The Songwriter's Digital Tools for Writing Songs

THE SONGWRITER'S DIGITAL TOOLS FOR WRITING SONGS - A GUIDE TO PORTABLE DIGITAL MULTITRACK RECORDERS

Boss Micro BR VS Zoom H2 VS Zoom H4 VS Zoom MRS8 VS Boss BR-600 VS Zoom PS04

What happens most of the time is that musicians come to a point when they want to create their own music, being some simple verse-chorus-verse songs or some complex music, the appeal of creating music will always come in some form. In the past the only way to keep track of music was writing it down, but now, in the technology era, we can use some tools to help us out.

Multitrack recorders are a type of recorder with a special feature: the possibility to record one track and then another track, listening to the previous track without erasing out. This is called Overdub, and it is very cool. In a 4-track recorder you could, for example, record a guitar progression in track 1, a bass in track 2, drums in track 3 and vocals on track 4. You would record them one at the time and they would all play simultaneous at the end just like a live band, turning the solo musician/songwriter into a full band!

In the creating process the goal is not always to make some great sounding recordings but to capture the moment with the suficient quality so that it is possible to re-listen and re-learn it, later on. My process of creating music is like this:

1. Come up with an idea 2. Rush to find the recorder 3. Rush to find batteries for the recorder 4. Record it

Later on, sometimes months, I will go back to the recorder, listen to the idea again, get inspired and add some more things and tweak the original sounds. This process can go on for some time until I'm happy with the recording and then I record it on a real studio with high quality equipment and a computer.

The point is that for me it is easier to create music away from the computer but without losing all the benefits that the computer provide, like multitrack, effects and things that help make the music more similar to what it is like when it comes to our minds (and in the end it is only this that matters). This guide is directed to people like me, budget songwriters that like to do it themselves.

This guide is about portable digital multitrack recorders. These are basically devices that in a sound quality range are close to PC High-Quality recordings but are portable enough so that you can put it on your pocket or carry it easily enough to be able to capture the moment when it is needed. The fact that this list is about portable recorders imediately wipes out most the recorders. There are tons of cool multitrack recorders but few can really be called portable. Also there are a ton of portable digital recorders but few of them are multitrack. So after some research I included: Boss Micro BR, Zoom H2 (included because I like it), Zoom H4, Zoom MRS8, Boss BR-600, Zoom PS04.

For a complete list of multitrack recorders see: zZounds Multitrack Recorders list, Thomann Multitrack Recorders list, Amazon Multitrack Recorders list .

BOSS MICRO BR D E S C R I P T I O N :

Boss Micro BR is basically a 4-track recorder, mixed with a phrasing trainer and a touch of field recorder plus a lot of extra features. It is small, maybe the size of an Ipod, fits in your back and front pocket. The idea of Micro BR is to be the perfect guitar bag companion. Has three inputs, the built-in condenser electret microphone, a guitar dedicated jack input (1/4 jack) and a 1/8 Line stereo input which can be used with external microphones (with plugin power). You can record two tracks simultaneously, for example the guitar dedicated jack input and the built-in mic input and all 4 tracks playback simultaneously.

Has a multi-effects processor for voice, guitar, bass, drums and mastering presets. Also one thing most people don't know, one can fade in or out in Micro BR changing the master volume level while bouncing or mastering.

In the rhythm part there are 293 built-in rhythm patterns which cannot be edited themselves but can be sequenced in a specific order creating your own drum arrangement in an indepedent track from the other 4 tracks. Also features simple 4/4, 3/4, 5/4 and other time signature metronome.

It can play and record MP3/WAV files, so it can also be used as a field recorder for long time recording sessions like rehearsals (up to 693 min in 192kbps MP3 or 94 minutes in full WAV) or nature sounds. Can also be used as a trainer because it has two special features: Center Cancel, which lowers the volume level of the lead vocal or guitar. Time stretch which slows down the overall song making it easier to take out licks or melodies. You can use both at the same time and they work pretty well.

Can upload finished, mixed and mastered songs in MP3 or individual tracks in WAV to PC using USB.

Stores all the data on SD cards, up to 2GB (although only uses 1GB of this because of the FAT32 file system).

P R I C E :

Street price is $229 but can vary from store to store and sometimes there are discounts or resealed units that sell cheaper. USA residents: zZounds Micro BR product page, European residents: Thomann Micro BR product page; rrest of the world: Amazon (product page) .

M O R E I N F O R M A T I O N :

For more information see the forum and the complete Micro BR review and description with sound samples. Also check this pages: Zzounds reviews, Tim Cole review, O' Reilly review, Harmony Central reviews, Amazon reviews, Musicians friend reviews, SameDay music reviews, and Music 123 reviews.

Conclusion

I've been using this multitrack recorder for over a year now and I still believe it was the best buy I could do. I think in terms of flexibility and all-in-one features it can only be beaten by the Zoom H4 which costs almost $100 more and is less multitrack and more field recorder than Micro BR. I recommend it especially for begginer musicians and songwriters as it is not very expensive and is easy to use. I would say after a whole year of having bought it I would still choose it once again. It is a great tool for songwriters, not only for the shredding guitarists.

SAMSON ZOOM H2

D E S C R I P T I O N :

The overall idea is to be able to record a soundscape in a very realistic way with a cheap portable device. It has four built in condenser microphones, two in the front and two in the back, which can be armed in different combinations regarding the different needs. It can record in up to 24bit/96kHz in WAV or MP3 simultaneously in two stereo tracks or four mono and stores the data in SD cards up to 2GB and SDHC up to 8GB. Basically you can record a full soundscap: stereo on the front, stereo on the back or full 360º in two stereo tracks.

It has some recording features that make it more efficient, like: automatic record, which makes the recorder start or stop recording when the input sound exceeds or not a given volume. Works as an USB microphone (good for podcasts), as a metronome, a tuner and a MP3 player.

Has an external plugin power input for microphones and can work with an AC adaptor.

It is directed to people who want to record concerts, conferences, reharsals, jams, nature sounds. The filmmaker, the podcaster, all the people that need a full replica of soundscapes would benefit from this tool.

P R I C E :

Street price is $199 but can vary from store to store and sometimes there are discounts. USA residents: zZounds H2 product page; European residents: Thomann H2 product page; rest of the world: Amazon H2 product page.

For more information go to: Zoom H2 Home page, zZounds Zoom H2 reviews, Amazon Zoom H2 reviews and Digital O'Reilly review.

Conclusion

It is not 100% directed to the lonely musician/songwriter that wants to create his own songs because it doesn't have real multitrack abilities: you cannot record one track with your guitar and then record another track with your vocals hearing the previous guitar track. This is called overdub and Zoom H2 doesn't support it. Also it is not a learning tool and cannot be used as an audio interface. But the price is pretty good and it comes with all the acessories and is an awesome field recorder. I recommend it to all the podcasters, reporters, sound techs, filmakers, people that like to capture high quality outdoor sounds.

SAMSON ZOOM H4

D E S C R I P T I O N : The Zoom H4 is the antecessor of H2 and has all of the H2 features (minus two built-in mics) plus: 4-Track recording and editing, guitar and bass modelling effects from the Zoom G2, XLR with phantom power, guitar dedicated jack inputs and it now also functions as an USB audio interface so its possible to connect it to the PC and use it like Line 6 - Toneport, for example. Also has a built in tuner and metronome. No rhythm or bass midi-like programmable sounds like the Zoom PS04 had.

It is directed to people who want to record concerts, conferences, reharsals, jams, nature sounds. The filmmaker, the podcaster, all the people that need a full replica of soundscapes would benefit from this tool and also because this have multitrack features it is far more useful to the solo musician/songwriter than the H2.

This unit provides phantom power for using with an external condenser microphone and comes with a Cubase LE version built-in ready to use.

P R I C E :

Street price is $299 but can vary from retailer to retailer and sometimes there are discounts, so I suggest you compare the prices from all stores you go to. Also check the online retailers. USA residents: zZounds Zoom H4 product page; European residents: Thomann Zoom H4 product page; rest of the world: Amazon Zoom H4 product page .

For more information I suggest you check these pages: Zoom H4 Home page, ZoomH4.net, Zoom H4 Harmony Central reviews, zZounds Zoom H4 reviews and 2090.org.

Conclusion:

This is a pretty good recorder. It is mainly a field recorder designed to capture speech, nature sounds, etc... But can also be used for writing music because of its multitrack features. It has 4 track editing, with the cuting, moving, etc... So this is usable for songwriters as well. I would especially recommend this for folk acoustic guitar players and the likes as it is very good to capture acoustic instruments. Violin and cello sounds great on this. It doesn't have drum machine, stand alone mixer functions or virtual tracks.

BOSS BR-600

Boss BR-600 is like Micro BR's older brother, it does everything the Micro BR do and some more. It is an 8- track recorder with 8 virtual tracks (takes) for track. You can edit them all the way, by cutting, copying, pasting, moving, etc...

It has 5 input sources: guitar dedicated 1/4 jack input, 1/8 Line stereo input, built-in stereo condenser electret microphone and a XLR or 1/4 jack for microphones. Has a built-in multi-effects processor with loads of effects for guitar, vocals, bass, drums and mastering. Includes Pitch Correction and Bass Emulation using a guitar. It is also a drum machine with 300 onboard drum patterns and some different drumkits with the possibilty to program your own drum patterns using the pads and sequence them in a complete drum arrangement.

Uses Compact Flash cards up to 1GB. Also has a built-in Tuner, the phrasing trainer features and also has the possibility of using an optional footswitch or expression pedal to control some of the features.

P R I C E :

Street price is $349. I don't usually see resealed BR-600 units or discounts but I suggest you check these online retailers for more information: USA residents: zZounds BR-600 product page; Europe residents: Thomann BR-600 product page; rest of the world: Amazon Boss BR-600 product page .

Check the Boss BR-600 home page, the 64Guitar's BR-600 page, Harmony Central reviews and zZounds reviews.

Conclusion

This is a very good multitrack recorder. It is more than suficient for everyone to create some studio quality songs and is easy to use. You can't use it with external condenser microphones because it doesn't provide phantom power. It is not really portable though, I mean, you can move it around fairly easy but you cannot put it in the pocket and take it outdoors. I would say that this is a home portable recorder. The price is not too high for what it is but there are other alternatives with lower price. Overall, very good gadget, I would personally use a computer instead though. This is good for songwriters, but it is not just for simple to moderate complexity song sketches it is for complete finished songs.

ZOOM MRS8

As BR-600 is in relation to Micro BR, Zoom MRS8 is in relation to Zoom PS04. Zoom MRS8 is the older brother of Zoom PS04. And one could say that the both, BR-600 are Zoom MRS8 are each other's rival...

But really now, MRS8 is an 8-track recorder much like BR-600. It has 3 input sources: guitar dedicated input 1/4 jack, XLR and 1/4 jack combo input and the built in condenser microphone. It has 10 virtual takes per track, programmable drum and bass machine using the pads, built-in multi-effects processor with 8 algorithms and 100 effect types. One difference between BR-600 is that it uses 4 AA batteries, unlike the 6 AA from BR-600.

Uses SD cards up to 1GB and can store 100 projects (songs) in it. The signal processing bitrate is 24 bit so it will probably sound better than BR-600.

One cool thing is that it has a MIDI out, so you can use the machine as a MIDI controller if you plug it to PC. This way you can use VST instruments and other plugins like that although bear in mind that it only has 6 pads. P R I C E :

Street price is $299 and sometimes there are discounts or resealed units that are cheaper. I suggest you check your local music store and the usual online retailers. USA residents: zZounds Zoom MRS8 product page; Europe residents: Thomann Zoom MRS8 product page; rest of the world: Amazon MRS8 product page .

For more info check the Official Zoom MRS8 home page and the Zoom MRS-8 group, also Harmony Central reviews and zZounds reviews. There is also a website at 2090.org about all the Zoom multitrack recorders.

Conclusion

This is also a very good multitrack recorder. It has more than enough power for everyone to create some studio quality songs. And once again I think it is not really portable, I mean, you can move it around fairly easy but you cannot put it in the pocket and take it outdoors. It is smaller than BR-600 but bigger than PS04, I would say that this is a home portable recorder. The price is good for what it is. Overall, very good gadget, but once again for what it is aimed for I would personally use a computer instead.

OVERALL CONCLUSION:

Well, you would be well served with any of the multitrack recorders listed here but each person is a person, each style is a style and it always depends on what you need. The objective is always to try to replicate the music that is in our minds to the real world. One can accomplish that without any technology but it exists and we might as well use it.

Of all these recorders the one I prefer is Boss Micro BR, mainly because of its flexibility and low cost. If you have any doubt or questions you want to make be sure to go to the forum, the community is always eager to help and there is a board for all recorders as well as board for discussing music and recording techniques.

Thanks for reading.