1. A musical instrument, typically wood, that is held in a vertical position and played by blowing air through it and covering finger holes in the tube of the instrument to produce different sounds: Kirsten was learning to play the recorder after she decided playing the flute was too difficult.
2. A person whose job is to write official data about things that need to be available for current or future reference: Carol is the official recorder for the local housing advocacy committee meetings and in addition to taking hand written notes, she uses an electrically operated machine to be sure she accurately gets all the information from meetings.