[Andy Fish]

Hi,

I've recently started doing a bit of african drumming and I'd like to
record some bits of group drumming so that i can practice at home

i was wondering if a standard digital voice recorder that you can get
on ebay for about £30 would be up to the job. are they only designed
for talking straight into the machine or can they record sounds from
further away (say normal talking 10 feet away)? if not, what should I
use instead?

Just to be clear, I'm not looking for something of sufficient quality
to sample, or even to play back on the hi-fi and drum along to. I just
want to be able to play it back and remember how the rhythm goes -
preferably being able to hear what the teacher is saying

my phone (sony w660i) has a voice record feature but that was not up
to the task. I'd be prepared to spend up to £100 but not unless i have
a high degree of confidence that the results would be better than
this.

Thanks for any advice

Andy