The Superscope CD Recorder in the Music Classroom and Rehearsal Room

By Dr. Tom Rudolph

For the past several summers, I have been demonstrating the Superscope PSD300 to music educators who attended my summer music technology workshops and my presentations on digital audio at national and state music educator conferences.

I am a big fan of the PSD300 and use it frequently with my own classes and ensembles. At Haverford Middle School where I teach classroom and instrumental music, I use the PSD300 to record rehearsals and concerts. I also use it in our 32 station SoundTree Technology lab to record student projects. The recording quality is amazing! I have burned CDs for students and parents of our concerts using the PSD300 and one Audio Technica stereo condenser microphone (model AT825).

In the summer music technology courses that I teach, I always demonstrate the PSD300 to teachers. Last summer I taught a digital audio course for educators. The PSD300 was used to record performances of live ensembles. We then burned an audio CD and opened the files on the computer to master them. The PSD300 did a super job of recording all types of music and ensembles.

I especially like the ease of use of the unit. Plug in the Audio Technica AT825 stereo mic (this is a separate purchase) and insert a blank CD-R into the lower drive. Set the recording levels and press record. When you press the pause button, the unit automatically moves to the next track. This eliminates hours of editing that I used to have to do with other digital recording units.

Teachers also marvel over the practice applications. Put in a commercial CD and change the tempo up or down without changing the key. The key can also be transposed without effecting the tempo. This makes it a wonderful practice tool for students.

Some of our students at Haverford High School created audition CDs using the unit. Put in a commercial CD in the playback drive and a blank CD in the record drive. Connect the microphone and then mix the live performance with the recorded accompaniment.

I am on board with the Superscope and I use it frequently in my teaching. Check it out. You will be impressed with what it can do for you and your students.

Tom Rudolph is the Director of Music and middle school classroom and instrumental music instructor for the School District of Haverford Township, in Havertown, Pennsylvania; an adjunct Assistant Professor at The University of the Arts; and President of the Technology Institute for Music Educators (TI-ME.) He has trained more than 4,500 teachers in his popular summer workshops.

(Email: terudolph@aol.com)