diff --git a/src/mpmToolbox/gui/ProjectPane.java b/src/mpmToolbox/gui/ProjectPane.java
index 35e66a5..45477c5 100644
--- a/src/mpmToolbox/gui/ProjectPane.java
+++ b/src/mpmToolbox/gui/ProjectPane.java
@@ -339,11 +339,14 @@ public ArrayList<Audio> getAudio() {
     /**
      * add an Audio object to the list of audios
      * @param audio
+     * @return success
      */
-    public void addAudio(Audio audio) {
+    public boolean addAudio(Audio audio) {
         if (this.data.addAudio(audio)) {
             this.syncPlayer.addAudio(audio);
+            return true;
         }
+        return false;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/mpmToolbox/gui/syncPlayer/RecorderDialog.java b/src/mpmToolbox/gui/syncPlayer/RecorderDialog.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1b76fa4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/mpmToolbox/gui/syncPlayer/RecorderDialog.java
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+package mpmToolbox.gui.syncPlayer;
+
+import com.alee.laf.button.WebButton;
+import com.alee.laf.combobox.WebComboBox;
+import com.alee.laf.label.WebLabel;
+import com.alee.laf.panel.WebPanel;
+import com.alee.laf.window.WebDialog;
+import mpmToolbox.gui.Settings;
+import mpmToolbox.gui.syncPlayer.utilities.RecordingDeviceChooserItem;
+import mpmToolbox.projectData.audio.Audio;
+import mpmToolbox.supplementary.Tools;
+
+import javax.swing.*;
+import java.awt.*;
+import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
+import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
+import java.awt.event.WindowAdapter;
+import java.awt.event.WindowEvent;
+
+/**
+ * This class represents an audio recorder. Create an instance and invoke openDialog().
+ * This will return null or an Audio object with the recording.
+ */
+public class RecorderDialog extends WebDialog<RecorderDialog> {
+    protected GridBagLayout contentPanelLayout = new GridBagLayout();
+    protected WebPanel contentPanel = new WebPanel(this.contentPanelLayout);
+    private Audio recording = null;             // the audio recording to be made
+
+    /**
+     * constructor
+     */
+    public RecorderDialog() {
+        super();
+
+        this.setTitle("Audio Recorder");
+        this.setIconImages(Settings.getIcons(null));
+        this.setResizable(Settings.debug);
+        this.setModal(true);
+        this.initKeyboardShortcuts();
+        this.setDefaultCloseOperation(WindowConstants.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
+
+        // close procedure when clicking on X
+        this.addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() {
+            public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) {
+                recording = null;
+                dispose();
+            }
+        });
+
+        // content panel
+        this.contentPanel.setPadding(Settings.paddingInDialogs);
+        this.makeContentPanel();
+
+        // Run / Cancel panel
+        GridBagLayout runPanelLayout = new GridBagLayout();
+        WebPanel okPanel = new WebPanel(runPanelLayout);
+        okPanel.setPadding(Settings.paddingInDialogs);
+
+        WebButton run = new WebButton("Store", actionEvent -> {
+            this.dispose();
+        });
+        run.setHorizontalAlignment(WebButton.CENTER);
+        run.setPadding(Settings.paddingInDialogs*2, Settings.paddingInDialogs, Settings.paddingInDialogs*2, Settings.paddingInDialogs);
+        Tools.addComponentToGridBagLayout(okPanel, runPanelLayout, run, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1.0, 1.0, 0, 0, GridBagConstraints.BOTH, GridBagConstraints.LINE_START);
+
+        WebButton cancel = new WebButton("Cancel", actionEvent -> {
+            this.recording = null;
+            this.dispose();
+        });
+        cancel.setHorizontalAlignment(WebButton.CENTER);
+        cancel.setPadding(Settings.paddingInDialogs*2, Settings.paddingInDialogs, Settings.paddingInDialogs*2, Settings.paddingInDialogs);
+        Tools.addComponentToGridBagLayout(okPanel, runPanelLayout, cancel, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1.0, 1.0, 0, 0, GridBagConstraints.BOTH, GridBagConstraints.LINE_START);
+
+        // put all together
+        GridBagLayout layout = new GridBagLayout();
+        this.setLayout(layout);
+        Tools.addComponentToGridBagLayout(this, layout, this.contentPanel, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1.0, 1.0, 0, 0, GridBagConstraints.BOTH, GridBagConstraints.LINE_START);
+        Tools.addComponentToGridBagLayout(this, layout, okPanel, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1.0, 1.0, 0, 0, GridBagConstraints.BOTH, GridBagConstraints.LINE_START);
+
+        this.pack();                                    // fit the size to the content
+
+        this.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * This method must be implemented to create the real contents of the dialog. Consider that the content panel's layout manager is of type GridBagLayout.
+     */
+    public void makeContentPanel() {
+        WebLabel deviceLabel = new WebLabel("Recording Device:");
+        deviceLabel.setHorizontalAlignment(WebLabel.RIGHT);
+        deviceLabel.setPadding(Settings.paddingInDialogs);
+        this.addToContentPanel(deviceLabel, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1.0, 1.0, 0, 0, GridBagConstraints.BOTH);
+
+        WebComboBox deviceChooser = new WebComboBox();
+        deviceChooser.setToolTip("Choose recording device.");
+        deviceChooser.setPadding(Settings.paddingInDialogs);
+//        deviceChooser.add(new RecordingDeviceChooserItem("Choose Recording Device", null));
+
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * this opens the dialog window
+     * @return the recorded audio data or null
+     */
+    public Audio openDialog() {
+        this.setVisible(true);          // start the dialog
+
+        // after the dialog closed do the following
+
+        return this.recording;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * a helper method to add components to the content panel
+     * @param component
+     * @param x horizontal position in grid
+     * @param y vertical position in grid
+     * @param width how many horizontal grid boxes are covered by the component
+     * @param height how many vertical grid boxes are covered by the component
+     * @param weightx default is 1.0
+     * @param weighty default is 1.0
+     * @param ipadx default is 0
+     * @param ipady default is 0
+     * @param fill default is GridBagConstraints.BOTH
+     */
+    public void addToContentPanel(Component component, int x, int y, int width, int height, double weightx, double weighty, int ipadx, int ipady, int fill) {
+        Tools.addComponentToGridBagLayout(this.contentPanel, this.contentPanelLayout, component, x, y, width, height, weightx, weighty, ipadx, ipady, fill, GridBagConstraints.LINE_START);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * this initializes the keyboard shortcuts (ESC, ENTER)
+     */
+    private void initKeyboardShortcuts() {
+        InputMap inputMap = this.getRootPane().getInputMap(JComponent.WHEN_IN_FOCUSED_WINDOW);
+
+        inputMap.put(KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_ESCAPE, 0), "Cancel");
+        this.getRootPane().getActionMap().put("Cancel", new AbstractAction() {
+            @Override
+            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent actionEvent) {
+                recording = null;
+                dispose();
+            }
+        });
+
+        inputMap.put(KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_ENTER, 0), "Run");
+        this.getRootPane().getActionMap().put("Run", new AbstractAction() {
+            @Override
+            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent actionEvent) {
+                dispose();
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * get the name of this implementation
+     * @return
+     */
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        return this.getTitle();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/mpmToolbox/gui/syncPlayer/SyncPlayer.java b/src/mpmToolbox/gui/syncPlayer/SyncPlayer.java
index dd90893..81ece71 100644
--- a/src/mpmToolbox/gui/syncPlayer/SyncPlayer.java
+++ b/src/mpmToolbox/gui/syncPlayer/SyncPlayer.java
@@ -222,8 +222,9 @@ private void makeGui() {
         recordButton.setToolTip("Make an Audio Recording");
         recordButton.setPadding(Settings.paddingInDialogs);
         recordButton.addActionListener(actionEvent -> {
-            System.out.println("REC");
-            // TODO: open recording dialog
+            Audio recording = (new RecorderDialog()).openDialog();  // open recording dialog
+            if (this.parent.addAudio(recording))                    // if the recording is not null and could successfully be added to the project data, the syncPlayer's audio list gets updated
+                this.selectAudio(recording);                        // and we select the recording immediately
         });
         Tools.addComponentToGridBagLayout(this, (GridBagLayout) this.getLayout(), recordButton, 6, 0, 1, 2, 1.0, 1.0, 0, 0, GridBagConstraints.BOTH, GridBagConstraints.LINE_START);
 
@@ -306,6 +307,19 @@ public void selectPerformance(Performance performance) {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * select an audio programmatically
+     * @param audio
+     */
+    public void selectAudio(Audio audio) {
+        for (int i = 0; i < this.audioChooser.getItemCount(); ++i) {
+            AudioChooserItem item = (AudioChooserItem) this.audioChooser.getItemAt(i);
+            if (item.getValue() == audio) {
+                this.audioChooser.setSelectedItem(item);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * select the alignment to the currently chosen audio object; if no audio is selected, this has no effect
      */
diff --git a/src/mpmToolbox/gui/syncPlayer/utilities/RecordingDeviceChooserItem.java b/src/mpmToolbox/gui/syncPlayer/utilities/RecordingDeviceChooserItem.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ed1c4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/mpmToolbox/gui/syncPlayer/utilities/RecordingDeviceChooserItem.java
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+package mpmToolbox.gui.syncPlayer.utilities;
+
+import meico.supplementary.KeyValue;
+
+import javax.sound.sampled.Mixer;
+
+/**
+ * This represents a recording device entry in a combobox.
+ * @author Axel Berndt
+ */
+public class RecordingDeviceChooserItem extends KeyValue<String, Mixer.Info> {
+    /**
+     * constructor
+     * @param string
+     * @param device
+     */
+    public RecordingDeviceChooserItem(String string, Mixer.Info device) {
+        super(string, device);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * All combobox items require this method. The override here makes sure that the string being returned
+     * is the device name instead of some Java Object ID.
+     * @return
+     */
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        return this.getKey();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/mpmToolbox/projectData/ProjectData.java b/src/mpmToolbox/projectData/ProjectData.java
index 38cd0b9..36355d7 100644
--- a/src/mpmToolbox/projectData/ProjectData.java
+++ b/src/mpmToolbox/projectData/ProjectData.java
@@ -261,6 +261,8 @@ public synchronized ArrayList<Audio> getAudio() {
      * @param audio
      */
     public synchronized boolean addAudio(Audio audio) {
+        if (audio == null)
+            return false;
         if (this.audio.contains(audio))
             return false;
         return this.audio.add(audio);