Catch an idea

Capture a melody, a lyric or a rehearsal before you forget it. Music Dawn keeps the recording in your library so you can come back to it, listen and work on the sound later.

1. Tap the red microphone button, Record, at the bottom of the library. Allow microphone access when asked.
2. Start playing or singing. With Catch Early Start on, Capture records as soon as it opens, after microphone access is granted. If you turn it off in Settings, the screen says Ready until you tap the red record button.
3. Tap the red button to pause, then tap it again to resume the same recording. Sound played while paused is not saved.
4. Tap the checkmark, Save, to keep the recording. On iPhone you return to the library; on iPad the saved recording is selected in the detail column.

Trim Silence in Settings trims quiet audio from both ends when you save. It moves the trim markers without cutting the original file, so you can bring those ends back in Edit.

Start recording in Music Dawn, then switch to another app or lock the screen. Recording continues until you return and pause, save or discard the recording.

A phone call or another audio interruption pauses the recording. Return to Capture and tap the red button to resume the same recording, or save what you already recorded. Sound during the interruption is left out.

The input name below the waveform tells you which microphone is active. Built-in means the device's own microphone; connected inputs show their device name.

In Settings, Record With chooses IPHONE MIC (IPAD MIC on iPad) or HEADSET MIC for Bluetooth headphones. The device microphone is the default, so connecting AirPods does not mean their microphone is recording. A Bluetooth headset microphone records at phone-call quality and loses high-frequency detail; use the device microphone or a wired microphone when the sound matters.

Recording Quality in Settings offers LOSSLESS and COMPACT. LOSSLESS is the default and stores 24-bit Apple Lossless audio; COMPACT uses AAC to save space. Both save M4A files, and changing quality does not rewrite old recordings.

Mono is the default and is made for singing, alone or with a guitar, close to the device. Choose Stereo for a band, a piano across the room or the sound of the space around you.

Settings > Channels chooses the starting mode. On Capture, tap the MONO or STEREO chip to switch for the current recording when the built-in microphone supports stereo. A dimmed MONO chip cannot be switched; external inputs do not offer this stereo control.

Switching channels starts a new recording. Once you have recorded a few seconds, Music Dawn asks first, because the recording so far is discarded; save it before switching to keep it. A metronome that was on comes back for the new recording. Stereo also adds delay when you monitor, so Mono is the better choice for hearing yourself in time.

Turn on Tag Location in Settings and allow location access to attach the current place to a recording. The place appears in the library's place groups and on the recording's playback screen, rather than becoming its title.

Apple Watch recordings keep their place too, once the Watch is allowed location access. You can still record if location is off, refused or unavailable. Recordings without a place name appear under Anywhere, at the end of the list.

Connect headphones first: the metronome is available on headphone or other external output routes, not the built-in speaker. It does not need Pro.

1. Tap Metronome on Capture. Set BPM with the minus and plus buttons, drag the tempo number, or tap Tap Tempo in time with your idea.
2. Choose the meter and Count-in, then tap Turn on and close the panel.
3. If Capture is Ready or Paused, tap the red button to begin or resume. If you are already recording, turning the metronome on starts a replacement recording when you close the panel, discarding the earlier audio.

The count-in is heard in the headphones but is not saved, and the click is not mixed into the recording. The tempo, meter and count-in controls are dimmed while the metronome is committed to a recording. Turn off stops the click while recording continues; switching back to the built-in speaker also turns it off.

Monitoring needs Pro and an external output route. Connect wired headphones for the tightest response; with Pro, connecting them turns monitoring on automatically. Tap Monitor or Monitoring on to change it, and use Output device to choose an available output.

You hear gentle leveling and a little room while you play. That monitor sound is not printed into the saved recording. Bluetooth and AirPlay add delay, and AirPods with Conversation Awareness can turn the monitor down while you sing; wired headphones are a better fit for playing in time.

Hold the red transport button to restart and discard the current recording. The new recording starts at once, even from pause, and counts in first when the metronome is on. With Catch Early Start off, it waits for your tap. To leave without saving, tap Cancel. The recording pauses and Music Dawn asks "Discard this recording?". Discard throws it away and closes the screen. Keep carries on recording where you were.

Open Music Dawn on the Watch and tap the red microphone button to start. Tap the center button to pause or resume, the checkmark to save, or the cross to discard. Saved followed by Syncing to iPhone means the recording has been handed off for transfer, not that it has already arrived on the phone.

Watch capture records mono AAC audio. Its capture screen has no channel, metronome or monitoring controls.