Two powerful approaches to recording
Every now and then, someone in my blues/R&B band will bring a recorder to a gig or practice. For a while, it was a Sharp minidisc, but that whole category of recorder is outdated and a bit complex to use – plus, transfering the music in real time is a pain.
We''ve been known to go to the other end of the spectrum and have hauled a rack case with a high-end digital recorder and top-notch preamps. But that setup is complicated and there’s a lot of gear to haul in addition to our usual PA, amps, etc. In the end, we had the potential to get a CD-quality recording, but were always stymied by something – the wrong level on one of the tracks, bad acoustics in the house, an overly noisy audience – you name it.
I''ve been looking for a simpler solution to take home the goods – something to toss in the gear bag, plop down on a table and just hit ''record.'' Enter two little gems from Zoom that both wear the label “Handy Recorder.”
The Zoom H2 and the Zoom H4 are indeed handy. They''re also on opposite ends of the field recorder realm. The H2 – the newer of the two models – is a straight-forward recorder with a minimal learning curve. The H4 is like a loaded burger with everything on it. It has a bigger learning curve but it can do nearly anything you can dream up.
The Zoom H4
The H4 is really three devices in one: a stereo field recorder, a 4-track recorder for songwriting on the road, and a USB computer interface. As a field recorder, it has two mic capsules on the top in an X-Y pattern. The most straightforward application is to switch it on, aim it toward the band and press the record button. To set the level, there is a 3-level sensitivity switch. Pick the right sensitivity and let the H4’s auto-level scan calibrate the appropriate amount of gain. This isn’t an auto-gain function that rides gain during recording but instead a quick way to get started. When you’re ready to record, press the record button again, the red light goes from flashing to solid, and you’re underway.
In the stereo mode, you have four recording options controlled with a set of four buttons that select 96khz, 48khz, 44.1khz and MP3 (at several levels of resolution). The included 512 meg SD card gets around 40 minutes of stereo recording at 44.1 khz. Drop in a 2 gig card instead and you’ll get more than 3 hours worth of recording time (in MP3 mode, you can record for hours on end!). If you’re so inclined, it’s possible to dial in several options – phantom power for an external mic, compression/limiting, high-pass filtering to cut wind rumble, even mic modeling for four popular studio mics.
To navigate these features, the H4 uses a combination of a menu button and a tiny jog wheel. The display was fairly tiny and for my old eyes, reading glasses were needed to get through the menus. Probing the Zoom website (www.samsontech.com), I found a system upgrade that added a few features and also changed the display font to something easier to read. Nonetheless, there were times when I got caught pushing the menu button instead of turning the jog wheel – that meant starting over – but eventually I got used to the routine of starting with one button and shifting to the other.
To give the H4 a whirl, I recorded an old upright piano at home from a few feet away. Running through my studio monitors, the sound was great, with a clear frequency response and a good bottom. At a gig a few nights ago, I ran the direct out from my bass amp directly into the H4’s XLR jack to create some play-along practice tunes for our guitarist. Again, the recordings sounded fine and should be helpful – and if he can figure out the songs from just the bass part, I’ll give him extra credit.
Need a Tiny Recording Studio?
Moving to 4-track mode, the H4 becomes a recording studio in one hand. On the bottom of the H4, you’ll find two input jacks – incredible for a device this small. Each is a combo jack that can accommodate a guitar cable or an XLR mic plug. You can use the built-in stereo mics, too, plugging in a guitar, bass or keyboard, or use the mic of your choice. You can even use both inputs at once. Once you’ve toggled the menu button down to pick an input you can dial in a plethora of effects – essentially, the H4 has a couple of Zoom multi-effect pedals inside, with amp and cab modeling, plus auto-wah, phaser, chorus, reverb, delay, and even more. In addition to the factory presets, you can edit and store your own patches.
Working in 4-track mode doesn’t end with adding effects to your input. I was pleased to find a metronome and a tuner, too. There is also a tiny mixer screen that allows bouncing tracks, panning, setting track levels – even punching in to fix a few muffed notes. Looking through the manual, I noticed that you can only use the 44.1 khz recording resolution in this mode. That makes sense, though, because you’re juggling total recording time with recording quality and 44.1 khz is a viable level to shoot for.
Those same buttons that choose your recording resolution in stereo mode become track selection buttons in 4-track mode, allowing you to select which tracks you record to and which tracks will be playing back. Handy!
In case you feel cramped putting a tune together with the H4’s buttons, menus, and small display, there’s yet another option. With the recorder turned off, you can plug in the included USB cable, hook up the other end to your computer, and voila! – the H4 is powered by the computer’s USB port. In this mode, a new menu pops up with two choices – audio in/out and connect to PC. The first of these two options lets you record through the H4’s guitar and mic inputs right to your computer. Although the H4 includes a version of Cubase, I used it with GarageBand. On its own, a USB interface will cost a good chunk of the H4’s $300 street price, so if you anticipate that kind of use, it’s a definite plus.
Going with the “Connect to PC” option lets you take whatever you’ve recorded onto the SD card and dump it onto your computer. Compared to the old minidisc, this is a real timesaver, with transfer taking place as data rather than in actual recording time. Once in your computer, the standard WAV and MP3 files are available for whatever recording interface you like.
To work with the 4-track mode, I recorded a bass duet. On one track was a melody line played up high on my fretless electric bass – a jazzy version of “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning.” I played a walking bassline on the second track using my electric upright bass. I monitored the sound through studio monitors, which worked fine since no mics were involved. Once recorded, I was able to pan each instrument left and right and tweak the balance between them. Finally, I sent the two tracks to my computer, imported them to GarageBand and added some reverb, compression, and EQ. In all, these tasks were easily done once I figured out the basic working scheme. If you’re writing a song with, say, acoustic guitar, vocal, bass and a lead instrument, the H4 makes it a snap to record and mix.
The Big Picture for the H4
Despite all I’ve written about the H4 so far, this barely scratches the surface of what it can do. Dig into the 100-page manual and you’ll learn a lot more about what it''s capable of. On the plus side, you’ll find the Zoom H4 to be a very versatile, do-nearly-everything unit. Although the first few minutes seemed daunting, it soon became manageable, even logical. I was also initially concerned about some of the switches that are quite tiny – I wondered how sturdy they would be. I’m a careful guy, though, and after some time with the unit, I think it should last quite awhile.
The H4''s tiny display is one of the key downsides, as is the multi-layered menu system and the need to work between the menu button and the jog wheel to make selections. I wish there was a way to mount the H4 on a stand besides the option they provide – a cradle attached with hook-and-loop straps with a tripod-threaded nut on the back side. The SD card is a little difficult to grasp and remove because the plastic door gets in the way. And frankly, I don’t think I’d use mic modeling, preferring to apply EQ after the fact to accomplish approximately the same thing. Ditto with the effects, because it’s easier to edit and adjust an unaffected track. But for quickly adding in a convincing modeled electric guitar in 4-track mode, this is your baby. Finally, the H4 is a bit bigger than I’d prefer, but given all that it can do, I can live with that.
Buy if...
you''re looking for a moderately-priced recorder with a lot of versatility.
Skip if...
a big learning curve will keep you from using great features.
Rating...
MSRP $499 - Samson Tech - samsontech.com |
Keeping it Simple with the H2
The H2 Handy Recorder takes the opposite route of the H4. It’s a simple recorder that can be brought to a gig, set up quickly, and forgotten until the end of a set. The H2 is a couple inches shorter than the H4, but about the same width and thickness. When I first brought the H2 to a gig, our guitar player mimed shaving his chin with it – the H2 has an uncanny resemblance to an electric shaver. You might also mistake the H2 for an old-school mic from the ‘50s, at least when looking at it from the rear.
Lurking under that shaver-like screen is something surprising – two pairs of mic capsules that can be used in either a 90 degree angle (on the front) or a 120 angle (on the back). You can also combine them together for recording 360 degrees in either stereo or 4-track sound that can be edited into surround sound.
Compared to the H4, the H2 is more intuitive to operate. After sliding the on-off switch, the H2 boots up in whatever mode you used last (same as the H4). Although it also uses menus, more of the controls are right on the face as dedicated buttons. Two arrow keys let you choose the mic configuration, which is noted by a tiny red LED dot. Another red dot lights on the top of the recorder, showing which side has the active mics.
Rather than using the menu-button-plus-jogwheel method of selecting options, the H2 uses a single menu button and the forward/back membrane buttons for playing back recordings. It’s a bit unintuitive at first to move up and down by arrows that point sideways, but that’s still a problem most of our logic systems can handle. Working this way with the menus, the red record button in the middle becomes the selection key for menu choices. It’s a cleaner approach than with the H4, but it still requires patience to work your way up and down the menu options.
Stripped Down but Nicely Functional
Although the H2 lacks the effects available in the H4 – no reverb or amp modeling, for example – it offers some useful options in their place. There are two levels of auto-gain, plus three levels of compression and three levels of limiting. I found the limiter to be a useful feature for managing peaks while recording at a gig, making the H2 a set-and-forget gig recorder.
Imagine any accessory that you could possibly want – the H2 likely comes with it. In addition to the wall-wart power supply, USB cable, windscreen and carrying pouch of the H4, the H2 has some great conveniences. Rather than a strap-on cradle, the H2 has a tripod socket on the bottom. Besides using a tripod, though, the H2 has a little three-legged screw-on base and a mic clip adapter. There is also a pair of earbuds for listening to what you’ve recorded and a stereo Y cable with 1/8” miniplug to a pair of RCA plugs – great for running the H2 into a mixer, or conversely, going into the H2’s line-in jack from your CD player.
Inputs and options are simpler for the H2. The H4’s combo ¼”/XLR jacks are gone, with only a 1/8” miniplug mic input and 1/8” line-in/out jacks instead. The output jack doubles for connecting the earbuds, with a rocker volume switch alongside. If you see the H2 as a basic gig recorder, these differences should be no problem. I can imagine using the earbuds or running through my studio monitors, but probably wouldn’t use the line-in or mic-in jacks.
Like the H4, when you connect the USB cable to the H2, you’re ready to transfer files to a computer or have the H2 serve as a computer interface. Again, I wouldn’t use the H2 as an interface through its built-in mics, but the file transfer capability is extremely handy.
Giving the H2 a Gig Test
As with the H4, you can record in WAV or MP3 formats. The MP3 format proved useful at a gig where the H2 was first tested. In part, this was because of the long recording time on a 512 meg memory card, but also because the MP3 format is the standard for online sharing. We were in a noisy bar with poor acoustics, but once the crowd thinned out, I decided to record our last set from a table out in front of the band where a some loyal fans were willing to babysit the H2. Playing the recordings back at home, I thought the quality was excellent and the performances were better than usual.
Using a shareware product called MP3Trimmer (deepniner.net/mp3trimmer), I quickly listened to the tunes and picked out four. MP3Trimmer easily extracted the tunes to separate files and another program, MP3Gain (mp3gain.sourceforge.net) helped me bring up the sound level – I didn’t have a chance to fine-tune the recording level while playing, but the low sensitivity setting on the H2 kept levels in bounds.
You can hear the gig recordings at my band’s MySpace site, all done with the Zoom H2 (www.myspace.com/tornadoesblues).
The H2 went to a second gig where we performed in a small restaurant with a stripped down trio of guitar, bass, harmonica and vocals. I set the H2 on a shelf above a wine rack at the back of the room and let it run. Again, the recordings were crystal clear, so much so that we could understand conversations between the wait staff and the diners – I’ll pick a better recording location next time! The recording at that gig was well-balanced, with clean highs and smooth, focused lows.
Another handy use – one I didn’t take advantage of – is to record a practice where we typically play in a circle. Set the H2 to 2-channel surround and everybody gets into the mix with little fuss. This would be great to record an acoustic livingroom jam, too. And if you’re a podcaster, imagine using the H2 in either 2- or 4-channel mode to record an interview with just one device and no extra mics.
Which Recorder to Pick?
In all, both the H2 and H4 are excellent recorders, chock full of features and priced at a very nice level. With care, both should last quite awhile. The H2 typically sells for about $200 and the H3 for $300. If you want to record your gigs and practices, the H2 is a no-brainer choice. If you envision more recording needs – song writing on the road, for example – the H4 will easily do that, plus record your gigs as you go.
The H2 shows that Zoom learned some things from its first venture with the H4. For many of us, we don’t really need effects, mic and amp modeling, 4-channel recording and all the rest. In their place, we’d like easier, more intuitive controls that get the recording job done with fewer operator errors. By concentrating on the essentials needed in a field recorder, the H2 provides quality recording at a new low price point. The SD card on the H2 is easier to reach through a bottom hatch, and the accessories are nicely functional. For my gig recording needs, the H2 is the Handy Recorder of choice.
Buy if...
you want a value-priced recorder with easy-to-learn basic functions.
Skip if...
you need multi-tracking or convential input jacks for guitars or mics.
Rating...
MSRP $335 - Samson Tech - samsontech.com |
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Another day, another pedal! Enter Stompboxtober Day 7 for your chance to win today’s pedal from Effects Bakery!
Effects Bakery MECHA-PAN BAKERY Series MECHA-BAGEL OVERDRIVE
Konnichiwa, guitar lovers! 🎸✨
Are you ready to add some sweetness to your pedalboard? Let’s dive into the adorable world of the Effects Bakery Mecha-Pan Overdrive, part of the super kawaii Mecha-Pan Bakery Series!
🍩 Sweet Treats for Your Ears! 🍩
The Mecha-Pan Overdrive is like a delicious bagel for your guitar tone, but it’s been upgraded to a new level of cuteness and functionality!
Effects Bakery has taken their popular Bagel OverDrive and given it a magical makeover. Imagine your favorite overdrive sound but with more elegance and warmth – it’s like hugging a fluffy cat while playing your guitar!
Is this the most affordable (and powerful) modeler around?
Very affordable way to get into digital modeling. Excellent crunch and high-gain tones.
Navigating many modes through limited controls means a bit of a learning curve for a pedal this small.
$179
IK Multimedia Tonex One
ikmultimedia.com
Resistance to digital amps might just be futile at this point. Many tunes you hear—and an increasing number of live gigs—feature a bit of faux-tube tone somewhere in the mix. But while the sound of pro-level modelers can be nearly indistinguishable from their analog counterparts in a mix, the feel and simplicity of a real amplifiers remain appealing and even indispensable to many players. That said, modelers that make usability, convenience, and price priorities can convince even die-hard tube users to see what’s on the other side of the fence. IK Multimedia’s TONEX ONE is one modeling device that might make the cut. It’s likely the smallest, most portable modeler out there. And at $179, it’s easily the most affordable.
Big Tones, Tiny Controls
The TONEX ONE isn’t designed to put a million different options at your feet, and that economy may be the unit’s strongest feature. It features several different modes, but the primary operating mode allows you to either switch between two different models, or simply use the unit as a stompbox. Each model can be an amp, an amp and cab, a pedal, or a pedal driving an amp and cab. Judging by how deep the online repository tone.net is for user-created presets, the options are nearly endless, which speaks to the already sizable user base. It’s a little strange to consider a modeler in a package this small with so few controls. There’s a large main knob that controls volume and gain (when you’re in ALT mode), and above that are three illuminated mini knobs that control the 3-band EQ, gate, compression, and reverb. You can also plug your headphones directly into the pedal, which makes it a dynamite silent practice amp.
My experience with modelers is that high-gain tones and clean tones are relatively easy to achieve and typically very good. After unboxing the TONEX ONE, I loaded up a slightly dirty Vox-style amp to evaluate the edge-of-breakup tones. I paired the pedal with humbuckers (with a coil split option), Stratocaster single coils, and P-90s in a T-style solidbody. With each one, the Vox-style amp was punchy and clear but could also range to very nice higher-gain sounds. Naturally, each version of a modeled amp offers different gain structures, so it pays to experiment. Combining the humbuckers in a PRS SE DGT with a few hot-rodded Marshall emulations and the growl offered tones nearly as good as those from much more expensive modelers. In a blind test, I’m not sure I could hear—or feel—much of a difference. As I explored further and fine-tuned things a bit more, the ToneX One felt more alive in my hand,s and sounded much less shrill in the top end than other digital solutions I’ve encountered.
One of the most obvious tone fixers in a modeler—and maybe one of the most underutilized—is the EQ section, and kudos are due to IK for placing those controls at the fore. Being able to adjust the most immediate tone-shaping options without having to dig through menus or touchscreens is a pleasure.
There are many possible uses for the TONEX ONE. It can serve as a high-quality direct solution on your pedalboard, a portable recording interface, and a plug-and-play practice solution when high volume is a no-go. One handy setup I tried was disabling the cabinet emulation in the pedal and then plugging into the effects return of a combo amp, in this case, a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I immediately imagined many backline amp headaches being a thing of the past. You can always plug directly into a flat-response cabinet or PA system too.
Because it has such a small footprint and streamlined controls, harnessing the unit’s full potential, and accessing all the different modes, takes a bit of effort. You can store 20 different presets within the pedal and assign them to any of the three active slots (two for dual mode and one for stomp mode). And although doing this on the fly is handy, I found it much easier to program the presets via the easy-to-use desktop editor.
The Verdict
TONEX ONE benefits from a rather singular focus and its biggest advantage is that it’s not shrouded in unnecessary layers of tweakable options. You can simply load up a base sound or two, drop it at the end of your pedalboard, and go.The included software allows you create your own models and makes swapping presets easy. I did find the multitude of modes, and their color-coded indicators, a bit confusing at times, but IK’s documentation was very clear and got me through any trouble spots. The TONEX ONE would serve well to those who want to explore digital modeling but still hold on to their analog pedalboards, and at $179 it’s a steal.
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter expands his acclaimed first-ever solo album, Speed of Heat, with a brand new Storytellers Edition, featuring brand-new commentary tracks.
For over five decades, audiences worldwide have marveled at Baxter’s inimitable and instantly recognizable guitar playing and generational songcraft. His output spans classic records as a founding member of Steely Dan and member of the Doobie Brothers in addition to hundreds of recordings with the likes of Donna Summer, Cher, Joni Mitchell, Rod Stewart, Dolly Parton, and many more. During 2022, he initially unveiled Speed of Heat, showcasing yet another side of his creative identity and introducing himself as a solo artist.
On the Storytellers Edition, his fascinating commentary pulls the curtain back on both the process and the message of the music. This version traces the journey to Speed of Heat and its core inspirations as shared directly by Baxter in the form of detailed anecdotes, candid stories, and insightful commentary on every track.
The 12-songalbum, co-produced by Baxter and CJ Vanston, is a riveting and rewarding musical experience that features a host of brilliantly crafted originals co-written by the guitarist and Vanston, as well as inspired versions of some of the great classics. Along the way, Baxter is joined by guest vocalists and songwriters Michael McDonald, Clint Black, Jonny Lang and Rick Livingstone. Baxter notably handled lead vocals on his rendition of Steely Dan’s “My Old School.” Other standouts include "Bad Move" co-written by Baxter, Clint Black, and CJ Vanston, and “My Place In The Sun”, sung by Michael McDonald and co-authored by McDonald, Baxter and Vanston.
As one of the most recorded guitarists of his generation, Baxter’s creative and versatile playing has been heard on some of the most iconic songs in music history, including “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton and “Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer.
The stunningly diverse collection of material on Speed of Heat presents a 360-degree view of the uniquely gifted musician.
STREAM / SHARE / PURCHASE HERE.
Beauty and sweet sonority elevate a simple-to-use, streamlined acoustic and vocal amplifier.
An EQ curve that trades accuracy for warmth. Easy-to-learn, simple-to-use controls. It’s pretty!
Still exhibits some classic acoustic-amplification problems, like brash, unforgiving midrange if you’re not careful.
$1,199
Taylor Circa 74
taylorguitars.com
Save for a few notable (usually expensive) exceptions, acoustic amplifiers are rarely beautiful in a way that matches the intrinsic loveliness of an acoustic flattop. I’ve certainly seen companies try—usually by using brown-colored vinyl to convey … earthiness? Don’t get me wrong, a lot of these amps sound great and even look okay. But the bar for aesthetics, in my admittedly snotty opinion, remains rather low. So, my hat’s off to Taylor for clearing that bar so decisively and with such style. The Circa 74 is, indeed, a pretty piece of work that’s forgiving to work with, ease to use, streamlined, and sharp.
Boxing Beyond Utility
Any discussion of trees or wood with Bob Taylor is a gas, and highly instructive. He loves the stuff and has dabbled before in amplifier designs that made wood an integral feature, rather than just trim. But the Circa 74 is more than just an aesthetic exercise. Because the Taylor gang started to think in a relatively unorthodox way about acoustic sound amplification—eschewing the notion that flat frequency response is the only path to attractive acoustic tone.
I completely get this. I kind of hate flat-response speakers. I hate nice monitors. We used to have a joke at a studio I frequented about a pair of monitors that often made us feel angry and agitated. Except that they really did. Flat sound can be flat-out exhausting and lame. What brings me happiness is listening to Lee “Scratch” Perry—loud—on a lazy Sunday on my secondhand ’70s Klipsch speakers. One kind of listening is like staring at a sun-dappled summer garden gone to riot with flowers. The other sometimes feels like a stale cheese sandwich delivered by robot.
The idea that live acoustic music—and all its best, earthy nuances—can be successfully communicated via a system that imparts its own color is naturally at odds with acoustic culture’s ethos of organic-ness, authenticity, and directness. But where does purity end and begin in an amplified acoustic signal? An undersaddle pickup isn’t made of wood. A PA with flat-response speakers didn’t grow in a forest. So why not build an amp with color—the kind of color that makes listening to music a pleasure and not a chore?
To some extent, that question became the design brief that drove the evolution of the Circa 74. Not coincidentally, the Circa 74 feels as effortless to use as a familiar old hi-fi. It has none of the little buttons for phase correction that make me anxious every time I see one. There’s two channels: one with an XLR/1/4" combo input, which serves as the vocal channel if you are a singer; another with a 1/4" input for your instrument. Each channel consists of just five controls—level, bass, middle, and treble EQ, and a reverb. An 11th chickenhead knob just beneath the jewel lamp governs the master output. That’s it, if you don’t include the Bluetooth pairing button and 1/8" jacks for auxiliary sound sources and headphones. Power, by the way, is rated at 150 watts. That pours forth through a 10" speaker.Pretty in Practice
I don’t want to get carried away with the experiential and aesthetic aspects of the Circa 74. It’s an amplifier with a job to do, after all. But I had fun setting it up—finding a visually harmonious place among a few old black-panel Fender amps and tweed cabinets, where it looked very much at home, and in many respects equally timeless.
Plugging in a vocal mic and getting a balance with my guitar happened in what felt like 60 seconds. Better still, the sound that came from the Circa 74, including an exceedingly croaky, flu-addled human voice, sounded natural and un-abrasive. The Circa 74 isn’t beyond needing an assist. Getting the most accurate picture of a J-45 with a dual-source pickup meant using both the treble and midrange in the lower third of their range. Anything brighter sounded brash. A darker, all-mahogany 00, however, preferred a scooped EQ profile with the treble well into the middle of its range. You still have to do the work of overcoming classic amplification problems like extra-present high mids and boxiness. But the fixes come fast, easily, and intuitively. The sound may not suggest listening to an audiophile copy of Abbey Road, as some discussions of the amp would lead you to expect. But there is a cohesiveness, particularly in the low midrange, that does give it the feel of something mixed, even produced, but still quite organic.
The Verdict
Taylor got one thing right: The aesthetic appeal of the Circa 74 has a way of compelling you to play and sing. Well, actually, they got a bunch of things right. The EQ is responsive and makes it easy to achieve a warm representation of your acoustic, no matter what its tone signature. It’s also genuinely attractive. It’s not perfectly accurate. Instead, it’s rich in low-mid resonance and responsive to treble-frequency tweaks—lending a glow not a million miles away from a soothing home stereo. I think that approach to acoustic amplification is as valid as the quest for transparency. I’m excited to see how that thinking evolves, and how Taylor responds to their discoveries.