Audacity (free recording and practice tool?)

Throughout high school and college, anytime I was working on a piece of solo literature, I was told two things:
1. "Listen to recordings and other performances of the piece."
and

2. "Record yourself so you can listen back."
Today, I'm sharing a way to do the second piece of advice freely, simply, and using technology you probably already have! If you can operate a CD player or VCR (I'm not talking about programming it, either!), you can run Audacity on all three of the major operating systems (Mac OSX, Windows, and Linux). Other equipment: a microphone, headphones (not required, but recommended for doing multitrack recording), and obviously, the computer.
I've actually used Audacity, a small lapel mic, and my iPod headphones to record small pieces I've composed for violin, cello, and voice on my laptop! "For a Reason" (hosted on my Tumblr account) is one example of what you can do, freely, easily, and with very practically no recording experience. Seriously, the big red circle, which is commonly recognized as a "record" button: press it and play!
I doesn't need to be said, but Audacity is great for podcasting as well. Light enough for recording simple speech, and powerful enough to get well-recorded musical thoughts digitally recorded. I've played with some of the advanced features like noise reduction, effects, and beat-matching, so professional-quality recording is possible. Of course, you'll get better results with higher quality microphones, processing, and recording environments, but for what I do...Audacity is a win.
Use Audacity, or other recording tools for practice and composing? Have tips you want to share? Leave 'em in the comments for me!

iPods for the musician

This morning, was a small ensemble day at the High School. To make things even more interesting, I was missing two of my normal orchestra students to the Principal's Cabinet meeting, giving me a group of only 5 people. So, after running through a couple trouble spots, and building scale practice, it felt silly to try to work on concert repertoire without the full crew.
Interestingly, one of my violinists asked if she could listen to her iPod. Instead of saying no because of the district policy, I redirected her request by saying, "If you'd like to listen to a song and try to figure out parts of it on your violin, sure!" (Assuming that she just wanted to listen to music and not actually practice) A few of my other students' ears perked up when I made that option available to them this morning. My two 9th graders who are playing in our pit orchestra for Seussical, both have their rehearsal CDs uploaded to their iPods, so this gave them a way to practice. When my junior violinist made 11th chair for districts, I found the recordings for the pieces and instead of burning a CD, let her import them to her iPod. I even use mine for jazz improvisation, listening to interpretations of Bach Cello Suites, and even tuning! Yes, I have a tuning note track saved to my iPod Touch so I can listen, and tune my instrument that way.
Now, there are a few things I'd like to do using iPods to make practicing even better. I'd love to be able to plug my iPod into a set of good speakers so the ensemble can hear a preview of a new piece, a classical example, or for group improvisations. I'd love to be able to do some podcasting and have every student subscribe to it. Students could even record compositions or improvisations using Audacity, then do a weekly podcast showcasing some of those works!
Are you a musician? Do you use an iPod to enhance your practicing?

Podcast #1 - "Twittering As Me"

http://rorowe.googlepages.com/1-TwitteringAsMe.mp3
Notes:
Sharing my Twitter account (http://twitter.com/ipendakeynes) and discussing the idea of a "presence stream" or "life feed".
Debates the idea of being able to share life information on the web without fear.
edit: subscribe to the feed: "http://feeds.feedburner.com/cellowireless"