Hey everyone, 1) I later developed the song idea heard in this video into a full track (real singer with band): floydsteinberg.bandcamp.com/track/2 and 2) thanks for your feedback on this video, which obviously has an annoying, high-pitched noise in the segments where I talk to the camera. I ran this through a spectrum analyzer and found the noise is most likely a spike at 12.000 hz - and I can clearly hear it when I isolate it and turn the speakers up. Problem is, coincidentally this is exactly the frequency of my tinnitus so I wasn't able to pick it up while editing with usual speaker / headphone volume. The noise wasn't caused by a groundloop as I assumed in some comments, but by a fan running in the background. As only the close-up segments are affected, I won't reupload the video. Again what learned, as we say 'round here. ;-)
Thanks for the suggestion! It's something I'll have an eye (ear?) on from now on - though, in my defense, it was more of a weird coincidence with that fan running in the other room while recording.
Wow, I’ve had mine for over a year and just now learning about this feature. The synth engine is allot better sounding then I was expecting. For $300 bucks this thing has allot of bang for your buck.
@@mr_floydst If the R8 would have had copy and paste or at least file insert, it would be perfect, but they screwed it up there. Perhaps the R24 is more usable?
OK, I wasn't too sure where this was going... but at about 8:50, I started to get into the sweet vibe of your song, kind of reminded me of a mix between an old Amiga game, and an Italian 80's Post Apocalyptic adventure film. I like the look of this device, overall.
Thanks! I think the song is really defined by the vocal track. I'll have to finish it one day. And whoever selected the sounds for the R20 had some strong 80s nostalgia. :-)
First thank you for making such a great step by step tutorial. Starting from nothing to buying an R20 and an Akai MPK mini plus, this video really helped me get started. I do not think I could have figured it all out so quickly if I was just reading the manuals. I am a show me and I'll learn kind of person. Zoom should at least thank you for your efforts explaining the R20. A fat check would be nice for you. Anyways this was just great for me!
Haha, imagine this: "Hey, that DSP chip we use for the mixer/recorder even provides a GM MIDI synth with 200+ preset sounds as a gimmick, so we could even put a Synthesizer into the gadget!" -"OK, but only 20 sounds, you know, because..., anyway, just do it so!" - "OK, which sounds should we choose?" - "just take the first 20..." - "But, then we won't have drums!" - "Well, take the first 19...and the drums". This is such a typical Chinese engineering design choice. Good luck making music just with pianos, organs, brass ensemble and bass sounds 🙃 And the Drums, of course.
"Boss, shouldn't we have at least one synth lead sound, too?" - "OK...lets drop the first one. I suppose no one needs an acoustic piano. Then we can include the Synth Lead 1 sound , at least".
It's one of many strange decisions ;-) Though it's not a GM module, it's a 4 operator FM synth plus a sampled drum kit. Would have been nice to have an editor for the sounds, for what it is, the synth sounds quite nice.
@@mr_floydst I'm afraid there isn't an editor as the whole synth is just a gimmick from the DSP chip and provided as is. But it makes me wonder, if they decided to use this feature at all, why the hell did they restrict it to 20 sounds? Who decided this like " ah, no, this is too much knob turning at this point" ?
Ah, interesting, I didn't know that! Got to look it up. :-) I agree, what where they thinking. I mean this could be fixed with a patch: //max_intruments=20; ;-)
It's a great home studio. If only they had kept the batteries, the 24 tracks, the mastering effects, the microphones, the 8 XLR combined inputs, the 48 and 96khz options the R24 had, than this would have been a killer machine.
@@mr_floydst maybe they'll get it right in the next iteration. Regarding the synth, is it just preset? If so, how many are there, or did you go through the lot? Also, is there any way to edit them? It's obviously an FM sound source. Makes me think of my old Yamaha FB01 from way back.
Thank you very much! There's a finished version of that song (real singer, spanish guitar band) over on Bandcamp if you're interested: floydsteinberg.bandcamp.com/track/2
Who did you get to do the vocals? I thought this was a great reveal of the Zoom R20. Nice little surprise. Amazed to hear you have tinnitus in the frequency some of the babies are complaining about. I think this was a great video and thanks for sharing this little gem!
Thank you very much! The R20 is good value for the money - thing is, the R24 is better value for the money and Zoom has a lot of half-baked great ideas in the R20 currently. I hope they fix it in a patch. Vocals? See ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-L41yTiVd7nw.html ;-)
Thanks for another great video Floyd! Watching you adjust the EQ levels on the touchscreen of a hardware mixer was 🤯 and almost painful to watch! with all the actual **hardware** knobs and faders available on the device - what were the Zoom designers thinking!?!?
Thanks for watching :-) Yes, the touch screen is a both blessing and a curse. Arranging parts is much quicker, but fine tuning sliders? No way. I mean they have 8 sliders on the device, you could easily remap them to on-screen sliders in software. Everything about the R20 feels half-baked. Audio quality is great, though.
@@mr_floydst though you just described most Zoom gear I've encountered - lots of possibilities, just not all there yet. Audio quality is great, though! And great video...I think I'll spring for one because I like how limited and analog it is vs. Logic Pro & the conundrum of all the options.
Zoom is obviously testing the waters here but these sounds are solid, totally usable, very neutral. They've been compared to general MIDI but that's not at all fair. Man I hope they make a better version of this Zoom R20. It's already so damn good.
I think creating a convincing grand piano sound with a 4 operator fm synthesiser just isn't possible. I agree they should add an editor or at least the ability to upload some configuration files.
is the high pitched electrical interference noise coming from the unit? This video is unwatchable for me because of the high pitched electrical ringing. I was interested in seeing you review this device too. :(
For capturing the audio, I had to connect another recorder to the R20. I guess this created a ground loop I didn't hear. Is the noise there throughout the entire video?
@@humanwaveform Thanks for specifying! Then it is as I thought - using an external recorder created that problem and I can't hear that high pitch, or my equipment can't play back that pitch. Will check this, and perhaps re-upload.
One of my viewers pointed out the sound chip used in the R20 has a full set of FM tones that for whatever reason Zoom only allowed access to the first 20. Oh wait. Because it's the R20. Haha.
I was thinking this unit would have the boring old PCM sampled romplers we are accustomed to but NO!! An FM Yamaha SYNTH!! Ala DX7 style!!! THAT is rare to find as an add on feature today! Now the question is, can you edit the presets? The drum sounds are sampled so that FM synth is a nice surprise.
When you program in midi drums... but no mention of looping....? For live input of notes. The r20 has no loop function??? Stop and rewind is the only option?
Hey Floyd Quick Question and I do realise this video went up quite a while ago but I notice you have xlr going in to the R20 are they coming from 1/4 mono jacks on Synth's ... I have just ordered the R20 and Cannot find any clear info via google and the manual has this line 'Use INPUTS 3-8 to connect mics and keyboards' which is kinda muddy explanation ... Thanks in advance Floyd 👌👌
Hi, I just bought some 6.35mm to XLR adapter cables to connect all my synths. This gives you 4 stereo or 8 mono inputs for your synths. If you want to use Guitar or Mics, the 2 sockets on the left come with "high sensitivity" and 4 of the inputs will support phantom power.
@@mr_floydst Thanks Floyd I have ordered the exact same cables 6 of them wont have room for a mic may have to go Mono on one of the synths if I want to sing hehehe < I can NOT see that happening hahaha 😊Again Thanks Floyd 👍
Thanks for watching! The iTrack Dock is a great piece of kit - but in my case, the R20 fits in better (it's also a mixer and audio interface for my synth setup which can't be seen in this video).
Does anybody know? Can you do all recording through headphones only, so no amplified noise can be heard by neighbours? How is the R20 on hiss/background noise? Thanks, in advance, if you can help me.
Hi, thanks for watching. As long as the instruments you're recording are relatively silent (synths, electric guitars...) you can monitor them on headphones. In my experience, the preamps on the R20 are superb. I didn't measure the signal to noise ratio, but even if you adjust the volume of a recording on a computer later, you will get no notable noise (given your recording was leveled properly)
@@mr_floydst Thank you. The noise of my guitars doesn't bother the neighbours unless it's amplified so this should work. One more thing. The R8 has built in speakers. What advantage does that give? Thanks.
There's an option for that in the project menu. You can tap the cogwheel and select it, specify where the render should be stored (USB drive or SD card) and then it renders the song to a single WAV file.
Thanks. This is a plugin, EMVoice, and the patch name is "Keela". These are deep sampled real singers. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-L41yTiVd7nw.html
7:05 just record, with no quantization at all, no midi clock, even on this maybe a good review, you can't even get the notes on the spot, maybe you tried 20 times to get it on video right. just throw all your gear on it with not one gear in sync. just like a 60-dollar recorder toy with no midi beat clock. or like a tape recorder from 40 years ago. this is only for unplugged gear, drums guitars voices, and a big finger to all electronic gear
Hi, thanks for watching and commenting! You're right, if you want electronic music precision, this isn't the right tool for you. Still puzzles me ZOOM doesn't add MIDI sync to this - I mean it does have MIDI IN. Overall, I'm a bit torn on this device - the R24, it's predecessor, was better value for the money, but the R20's recordings undeniably sound better (to me)
I have tried with zoom h8 to record a clock signal with a volca and kinda got it to work with a really loud pulse then outputting the track with clock to the microfreak then sending midi out from there to sync other synths. Wish zoom had sync. Some of the newer Tascam recorders have midi out with clock.
I'm perfectly fine with that. However, critiscism can only be helpful when you provide information what it was that you disliked. Also, I developed the idea heard in the video into a full song later, sung by a real singer with an actual band, which can be heard here floydsteinberg.bandcamp.com/track/2 ;-)
@@mr_floydst compared to a 2001 xy100 it’s way worse than that, let alone an Integra 7, or Yamaha EX but the sounds are no better than a pocket operator in my opinion. I have pocket operators so I don’t need another basic synth sound.
Ah, ok! I thought you were referring to the sound quality of the video itself. I agree of course. These are the most basic FM sounds you could come up with, only saved by the effects section (Zoom's experience with effects shows - the tape delay sounds very good in my opinion)
Uh, uhm yeah, that's because all those guys try to make one video per week to keep RU-vid's algorithm happy, so my apologies for not writing a hit song every single week. Here's an actual track I made ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jGjU2thmE_U.html But all those guys writing snide comments don't really bother to take 5 minutes of time to listen. ;-)
BTW I later recorded the idea in this video with real musicians, it's here floydsteinberg.bandcamp.com/track/2 And once again sorry for making sequencer music in a video talking about the, uhm, synthesizer and sequencer in a device. lol
