diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 75ba6ce..e8e35df 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ AddActionMembers now adds ScriptMethods instead of ScriptProperties:
 - Recorder.PreRecTime
 - Recorder.Prefix($prefix)
 - Recorder.Eject() references 'Command.Eject'
+- Recorder.State
 
 ### Changed
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e89ed11..0c9bf38 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -528,6 +528,7 @@ The following commands are available:
 - A1 - A5: bool
 - B1 - B3: bool
 - armedbus: int, from 0 to bus index
+- state: string, ('play', 'stop', 'record', 'pause')
 - prerectime: int, from 0 to 20 seconds
 - samplerate: int, (22050, 24000, 32000, 44100, 48000, 88200, 96000, 176400, 192000)
 - bitresolution: int, (8, 16, 24, 32)
diff --git a/lib/recorder.ps1 b/lib/recorder.ps1
index 133bcd3..a5aa67a 100644
--- a/lib/recorder.ps1
+++ b/lib/recorder.ps1
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ class Recorder : IRemote {
     [Object]$mode
     [System.Collections.ArrayList]$armstrip
     [System.Collections.ArrayList]$armbus
+    [System.Collections.ArrayList]$states
 
     Recorder ([Object]$remote) : base ($remote) {
         $this.mode = [RecorderMode]::new($remote)
@@ -18,8 +19,10 @@ class Recorder : IRemote {
             $this.armbus.Add([BoolArrayMember]::new($i, 'armbus', $this))
         }
 
-        AddActionMembers -PARAMS @('play', 'stop', 'pause', 'replay', 'record', 'ff', 'rew')
-        
+        $this.states = @('play', 'stop', 'record', 'pause')
+        AddActionMembers -PARAMS $this.states
+
+        AddActionMembers -PARAMS @('replay', 'ff', 'rew')
         AddFloatMembers -PARAMS @('gain')
         AddIntMembers -PARAMS @('prerectime')
 
@@ -121,7 +124,32 @@ class Recorder : IRemote {
             else {
                 Write-Warning ("Expected a bus index between 0 and $busMax")
             }
-        })
+        }
+    )
+
+    hidden $_state = $($this | Add-Member ScriptProperty 'state' `
+        {
+            if ($this.Getter('pause')) { return 'pause' }
+            foreach ($state in $this.states) {
+                if ($this.Getter($state)) {
+                    break
+                }
+            }
+            return $state
+        } `
+        {
+            param([string]$arg)
+            if (-not $this.states.Contains($arg)) {
+                Write-Warning ("Recorder.State got: $arg, expected one of $($this.states)")
+                return
+            }
+            if ($arg -eq 'pause' -and -not $this.Getter('record')) {
+                Write-Warning ("Recorder.State can only be set to 'pause' when recording")
+                return
+            }
+            $this._state = $this.Setter($arg, 1)
+        }
+    )
 
     [void] Load ([string]$filename) {
         $this.Setter('load', $filename)
diff --git a/tests/higher.Tests.ps1 b/tests/higher.Tests.ps1
index fd9f380..be54cb6 100644
--- a/tests/higher.Tests.ps1
+++ b/tests/higher.Tests.ps1
@@ -876,4 +876,60 @@ Describe -Tag 'higher', -TestName 'All Higher Tests' {
             }
         }
     }
+
+    Describe 'Action Tests' -Tag 'action' {
+        Context 'Recorder' -Skip:$ifBasic {
+            Context 'Recording/Playback' -Skip:$ifCustomDir {
+                BeforeAll {
+                    $prefix = 'temp'
+                    $filetype = 'wav'
+                    $vmr.recorder.prefix($prefix)
+                    $vmr.recorder.filetype($filetype)
+                }
+
+                BeforeEach {
+                    $vmr.recorder.state = 'record'
+                    $stamp = '{0:yyyy-MM-dd} at {0:HH}h{0:mm}m{0:ss}s' -f (Get-Date)
+                    Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 2000
+
+                    $tmp = [System.IO.Path]::Combine($recDir, ("{0} {1}.{2}" -f $prefix, $stamp, $filetype))
+
+                    $vmr.recorder.state = 'pause'
+                    Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 500
+                }
+
+                AfterEach {
+                    $vmr.recorder.state = 'stop'
+                    $vmr.recorder.eject()
+                    Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 500
+                    
+                    if (Test-Path $tmp) {
+                        Remove-Item -Path $tmp -Force
+                    }
+                    else {
+                        throw "Recording file $tmp was not found."
+                    }
+                }
+            
+                It 'Should call Recorder.record()' {
+                    $vmr.recorder.record()
+                    $vmr.recorder.state | Should -Be 'record'
+                }
+
+                It 'Should call Recorder.pause()' {
+                    $vmr.recorder.record()
+                    Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 500
+                    $vmr.recorder.pause()
+                    $vmr.recorder.state | Should -Be 'pause'
+                }
+
+                It 'Should call Recorder.play()' {
+                    $vmr.recorder.stop()
+                    Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 500
+                    $vmr.recorder.play()
+                    $vmr.recorder.state | Should -Be 'play'
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/run.ps1 b/tests/run.ps1
index 02daa8b..5257371 100644
--- a/tests/run.ps1
+++ b/tests/run.ps1
@@ -1,8 +1,41 @@
 [Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessageAttribute("PSUseDeclaredVarsMoreThanAssignments", "", Target = "variablename")]
-Param([String]$tag, [string]$kind = 'potato')
+Param([String]$tag, [string]$kind = 'potato', [string]$recDir = (Join-Path ([Environment]::GetFolderPath('MyDocuments')) 'Voicemeeter'))
 Import-Module (Join-Path (Split-Path $PSScriptRoot -Parent) 'lib\Voicemeeter.psm1') -Force
 
 
+function Test-RecDir ([object]$vmr, [string]$recDir) {
+    $prefix = 'temp'
+    $filetype = 'wav'
+    $vmr.recorder.prefix($prefix)
+    $vmr.recorder.filetype($filetype)
+
+    
+    try {
+        $vmr.recorder.record()
+        $stamp = '{0:yyyy-MM-dd} at {0:HH}h{0:mm}m{0:ss}s' -f (Get-Date)
+        Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 2000
+
+        $tmp = Join-Path $recDir ("{0} {1}.{2}" -f $prefix, $stamp, $filetype)
+
+        $vmr.recorder.stop()
+        $vmr.recorder.eject()
+        Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 500
+    }
+    catch {
+        Write-Warning "Failed to record pre-check clip: $_"
+    }
+
+    if (Test-Path $tmp) {
+        Remove-Item -Path $tmp -Force
+        return $false
+    }
+    else {
+        Write-Warning "Recorder output not found at given path: $tmp"
+        Write-Warning "Skipping Recording/Playback tests. Provide custom path with -recDir"
+        return $true
+    }
+}
+
 function main() {
     try {
         $vmr = Connect-Voicemeeter -Kind $kind
@@ -30,6 +63,10 @@ function main() {
         $ifNotBasic = $vmr.kind.name -ne 'basic'
         $ifNotPotato = $vmr.kind.name -ne 'potato'
 
+        # recording directory: default ~/My Documents/Voicemeeter, override if custom
+        $recDir = [System.IO.Path]::GetFullPath($recDir)
+        $ifCustomDir = Test-RecDir -vmr $vmr -recDir $recDir # avoid creating files we can't delete
+
         Invoke-Pester -Tag $tag -PassThru | Out-Null
     }
     finally { Disconnect-Voicemeeter }