H2 Transports Musicians From Garage to Studio
In the early 90s, "alternative" rock exploded and suddenly every wannabe musician believed they could crank out a hit tune. Kids grabbed guitars and headed for garages and basements to produce rough demo tapes and, hopefully, bask in the glow of fame. More or less, that was the beginning of the do-it-yourself era of music production that has exploded in the age of the Internet. And one example of the great leaps that have been made in home-recording equipment since the heyday of Nirvana is the H2 Handy Recorder from Zoom.
According to Zoom, the purpose of the H2 Handy Recorder is to "provide brilliant stereo recording in an easy-to-use, ultra-portable device". Essentially, the small digital tool acts a mini recording studio, providing far greater sound clarity than a tape recorder ever could. The H2 has two sets of mics - one pair on the front and one pair on the back - and musicians can use all the mics at once to produce a four-channel recording with 360-degree coverage. A person can use the H2's built-in tuner to check the pitch of vocals or tune a guitar, and the device can be set to automatically start recording whenever audio is detected and stop when audio ceases. After recording, users can employ the H2's built-in 3D panning function to control the balance of the sound, and widely available authoring software can be used to create 5.1 surround recordings - a capability Zoom claims cannot be found in any other portable digital recorder.
The H2 gives people the option of recording in a number of different formats. According to Zoom, choosing 24bit/96kHz linear PCM (WAV files) format provides audio quality that surpasses CDs and users also can record in MP3 format in almost any bit rate. The low-power circuitry in the H2 makes it possible to run the unit continuously for about 4 hours on two AA batteries and, for longer sessions, it can be plugged in with an included AC adapter. When using the unit with a computer, it will operate on USB power, allowing an individual to record directly onto a hard drive. For regular use, the H2 records on Secure Digital (SD) media and a 512MB SD card is included (though it works with cards as large as 16GB). Through an SD card or the onboard USB port, recordings can be easily moved to a computer and edited, burned to CDs or posted on the Web.
As beneficial as equipment like the H2 is to burgeoning musicians, some critics believe the onslaught of new technology has had negative effects on music as well. While new devices and gadgets help produce clearer, crisper sound, they also take away a lot of the rough edges that once made homemade demos so exciting. Advanced recording technology also has made musicians more reliant on production and editing equipment than their musical chops. These days, upstart bands no longer have to waste time developing a catalog of solid material or playing live gigs until their fingers bleed, they simply record a single, post it on myspace and sign a record deal. And while the H2 is certainly an innovative piece of home-recording equipment, it will probably only add to the number of over-produced, under-talented musicians currently flooding the Web.
| Shad Connelly, |
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