Recording lives in the editor, so the audio and the note about it stay together.
On desktop
Type / and choose Voice Recording, or use the recording button in the editor toolbar. Before you start, you can pick the input device, and on supported platforms the source: microphone, system audio, or both together. See Record system audio on desktop.
On mobile
Tap the microphone button, visible in the collapsed toolbar when the keyboard is closed and in the toolbar above the keyboard when it is open. The first recording asks for microphone permission. A live recording card appears in the note, and stopping it saves the audio as a player card.
On iPhone you can also record without unlocking the phone, from the Lock Screen, Control Center or the Action Button, and Grape makes a new note of the recording on its own. See Record voice notes from the Lock Screen.
Keep writing while it runs
The recording does not lock the editor. Typing your own observations while the audio captures the room is exactly the intended use: the recording catches what was said, your notes catch what mattered.
After recording
The audio plays back from the card on any of your devices, and on the Pro and Lifetime plans you can turn it into text.
Before you record other people
Ask. Recording law varies by country, state and profession, and consent is the simple way to stay on the right side of all of them.