On Record

When I first started the Cal-Mum Uke Club it was a small group of about eight students and myself just having fun learning songs like Five Foot Two and plucking Wipe Out. But, as things go, the idea of a fifth grader with a uke looked pretty cool to anyone in a younger grade. So, the next year kids wanted to be in my class because it was cool-uke-school. I had parents asking how their child could get into uke class. Today I look at my teaching career as life before the uke and life after.

I really think a lot of the fun came from the purchase of one item for our club, and lead to the creation of a recording studio in my classroom that began to motivated kids to sing and play.

I was so surprised by the effect of this microphone - even with quiet kids. I keep the mic out at all times on a boom-stand ready to record the impromptu songs that happen during breaks in lessons. The Samson Q1U Dynamic USB Microphone, a $69.95 mic I purchased from Zzounds, changed the club forever. Since the purchase three years ago I've recorded all the songs on our page with this mic along with my songs Simple Life and Garden Rambles. I just plugged the USB right into my computer at school and began recording - so simple. With free Audacity recording software and a subscription to Box.net I've recorded and stored tons of kid's songs on our web page  - all for $69.95.

If you're not recording yourself - you don't know what your missing.

Review of the Q1U at About.com