CD FUNCTIONS OF ZOOM HD8/16 CD

Zoom HD8CD and Zoom HD16CD come with a Compact Disk (CD) drive which can be used to make backups of your projects, create an audio CD that can be used in any CD player for distribution as well as copying files into the Zoom HD8/16 hard disk to be used on your projects.

One of my readers mentioned that he was having difficulties using the CD functions of the Zoom HD8/16. Since I also experienced some difficulties and ruined several CDs until I learned how to use the CD functions, I can understand his concern very well. In this article I will write about the CD functions and their practical use. At the end I will also address some of the difficulties one might face, how to avoid them and ways around them.

There are three distinct reasons to use the CD drive of the Zoom HD8/16:

• Making backups of your projects
• Creating an audio CD
• Copying files or songs from other sources to the Zoom HD8/16

Making backups and restoring your projects
It is always good practice and common sense to make backup copies of your projects to ensure that if you have a hard disk crash you may be able to recover your valuable work. You may also want to backup selected projects for portability, for example to another recorder or to a computer where you may not be able to use the USB connection. You must also remember that the hard disc has a limited capacity. At one point you will have to delete some of your projects from the hard disk to make room for new projects.  At that time you may want to save your old projects on a CD for archiving and future reference.

The instructions for backup and restore are on page 146 of the Zoom HD8/16 manual. They are straight forward to follow. Here is a summary of it for your reference:


BACKUP

1. Insert blank CD into the Zoom CD drive.
2. From your project main screen press [SHIFT] and the pad 1 [CD-R/RW] keys simultaneously.
3. If you do not see “BACK UP” on the first line use the right cursor (little red arrow) until you read ‘BACK UP” and press [ENTER] key.
4. Verify that the bottom line shows “>SAVE” and press [ENTER].
5. Now the upper line will have “Save” and lower line will have a project number such as “No. 1:PRJ001”. At that time use the rotary dial to select the project that you would like to backup then press [ENTER].
6. The display will indicate the Project Size in Mega Bytes (MB), press the [ENTER] key.
7. The name of the folder name that will hold your backup files on the CD will be displayed. If you wish you may edit and change this folder name.
8. When you press the [ENTER] key the display will indicate “Save?” press [ENTER] and the backup will start. If the CD is full before the backup is complete “Disc1” will be ejected and you will be prompted to insert “Disc2”. At that time insert “Disc2” and press [ENTER].
9. When the backup is complete the disc will be ejected.

When you restore from CD you must enter the CDs in the same order as they were created. Mark all the CDs as “Disc1” “Disc2” etc. so that you know in which order you must insert them during the restore.

You can follow the same process to backup all the projects at one. The only difference is with step 4. At that step you must chose “>ALL SAVE” instead of “>SAVE”.

RESTORE

1. From main project screen press on the [ENTER] and pad 1 [CD-R/RW] keys simultaneously.
2. Press the curser right or left button which is a little red arrow until you read “BACK UP’ on the upper line then press [ENTER].
3. Press the curser right or left button which is a little red arrow until the upper line displays “LOAD” and then press [ENTER]. The CD tray will open automatically and the display will change to indicate “Insert” on the upper line and “Disc” on the lower line.
4. Insert the CD that is holding the backup of your project into the CD drive.
• If your single project backup was spanning across multiple CDs start with Disc 1.
• If your multiple project backup was spanning across multiple CDs then you must insert the CD volume where the project to be restored had started to be saved. If the project spanned to the next CD then Zoom will prompt you to insert it when the time comes.
5. Press the [ENTER] key and the display will change to indicate “Load” on the upper line, “PRJxxxx->No.y” on the lower line where xxx = Project name an y = project number to be assigned once the project is restored to disk.

Creating an audio CD
This function is used to create an audio CD which can be played on any standard CD player or DVD player that is capable to play audio CDs. You must create at least one master track for the project/projects that you would like to include in the audio CD. Other tracks or .WAV files cannot be added to an audio CD.

Zoom offers two methods to create an audio CD.

• Creating an audio CD by project
• Creating an audio CD by album: There are also two methods for creating a CD by album
• One track at a time (TAO)
• Selected list of tracks at once (DAO)

As long as the CD that’s being used has not been finalized more tracks can be added to it.  However a CD that is not finalized can only play on your Zoom recording device. Once it is finalized that CD can be played on any CD player or a DVD player that is capable to play audio CDs. It is not possible to add more tracks to a finalized CD nor delete tracks and reuse it. Rewritable CDs can be reused after deleting all the contents from it.

Creating an audio CD by project / One Track at a time:
In this method one master track can be chosen from a project and written to the CD following the instructions on the Zoom HD8/16 manual starting page 138.

1. From the “Project Utility” select the project which the master track will be written to audio CD.
2. Insert a blank CD into the Zoom HD8/16 CD drive.
3. From the main screen, hold down the [SHIFT] key and press pad 1 (CD-R/RW) simultaneously. You must see “>AUDIO CD” displayed on the second line of the display.
4. Verify that “>AUDIO CD” is on the display and press [ENTER] key. You must see “>BURN CD” displayed on the second line of the display.
5. Verify that “>BURN CD” is on the display and press [ENTER] key. The second line will show the time length of the master track to be written.
6. Press the [EDIT] key to see which V-Take of the master track was selected. You will see “Take Select” on the first line and the V-Take number such as “VTake1:Master1” displayed on the second line. If necessary listen to the track to verify if the correct master track is selected and if it is the wrong one then change to the correct V-Take.
7. After selecting the correct V-Take press the [EXIT] once key to go back then press the [ENTER] key.
8. The display will have “CD Track1” on the first line and “Burn?” on the second line.
9. When you press the [ENTER] key the selected track will start writing to the CD.
10. The writing time depends on the length of the track. The display will indicate “Complete” when the write operation is finished.

Creating an audio CD by album:
This method id particularly useful if you intend to create many copies of a CD that contains a list of song selections. Zoom HD8/16 allows the creation of song lists and save them so that they can be reused in the future.

Creating an album using the track at once (TAO) method:
In this method each song is written to the CD in a separate operation leaving a pause of two seconds between tracks.

Creating an album using the disc at once (DAO) method:
In this method all the selected tracks will be written to the CD at once without leaving any pause between songs.  The marker function can be used to create skip points but it is somehow cumbersome. DAO method is particularly useful for creating a soundtrack for a video shoot.

Weather you use the TAO method or DAO method the steps to create an audio CD by album are the same. Just follow the instruction at the Zoom manual page 140 or the step by step instructions down below:

1. Make a list of projects that you have on your Zoom HD8/16 hard disk and check each one to ensure that the V-Taker of the master track that you would like to include in the CD has been selected as the current track.
2. Insert the blank CD in the CD drive of your recorder.
3. Hold down the [SHIFT] key and press pad 1 (CD-R/RW) keys simultaneously.
4. The upper line of the display should have [AUDIO CD]
5. Use the cursor left/right keys (the little red arrows) until the upper line of the display indicates [Album] then press [ENTER] key
6. The upper line will read [Album] and the second line [Burn Type:DAO] or [Burn Type:TAO] select one of these options by turning the rotary dial then hit [ENTER] key.
7. The bottom line will change to [List:New] or [List:Old]. The first time you have select [List:New] since there is no prior list created. You can select [List:Old] to make more copies after the first one without going through the track selection process again. Press [ENTER]
8. Upper line will display [Track1] and lower line [End of Album]. At this time DO NOT press [ENTER]. This is a common mistake that many users do and then they are confused. Use the rotary dial and as soon as you turn it slightly the bottom line will change to a project such as [No. 1: PRJ001]. Turn the dial until you find the project that you would like to make your Track 1 on the CD. At this time you can hit the PLAY button to ensure that you selected the correct project.
9. Once the Track one is set use the right cursor key which is the little red arrow (again; do not hit the [ENTER] key). The upper line of the display will change to [TRACK2] and the lower line to [End of Album]. Repeat the same operations in step 8 to select the project for the following tracks.
10. Once you have selected all the tracks that you would like to include in the album while the upper line is indicating [TrackX] (where X is a number) and lower line [End of Album] you may now press the [ENTER] key.
11. The upper line of the display will have [Album] while the lower line will indicate [Burn?]. Press [ENTER] again.
12. It will take a while to write all the tracks to the CD. You may go for a cup of coffee now. When complete the disc will be ejected and the second line of the display will have [Next?].
13. If you would like to make a second copy insert a blank CD to the drive and press [ENTER]. Otherwise hit the [EXIT] key several times.

Copying files or songs from other sources to the Zoom HD8/16
You may find many different applications to use this feature on your own. A few of them that I find useful are as follows:

Copy the original recording of a song that you would like to record and play along while listening to it. This is particularly useful in order to keep the same tempo of the original song. Once you have recorded enough tracks or completed to record all the tracks you can delete the original song to make space for more recording.

Import commercially available drum patterns and phrase loops to the Zoom HD8/16 that you may want to use in your song. There are many of those available on the internet, some free and some for a fee. You can also use a drum machine or a sequencer to create your own. MIDI files created on your computer with MIDI software also can be imported to the Zoom HD8/16 either using the USB connection or a CD.

Finalizing a CD
In order to use the CD created on the Zoom HD8/16 on another device such a computer or a CD player you must first finalize it. However once a CD is finalized you can no longer add any more tracks or projects to it. In case of CD-R (write once) CDs it is not possible to delete contents or reuse them anymore. In case of CD-RW (rewritable CDs) you can erase all content of a finalized CD and reuse it. However you can not add tracks or projects after it is finalized.

The instructions to finalize a CD is on page 144 of the Zoom HD8/16 manual. Same page also contains the instructions to erase a CD-RW. They ar very straighforward and need no further clarification. 

Tips and techniques using CD
Now that Explained how to use the CD functions of the Zoom HD8/16 to save projects, make audio CDs and copy CD tracks to the Zoom recorder, I will add some interesting things that you can do using the CD functions as well as replies to frequently asked questions.

Play your instruments or vocals over an existing recording:
I noticed many amateur musicians playing a well known song on the stereo and recording an instrument solo over it.  It is also possible to copy the song from a music CD to one of the tracks of the Zoom HD/8/16. This way you can use the track as your background music, allowing you to follow the original tempo. Once you have completed recording all the tracks you can exclude the original song from the master track. This technique can also be used with some Karaoke CD’s where you use the Karaoke recording as your background band. Sometimes magazines supply CDs that contain the arrangement of a popular song without the solo. I have one such CD that came with the Guitar magazine where the rhythm arrangement to 1060ies famous instrumental song Apache from the British group Shadows is played but not the guitar solo. Such arrangements can be used as your background to your instrumental or vocal solos.

Creating an audio CD of individual tracks.
Individual tracks can be copied to a backup CD as it was described above. However they can not be added as a track on an audio CD. The only way to add one or more individual tracks to an audio CD is to save them as a V-Take of the Master Track. You can make up to ten V-Takes of the Master track per project. Since Zoom HD8 only has eight tracks this allows to save each track on a separate V-Take while Zoom HD16 users do not have enough V-Takes for all 16 tracks. If it is necessary to make audio tracks of all sixteen tracks separately on a CD  it is possible to make a second copy of the project to overcome this restriction.

RECORDING INTRO OF A SONG WITH MUTED DRUM PATTERN

Last week I received a question from a musician and a Zoom HD8CD owner who had heard my instrumental version of the Beatles tune, Day Tripper. He wanted to know how I recorded the intro without the drum pattern and then started the drum pattern right when the intro was complete using my Zoom HD8CD. I thought exploring the different methods of recording music with a Zoom multi-track recorder where the drum track should be silent at various locations of a song would be a good topic for my next blog. So here I am..!

Here is the intro to my Day Tripper for your reference:


(The entire version of this song is in the archive section of my blog pages and it follows another Beatles song - From Me To You)

There are several ways to do this but first let me explain how I did it in Day Tripper:

I recorded the entire lead guitar part including the intro with the drum pattern turned on. This provided me to keep up with the rhythm and proper tempo. When I was recording the final master track I brought down the fader of the drum track down to mute it. It should be noted that I did not mute it by pressing the “PLAY/REC/MUTE” button. I quickly brought the fader to the desired level at the end of the intro. It was that simple. This simplicity is also used in the other methods that I will explain in this article.

NOTE: In this case since the muting of the drum track happens only once at the beginning of the song. I could have used the “PLAY/REC/MUTE” button to mute the drum track at the intro and press it once when the drums start. However if there are multiple places in the song where you have to mute the drum track this will not work. The reason is that once the drum track is in “PLAY” mode (Green) next time you press the button it goes to “REC” mode (Red). 

Method 1: Muting the drum track when it is not needed
I already explained this method in the beginning of this article.  It can easily be used in different parts of the song. You simply select the drum pattern that you desire and let it play continuously during your recording sessions. When you are recording the final master track just use the fader to silence the drum pattern when you would like it to be silent and raise it when you want the rhythm to be heard. The only drawback is that you must do it precisely and very quickly. However if you are even slightly a better musician then I am your timing and speed should be good enough.

Method 2: Creating a rhythm song
Zoom HD8/16 both allow the creation of a rhythm song using the built in rhythm patterns. There is a rich selection of patterns with drum intros, endings and fills. If the selection do not include the pattern that you desire you can also create patterns and save them into an empty pattern number. While there are many built in patterns in Zoom HD8CD, there are several rhythms that I like such as bossa nova, samba, a basic swing or a Texas Swing which I could not find.

When you create a rhythm song you can have your silent parts also in it however using that would also be a little bit difficult especially when the silent area is longer than one measure or is in the intro. My solution to this is to add either a metronome click sound in these silent parts or even a rhythm. In this way when I am playing the other instrument parts I have a continuous rhythm to keep up with the tempo. I can delete the undesired metronome or rhythm sections later before creating the master track or I can use the drum track fader as in method 1 to silence.

Method 3: Using a software to create a rhythm song
In this method you can use Cubase LE which comes with the Zoom HD8/16 and  R16. I use my Cubase VST V5. Any MIDI editing software can be used. Ther are a few rules to follow:

• The drum song must be created at channel 10 Midi track, 
• Must be saved or exported as a “MIDI Format 0” file 
• The file must have the file extension “.mid”. 

If you are using Cubase LE you can use either the “Key Editor” or the “Score” editor. I usually start by inserting quantized notes using the score editor then switch to key editor to fix the imperfections. I find it easier this way.

Once you have finished and tested the rhythm song and created the MIDI Format 0 file with the extension “.mid” you will have to transfer it to Zoom HD8/16. You can do this in two ways:

1. Using a CD: On your computer, save the MIDI Format 0 file to a CD and then insert the CD to Zoom HD8/16 CD drive then follow the instructions in your Zoom manual at page 158 "Reading an SMF into a project"
2. USB connection: Connect your computer to the Zoom using the USB cable. Copy the MIDI Format 0 file that you created using CUBASE LE,  to the proper Project directory of your new song in your Zoom HD8/16. For instructions about activating and deactivating the USB connection refer at page 161 of your Zoom manual.

After copying the file to the Zoom HD8/16 follow the instructions in page 158of the Zoom HD8/16 manual "Selecting the SMF output destination" and on page 159 "SMF playback" to make it play at the rhythm track of the Zoom HD8/16. One important thing to know is that you must select one of the empty rhythm patterns between #473 and 508 otherwise when you play your rhythm song you will also hear the rhythm pattern that is selected all at once.

I recommend that you create some metronome sound even during the parts of the song where the drums are silent. This will help you keep proper tempo when you are recording the  the other tracks. You can mute them when you are creating the master track just as I described in Method 1.

Multi track recording for starters

In my first article I posted two songs that I recorded all by myself using a multi track recorder and some musical instruments. Multi track recording allows me to put some ideas together without having to call other musicians to play with me. You don’t necessarily need a lot of expensive equipment to start. However as you progress you may want to take advantage of many slick features that better equipment offers. In this article I will describe the very basic equipment and how to put them into use. I will follow up with articles in which I will be exploring the advanced features such as using insert effects, ping pong recording, mixing and mastering etc.

For starters you will need at least the following:

• Musical instrument
• Multi track recording device
• Headphones
• Microphone

Musical instrument
Any musical instrument will do. In fact if you are a singer and you would like to record only vocals then your instrument comes to you free as your voice. If you would like to use an electric instrument or an electric acoustic instrument such as an acoustic guitar with a pickup, you may or may not choose to use an amplifier, it is up to your taste or budget. You can plug them directly to your recording device. If the cable jack you are using is 6.3mm (1/4”) and the device is 2.5mm or vice versa then you can buy an adapter from an electrical supply store like Radio Shack or Circuit City. For acoustic instruments you will always need a microphone.

Multi track recording device
You have several options in choosing a multi track recording device.
• Analog devices using cassettes or reel tapes
• Standalone digital devices with hard disk
• Software that you can load to your computer



Analog home recording multi track recorders are being replaced with the much better digital devices and they are very hard to find. Internet resources such as e-Bay may be your best bet if you are looking to buy one of these. The picture to the left is my old Yamaha MT4X. It is a four track recorder with four inputs and records on a cassette tape. A band of four instruments could connect one instrument per input and record a song in one take. Usually the quality of the recording is good as long as you keep the recording heads clean and degaussed with the proper tool after a few hours of use.

Some of the most popular vendors of multi track recorders are Tascam, ZOOM, Fostex, Boss, Alesis, 365 Systems, Korg. Prices start from about $200.00 for a new four track recorder and go up depending on the number of inputs, tracks and features to thousands of dollars. However it is possible to record more than four tracks on a four track recorder by mixing two or three tracks into the fourth track (often referred as bouncing tracks) and reuse the tracks that were bounced to the fourth track. The Beatles recorded some of their popular works on a four track reel tape.

The ZOOM HD8 digital recorder that you see in the picture is an eight track recorder with two inputs. It has seven recordable tracks and the last one is for the drum track. It also has a master track to mix and master your final recording. This machine is full of slick features. You can record up to 10 V-Tracks per track and save them. It has a drum pad on top which can be played by hitting the pads with fingers or even drumsticks. It has over 450 pre programmed rhythm patterns made of drum and bass, and some blank patterns which you could create your own drum patterns. It has many insert effects which I will be experimenting with in the future blogs. Most digital recorders provide a USB connection to a computer. Once loaded to a computer you can further edit the tracks using some powerful software or even send your tracks to different musicians across the globe so that they can add their own tracks to your tracks.



Some of the most popular computer based recording systems are Steinberg Cubase, Apple Logic Studio 9 and Apogee GIA Package, Cakewalk, Arturia Hip Hop Producer, Bias, Celemony.

I use Cubase VST which is full of features such as effects with a lot of control over their intensity, plenty of recording tracks and V-Takes, the capability of mixing midi tracks and audio and many more. I use it with a Tascam, US-224 control console which can be seen in the picture. It is easier to control the computer software with a console rather than the mouse clicks. Additionally the computer has only one input while this console has two. There are other consoles that have more inputs and more features. Software systems are very powerful in many ways. However they require a lot of computer resources such as a fast CPU, a very good and large hard disk and most importantly a lean running operating system. If these requirements are not met you may face a latency issue and the tracks that you are trying to mix may not sound in synch with each other.

Headphones
Any headphone that is compatible with your recording device will do. I recommend using a headphone to monitor the previously recorded tracks while you are recording new tracks. If you use of open speakers and microphone as your input, then your previously recorded track will also be picked up by the microphone and recorded into the current one. If you are connecting your instrument direct to the recorder’s input then you can use open speakers.

Sony, Sennheiser, Stageworks, Direct Sound, AKG, Shure, Behringer, Samson, Pioneer are some of the headphone manufacturers.

Microphone
A good microphone can do magic in recording. There are many things to consider in buying a microphone but I will talk about it in the future. This article is about setting a basic environment and get the feel out of what multi track recording can do for you. For the time being you can use any microphone that can be attached to your device. If you are using computer software the microphone supplied with your computer is fine for a beginner.

AKG, Samson, Shure, Behringer, Neumann, Telefunken, M-Audio, Blue Microphones are some popular microphone manufacturers.

What is next?
Now that we have established the minimum equipment requirements we can start recording a simple song. In my next article I will go step by step into recording a song.

A SIMPLE RECORDING

In my previous article titled "Multi track recording for starters" I explored the basic equipment needed for an amateur musician to start recording. If you haven't read it you can find it at the"Archive" section on the bottom left of this page. There are many more devices that can be used to obtain better sound quality, special sound effects etc. Mixers, sequencers, drum machines, effect pedals can add variety to your recording.


In this article I intend to familiarize the reader with the basic operations of a multi-track recorder. My target audience is folks who have never used a multi-track recorder and are considering to start, or recently started but having difficulty to figure out the basic operations. I will take a few bars of music and simply record the four parts into four separate tracks and then mix them to create the final product. In addition to the step by step instructions I included videos showing the mechanics of each step on a Zoom HD8CD.

Most multi-track recording projects require a three step process:

• Planning
• Recording
• Mixing and mastering

PLANNING
Since you will be playing each part one at a time, it is not only good practice to plan ahead what you will be recording, it is a must. In future articles I will talk about planning in details. For this example I chose a chord progression of five bars and I will repeat it a few times. The progression that I chose is similar to the end of a Beatles song called "I want you (She’s so heavy)" however I am not trying to re create the same song nor will I try to play it good. The objective in this article is to put together 4 tracks.

Dm / / / Dm / / / E7 / / / Bb / / / A / / /

The final recording will sound like this:


(I know that this is not an interesting piece of music. I selected it because it is easy to replicate even for a beginner musician. At the end of this article there is a full song that I recorded using my Zoom HD8 and some of its great features.)


Planning the first track:
The common practice is to record the rhythm tracks first and add the melody last. There are many good reasons for this especially if you are using several real (as opposed to prerecorded drum patterns) percussion instruments which I will talk about in the future articles. In this example I will not use any percussion or drum patterns. The rhythm part is just the arpeggio played with a guitar.

Planning the second track:
Using the same guitar, I will play a melodic bass line for the second track.

Planning the third track:
I will play the same melody that the bass guitar played with a harmonica

Planning the fourth track:
Finally on the fourth track I will strum the chords once at the beginning of each measure.

RECORDING
Before starting to record you should tune all your instruments properly.
I will use my Zoom HD8 recorder. The process is the same for Zoom HD16. Before turning on the power push all the faders down. Connect the guitar direct to Input 1. Once the unit is powered on press the "NEW PROJECT" key to create a new project and press "ENTER". This will automatically give the project a name like "PRJ000".

Recording the first track:

1. Press on the "PLAY/MUTE/REC" button of the fader 1 until the light turns red. Mute all other faders by pressing the buttons until the light is off. Although muting unused tracks is not necessary, it lets me keep track of which tracks are still available.
2. Raise fader 1 to the 0DB position.
3. Press on the "ON/OFF" button of the input 1 until the light turns red.
4. Start playing your guitar to test the sound. If the "PEAK" indicator is blinking red then adjust the "GAIN" control until you feel comfortable with the sound level and quality.
5. Make sure that the display of the recorder is pointing to the beginning of the song as 000:00:000. If not press the "ZERO" button to reset the position to the starting point. To start recording press the "PLAY" and "REC” buttons simultaneously.
6. Start recording.
7. When you finished playing the part press the "STOP" Button to stop recording. To listen to it press on the "ZERO" button to place your recorder to the beginning of the song and press the fader 1 "PLAY/MUTE/REC" button until the light turns to green. Then press "PLAY" to listen to what you recorded. If you are not satisfied you can re record the part again and again until you are satisfied. However just remember that by doing this you are overlaying or in other words you are deleting the previous take.

Recording the second track:

1. Press the fader 1 "PLAY/MUTE/REC" button until the light turns to green and keep the fader level at 0db or anything that is comfortable for you to monitor. You will be listening to track 1 while recording the second track.
   
2. Press the fader 2 "PLAY/MUTE/REC" button until the light turns red.
3. Raise Fader 2 to 0DB position.
4. Leave all other faders at the bottom and with their lights off.
5. Make sure that the display of the recorder is pointing to the beginning of the song as 000:00:000. To start recording press the "PLAY" and "REC” buttons at the same time.
6. While you are listening to the fist track start recording the second track.
7. Follow step 7 from recording first track to stop recording and listening.

Recording the third track:
I recorded the first two tracks with an electric guitar directly connected to the input of the Zoom HD8. This time I will be using a harmonica and a microphone to capture the sound. Since the microphone will be picking up all the ambient sound in the room, if I use my speaker to monitor then the third track will be a mix of my first two tracks plus the harmonica sound. In order to avoid this problem I will turn off my speaker monitors and use headphones to monitor the first two tracks.

1. Power off the speaker monitors.
2. Unplug the guitar from input 1 and plug in the microphone to the input. If your microphone is stereo like mine then you can connect them into both inputs. Since I am using both inputs I will press the "ON/OFF" buttons of input 1 and input 2 simultaneously until the lights turn red.
3. Test the sound level of your inputs by playing your instrument into the microphone. If the peak indicators of the inputs are flickering in red then adjust the the volume using the "GAIN" buttons.
   
4. Plug in the headphones to the Zoom HD8 and adjust the volume to your comfort level.
5. Press the fader 1 and fader 2 "PLAY/MUTE/REC" buttons until the lights turn green. Adjust the faders for a comfortable monitoring level.
6. Press the fader 3 "PLAY/MUTE/REC" button until the light turns red
7. Raise Fader 3 to 0DB position.
8. Leave all other faders at the bottom and with their lights off.
9. Make sure that the display of the recorder is pointing to the beginning of the song as 000:00:000. To start recording press the "PLAY" and "REC” buttons at the same time.
10. While you are listening to the fist and second tracks on your headphones start recording the third track.
11. Follow step 7 from recording the first track to stop recording and listening.

Recording the fourth track:

1. Press the fader 1, fader 2 and fader 3 "PLAY/MUTE/REC" buttons until the lights turn to green. Adjust the faders for a comfortable monitoring level.
2. Press the fader 4 "PLAY/MUTE/REC" button until the light turns to red.
3. Raise Fader 4 to 0DB position.
4. Leave all other faders at the bottom and with their lights off.
5. Make sure that the display of the recorder is pointing to the beginning of the song as 000:00:000. To start recording press the "PLAY" and "REC” buttons simultaneously.
6. While you are listening to the fist, second and third tracks start recording the fourth and last track.
7. Follow step 7 from recording first track to stop recording and listening.

MIXING AND MASTERING
Mixing and mastering is where we put together all the tracks in a balanced way into stereo tracks to crate the final product. There are many things that can be done at this stage which can be as simple as adjusting each tracks volume levels and panning or adding some effects such as reverb. In real life the sound characteristics of each track should be carefully considered during the mixing and mastering stage. In this simple test recording I will only adjust volume and stereo panning based on quickly experimenting and finding the settings that sounds fairly acceptable to my listening taste. For amateur home recording with only a few tracks this might be enough in many cases.

Panning:
By panning you can move a track to the right or left side of the stereo speakers. This provides a stereo depth to the sound and allows the listener to visualize how each instrument might be positioned on stage in a live performance. It is also used to separate sounds that might annul each other when mixed together, which will be the topic of another article. Zoom recorders such as HD8/16 or the new R16 all have a radio style button over each fader to instantly pan a track. When you turn the button left the sound shifts gradually left and similarly to the right by turning it right. The panning level is indicated on the display from zero to hundred where zero meaning the sound will be centered, "R 100" meaning the sound will be coming from the far right only, "L 100" from the far left only. The values in between will divide the sound proportionally between the two speakers. For example "R 75" setting will play that instrument with a higher volume from the right speaker and lower volume from the left speaker, making that instrument appear to be to the right of the stage. When you are done adjusting the pan levels press the "EXIT" button.

Reverb:
Reverb short for "Reverberation" is an effect to make the sound appear as if it was played in a large concert hall or an acoustic environment where the sound reverberates by hitting the walls and the ceiling. (If you have ever been at Grand Central Terminal in New York City you know what I am talking about.) To set up reverb effect to a track first you have to press the "TRACK PARAMETERS" button. This will turn off all the lights over every fader except one. Select the track that you would like to add reverb effect by pressing the "PLAY/MUTE/REC" button of that fader. Once the proper light is on use the up and down arrows until "Reverb" is selected on the effects display. Assign the desired intensity by turning the selection knob. When done press the "EXIT" button.

There are many other effects in Zoom HD8/16 recorders. I intend to cover them in the future.

• Finally listen to your tracks all together and balance the volume using the faders of each track in a way that one track does not overwhelm the other and you have created the sound that you had planned.
• Once you are satisfied with the volume levels, you are ready to record your stereo master track. Press the "PLAY/MUTE/REC" button of the master track until it turns red.
• Press the "PLAY" and "REC" buttons simultaneously to start recording. You will be hearing to the tracks during the recording.
• When the end is reached press "STOP" and your final product is ready.
• Press the master track fader's "PLAY/MUTE/REC" button until light turns green then press the "ZERO" button to return to the beginning of the song and play the master track.
• If you are not satisfied you can adjust the volumes and effects of each track again and re record the master track.

Bee Gees - To Love Somebody.
I recorded this song using my Zoom HD8CD recorder using some of its features such as built in rhythm and insert effects.



Track-1: Intro and rhythm guitar. Fender Stratocaster. Pan L50
Track-2: Yamaha 12 string electric acoustic guitar. Pan R76
Track-3: Casio Tone Bank CT670 keyboard. Instrument=strings #9. Pan L100. Zoom insert effect=Line 1 organ phaser
Track-4: Melody. Casio Tone Bank CT670 keyboard. Instrument=harpsichord 1.0. Pan Center. Reverb send=50
Track-5: Melody. Casio Tone Bank CT670 keyboard. Instrument=Organ 15.1. Pan Center. Reverb send=100
Track-6: Ibanez bass guitar. Pan R50
Track-7/8: Guitar arpeggio. Fender Stratocaster. Pan R50
Track-Rhythm: Zoom built in pattern 41 ROCKs2VA, no bass

I played these two Beatles songs using my ZOOM HD8 multi track recorder and my instrumental interpretation as follows:

FROM ME TO YOU:

Hohner chromatic harmonica

Rhythm Guitar: Epiphone archtop hollow body Joe Pass guitar with Fender 50 Watts tube amplifier

Lead Guitar: Fender Stratocaster with Fender 50 Watts tube amplifier

Bass Guitar: Yamaha four string bass with Yamaha 15 Watts bass amplifier

Keyboard: Casio

Drum pattern chosen from standard ZOOM selection

DAY TRIPPER:

Same as above

Second Lead Guitar: Fender Stratocaster with 30 Watts Marshall Valvestate amplifier

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbZgUFv2VRc

My first Blog

I am an amateur musician / guitar player. I started to play when I was in high school. I have never played professionally and I had a 10 year period which I had quit playing all together.

These days I play for my own pleasure and record the songs that I like with my ZOOM 8 track recorder.