Yamaha PockeTrak W24 Review

The Importance of Using a Tuner: Finding Your Perfect Pitch

Music is a beautiful language, but like any language, it relies on clear communication. Just like people speaking the same language can do so with different accents to their voice so too can musicians play the same note but with slight changes in the way it sounds. The pitch may be a bit high or a bit low, and over the centuries musicians have come up with ways to analyze these differences so that multiple musicians can better "play in tune." Just as proper grammar and pronunciation are essential for understanding spoken words, playing in tune is paramount for creating harmonious music. This is where the tuner comes in. For the beginner (or even the more advanced musician) it can be a vital tool for developing accuracy of pitch.

Low Cost MusicTechnology Options For The Music Education Classroom

Finding ways to stretch your budget in a music classroom is always important and even more so when trying to purchase high tech electronics, software, and other materials. This article provides an updated list of dozens of different low cost or free alternatives to expensive music education products. It includes such categories as music notation software, drill design software, special needs hardware, and many more.

The Star Spangled Banner- Free Sheet Music For Band Inst.

This document contains sheet music for all common instruments to play The Star Spangled Banner, also known as the sheet music to the National Anthem of the United States of America. You can view the sheet music online or download the individual parts arranged for all common concert band instruments. If you do not see your instrument listed please scroll to the bottom of the page and try one of the the other instruments. Most musicians will be able to find at least one instrumental part that matches their range and preferred key signature. If you are seeking a simple piano version of the song please select from the voice, trumpet, or alto saxophone versions.

Using Plickers as an Assessment Tool in the Music Education Classroom

Music, band, choir, and orchestra classrooms can be huge and assessing the knowledge and retention of individual students in such a large class can be daunting. Plickers are one of several solutions that can be adapted to work in large groups, making the act of assessing a student’s understanding a little easier and a whole lot faster.

Is Marching Band A Sport? Pros, Cons, and a Reality Check

In recent years the question of whether or not marching band is a sport has been brought up time and time again for various reasons and by various groups. On one side you have the YES crowd who says that marching band is competitive, physically demanding, and every bit as much a team event as any traditional sporting event. On the other side of the coin are those who say no, that marching band is NOT a sport and it is a musical pursuit that happens to involve coordinated movements. Both sides are right, but to make a final decision we need to look deeper into the facts. Read on to find out what they are!

Portable Digital Audio Recorder Buying Guide With Reviews

Scroll down to view the comparison chart of over a dozen different portable digital audio recorders.

Buying a portable digital audio recorder is a major decision. The balance between price, features, and quality is a fine line that has many different options to choose from. There are dozens of different models of portable digital audio recorders, some of which have drastically different sets of features yet sell for roughly the same price. This easy to read head to head comparison chart and guide to many of the more popular portable digital audio recorders is intended to help potential buyers more easily see these differences and make an educated buying decision.

Apps and More for the Choral Classroom

The number of apps, software, and gadgets available for use in the music classroom continues to grow each year but finding things that can actually be beneficial to your classes grows more and more difficult as well. We spoke with Dr. Christopher Russell, Director of Choirs at Oltman Middle School in St. Paul Park, Minnesota to get his must-have list of apps.

When talking about electronic devices those that have some form of wireless capability are almost always better, right? When speaking of the Yamaha PockeTrak W24 the answer is yes... and no.

The Yamaha PockeTrak W24 is essentially an updated version of the popular PockeTrak CX. It is identical in almost every way to the CX except for the addition of a wireless remote control. As such there isn't a whole lot to say about the unit that has not already been said in our previous review of the PockeTrak CX digital audio recorder. Instead it is perhaps more useful to compare the unit to the newer, and cheaper, PockeTrak C24 digital audio recorder, also reviewed here on MusicEdMagic. On the plus side the W24 does have the microphones arranged in an XY pattern, the generally accepted best arrangement for recording in stereo and the addition of the included USB cable and wind screen are nice touches, especially for those that will be using the recorder outdoors on the marching band field or when recording close up vocalizations.

Significant Features of the Yamaha PockeTrak W24

Wireless remote control with 23 foot range
Built in stereo mics in XY coincident pair pattern
Built in 2Gig memory plus microSD slot for additional storage
Wind screen
USB cable
Cubase AI5
Metronome
Chromatic Tuner
Automatic level control (ALC)
Recording levels up to 96Khz/24bit WAV or 320Kbps MP3
Up to one hour of recording time on highest quality setting using internal memory
Up to 13.5 hours of recording time on highest quality MP3 mode

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