Recording audio at shows is almost standard practice for any trader. You can record your own audio and trade it out, thereby starting a collection without needing to do any trades beforehand. You don't need to touch your device at all during the show if you're careful enough, and you don't even need to stop recording in the theatre—plenty of people cut out unnecessary conversations and intermission once at home.

There are two main ways of recording an audio. Most people will:

• Use their cell phone / mobile device or

• Use a handheld Audio Recording Device, such as a Zoom

All options come with their own pros and cons, but there's no saying which one will yield the best audio quality. Some of my best sounding audios are from the back of the theatre from an iPhone. Dedicated recording devices are much more specialized and offer more settings, though they are notoriously more expensive and will take some learning to get (along with being harder to sneak into theatres).

• Steps for once you're inside the theatre and in your seat:

  • Silence your phone, turn on Airplane Mode, and turn off all alarms. I had to learn this the hard way. Sometimes phone calls and alarms will stop your recording, so keep that in mind. Also, avoid taking photos or videos and using third party apps that may stop the audio as well.

  • Using the device and application of choice, make sure to start the audio as soon as you can. Most shows will start a few minutes after the scheduled start time but it's always better to need to edit things out than to be stuck with an incomplete recording. Who knows? Maybe you'll get a special pre-show announcement about an emergency regarding last minute understudy changes. The same goes for intermission.

  • Find the best place to leave your phone during the show. Most people place their device on their lap, some people will place it on the seat armrest or even the floor. Audios taken from the floor or in a bag aren't usually going to sound great because of the amount of obstacles in the way of the sound, so consider that if it's a last resort.

If you're using a phone, most people will start the recording, place their device face down on their lap and with the microphone pointed at the stage (or speaker, whichever is closer). Covering the device is completely optional but I've heard of many people placing their playbill on top just in case.

If you plan on recording Curtain Call, be prepared to stop the audio as soon as the show ends and stop the recording. Voice Record Pro will stop recording if you're filming, and I don't believe Voice Memos will continue either.

Pre-installed on most iOS devices, this is the easiest way to record an audio on your phone. Once finished, you can easily upload the M4A audio file to your file hosting service of your choice. However, when it comes to audio quality and size, you have several options:

Tip: Don't forget to clean out your device's microphone every once in a while.