good way to record audio/video?

[cwjalex]

i was wondering how you guys record yourself playing the piano.  the only way i have done it in the past is i used an ipad and used the app "youtube capture" to video and audio record.  it does a decent job but i was wondering if there was something easier or maybe higher quality?

[indianajo]

It depends on your sound IC and microphone.  I've just started using a clone PC (gigabyte mainboard) with the ubuntustudio operating system, and I like what i hear so far.  I'm using low CPU ustilization Audacity program.  Ardour has more effects, which a classical player doesn't need, unless singing too.  
I'm using one Shure KSM27 microphone at this point, which makes a decent sound.  I hate listening to MP3's done on cell phones, they are universally awful to a hi-fi owner.  I thought MP3 format was at fault but with a good set of headphones and the right recording "producer" with quality equipment, MP3 can sound okay.
The KSM27 requires a mixer with phantom power.  I has a lot better signal/noise than the three dynamic microphones I have tried, two generics and a Fico UDM-328.  I'm currently pairing the KSM27 with a generic $2 dynamic microphone that sounds the best.
Level setting, then leaving it alone, are important to good recordings. I hate piano recordings made with automatic gain control on cell phones.  Pianos are supposed ot have volume changes.  Also, a low noise environment and a proper room is good for recording with an area microphone like the KSM27.  some people in studios with a lot of loud instruments tape AT4050's to the bottom of the soundboards of their grand pianos, but I'm getting low enough noise in my living room with carpet, bookcases, and 1" thick plaster walls. I do have to turn the fans and heater blower off, and nobody is in the house to run a television or talk while I am recording.  I edit out the thuds of my feet as I walk from computer to instrument and back.  
My first recording is on inbojat.tumblr.com , an easy popular organ piece, Yellow Bird. The hissy channel is the $2 microphone. My piano is so out of tune, I don't want to share it yet through this good sounding recording setup.  
Have fun.