Choosing a Voice Recorder for an iPod To record sound on an iPod, you need to obtain a voice recorder accessory. At least two of these units are available: the Belkin iPod Voice Recorder and the Griffin Technology iTalk iPod Voice Recorder. The Belkin unit is the one I focus on here (see Figure 11.12). This unit retails for about $35 and enables you to access the recording features that are already built in to the iPod's software. Figure 11.12. The Belkin iPod Voice Recorder enables you to use your iPod to record your voice and other sound.
Installing the Belkin iPod Voice Recorder Installing the Voice Recorder couldn't be easier. Simply plug the unit into the iPod's Headphones and Remote ports. When you do so, you'll see the Voice Memo screen (see Figure 11.13). That's all there is to setting up the Voice Recorder. Figure 11.13. When you connect a Voice Recorder to your iPod, you'll see this Voice Memo screen.
note | Unfortunately, the Belkin Voice Recorder doesn't work with an iPod mini or shuffle. |
Recording Sound on an iPod To record sound, use the following steps: 1. | Move to the Voice Memo screen; if you aren't there already, select Main menu, Extras, Voice Memos, Record Now. | 2. | Highlight Record and press the Select button. Your iPod will begin recording, and the counter on the Voice Memos screen will begin counting the time of the current recording. At the same time, the Pause and Stop and Save commands will appear on the screen (see Figure 11.14). Figure 11.14. As you record, your iPod displays the length of the recording you are making.
tip | You aren't limited to recording your own speech; you can record any sound that is close enough to be picked up by the microphone in the voice recorder. |
| 3. | Speak into the voice recorder. Whatever sound you make will be recorded. | 4. | To pause the recording, highlight Pause and press the Select button. The counter and recording will pause. | 5. | To resume recording from where you left off, highlight Resume and press the Select button. Your iPod will start recording again. | 6. | When you are done recording, highlight Stop and Save and press the Select button. The recording process will stop, and you'll move back to the Voice Memos screen on which your recording will be listed. It will be named with the date and time on which you made it (see Figure 11.15). Figure 11.15. On the Voice Memos screen, you'll see the recordings you have made.
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You can repeat the previous steps to continue recording sound until you have captured all that you are interested in or until you run out of disk space to store the sound you have recorded whichever comes first. note | Because you install the voice recorder in the Headphones port, you must remove it to connect headphones to the iPod to be able to listen to sound you have recorded. |
Working with Sound You Have Recorded There are a number of things you can do with sounds you have recorded. These include the following: You can play sounds you have recorded by highlighting the sound you want to hear on the Voice Memo screen and pressing the Play button. You'll see the Now Playing screen, and the sound will play. You can delete sounds you have recorded by highlighting the sound you want to delete and pressing the Select button. You'll see a screen with Play and Delete options. Select Delete and then select Delete Memo on the resulting screen. The sound you recorded will be deleted. The next time you connect your iPod to your computer, the sounds you recorded will be uploaded into your iTunes Library. To find them, search for the dates on which you recorded the sounds; the sounds you recorded on those dates will be shown in the Content pane (see Figure 11.16). After a recorded sound is in your Library, you can work with it just like the songs in that Library. For example, you can play the sounds, add them to playlists, put them on CD, and so on. Figure 11.16. These are sounds I recorded on an iPod.
You can also directly access the recording files you made by connecting the iPod to a computer and opening it as a hard drive from the desktop. Then you open the Recordings folder, and you will see one WAV file for each recording stored on the iPod. You can play these WAV files or import them into an audio application for editing or other purposes.
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