ZOOM MR-1608 User Manual

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Operation Manual

Reproduction of this manual, in whole or in part, by any means, is prohibited.

USAGE AND SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

In this manual, symbols are used to highlight warnings and

cautions for you to read so that accidents can be prevented.

The meanings of these symbols are as follows:

This symbol indicates explanations about

extremely dangerous matters. If users

arning

ignore this symbol and handle the device

the wrong way, serious injury or death could

result.

This symbol indicates explanations about

Caution

Please observe the following safety tips and precautions to

ensure hazard-free use of the MRS-1608.

• Power requirements

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• About grounding

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dangerous matters. If users ignore this

symbol and handle the device the wrong

way, bodily injury and damage to the

equipment could result.

The MRS-1608 is powered by the supplied AC

adapter. To prevent malfunction and safety hazards,

do not use any other kind of AC adapter.

When using the MRS-1608 in an area with a

different line voltage, please consult your local

ZOOM distributor about acquiring a proper AC

adapter.

Depending on installation conditions, a slight

electrical charge may be felt when touching a metal

part of the MRS-1608. If you wish to avoid this,

ground the unit by connecting the ground screw on

the rear panel to a good external ground.

To prevent the risk of accidents, never use one of the

following for grounding:

• Water pipe (risk of electric shock)

• Gas pipe (risk of explosion)

• Telephone wiring ground or lightning arrestor

(risk of lightning stroke)

• Environment

Avoid using your MRS-1608 in environments where

it will be exposed to:

Caution

• Extreme temperature

• High humidity, moisture, or splashing water

• Excessive dust or sand

• Excessive vibration or shock

• Handling

Never place objects ﬁlled with liquids, such as vases,

on the MRS-1608 since this can cause electric shock.

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The MRS-1608 is a precision instrument. Do not

Caution

exert undue pressure on the keys and other controls.

Also take care not to drop the unit, and do not subject

it to shock or excessive pressure.

• Alterations

Never open the case of the MRS-1608 or attempt to

modify the product in any way since this can result in

Caution

damage to the unit.

• Connecting cables and input and output jacks

You should always turn off the power to the MRS-

Caution

1608 and all other equipment before connecting or

disconnecting any cables. Also make sure to

disconnect all cables and the AC adapter before

moving the MRS-1608.

• Volume

Do not use the MRS-1608 at a loud volume for a long

time since this can cause hearing impairment.

Caution

• CD-R/RW Drive

Never look directly in the laser beam projected from

the optical pickup of the CD-R/RW drive since your

Caution

sight can be damaged.

ZOOM MRS-1608

USAGE AND SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

Usage Precautions

• Electrical interference

For safety considerations, the MRS-1608 has been designed

to provide maximum protection against the emission of

electromagnetic radiation from inside the device, and

protection from external interference. However, equipment

that is very susceptible to interference or that emits powerful

electromagnetic waves should not be placed near the MRS-

1608, as the possibility of interference cannot be ruled out

entirely.

With any type of digital control device, the MRS-1608

included, electromagnetic interference can cause

malfunctioning and can corrupt or destroy data. Care should

be taken to minimize the risk of damage.

• Cleaning

Use a soft, dry cloth to clean the MRS-1608. If necessary,

slightly moisten the cloth. Do not use abrasive cleanser, wax,

or solvents (such as paint thinner or cleaning alcohol), since

these may dull the ﬁnish or damage the surface.

MIDI is a registered trademark of Association of Musical

Electronics Industry(AMEI).

All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the

property of their respective owners.

All trademarks and registered trademarks mentioned in

this manual are for identiﬁcation purposes only and are

not intended to infringe on the copyrighted properties of

their respective owners.

• Backup

The data of MRS-1608 can be lost because of malfunction

or incorrect operation. Backup your data.

• Copyrights

Except for personal use, unauthorized recording from

copyrighted sources(CDs, records, tapes, video clips,

broadcast material and so on) is prohibited.

ZOOM Corporation does not bear any liability for

injunctions regarding the copyright law infringement.

Please keep this manual in a convenient place for future

reference.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Contents

USAGE AND SAFETY PRECAUTIONS . . . 2

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Introducing the MRS-1608 . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Recorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Rhythm section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Parts of the MRS-1608 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Top panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Rear panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Front panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Installing the CD-R/RW Drive . . . . . . . . . . 17

Power On/Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Turning power on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Turning power off (shutdown) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Listening to a Demo Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Selecting the demo song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Playing the demo song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Let’s Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Quick Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Step 1: Preparations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

1.1 Creating a new project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

1.2 Selecting the rhythm pattern to use . . . . . . . . . . 23

Step 2: Recording the first track . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

2.1 Adjusting input sensitivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

2.2 Applying the insert effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

2.3 Selecting a track and recording . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Step 3: Overdubbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

3.1 Making settings for input sensitivity and

insert effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

3.2 Selecting a track and recording . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Step 4: Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

4.1 Turning off the input and rhythm section . . . . . .29

4.2 Adjusting volume, panning, and EQ . . . . . . . . . .29

4.3 Applying the send/return effect . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

4.4 Applying the insert effect to a track . . . . . . . . . .32

Step 5: Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

5.1 Using the mastering insert effect . . . . . . . . . . . .33

5.2 Mixdown on the master track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Reference [Recorder] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

V-takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

About V-takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Switching V-takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Assigning V-take names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Moving to a desired point in the song

(locate function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Playing back the same passage repeatedly

(A-B repeat function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Finding a desired location (scrub/preview

function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Using scrub/preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Changing the scrub direction and duration . . . . . . . 38

Re-recording only a speciﬁed region

(punch-in/out function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Using manual punch-in/out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Using auto punch-in/out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Recording several tracks on a master track

(mixdown function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

About the master track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Master track mixdown steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Playing the master track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Combining multiple tracks on one or two tracks

(bounce function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

How bounce works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Making bounce settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Executing bounce recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Recording the drum/bass sound

(rhythm recording) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Selecting drum/bass track as recording source . . . 44

Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Recording on 8 tracks simultaneously

(8-track recording mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

About 8-track recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Assigning an input signal to a track . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Marker function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Setting a mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Locating a mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Deleting a mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Making settings for pre-count operation . . . . . .48

Reference [Track Editing] . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Editing a range of data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Basic steps for range editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Copying a specified range of data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Moving a specified range of data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Erasing a specified range of data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Trimming a specified range of data . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Fade-in/fade-out of a specified data range . . . . . . . 53

Reversing a specified range of audio data . . . . . . . . 54

Changing the duration of a specified range

of data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Compensating the pitch of a specified range . . . . . 55

Generating a 3-part harmony from a specified

range of audio data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Generating a 1-part harmony from a specified

range of audio data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Editing using V-takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Basic steps for V-take editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Erasing a V-take . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Copying a V-take . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Moving a V-take . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Exchanging V-takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Importing a V-take from another project . . . . . . . . . 64

Track capture and swap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Capturing a track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Swapping track data and captured data . . . . . . . . . 66

ZOOM MRS-1608

Contents

Reference [Phrase Looping] . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Which kind of phrases can be used? . . . . . . . . 67

Loading a phrase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Basic phrase loading steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Importing a phrase from the current project . . . . . .69

Importing a WAV/AIFF file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70

Importing a phrase from a different project . . . . . . . 71

Adjusting phrase parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Copying a phrase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Deleting a phrase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Writing a phrase loop to a track . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Using FAST input for the phrase loop . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Writing a phrase loop to a track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75

Reference [Mixer] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

About the mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Assigning input signals to recording tracks . . . 78 Adjusting the signal for each track

(track parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Linking two tracks (stereo link) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Assigning an input/track signal to the SUB-OUT

jack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Using the solo function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Saving/recalling mixer settings

(scene function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Saving a scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84

Recalling a scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85

Switching scenes automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85

Deleting certain parameters from a scene . . . . . . . .86

Reference [Rhythm] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

About the rhythm section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Drum kits and bass programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Rhythm patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88

Rhythm song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88

Rhythm pattern mode and rhythm song mode . . . . 88

Synchronizing the recorder section and rhythm

section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Playing rhythm patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Selecting a rhythm pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Changing the tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Changing the drum kit / bass program . . . . . . . . . . 90

Selecting the sound or scale to play with

the pads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91

Creating an original rhythm pattern . . . . . . . . . 93

Preparations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93

Drum sequence real-time input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94

Bass sequence real-time input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95

Drum sequence step input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96

Bass sequence step input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98

Entering rhythm pattern chord information . . . . . .100

Changing the drum/bass sequence volume

level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101

Assigning a name to a rhythm pattern . . . . . . . . . .101

Editing rhythm patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Copying a rhythm pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Deleting a rhythm pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103

Creating a rhythm song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Selecting a rhythm song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Entering pattern information using step input . . . .104

Using FAST for pattern information input . . . . . . . . 106

Entering chord information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Entering other information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Playing a rhythm song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Editing a rhythm song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Copying a specified range of measures . . . . . . . . . 111

Transposing the entire rhythm song . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Copying a rhythm song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Deleting the rhythm song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Assigning a name to a rhythm song . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Creating your own drum kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

Changing the sound and settings for each pad . . . 114

Assigning a name to a drum kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Copying a drum kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Adjusting the volume of each pad with the

faders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Importing rhythm patterns and rhythm songs

from another project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Editing various settings of the rhythm

section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

Basic procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Changing the length of the pre-count . . . . . . . . . . 119

Changing the metronome volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Adjusting the sensitivity of the pads . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Checking the remaining amount of memory . . . . . 120

Swapping the left/right pan position . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Reference [Pad Sampler] . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

How the pad sampler works . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121

Material that can be imported into the sample

pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122

Importing a sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122

Basic steps for sample importing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Importing part of a track/V-take . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Importing a WAV/AIFF file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Setting various sample parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Editing a sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

Copying a sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Deleting a sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Editing a specified range of a sample . . . . . . . . . . 127

Creating sampler programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Creating a new sampler program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Assigning samples to pads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Editing a sampler program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

Assigning a name to a sampler program . . . . . . . . 131

Copying a sampler program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Deleting a sampler program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Using the pads to play the pad sampler . . . . .133

Playing the pad sampler sounds in a rhythm

pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134

Recording pad sampler play on an audio

track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

Importing a sampler program from another

project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

Reference [Effects] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

About the effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138

Insert effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Send/return effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Using the insert effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

About insert effect patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

ZOOM MRS-1608

Contents

Changing the insert location of the insert effect . . .140

Selecting the patch for the insert effect . . . . . . . . .141

Editing the insert effect patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Storing/swapping insert effect patches . . . . . . . . . 145

Editing the name of an insert effect patch . . . . . . .145

Applying the insert effect only to the monitor

signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146

Using the send/return effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

About the send/return effect patches . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Selecting a send/return effect patch . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Editing a send/return effect patch . . . . . . . . . . . . .147

Storing/swapping send/return effect patches . . . .148

Editing the name of a send/return effect patch . . .149

Importing patches from another project . . . . 149

Reference [Creating a CD] . . . . . . . . . . .151

About creating an audio CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

About CD-R/RW discs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Creating an audio CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Creating an audio CD by project . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152

Creating an audio CD by album . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153

Using the marker function to separate tracks . . . . 155

Including a playlist in an album . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156

Playing an audio CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Finalizing a CD-R/RW Disc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Erasing a CD-RW disc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Loading an audio CD into a project . . . . . . . . 160

Backup and restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Saving a single project to CD-R/RW disc . . . . . . . .161

Saving all projects to CD-R/RW disc . . . . . . . . . . .162

Loading a project from CD-R/RW disc . . . . . . . . . . 163

Reference [Projects] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

About projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Project operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Basic procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165

Loading a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Creating a new project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166

Checking the project size/available hard disk

capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167

Duplicating a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167

Erasing a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Changing the project name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168

Protecting a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169

Reference [MIDI] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

About MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

What you can do using MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Making MIDI-related settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Basic procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171

Setting the drum kit/bass program MIDI

channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171

Turning Timing Clock messages on or off . . . . . . . 172

Turning Song Position Pointer messages on or

off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .172

Turning Start/Stop/Continue messages on or

off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .172

Turning Program Change messages on or

off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

Turning MIDI Time Code (MTC) messages on or

off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

Using the SMF player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Reading an SMF into a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Selecting the SMF output destination . . . . . . . . . . 175

SMF playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Reference [Other Functions] . . . . . . . . .177

Playing several projects continuously

(sequence play) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177

Creating a playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Playlist playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Using the tuner function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179

Using the chromatic tuner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Using other tuner types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Changing the function of the foot switch . . . .181

Preventing digital copying of a master disc or

master tape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182

Switching the level meter display type . . . . . .182

Using an option card to connect to a

computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183

Hard disk maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .184

Basic maintenance procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Test/restore integrity of data on internal hard disk

(ScanDisk) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Returning system file data to factory default

(Factory Initialize) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Returning the entire hard disk to the factory default

(All Initialize) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Hard disk maintenance using the supplied

CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186

Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Problems during playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188

Problems during recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188

Problems with effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189

Problems with the rhythm section . . . . . . . . . .189

Problems with MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189

Problems with CD-R/RW drive . . . . . . . . . . . . .190

Other problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .190

Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Effect Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191

Insert Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Send/return Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Effect Patch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202

Insert Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Send/return Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Rhythm Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209

Drum Kits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211

Bass Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211

Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .212

MIDI note number chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214

Phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215

MRS-1608 Hard Disk Contents . . . . . . . . . . . .217

Compatibility with MRS Series . . . . . . . . . . . . .217

MIDI implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .218

MIDI implementation chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219

INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

ZOOM MRS-1608

Introduction

Thank you for selecting the manual). The MRS-1608 is a fascinating product with the following features.

■

Brings together everything you need for complete music production

The MRS-1608 provides all the functionality you need for professional music production: hard disk recorder, drum/bass machine, sampler, digital mixer, effects, CD-R/RW drive and more. From creating the rhythm tracks to multitrack recording, mixdown, and burning an audio CD, the MRS-1608 lets you do it all.

■

Recorder with 16 tracks x 10 virtual takes

The recorder section provides 16 audio tracks (mono x 8, stereo x 4), plus a stereo master track for mixdown. Because each track has ten virtual tracks (V-takes), you can record multiple takes for important parts such as vocals or guitar solos and select the best take later. A full range of editing functions is provided, allowing you to copy or move audio data. Special functions including time stretch/compression and pitch compensation are also available.

■

Versatile input/output conﬁguration allows simultaneous recording

ZOOM MRS-1608 MultiTrak Recording Studio

in 8 channels

The MRS-1608 features 3 inputs on the front and rear panels feeding a total of 8 channels. The unit can accommodate a wide range of sources, including high-impedance instruments such as guitar and bass, dynamic or condenser mics, as well as synthesizers and other linelevel devices. Normally, any two input signals will be selected for recording, but an 8-track recording mode for simultaneous recording of up to 8 signals is also available. This is great for multi-miking of drum sets or for capturing the performance of an entire band. On the output side, there are analog and digital (optical) stereo outputs as well as a STEREO SUB-OUT connector that can carry a separate mix. Possible applications include monitoring during recording and use as a send output for an external effect.

(simply called the “

MRS-1608

” in this

■

Bounce function allows ping-pong recording of 16 tracks simultaneously

The bounce function makes it easy to consolidate multiple tracks into one or two tracks with just a few keystrokes. Play all 16 tracks, add the drum + bass sound, and bounce the result onto two empty V-takes. If you select the master track as bounce target, internal mixdown is possible without using up any of the regular audio tracks.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Introduction

■

Rhythm section can be used to provide guide rhythm or accompaniment

The rhythm section provides more than 400 types of accompaniment patterns from the internal drum sound generator. What’s more, you can create your own original patterns using real-time or step input. Patterns can be used as a guide rhythm during recording, or programmed together with chords to create an entire rhythm song. In addition to conventional step input, the MRS-1608 features an innovative concept called FAST developed by ZOOM which lets you quickly build songs with various repetition patterns.

■

Phrase loop function for pasting audio material

Using recorded audio data or audio ﬁles picked up from a CD-ROM disc, you can create “phrase loops” for example of drum licks and guitar riffs. The playback order and repetition count of loop material can be programmed with the FAST method and written to any V-take as audio data.

■

Pad sampler lets you play audio material with the pads

Parts of an audio track or an audio ﬁle imported from CD-ROM can be assigned to the pads and played like a percussion set. This is useful to add sound effects to a song or play a rhythm pattern with unique character.

■

Mixer section supporting automated operation

The internal digital mixer can handle the playback signal from the audio tracks plus the drum and bass sound. The level, panning, and EQ settings of each channel can be saved as separate “scenes”. A saved scene can be switched automatically at a desired point in a song.

■

Versatile effects

In terms of internal effects, the MRS-1608 provides an “insert effect” that can be inserted into a speciﬁed signal route, and a “send/return effect” that is used via the mixer send/return loop. The effects can be used in a variety of ways, either modifying the tone in real time while recording a track or during track playback.

■

CD-R/RW drive lets you create audio CDs or backups

The MRS-1608 CD model with integrated CD-R/RW drive lets you write audio data saved on the master track onto a CD-R/RW disc, to produce an audio CD. This is convenient to back up data that you have recorded. The version of the MRS-1608 without internal CD-R/RW drive lets you install the optional drive CD-02 later, giving you the same functionality as the integrated model.

In order to take full advantage of the MRS-1608’s versatile functions and to ensure trouble-free enjoyment, please read this manual carefully.

Keep this manual in a safe place together with the warranty card.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Introducing the MRS-1608

The MRS-1608 is internally divided into the following ﬁve sections.

●

Recorder

Records and plays back audio signals.

●

Rhythm section

Uses the internal drum/bass sound source to play rhythms.

●

Mixer

Mixes the signals from the recorder and the drum/bass sound source into a stereo signal, for output via the output jacks and for mixdown on dedicated master tracks.

●

Process input signals, recorder playback signals, or drum/ bass sound source signals in various ways, to achieve various sound characteristics.

●

Allows creating an audio CD or backing up recorded contents. Also serves for importing audio material from a CD or CD-ROM inserted in the drive.

The following diagram shows the relationship and signal ﬂow between each section.

Effects

CD-R/RW drive

INPUT

Insert

effect

CD-R/RW drive

From immediately

after [MASTER]

To immediately

before [MASTER]

fader

Recorder

Tra ck 1 Tra ck 2 Tra ck 3 Tra ck 4 Tra ck 5 Tra ck 6 Tra ck 7 Tra ck 8

Tracks 9/10

Tracks 11/12

Tracks 13/14

Tracks 15/16

Master track

Bass sound source

Drum sound source

Pad sampler

Rhythm section

DRUM

12345678

BASS

MASTER OUTPUT

9/10

11/12 13/14 15/16

To master track

MASTER

ZOOM MRS-1608

Chorus delay

Reverb

Mixer

From master track

Introducing the MRS-1608

Recorder

The recorder section of the MRS-1608 has 16 audio tracks: eight mono tracks (tracks 1 – 8) and four stereo tracks (tracks 9/10 – 15/16). (A “track” is a separate section for recording audio data.) Up to 8 tracks can be recorded simultaneously and up to 16 tracks can be played back simultaneously. Each of the tracks has ten switchable virtual tracks (called “V-takes”). For each track, one V-take can be selected for recording/playback.

Track 1 Track 2 Track 3

Rhythm

pattern

Recorder

Rhythm section

Rhythm

pattern

Rhythm

pattern

Bass sound

Drum sound

To BASS fader of mixe

To DRUM fader of mixe

Currently selected V-take

-take

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2345678

9/10 11/12 13/14 15/16

Tracks Master track

The recorder section also provides a set of stereo tracks which are separate from the normal record/play tracks 1 – 16. This is called the master track. The master track is dedicated for mixdown and for holding the material used to create an audio CD.

Rhythm section

You can arrange rhythm patterns in the desired order of playback, and program chords and tempo to create the rhythm accompaniment for an entire song. (This is called a “rhythm song”) Up to 10 rhythm songs can be created, among which one is selected for editing/playback.

The rhythm section can also be played using the “pad sampler” instead of the drum/bass sound sources. The pad sampler uses parts of an audio track or an audio ﬁle imported from CD-ROM and lets you play these with the pads or in a rhythm pattern/rhythm song. This makes it possible to incorporate special sounds in a rhythm pattern/rhythm song and to create your own original sounds.

Rhythm section

Rhythm

pattern

Pads

Rhythm

pattern

Pad sampler

To DRUM fader of mixer

The MRS-1608 contains a rhythm section that operates in sync with the recorder. It offers 511 accompaniment patterns (called “rhythm patterns”) that use the internal drum/bass sound generator. (Over 400 patterns are preprogrammed at the factory.) You can use these patterns

HINT

You can process the drum/bass sound and pad sampler output sound with the insert effect and record it on a recorder track.

as they are, modify them in part, or create entirely new patterns from scratch.

HINT

The drum/bass sound sources can be played with the pads on the top panel or with a MIDI keyboard or similar.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Mixer

The signals from audio tracks 1 – 16, and the drum and bass sounds (drum track/bass track) are sent to separate mixer channels for individual adjustment of volume and tone and to create a stereo mix. For each track, parameters such as volume, panning, and 3-band EQ can be controlled independently.

Effects

The MRS-1608 provides two types of effects: insert effect and send/return effect. These effects which can be used simultaneously have the characteristics described below.

Introducing the MRS-1608

◆

Insert effect

This effect can be inserted at one of the following three points in the signal path.

(1) Immediately after the INPUT jack

(2) A desired channel of the mixer

(3) Immediately before the [MASTER] fader

In the default condition, position (1) (immediately after INPUT jack) is selected. When the setting is changed to (2), only a selected track or drum/bass sound is processed by the effect. When the setting is changed to (3), the ﬁnal stereo mix can be processed. This setting is suitable for processing the signal of the entire song during mixdown.

◆

Send/return effect

This effect is internally connected to the send/return loop of the mixer section. There are two types of send/return effect, reverb and chorus/delay, which can be used simultaneously. The send level of each mixer channel adjusts the depth of the send/return effect. Raising the send level will produce a deeper reverb or chorus/delay effect for that channel.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Top panel

Parts of the MRS-1608

Effect

section

Input section

Display section Track parameter section Control section

Rhythm section Fader section Transport section

Input section

Effect section

[BYPASS] key

[CHORUS/DELAY]/

[REVERB] keys

[TUNER] key

[INPUT] controls 1 - 8

[PEAK] indicators 1 - 8

[ON/OFF] keys

PATCH SELECT

[W]/[Q] keys

[INPUT SOURCE] key

[ALGORITHM] keys

[CLIP] indicator

[REC LEVEL] control

[8TRACK RECORDING] key

[DIST] key

[CLEAN] key

[MIC] key [MASTERING] key

[DUAL MIC] key [8X COMP EQ] key

[LINE] key

[ACO/BASS SIM] key [BASS] key

ZOOM MRS-1608

Parts of the MRS-1608

Rhythm section

[SONG] key

[PATTERN] key

[DELETE/ERASE] key

[INSERT/COPY] key

[KIT/PROG] key

[DRUM MIXER] key

[BANK/OCTAVE] key

([( ] key)

Pads

[BASS] key

[DRUM] key

[STEP] key ([ )] key)

[TEMPO] key

Track parameter section

[EQ HIGH] key

[EQ MID] key

[EQ LOW] key

[CHORUS/DELAY SEND] key

[REVERB SEND] key

[SUB-OUT SEND] key

[PAN] key

[V-TAKE] key

[DRUM]/[BASS] status keys

[DRUM]/[BASS] faders

Control section

[LCD CONTRAST] control

[NEW PROJECT] key

HDD ACCESS indicator

[BOUNCE] key

[SCENE] key [CLEAR] key

MARKER [U] key

[EXIT] key

[ENTER] key

[SOLO] key

Display section

Display

[UTILITY/TRACK EDIT] key

[RECORDER] key

[RHYTHM] key

[EFFECT] key

[PROJECT] key

[CD-R/RW] key [USB] key [AUTO PUNCH IN/OUT] key [A-B REPEAT] key [MARK] key MARKER [I] key [STORE] key [EDIT] key

Cursor keys

Dial

Fader section

Status keys (1 – 8, 9/10 – 15/16, [MASTER])

Faders (1 – 8, 9/10 – 15/16, [MASTER])

ZOOM MRS-1608

Transport section

ZERO [U] key

REW [T] key

FF [Y] key

REC [O] key

STOP [P] key

PLAY [R] key

Parts of the MRS-1608

Rear panel

[POWER] switch

DC 12V jack

Front panel

INPUT jacks 1 – 8

MIDI OUT connector

Expansion board slot

PHANTOM ON/OFF switches

DIGITAL OUTPUT jack

MIDI IN connector

MASTER OUTPUT jacks

LINE INPUT 7/8 jacks

Input/output section

[GUITAR/BASS INPUT] controls 1/2

GUITAR/BASS INPUT jacks 1/2

FOOT SW jack

CD-R/RW drive bay

[MASTER PHONES] level control

[STEREO SUB-OUT] level control

STEREO SUB-OUT jack

MASTER PHONES jack

EXP PEDAL jack

ZOOM MRS-1608

Connections

Connect your instrument, microphone, audio devices, and MIDI devices as shown in the following diagram.

Synthesizer or sampler etc.

When connecting stereo output devices such as a synthesizer or CD player, connect the L output of the external device to the odd-numbered INPUT jack and the R output to the even-numbered INPUT jack.

To supply +48V phantom power to a condenser mic, connect the mic to the INPUT 3/4 or 5/6 jacks and set the corresponding [PHANTOM ON/OFF] switch to ON.

The INPUT 1 – 8 jacks accept either XLR plugs or mono phone plugs (balanced/unbalanced).

Rear panel

Dynamic or condenser microphones

AC adapter

Loop the cable of the AC adaptor around the hook as shown below before connecting it to the [DC 12V] jack. This will prevent the plug from being pulled out if the AC adaptor cable is accidentally pulled.

MIDI sequencer (computer etc.)

(MD recorder, DAT recorder, etc.)

To prevent damage to the speakers of your monitor system, turn off the power of the system connected to the MASTER OUTPUT jacks (or turn the volume all the way down) before you make connections.

MIDI

MIDI interface

OPTICAL IN

MIDI OUT

Digital recorder

Monitor system (audio components or amplified speakers etc.)

CD Player etc.

The signal from the LINE INPUT jacks 7/8 is mixed to that of the INPUT 7/8 jacks. For example, you could connect a CD player or similar here, or use the input for the effect return of an external effect. Adjust the output level of the source so that it causes no distortion when used as an input signal.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Connections

You can use either GUITAR/BASS INPUT jack 1 or INPUT jack 1, and either GUITAR/BASS INPUT jack 2 or INPUT jack 2. If both jacks are connected, the GUITAR/BASS INPUT jacks 1/2 are given priority.

Headphones

Guitar

Bass

Headphones

Headphone amplifier

Front panel

The STEREO SUB-OUT jack normally carries the same signal as the MASTER OUTPUT connectors. (You can therefore also use it as a second headphone jack.) By changing an internal setting, the jack can be made to carry a mix that is separate from the MASTER OUTPUT, with level/pan adjustments for each track/input, allowing use as a monitor send or effect send. The output level can be adjusted with the knob at top right.

The MASTER PHONES jack is intended as a stereo headphone jack. It carries the same signal as the MASTER OUTPUT connectors. The output level can be adjusted with the knob at top right.

Foot switch

(ZOOM FS-01)

Yo u can connect the separately available

Expression pedal

(ZOOM FP-01/FP-02)

You can connect the separately available foot switch ZOOM FS-01 to this jack, for playback start/stop control or for punch-in/punch-out control.

foot pedal ZOOM FP-01/FP-02 to this jack, for adjusting the effect parameter value.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Installing the CD-R/RW Drive

To install the separately available CD-R/RW drive into the MRS-1608 model without preinstalled CD-R/RW drive, proceed as follows.

Before installing the drive, make sure that all cables and the AC adapter are disconnected.

Turn the MRS-1608 over and remove the blank panel from the drive mounting section of the front panel.

To remove the blank panel, pull out the groove in the center.

Blank panel

Front Panel

Remove the fastening screws of the bottom plate,

and remove the bottom plate.

Slide the bottom plate towards the rear to remove. Take care not to lose the screws, as these will be needed again for reassembly.

Turn the CD-R/RW drive over and insert it into the drive mount bay.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Installing the CD-R/RW Drive

Plug the power cable and ﬂat cable

from the main unit into the respective connectors on the CD-R/RW drive.

Rear Panel

Power cable

Flat cable

Front Panel

Push the CD-R/RW drive all the way into the bay, so that the screw holes on the bottom of the MRS-1608 and the screw holes of the CD-R/RW drive are aligned.

Fasten the CD-R/RW drive with the four supplied panhead screws. Then reattach the bottom plate with the screws removed in step 2.

NOTE

• Use only the dedicated CD-R/RW drive CD-01 or CD-02 made by ZOOM Corporation.

• ZOOM Corporation will not accept any responsibility for damage or third-party claims arising from using any other drive.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Power On/Off

PRJ 000 DontLkBk

This section explains the procedure for turning the MRS-1608 on and off.

Turning power on

Make sure that the MRS-1608 and

peripheral equipment is turned off.

Make sure that AC adapter, instrument, and monitor system (or headphones) are correctly connected to the MRS-1608. (For information on connections, refer to page

15.)

At this time, the volume setting of the connected instrument and monitor system should be minimum. When a synthesizer or other electronic instrument is connected, turn power to that device on before the MRS-

1608.

Press the [POWER] switch on the rear panel.

Power to the MRS-1608 comes on, the unit performs a self-test, and system settings are read. Wait until the following indication appears on the display. This is called the “main screen”.

PRJ 000 DontLkBk

0 0 0 0 0 0

Turn on the connected monitor system.

Turning power off (shutdown)

Turn power to the monitor system off.

Press the [POWER] switch on the rear panel of the MRS-1608.

The indication “GOODBYE SEE YOU!” appears on the display, and the unit is turned off. When a synthesizer or other electronic instrument is connected, turn power to that device off after the MRS-

1608.

•You must use this method to turn off the power of the MRS-1608. Never turn off the power by disconnecting the AC adaptor plug from the [DC 12V] jack or by unplugging the AC adaptor from the AC power outlet.

• In particular, you must never turn the power off by unplugging the AC adaptor while the HDD ACCESS indicator is lit. Doing so may damage the internal hard disk, causing all data to be lost permanently.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Listening to a Demo Song

PRJ SEL DontLkBk

PRJ 000

When shipped from the factory, the internal hard disk of the MRS-1608 contains two demo songs. To listen to them, proceed as follows.

Selecting the demo song

On the MRS-1608, song data are managed in units called “projects”. A project encompasses recorded audio data, rhythm and effect settings, and other information. When you load a project, the complete state in which that song was saved will be reproduced. To load a demo song project from the hard disk, proceed as follows.

From the main screen, press the [PROJECT] key in the display section.

The indication “PROJECT SELECT” appears on the display.

Press the [ENTER] key.

Projects stored on the hard disk are shown in the lower part of the display.

PRJ SEL DontLkBk

Project name Project number

PRJ 000

Playing the demo song

After loading, play the demo song as follows.

Turn down the volume of the monitor system.

When headphones are connected, turn down the [MASTER PHONES] level control.

Press the PLAY [R section.

Playback of the demo song starts.

Adjust the monitor system volume setting (or the [MASTER PHONES] level control) to a comfortable volume.

] key in the transport

Turn the dial to select the demo song.

Project numbers 000 – 002 are the demo songs.

HINT

Project number 1 contains a demo song that uses the phrase

→

loop function ( from that demo song while working on another project.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The HDD ACCESS indicator lights up and the selected project is loaded. When the respective project display appears on the main screen, the demo song has been loaded.

p. 67). If desired, you can load elements

To adjust the volume of the individual tracks, use the respective faders.

The volume of the rhythm section can be adjusted with the [DRUM]/[BASS] faders. To adjust the volume of the entire song, use the [MASTER] fader.

To switch individual tracks on or off, press

the respective status key.

When the status key is out, the track is muted. When the key is lit in green, the muting is canceled.

To stop the demo song, press the STOP [P key.

NOTE

The demo song is write-protected. Even if you change the mix by adjusting fader or pan settings, the changes will not be stored. To retain any changes you have made, cancel the

→

write-protect setting ﬁrst (

p. 169).

]

ZOOM MRS-1608

Let’s Record

This section demonstrates the basic recording procedure of the MRS-1608. As an example, it explains how to record a guitar connected to the GUITAR/BASS INPUT jack 1 on track 1.

Press the [NEW PROJECT] key and then press the [ENTER] key.

A new project is created, and the recording standby condition is activated.

Press the [ON/OFF] key for input 1 so that

the key lights up.

The jack to which the guitar is connected is now active.

While playing your guitar, adjust the

[GUITAR/BASS INPUT] control 1 to adjust the input sensitivity.

Make the adjustment so that the [PEAK] indicator ﬂickers slightly when you play your instrument at its loudest volume.

Repeatedly press status key 1 until the key is lit in red.

A track for which the status key is lit in red is in recording standby mode.

lit

Operate the fader for track 1 to adjust the input signal monitor level.

HINT

When you press the PLAY [R pattern will start to play in sync with the audio track. If the rhythm accompaniment is not desired, lower the [DRUM]/ [BASS] faders or repeatedly press the respective status key until it goes out.

To start recording, press the PLAY [R] key

while holding down the REC [O] key.

A four-beat pre-count is heard, and recording starts. Play your instrument to record.

] key in a new project, a rhythm

lit

While playing your guitar, adjust the recording level by turning the [REC LEVEL] control.

If the [CLIP] indicator lights up at high playing levels, you should turn down the recording level. The lower part of the display shows the current signal level.

Current signal level

ZOOM MRS-1608

When recording is complete, press the

STOP [P] key.

The REC [O] key and PLAY [R] key go out, and recording stops.

To check the recorded contents, press the

ZERO [U] key and then press the PLAY [R] key.

To cancel the recording condition, press

10.

the status key 1 so that the key is lit in green.

Quick Tour

PRJNo002 PRJ002

OK?

PRJ 002 PRJ002

Now let’s use your MRS-1608 to do some serious recording. This Quick Tour describes the ﬁve steps that cover the entire process of recording tracks and completing a song.

■

Step 1: Preparations

Shows how to create a new project, select a guide rhythm, and perform other steps necessary for recording.

■

Step 2: Recording the ﬁrst track

Shows how to record the ﬁrst track while using the insert effect.

■

Step 3: Overdubbing

Shows how to record further tracks while listening to a track already recorded (overdubbing).

Press the [NEW PROJECT] key in the control section.

When you press the [NEW PROJECT] key at the main screen, the display indication changes as follows, and a new project can be created.

PRJNo002 PRJ002

OK?

■

Step 4: Mixing

Shows how to adjust the level, panning, and EQ of each track, apply the send/return effect, and mix the recorded tracks down to a pair of stereo tracks.

■

Step 5: Mixdown

Finally the completed stereo mix is recorded on the master track to create the ﬁnished song.

Step 1: Preparations

1.1 Creating a new project

On the MRS-1608, song data are managed in units called “projects”. To start recording with the MRS-1608, you must ﬁrst create a project.

Connect the instrument to record and the monitoring system to the MRS-1608 (

Turn power on in the order MRS-1608

→

monitoring system.

When the MRS-1608 starts up, the last handled project is automatically loaded.

→

p. 15).

You can create a new project. You can also assign a name to the project.

HINT

• When creating a new project, the lowest free project number is automatically selected.

• It is also possible to create a new project from the project menu (→ p. 166).

Press the [ENTER] key.

A new project is created, and the main screen appears. While this screen is displayed, you can perform various recorder actions such as recording and playback.

PRJ 002 PRJ002

HINT

• When selecting a different project or creating a new project, the project you were working on up to that point is automatically saved.

• When performing the shutdown procedure for the MRS-1608 (→ p.19), the last project is automatically saved.

ZOOM MRS-1608

1.2 Selecting the rhythm pattern

004#000 08Beat01

BANK:1

001#510 METRO44

BANK:1

to use

Quick Tour

rhythm section is being set up.

While the [RHYTHM] key is ﬂashing or out, the recorder and the rhythm section are always synchronized (

→

p. 87).

The MRS-1608 has a built-in rhythm function that operates in sync with the recorder. This lets you use drum sounds (drum kits) and bass sounds (bass programs) to create repeated rhythm patterns of several measures. By combining various patterns, you can create the rhythm accompaniment for an entire song (rhythm song).

Verify that the [DRUM]/[BASS] status keys are lit in green. Then set the [DRUM]/[BASS] faders and the [MASTER] fader to 0 (dB).

Lit in green

0dB 0dB

The output signal of the drum kit/bass program (drum track/ bass track) is sent to the respective fader of the mixer section. Like the regular tracks, these tracks also have status keys and faders for switching between playback and mute and for adjusting the signal level.

Turn the dial or use the cursor up/down keys to select a pattern to use as guide rhythm.

001#510 METRO44

Up to 511 rhythm patterns can be used in a project. 475 of these are preprogrammed. (For the other patterns, “EMPTY” is shown.) When you turn the dial to select another rhythm pattern while a pattern is playing, the new pattern will start after the current pattern has ﬁnished. When you select a new pattern with the cursor up/down keys, the new pattern begins playing immediately. In this example, we will select a simple rhythm pattern as guide rhythm for use during recording. If you select for example the rhythm pattern number 510, a quarter-note metronome sound is heard.

Press the PLAY [R section.

] key in the transport

BANK:1

The [PATTERN] key lights up and the currently selected rhythm pattern is shown on the display.

While this screen is shown, the [RHYTHM] key in the display section is ﬂashing. This indicates that currently the

ZOOM MRS-1608

Press the [PATTERN] key in the rhythm section.

Rhythm pattern number

004#000 08Beat01

Rhythm pattern name

BANK:1

The selected rhythm pattern is played repeatedly, in sync with the recorder operation. The [TEMPO] key ﬂashes according to the current tempo setting.

HINT

• If you press and light the [RHYTHM] key while the recorder is stopped, you can play the rhythm pattern by itself.

• During play, the pads corresponding to the currently produced sound of the drum kit/pitch of the bass program are ﬂashing. You can also tap the pads to play the drum sounds/bass notes.

Quick Tour

TEMPO BPM:

136.0

To change the tempo, press the [TEMPO] key in the rhythm section and then turn the dial to change the tempo value shown on the display.

The tempo value can be set in 0.1 BPM steps.

TEMPO BPM:

When the setting is complete, press the [EXIT] key to return to the previous screen.

136.0

Step 2: Recording the ﬁrst track

In this step, you record the ﬁrst track while listening to the guide rhythm of the rhythm section. As an example we describe how to record an electric guitar on track 1 with the insert effect.

2.1 Adjusting input sensitivity

Connect an instrument to the GUITAR/BASS INPUT jack 1 (

To connect a guitar or bass, use the front panel GUITAR/ BASS INPUT jacks 1/2. To connect a synthesizer or other component with line-level stereo output, use the rear panel INPUT 1 – 8 jacks.

→

p. 15).

HINT

You can also set the tempo by tapping the [TEMPO] key repeatedly (→ p.89).

Use the [DRUM]/[BASS] faders to adjust the volume of the drum/bass track.

If bass sound is not desired, turn the [BASS] fader all the way down.

To stop playback, press the STOP [P

To r eturn to the main screen, press the [EXIT] key several times.

] key.

HINT

You can use either GUITAR/BASS INPUT jack 1 or INPUT jack 1, and either GUITAR/BASS INPUT jack 2 or INPUT jack 2. If both jacks are connected, the GUITAR/BASS INPUT jacks 1/2 are given priority.

From the main screen, press the input 1 [ON/OFF] key so that the key lights up in red.

The [ON/OFF] keys 1 – 8 in the input section control the status of inputs 1 – 8. When a key is lit, the corresponding input is turned on.

HINT

To r ecord the output of a synthesizer or other stereo component in stereo, connect the L and R output to a pair of odd/evennumbered INPUT jacks, and press the corresponding [ON/OFF] keys so that both keys are lit.

While playing the instrument, use the [GUITAR/BASS INPUT] control 1 to adjust sensitivity.

When the instrument is connected to GUITAR/BASS

INPUT 1/2, use the [GUITAR/BASS INPUT] control 1/2.

When the instrument is connected to INPUT 1 – 8, use the

[INPUT] control 1 – 8 to adjust the input sensitivity.

Adjust the control so that the [PEAK] indicator in the input

ZOOaM MRS-1608

Quick Tour

section lights up occasionally when you play the instrument at the loudest level.

●

When using the GUITAR/BASS INPUT jack

May briefly flash

Front panel

●

When using the INPUT jack

May flash briefly

apply the insert effect to the guitar signal connected to the

GUITAR/BASS INPUT jack.

Press the [INPUT SOURCE] key in the effect section.

The insert position of the insert effect is indicated on the

second line of the display. The default is “IN” (INPUT). If

another setting is currently selected, turn the dial to select

“IN”.

Use the [ALGORITHM] keys in the effect section to select the desired algorithm.

A combination of effect modules that can be used

simultaneously is called an “algorithm”. The MRS-1608 has

9 algorithms which are controlled by the [ALGORITHM]

keys in the effect section.

While playing the instrument, use the [REC LEVEL] control to adjust the recording level.

The [REC LEVEL] control modiﬁes the signal level going to the recorder (after passing the insert effect). Watch the IN1 level meter in the lower left of the display and set the level as high as possible, but avoid settings that cause the 0 dB indicator segment to light during play peaks.

[CLIP] indicator

INPUT 1 – 8 level

If the recording level setting is too high, the [CLIP] indicator of the [REC LEVEL] control lights up.

2.2 Applying the insert effect

The signal supplied to the MRS-1608 can be modiﬁed with the insert effect. This effect can be applied to the input, to any track, or immediately before the [MASTER] fader. The insert effect actually is a multi-effect unit that contains a number of single effects (effect modules) such as compressor, distortion, and delay, connected in series. The following steps show how to select an algorithm and

The following selections are available.

●

CLEAN

●

DIST

●

ACO/BASS SIM

●

BASS

These algorithms are suitable for recording guitar/bass.

●

MIC

An algorithm suitable for vocals and other microphone

recordings.

●

DUAL MIC

An algorithm with two entirely separate mono input and

mono output channels.

●

8x COMP EQ

An algorithm with 8 separate input/output channels.

Different high-pass ﬁlter, compressor, and EQ settings are

possible for each channel.

●

LINE

An algorithm suitable mainly for recording line-level output

ZOOM MRS-1608

Quick Tour

INSERT Standard

No.0

instruments such as synthesizer or electric piano.

●

MASTERING

An algorithm suitable for processing the ﬁnal stereo mixdown signal.

When you select an algorithm, the respective key lights up and a patch (effect program) using the selected algorithm is shown on the display.

INSERT Standard

NOTE

The 8x COMP EQ algorithm can only be inserted in the input if the 8-track recording function (→p. 45) is active.

Turn the dial to select the patch.

A total of 320 patches are available for the insert effect. You can edit these patches if desired to alter the sound or the effect depth. The patches available for each algorithm are listed below.

Algorithm

CLEAN DIST ACO/BASS SIM BASS MIC DUAL MIC 8x COMP EQ LINE MASTERING

HINT

When “EMPTY” is shown as the patch name, the patch is empty. Selecting such a patch will have no effect.

While playing your instrument at the maximum level, readjust the recording level and make sure that the [REC LEVEL] indicator does not light.

The recording level may change according to the selected patch. To prevent clipping, readjusting the [REC LEVEL] control may be necessary.

Patch number range

No.0

Patch numberPatch name

0 – 29 0 – 49 0 – 19 0 – 19 0 – 49 0 – 49 0 – 19 0 – 49 0 – 29

HINT

To record without using the insert effect, press the [BYPASS] key

in the effect section. The key lights up and the insert effect is

bypassed.

2.3 Selecting a track and recording

Now we will record the guitar sound (with the insert effect applied) on track 1.

From the main screen, repeatedly press the status key 1 until the key is lit in red.

Red

The status keys are used to select the recording track and to switch muting for each track on and off. Each time you press a status key, the key will cycle through the following states.

Status key

Lit green

Mute off Mute on Selected as recording track

When status key 1 is red, track 1 is in the recording standby condition, and the input signal is assigned to track 1. The signal routing will change as follows.

When a recording track has not been selected

When a recording track (track 1) has been selected

Out Lit red

Track 1

Track 2

Track 1

Track 2

MASTER

To r eturn to the main screen, press the [EXIT] key several times.

When you press status keys 9/10 – 15/16, a pair of stereo tracks is selected as recording target. Except for the recording target V-take selection and phase setting, the

ZOOaM MRS-1608

Quick Tour

parameters for left/right stereo tracks are set to the same values. This is useful for recording from stereo sources such as synthesizers or CD players.

HINT

• Normally, you can select up to two tracks simultaneously. To select two mono tracks, press the ﬁrst status key of an odd/ even-numbered pair so that it is lit in red, and then hold down that key and press the other key so that it also is lit in red.

• Even if the input signal is mono, selecting a pair of stereo tracks as target will ensure that the left/right spread added by certain insert effect settings is preserved in recording.

•You can also record 8 tracks simultaneously (→ p. 45).

Set fader 1 and the [MASTER] fader to 0 dB. Then adjust the volume of the monitoring system while playing your instrument.

To begin recording, press the ZERO [U to return to the beginning of the song. Then hold down the REC [O PLAY [R

] key.

] key and press the

] key

recording will stop. The indication “wait...” is brieﬂy shown on the display, and then the main screen reappears.

NOTE

The duration of the “wait...” period may differ. Never turn power to the unit off while “wait...” is being shown on the display. Otherwise recorded data may be lost and damage to the unit may occur.

To listen to the recorded content, press the ZERO [U the song, and then press the PLAY [R

] key to return to the beginning of

] key.

The track will be played back together with the selected guide rhythm from the rhythm section.

HINT

•You can specify a position in hours/minutes/seconds/ milliseconds and move directly to that point (→ p. 37).

• By setting marks at the desired points, you can quickly jump to these points (→ p. 46).

The REC [O

] key and PLAY [R

] key light up, and a precount of 4 beats is heard. Then recording will begin. Record your instrument playing while listening to the guide rhythm from the rhythm section.

HINT

• The number and the style of the pre-count clicks can be

changed (→ p. 48).

• If the input signal is distorted, refer to step 2.1 to adjust the

input sensitivity and recording level.

When you have ﬁnished recording, press the STOP [P

The REC [O

Basic operation of transport keys

REW [T] key: Moves the current position back in 1-second

steps. Movement speed can be increased by holding down the REW [T] key and pressing the FF [Y] key.

ZERO [U] key: Returns the

recorder to the start position (counter zero position).

STOP [P] key: Stops the

recorder.

] key.

] key and PLAY [R

] key will go out, and

To stop playback, press the STOP [P

] key.

To redo the recording, repeat steps 3 – 5.

When you are satisﬁed with the recorded content, press status key 1 until it is lit in green.

The recording standby condition of track 1 is canceled.

HINT

• Recorded content can be copied, deleted, or edited (→ p. 49).

• By switching to another V-take for the track, you can record again on the track without erasing the current recording (→ p. 35).

FF [Y] key: Moves the current position forward in 1-second

steps. Movement speed can be increased by holding down the FF [Y] key and pressing the REW [T] key.

PLAY [R] key: Starts recorder playback

from the current position.

REC [O] key: If you press the PLAY [R] key while

holding down this key, recording starts. Pressing the key during playback causes punch-in and pressing the key during recording causes punch-out.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Quick Tour

Step 3: Overdubbing

In this step, you will learn how to record another instrument on track 2, while listening to the content you recorded in step

2. Adding parts in this way is called “overdubbing”.

To begin recording, press the ZERO [U to return to the beginning of the song. Then hold down the REC [O PLAY [R

After the pre-count, recording on track 2 will begin. Record your instrument playing while listening to the guide rhythm and track 1.

] key.

] key and press the

] key

3.1 Making settings for input sensitivity and insert effect

As in step 2, adjust input sensitivity and recording level, and make settings for the insert effect.

Connect the next instrument you want to record, and press the [ON/OFF] key so that it is lit in red.

Adjust input sensitivity and recording level in the same way as in step 2.1.

Select the algorithm and patch for the insert effect in the same way as in step 2.2.

When the setting is complete, press the [EXIT] key to return to the main screen.

3.2 Selecting a track and recording

When you have ﬁnished recording track 2, press the STOP [P

The indication “wait...” is brieﬂy shown on the display, and then the main screen reappears.

To listen to the recorded content, press the ZERO [U the song, and press the PLAY [R

The guide rhythm of the rhythm section and tracks 1/2 will be played back. Adjust faders 1/2 as necessary to adjust the level balance.

To stop playback, press the STOP [P

] key to return to the beginning of

] key.

HINT

To redo the recording, repeat steps 3 – 5. You can also start rerecording from partly into the track and use the punch-in/ punch-out function to redo a limited passage only (→ p. 39).

When you are satisﬁed with the recorded content, press status key 2 until it is lit in green.

You can now record more tracks in the same way.

Now you’re ready to record the second instrument on track 2, while playing the content of track 1 and the guide rhythm.

Repeatedly press status key 2 until the key is lit in red.

Track 2 is now in the recording standby condition. Verify that the status key 1 and the [DRUM]/[BASS] status keys are lit in green.

Set the [MASTER] fader to 0 dB and use fader 2 to adjust the monitoring level.

If necessary, set the recorder to playback and operate faders 1/2 and the [DRUM]/[BASS] faders to adjust the monitor level balance between tracks.

HINT

The maximum number of tracks that can be recorded is 16. But even when all 16 tracks have been ﬁlled, you can still use the bounce function (also called ping-pong recording) to move the contents from multiple tracks onto 1 or 2 tracks. Then you can select another V-take for the bounce source tracks and record more (→ p. 35).

ZOOaM MRS-1608

Step 4: Mixing

TR3 EQ HI G

0dB

TR3 EQ HI G

+6dB

When you have ﬁnished recording all tracks, you can use the built-in mixer to adjust parameters such as volume level, EQ (equalizer), and panning (stereo left/right positioning) to create a pair of stereo tracks.

4.1 Turning off the input and rhythm section

In order to keep unwanted signals from being included in the mix, you should turn off the input and the guide rhythm from the rhythm section.

To mute the rhythm section, press the [DRUM]/[BASS] status keys so that the keys go out.

To mute the input, press the [ON/OFF] key for the input where the instrument is connected, so that the key goes out.

HINT

If desired, you can add the drum kit/bass program sound and/or sound from input signals to the mix.

4.2 Adjusting volume, panning, and EQ

Quick Tour

Use the cursor left/right keys or the status keys to select the track for which you want to make a setting.

While the track parameter display is shown, the status keys and cursor left/right keys can be used to select a track. The status key for the currently selected track is lit in orange.

Orange

TR3 EQ HI G

Turn the dial to select the setting value.

0dB

TR3 EQ HI G

Use the cursor up/down keys or the keys in the track parameter section to select a track parameter, and adjust other parameters in the same way.

When a parameter is displayed, pressing the corresponding key in the track parameter section toggles the parameter between on and off.

The parameters that can be selected for tracks 1 – 8 and tracks 9/10 – 15/16 are listed in the table on the next page.

+6dB

Adjust the volume, panning, and equalization for each track by controlling the track parameters of the built-in mixer.

To adjust the volume balance between tracks, operate faders 1 – 8, and faders 9/10 – 15/16.

By operating faders of a pair of stereo tracks, you can adjust the left/right balance.

To adjust the EQ and panning for each track, press the respective key in the track parameter section.

ZOOM MRS-1608

HINT

• In the default condition of a project, the SUB-OUT SEND LVL and SUB-OUT SEND PAN parameters are turned off. For information on how to control these parameters, see page 82.

• Some track parameters (level, EQ, panning/balance, send/ return effect intensity etc.) can also be used for the drum/bass track and input signals.

Quick Tour

Track parameter list

Parameter

EQ HI GAIN

EQ HI FREQUENCY

EQ MID GAIN

EQ MID FREQUENCY

EQ MID Q-FACTOR

EQ LOW GAIN

EQ LOW FREQUENCY

CHORUS/DELAY SEND LEVEL

REVERB SEND LEVEL

SUB-OUT SEND ON/OFF

SUB-OUT SEND LEVEL

SUB-OUT SEND PAN

PAN

V-TAKE

FADER

STEREO LINK

INVERT

Corresponding

key

[EQ HIGH] key

[EQ MID] key

[EQ LOW] key

[CHORUS/DELAY SEND] key

[REVERB SEND] key

[SUB-OUT SEND] key

[PAN] key

[V-TAKE] key

None

Display Setting range Description

EQ HI G

EQ HI F

EQ MID G

EQ MID F

EQ MID Q

EQ LO G

EQ LO F

CHO SEND

REV SEND

SUB SEND

SUB SEND LVL

SUB SEND Pan

PAN

x-y

FADER

ST LINK

INVERT

-12 – +12dB

500 – 18000(Hz)

-12 – +12dB

40 – 18000(Hz)

0.1 – 1.0

-12 – +12dB

40 – 1600(Hz)

0 – 100

ON/OFF

0 – 127

L100 – 0 – R100

x=1 – 16 y=1 – 10

0 – 127

ON/OFF

Adjusts high frequency range boost/ cut.

Adjusts center frequency for high frequency range boost/cut.

Adjusts mid frequency range boost/ cut.

Adjusts center frequency for mid frequency range boost/cut.

Adjusts the Q value (bandwidth) for mid-frequency EQ.

Adjusts low frequency range boost/ cut.

Adjusts center frequency for low frequency range boost/cut.

Adjusts signal volume sent to chorus/ delay effect.

Adjusts signal level sent to reverb effect.

Selects whether the STEREO SUBOUT jack carries the same signal as the MASTER OUTPUT jacks. This parameter can be selected only for the master track.

Adjusts the level of the signal sent from tracks 1 – 16, drum/bass track, and input to the STEREO SUB-OUT jack. This parameter is not shown when the SUB-OUT SEND ON/OFF parameter for the master track is ON.

Adjusts the panning value of the signal sent from tracks 1 – 16, drum/ bass track, and input to the STEREO SUB-OUT jack. This parameter is not shown when the SUB-OUT SEND ON/OFF parameter for the master track is ON.

Adjusts panning for the track. For stereo tracks, this adjusts the left/ right balance.

Selects V-take to use for the track. x is the track number and y is the Vtake number.

Adjusts the current volume.

Links the parameters for two mono tracks (→p. 82).

Selects whether the output signal phase is inverted. OFF means normal phase and ON means inverted phase.

ZOOaM MRS-1608

4.3 Applying the send/return

SEND REV TightHal

No.0

TR3 REV SEND

effect

The track signals sent to the internal mixer can be processed by an effect that is connected internally to the send/return loop of the mixer. (This is called a send/return effect.) The MRS-1608 incorporates two kinds of send/return effects (chorus/delay and reverb).

Quick Tour

Select the patch for the other send/return effect in the same way.

To r eturn to the main screen, press the [EXIT] key several times.

HINT

In the project default condition, the send level for the send/return effect is set to zero for each track. Therefore you need to raise the setting to verify the sound produced by the effect.

CHORUS/

DELAY

SEND LEVEL

REVERB

SEND LEVEL

DRUM BASS

The intensity of the send/return effect can be adjusted for each track by using the send level parameter (which controls the signal level that is sent to the effect). Increasing this parameter will result in stronger effect action. This section describes how to select the send/return effect type and adjust the send level for each track.

◆

Selecting the send/return effect patch

From the main screen, press the [CHORUS/ DELAY] key or [REVERB] key in the effect section.

Press the [CHORUS/DELAY] key to select a chorus/delay patch, or the [REVERB] key to select a reverb patch. The display will indicate the patch that is currently selected for the effect you selected. For example, a screen such as shown below appears when the [REVERB] key is pressed.

12 15/16

MASTER

Send

CHORUS/ DELAY

REVERB

Return

SEND REV TightHal

No.0

Patch numberPatch name

◆

Adjusting the send/return effect intensity for each track

From the main screen, press the [CHORUS/ DELAY SEND] key or [REVERB SEND] key in the effect section, to set the respective level .

The display will indicate the send level that is currently set for the effect. For example, a screen such as shown below appears when the [REVERB SEND] key is pressed.

TR3 REV SEND

Use the cursor left/right keys or the status keys to select the track for which you want to adjust the send level.

While playing the song, turn the dial to adjust the send level value.

Adjust the send level for other tracks in the same way.

Adjust the intensity of the other send/return effect in the same way.

10.

To r eturn to the main screen, press the [EXIT] key several times.

Send level setting

Turn the dial to select a patch.

Each send/return effect has 30 preprogrammed patches (numbered 0 – 29). If desired, you can edit these patches to modify the effect further (

ZOOM MRS-1608

→

p. 147).

Quick Tour

IN SRC IN

IN SRC TR1-8

IN SRC TR1

4.4 Applying the insert effect to a track

You can apply the insert effect to the output of any track, so that it post-processes the output signal of the track.

◆

Changing the algorithm/insert position of the insert effect

●

When an algorithm other than 8x COMP EQ is selected

You can select one of eight mono tracks (TR 1 – TR 8) or two mono tracks/one stereo track (TR 1/2 – TR 15/16) as insert location.

IN SRC TR1

Use the [ALGORITHM] key in the effect section to select the algorithm you want to use.

When applying the insert effect to a track, the selected algorithm determines the number of tracks for which the effect can be used.

●

When 8x COMP EQ is selected

The effect can be used on the output of eight continuous tracks (1 – 8 or 9 – 16).

●

When an algorithm other than 8x COMP EQ is selected

The effect can be used on a maximum of two mono tracks or one stereo track.

Press the [INPUT SOURCE] key in the effect section.

The currently selected insert position appears on the display.

IN SRC IN

HINT

The insert position can also be selected with the status keys. To select a mono track x 2, hold down one status key while pressing the other one.

◆

Selecting the patch for the insert effect

Press the [ALGORITHM] key selected in step 1 once more.

The currently selected patch is shown on the display.

While playing the song, turn the dial to select the patch to use.

The insert effect can now be used to post-process the speciﬁed track. When the effect is applied, the track output level may change. Use the respective fader to readjust the level as necessary.

HINT

When the 8x COMP EQ algorithm is selected, settings and effect on/off switching can be done individually for each track (→ p.142).

The status key of the selected track lights up in orange.

●

You can select eight continuous tracks (TR 1 – 8 or TR 9 –

16) as insert location. Also if you have selected track TR 9 –

16, you can set different high-pass ﬁlter, compressor, and EQ values for odd/even-numbered tracks.

Turn the dial to bring up the track to which you want to apply the insert effect on the second line of the display.

When 8x COMP EQ algorithm is selected

IN SRC TR1-8

When you have checked the effect, stop the song and press the [EXIT] key to return to the main screen.

HINT

If the insert effect is applied to the track output, it is not possible to also apply it to the input or before the [MASTER] fader. However, by using the bounce function (→ p. 42) to record the track/V-take on another empty V-take, you can turn the postprocessed effect sound into audio data and then apply the insert effect at another position.

ZOOaM MRS-1608

Step 5: Mixdown

IN SRC MASTER

INSERT PlusAlfa

No.0

When the mix is ready, you can transfer it onto two tracks to create the ﬁnished song. This is referred to as “mixdown”. There are two ways of doing this: use the MASTER OUTPUT or DIGITAL OUTPUT connectors and record the song on an external recorder, or use the internal master track of the MRS-1608 to record. The master track is a dedicated pair of stereo tracks that is separate from the normal audio tracks. When you select the master track as recording track, the signal after the [MASTER] fader is recorded. The content recorded on the master track can later be used as source material for creating an audio CD.

Quick Tour

◆

Changing the insert position of the insert effect

From the main screen, press the [INPUT SOURCE] key in the effect section.

The current insert effect position is shown on the display.

Turn the dial to bring up the indication “MASTER” on the second line of the display.

IN SRC MASTER

MASTER

DIGITAL

OUTPUT

To master track

DRUM

This section explains the mixdown procedure when you select the second method, i.e. recording on the master track.

12345678

BASS

9/10

11/12 13/14 15/16

MASTER

5.1 Using the mastering insert effect

By applying the insert effect immediately before the [MASTER] fader, you can process the stereo mix signal for mixdown. If you select the MASTERING algorithm at this time, you can use the mastering effect for processing the stereo mix.

Now the insert effect is inserted immediately before the [MASTER] fader.

Press the [EXIT] key.

The unit returns to the main screen.

◆

Selecting a patch for the insert effect

Press the [MASTERING] key in the effect section.

The insert effect algorithm is switched to MASTERING. The display shows the currently selected patch.

INSERT PlusAlfa

While playing the song, turn the dial to select the patch.

If desired, you can edit the patch to modify the effect further (

→

p. 142).

No.0

NOTE

While the insert effect is inserted immediately before the [MASTER] fader, you cannot use the effect for processing during recording or for post-processing of a track.

To apply the insert effect to the stereo mix, proceed as follows.

ZOOM MRS-1608

NOTE

If the signal sounds distorted when the mastering effect is applied, make sure that there is no distortion in the playback sound of individual tracks, and lower all fader settings as necessary.

When you have veriﬁed that the sound is as desired, press the [EXIT] key.

The unit returns to the main screen.

Quick Tour

5.2 Mixdown on the master track

After mastering effect settings have been completed, record the ﬁnal mix on the master track.

Press the ZERO [U beginning of the song.

Press the PLAY [R check the level after the [MASTER] fader.

The signal level after the [MASTER] fader can be checked by observing the level meter in the lower right of the display. If the 0 dB segment lights up during play, turn down the [MASTER] fader to perform ﬁne adjustment. After checking the level, press the STOP [P

] key to return to the

] key to play the song, and

] key.

When recording is completed, press the STOP [P

To play the master track, repeatedly press the [MASTER] status key until it is lit in green.

While the [MASTER] status key is lit in green, the master track can be played. All other status keys go out and the signals from other tracks are muted. The insert and send/ return effects are also disabled.

Return to the beginning of the song, and press the PLAY [R

The master track is played back. To stop playback, press the STOP [P

To r eturn the MRS-1608 to normal operation, repeatedly press the [MASTER] status key until it is out.

Muting of other tracks is canceled, and the status keys revert to the original condition.

] key.

Right channel signal levelLeft channel signal level

Repeatedly press the [MASTER] status key so that the key lights up in red.

Red

The master track can now be recorded.

Move to the recorder start position. Then hold down the REC [O [R

] key.

Recording on the master track starts.

] key and press the PLAY

HINT

• Like the other tracks, the master track also has 10 V-takes.

•You can play the master tracks of multiple projects in succession (→ p. 177).

• The contents of the master track can be edited later (→ p. 49).

ZOOaM MRS-1608

Reference [Recorder]

TR 3- 2 GTR 3- 2

TR 2- 1 GTR 2- 1

This chapter explains the functions and operation steps of the recorder section.

V-takes

About V-takes

Each track 1 – 16 of the recorder contains ten virtual tracks, called “V-takes”. For each track, you can select one such take, which will be used for recording and playback. For example, you can switch V-takes as you record multiple vocal or guitar solos on the same track, and later compare them and select the best V-take.

-takes

1 2

3 4

5 6 7 8 9

3456 78

9/10 11/12 13/1415/16

Tracks

• If you select the master track, “M” is shown as the track number.

While the above display indication is shown, the V-take condition for each track is indicated by the segments of the level meter. A lit segment denotes a recorded V-take and an unlit segment denotes an unrecorded V-take. The ﬂashing segment indicates the currently selected V-take for each track.

V-takes

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Tracks

Use the cursor left/right keys to select a track.

Lit: recorded V-take

Flashing: currently selected V-take

Out: unrecorded V-take

Switching V-takes

Here’s how to switch the V-take used by each track 1 – 16.

From the main screen, press the [V-TAKE]

key in the track parameter section.

The key lights up, and the track number, V-take number, and V-take name appear on the display.

Track number

V-take numbe

TR 3- 2

-take name

HINT

• If you select a V-take on which nothing is recorded, the indication “NO DATA” appears.

ZOOM MRS-1608

GTR 3- 2

TR 2- 1 GTR 2- 1

HINT

You can also select the track with the status keys. For stereo tracks (9/10 – 15/16), each push of the status key toggles between the odd and even numbered track. Pressing the [MASTER] status key selects the master track.

Turn the dial to select the V-take.

For stereo tracks, you can select a different V-take for the odd and even numbered track.

Repeat steps 2 – 3 as necessary, to select a

V-take for each track.

To return to the main screen, press the

[EXIT] key.

The [V-TAKE] key goes out.

Reference [Recorder]

TR 3- 2 GTR 3- 2

TR 2- 2 GTR 2- 1

Assigning V-take names

A V-take that has been recorded will be automatically assigned a default name, according to the following pattern. (xx denotes the track number, and yy the V-take number.)

GTRxx-yy

V-take recorded through CLEAN, DIST, or ACO/BASS SIM algorithm of insert effect

BASxx-yy

V-take recorded through BASS algorithm of insert effect

TR 3- 2 GTR 3- 2

NOTE

Only the name of the V-take currently selected for a track can be changed.

Use the cursor left/right keys to select the

track whose V-take name you want to edit.

MICxx-yy

V-take recorded through MIC algorithm of insert effect

DULxx-yy

V-take recorded through DUAL MIC algorithm of insert effect

LINxx-yy

V-take recorded through LINE algorithm of insert effect

8INxx-yy

V-take recorded through 8x COMP EQ algorithm of insert effect

MASxx-yy

V-take recorded through MASTERING algorithm of insert effect

BYPxx-yy

V-take recorded without passing through insert effect

BOUxx-yy

V-take recorded using the bounce function or rhythm recording

LP_xx_yy

Phrase written to V-take using the phrase loop function (→ p. 67)

HRMxx-yy

V-take recorded using the harmony generate function or duo harmony function.

TR 2- 2 GTR 2- 1

NOTE

If you select a V-take on which nothing is recorded, the indication “NO DATA” appears and the name cannot be edited.

Press the [EDIT] key.

The ﬁrst character of the V-take name ﬂashes. This indicates that you can change the V-take name.

Use the cursor left/right keys to move the ﬂashing section to the character you want to change.

Turn the dial to select a character.

The following characters can be selected.

Numerals:

Letters:

Symbols: (

Repeat steps 4 – 5 until the name is as

desired.

0 – 9

A – Z, a – z

space) ! “ # $ % & ‘ ( ) + , - . / :

; < > = ? @ [ ] ^ _ ` { }

HINT

When the phrase loop function is used to write a phrase to the master track, the name “LP_MS_yy” is assigned.

To change a V-take name, proceed as follows.

The key lights up, and the track number, V-take number, and V-take name appear on the display.

From the main screen, press the [V-TAKE] key in the track parameter section.

When you have ﬁnished editing the name, press the [EXIT] key.

The new name is accepted and the unit returns to the condition of step 2. If necessary, you can edit the names of other V-takes.

To return to the main screen, press the

[EXIT] key.

The [V-TAKE] key goes out.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Recorder]

660

307 2 2

660

307 2 2

HINT

If the contents of a V-take are fully erased, the name reverts to “NO DATA”.

Moving to a desired point in the song (locate function)

You can specify a location within the song in time units (minutes/seconds/milliseconds) or in measure units (measure/beat/tick) units, and move to that location.

Hours Seconds Measures Ticks

0010101212660

Minutes Milliseconds Beats

HINT

If you use the marker function (→ p. 46) to set marks for recorder positions, you can use the locate function to move among marks.

307

0 00

Playing back the same passage repeatedly (A-B repeat function)

A-B repeat is a function that repeatedly plays back a desired region of the song. This is useful to listen to the same region repeatedly, for example during practice.

Move to the point at which you want to

begin repeat playback, and press the [A-B REPEAT] key in the control section.

The key ﬂashes, and the repeat start location (point A) is speciﬁed.

HINT

The A/B point can be speciﬁed either during playback or when the recorder is stopped.

Move to the point at which you want to end repeat playback, and press the [A-B REPEAT] key once more.

The [A-B REPEAT] key will change from ﬂashing to constantly lit, and the repeat end location (point B) is set.

Verify that the recorder is stopped.

Use the cursor left/right keys from the main

screen to move the ﬂashing part to the unit you want to change.

For example, to change the minutes, cause the segment marked “M” to ﬂash.

0010101212660

Turn the dial to change the value shown for

the ﬂashing part.

When you change the displayed value, the recorder immediately moves to the new location. Pressing the PLAY [R] key starts playback from that point.

HINT

The measure/beat/tick indication changes according to the current rhythm section tempo and beat.

307

0 00

NOTE

•To redo the A/B point setting, press the [A-B REPEAT] key so that it goes out, and then repeat the procedure from step 1.

• If you specify a point B that is located earlier than point A, the region from points B

To begin repeat playback, press the PLAY

[R] key.

Repeat playback will begin when you press the PLAY [R] key while the [A-B REPEAT] key is lit. When the point B is reached, the recorder jumps to point A, and playback continues.

To stop repeat playback, press the STOP

[P] key.

Even after pressing the STOP [P] key to stop playback, you can perform repeat playback again as many times as desired, as long as the [A-B REPEAT] key is still lit.

To turn off repeat playback, press the [A-B

REPEAT] key.

The key goes out, and repeat playback will be turned off. The A/B point locations also will be cleared.

→

A will be played repeatedly.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Recorder]

SCRUB FRM 40ms

Finding a desired location (scrub/preview function)

The MRS-1608 provides a “scrub” function that lets you search for a desired location while repeatedly playing a short region before or after the current point. This is convenient to accurately ﬁnd the point at which a speciﬁc sound starts or stops.

When the scrub function is on, you can use the “preview function” that plays 0.7 seconds before and after the current point. By using the scrub and preview functions together, you can ﬁnd the desired location quickly and accurately.

Using scrub/preview

To perform scrub playback, hold down the STOP [P press the PLAY [R

The keys light up, and a short region (40 milliseconds by default) following the current location will play back repeatedly.

Immediately after activating the scrub function, audio track 1 will be selected as target for scrub playback.

] key from the main screen and

] key.

During scrub playback, the current location can be moved forward or backward in milliseconds or ticks.

To use the preview function to hear the region before the current location, press the REW [ key. To hear the region after the current location, press the FF [

If you press the REW [T prior to the current location will play (ending at the current location). If you press the FF [Y

0.7 seconds following the current location will play

(beginning at the current location). This is called “preview playback”. When preview playback ends, scrub playback will resume.

Current location

Preview playback Preview playback

To cancel the scrub function, press the

STOP [P] key.

The PLAY [R] and STOP [P] keys go out.

] key.

] key, a region of 0.7 seconds

] key, a region of

]

Current location

Track

When the scrub function is on, the display indication changes as follows.

Scrub playback

SCRUB FRM 40ms

Use the status keys to select the track(s) for scrub playback.

Up to four tracks can be selected simultaneously for scrub playback. (Stereo track pairs are counted as two tracks.) Scrub playback is toggled on and off for a track by repeatedly pressing the respective status key. If you attempt to select more than four tracks, scrub playback will be carried out for the last four tracks only.

To move the scrub playback position, use the cursor left/right keys to cause the millisecond indication or the tick indication on the counter to ﬂash. Then turn the dial to ﬁnd the desired location.

Changing the scrub direction and duration

When the scrub function is on, you can change the direction of scrub playback (whether it will play the region before or after the current location), and the length of the scrub playback section.

From the main screen, hold down the STOP [P

] key and press the PLAY [R

This turns the scrub function on, and the direction and duration of scrub playback are shown on the display.

] key.

SCRUB FRM 40ms

Direction of scrub playback

To change the length of scrub playback,

use the cursor left/right keys to cause the scrub playback length setting to ﬂash, and turn the dial.

You can select 40, 80, 120, 160, or 200 (ms) as the length of scrub playback.

Length of scrub playback

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Recorder]

HINT

You can also use the cursor up/down keys to change the scrub playback length.

To change the direction of scrub playback, use the cursor left/right keys to cause the scrub playback direction indication to ﬂash, and turn the dial.

If you select “TO”, scrub playback will begin from an earlier point and end at the current location. If you select “FRM”, scrub playback will begin from the current location.

To exit the scrub function, press the STOP [

(default setting)

Current location

Scrub playback

Current location

] key.

Scrub playback

• In the default condition of the MRS-1608, the foot switch is set to control recorder playback/stop. To use the foot switch to punch-in/out, you must ﬁrst change the foot switch setting (

Repeatedly press the status key of the track on which you want to perform punchin/out, until the key is lit in red.

Raise the fader of this track to a suitable

position.

Use the [ON/OFF] key to select the input,

and then play your instrument connected to the INPUT jack and use the [INPUT] control and [REC LEVEL] control to adjust the recording level.

Locate a point several measures before the

intended punch-in point, and press the PLAY [R] key to begin recorder playback.

→

p. 181).

Re-recording only a speciﬁed region (punch-in/out function)

Punch-in/out is a function that lets you re-record just a speciﬁed region of a previously recorded track. The action of switching a currently-playing track to record mode is called “punch-in”, and the action of switching back from recording to playback is called “punch-out”. The MRS-1608 provides two ways to do this. You can use

the panel keys or a foot switch (ZOOM FS-01, sold separately) to punch-in/out manually (“manual punch-in/ out”), or you can cause punch-in/out to occur automatically at previously speciﬁed points (“auto punch-in/out”).

NOTE

When the 8-track recording function (→ p. 45) is active, punch-in/out cannot be used.

Using manual punch-in/out

When you come to the punch-in point,

press the REC [O] key (or press the foot switch).

The REC [O] key lights up, and track recording begins from that location.

When you come to the intended punch-out

point, press the REC [O] key (or the foot switch) once more.

The REC [O] key goes out, and the MRS-1608 switches from recording to playback.

To stop the recorder, press the STOP [P key.

To check the newly recorded content, locate to a point before the punch-in point, and press the PLAY [R

] key.

]

To perform manual punch-in/out, proceed as follows.

HINT

•To use a foot switch for punch-in/out, connect the separately available ZOOM FS-01 to the FOOT SW jack on the front panel.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Recorder]

Using auto punch-in/out

Auto punch-in/out is a function that lets you specify beforehand the region to be re-recorded. Punch-in will occur automatically when you reach the starting location (In point), and punch-out will occur automatically when you reach the ending location (Out point). This is convenient when you cannot operate the MRS-1608 because you are playing the instrument yourself, or when very fast playback/ record switching is required.

In order to perform auto punch-in/out, you must ﬁrst specify the In point (the point where the recorder switches from playback to record) and Out point (the point where the recorder switches from record to playback), and then perform the recording operation.

In point Out point

Track

PlaybackPlayback Recording

Repeatedly press the status key for the

track on which you want to perform punchin/out, until the key ﬂashes red.

NOTE

If the current location is between the In point and Out point, the status key (and the REC [ be lit red. In this case, use the locate function once again to go to a point that is earlier than the In point.

To rehearse the auto punch-in/out process, press the PLAY [R

The recorder will begin playing. When you reach the In point, the track on which you are punching-in/out will be muted. When you reach the Out point, muting will be defeated. (You will always be able to monitor the input signal during this time.) Performing this action will not delete or record anything on the track. When you have ﬁnished rehearsing, move again to a location earlier than the In point.

] key if during recording) will

] key.

Raise the fader of the track on which you want to perform punch-in/out to a suitable position.

Use the [ON/OFF] key to select the input, and then play your instrument connected to the INPUT jack and use the [INPUT] control and [REC LEVEL] control to adjust the recording level.

Locate the point at which you want to punch-in, and press the [AUTO PUNCH IN/ OUT] key.

The key ﬂashes. This sets the “In point” at which recording will begin.

Locate the point at which you want to punch-out, and press the [AUTO PUNCH IN/OUT] key once more.

The key changes from ﬂashing to solidly lit. This sets the “Out point” at which recording will end.

HINT

To specify the in/out points precisely, it is convenient to use the scrub function ( a mark (

→

p. 46) beforehand at the desired locations.

Use the Locate function to go to a spot before the In point.

→

p. 38) to ﬁnd the locations and assign

HINT

To change the positions of the In point or Out point, press the [AUTO PUNCH IN/OUT] key so that the key goes out, and then repeat steps 3 – 7.

To actually perform auto punch-in/out, hold

down the REC [O] key and press the PLAY [R] key.

The recorder will begin playing. When you reach the In

point, recording will begin automatically (punch-in).

When you reach the Out point, recording will end

automatically, and playback will resume (punch-out).

When you have ﬁnished recording, press

the STOP [P] key.

To listen to the recorded result, repeatedly

10.

press the status key for the track on which you recorded, until the key is lit green. Then move to a location earlier than the In point, and press the PLAY [R] key.

To re-do the punch-in/punch-out recording, repeat steps

5 – 9.

When you are satisﬁed with the recording,

11.

press the [AUTO PUNCH IN/OUT] key so that the key goes out.

The auto punch-in/out function is turned off, and the In

point and Out point settings are cleared.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Recorder]

Recording several tracks on a master track (mixdown function)

This section explains how to play recorded audio tracks as well as drum/bass track sounds and record them as a stereo mix on a master track (mixdown).

About the master track

The master track is a set of stereo tracks that are separate from the normal tracks 1 – 16. The most common use of the master track is as a track on which the end result of a mixdown process is recorded. The contents of the master track can then be used to create an audio CD. When you switch the master track to the recording condition, the signal after passing the [MASTER] fader (the same signal as available from the MASTER OUTPUT jacks) is sent to the master track. The MRS-1608 offers one master track for each project. Similar to the regular tracks 1 – 16, the master track also has ten virtual tracks (V-takes). This allows you to record different mixes on several V-takes and select the optimum take later.

Master track

Master track mixdown steps

Here’s how to mix recorder tracks and the rhythm section

sound onto two stereo channels and record these on the

master track.

If required, refer to page 35 and select the desired V-take for the master track.

From the main screen, press the [MASTER] status key repeatedly until the key is lit in red.

The master track is now ready for recording.

Start recorder playback and adjust the mixing balance of the various tracks.

The individual track level settings as well as the insert

effect and send/return effect settings all have an inﬂuence

on the signal that is sent to the master track. Adjust levels

while watching the L/R level meter, and make sure that

no signal clipping occurs.

To carry out the mixdown operation, press

the ZERO [U beginning of the song, and then press the PLAY [R [O

] key.

Recording on the master track starts.

When recording is complete, press the STOP [P

] key to return to the

] key while holding down the REC

] key.

Tracks 1 – 16

HINT

It is possible to play the master tracks of several projects recorded on the hard disk in succession (

ZOOM MRS-1608

→

p. 177).

HINT

You can start the mixdown operation from a point within the

song. Only the data in the recorded range are overwritten.

Playing the master track

To play the recorded master track, proceed as follows.

From the main screen, press the [MASTER] status key repeatedly until the key is lit in green.

The master track is now ready for playback. In this mode,

all other tracks are muted, and all effects are switched off.

HINT

While the [MASTER] status key is lit in green, the transport

section keys except for the REC [

] key operate normally.

Reference [Recorder]

RECTRACK MUTE

Press the ZERO [U] key to return to the

beginning of the song, and then press the PLAY [R] key.

Playback of the master track starts. You can use the [MASTER] fader to adjust the playback volume.

To stop recorder playback, press the STOP

[P] key.

To cancel the master track playback mode,

press the [MASTER] status key so that the key goes out.

Muting for all tracks is canceled, and the unit returns to normal operation. Status keys that were automatically turned off are returned to the previous condition.

Combining multiple tracks on one or two tracks (bounce function)

• If you select only one mono track as the bounce destination, the signal mixed to mono will be recorded.

• If necessary, you can play back all tracks 1 – 16, and bounce the signal onto an empty V-take of a selected track.

Making bounce settings

Before using the bounce function, you may have to make certain settings.

◆

Specifying playback/mute for the

recording track(s)

By default, the bounce destination recording track(s) will be muted. To play back a track while you bounce-record onto another V-take of that track, use the following procedure to change the internal setting so that the recording track(s) will also play back.

From the main screen, press the [UTILITY/ TRACK EDIT] key.

The indication “UTILITY TR EDIT” appears on the display.

How bounce works

“Bounce” is a function that mixes the sound from the audio tracks and drum/bass tracks, and records them on one or two tracks. (This is sometimes called “ping-pong recording”.)

For example, you might bounce the contents of tracks 1 – 14 onto tracks 15/16 and then switch the V-takes of tracks 1 – 14 to record new versions of your performance.

Tracks 1 – 14

HINT

•You can mix the signals from the INPUT jacks into the bounce recording.

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “UTILITY BOUNCE” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “BOUNCE REC TRACK” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

The current setting is shown.

RECTRACK MUTE

The indications have the following meaning.

• MUTE:

• PLAY:

The recording track(s) will be muted (default

setting).

The recording track(s) will play back.

To play the bounce target track, turn the dial to change the setting to “PLAY”.

To return to the main screen, press the [EXIT] key several times.

ZOOM MRS-1608

◆

REC TAKE CURRENT

Selecting the recording destination V-

take

By default, the result of the bounce operation will be recorded on the V-take that is currently selected for the recording track(s). To play back a track while bouncing onto another V-take of that track, you can use the following procedure to change the recording destination V-take.

From the main screen, press the [UTILITY/

TRACK EDIT] key.

The indication “UTILITY TR EDIT” appears on the display.

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up

the indication “UTILITY BOUNCE” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up

the indication “BOUNCE REC TAKE” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

The current setting is shown.

REC TAKE CURRENT

Reference [Recorder]

Executing bounce recording

This example explains how to bounce the contents of tracks 1 – 16 and the drum/bass tracks onto V-take 10 of tracks 15/16.

Refer to “Making bounce settings” and set the bounce target track to “PLAY”.

Refer to “Making bounce settings” and select V-take 10 for the bounce target track.

From the main screen, press the status keys of tracks 15/16 repeatedly, so that the keys are lit in red.

Tracks 15/16 are now ready for recording.

Press the [BOUNCE] key in the control section.

The key lights up and the bounce function for the target tracks is turned on. Other tracks and effects function normally.

The indications have the following meaning.

• CURRENT:

The bounce result will be recorded on the V-take currently selected for the recording track (default setting).

•1 – 10:

The bounce result will be recorded on the V-take of the recording track with the speciﬁed number.

Turn the dial to specify the recording destination V-take.

To return to the main screen, press the [EXIT] key several times.

Set the recorder to playback and adjust the

mixing balance of the various tracks.

The individual track level settings as well as the insert effect and send/return effect settings all have an inﬂuence on the mixed signal that is sent to the bounce target tracks. Adjust levels while watching the L/R level meter, and make sure that no signal clipping occurs.

Move the recorder to the beginning and start recording.

Recording on tracks 15/16 starts.

When recording is complete, press the STOP [P

] key.

HINT

•To check the result of the bounce operation, select the Vtake for the bounce target tracks and mute the other tracks. Note that the track parameters will continue to be valid. To monitor the unprocessed sound, return the track volume and EQ settings for the bounce target tracks to the default condition. When bouncing in stereo to two mono tracks, set the Pan parameter for the odd-numbered track to L 100 and for the even-numbered track to R 100.

• If only the signal from the drum track or bass track is recorded, refer to ”Selecting drum/bass track as recording

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Recorder]

REC SRC MASTER

source” on page 44 and select “MASTER” as source.

To turn off the bounce function, press the

[BOUNCE] key.

The [BOUNCE] key goes out, and the bounce function is canceled.

Recording the drum/bass sound (rhythm recording)

The MRS-1608 allows you to record the drum track or bass track sound of the rhythm section onto any track. This function is called “rhythm recording”. By recording a rhythm song or rhythm pattern on an audio track, you can then combine this with another song or pattern as played by the rhythm section. To use the rhythm recording function, proceed as follows.

Selecting drum/bass track as recording source

While using the bounce function, select the drum/bass track as recording source signal.

• DRUM TR

Drum track

• BASS TR

Bass track

Turn the dial to select “DRUM TR” or “BASS

TR” as recording source.

Press the [EXIT] key several times to return

to the main screen.

Recording

While playing the audio tracks, you can now record the rhythm section play on any audio track.

Press the [BOUNCE] key.

The key lights up.

Repeatedly press the status key for the track on which you want to record, until the key is lit in red.

In this condition, the signal of the track selected in step 4 of “Selecting drum/bass track as recording source” will be recorded.

From the main screen, press the [UTILITY/ TRACK EDIT] key in the display section.

The indication “UTILITY TR EDIT” appears on the display.

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “UTILITY BOUNCE” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “BOUNCE REC SRC” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes as follows.

REC SRC MASTER

In this condition, you can select the recording source signal. The following choices are available.

• MASTER

Signal immediately before [MASTER] fader (default setting)

HINT

To record drum tracks in stereo, select two tracks as recording destination. If only one track is selected, the recording will be in mono.

Verify that the [RHYTHM] key is out, and that the rhythm song or rhythm pattern that you want to record is selected, or that the sounds that you want to play are assigned to the pads.

Set the recorder to playback and adjust the

drum/bass track output level.

Adjust levels while watching the level meter, and make sure that no signal clipping occurs.

Move to the start point of the recorder, and start recording.

The rhythm pattern/rhythm song play is recorded on the audio track. If you hit the pads during recording, this sound will also be captured. When play is complete, stop the recorder. To cancel the bounce function and return to the normal condition, switch the recording source back to “MASTER”, as described in “Selecting drum/bass track

ZOOM MRS-1608

as recording source”.

HINT

It is also possible to use a MIDI keyboard or similar device instead of the pads to play drum/bass sounds.

Reference [Recorder]

Input

12345678

Press the [BOUNCE] key.

The key goes out.

Recording on 8 tracks simultaneously (8-track recording mode)

This section explains how to use the 8-track recording mode which allows up to eight tracks to be recorded simultaneously.

About 8-track recording

In 8-track recording mode, the signals from the INPUT jacks 1 – 8 (or from GUITAR/BASS INPUT jacks 1/2 instead of INPUT jacks 1/2) can be recorded directly onto tracks 1 – 8. This is convenient to record the performance of an entire band in a single session, using separate tracks for the various parts, or for picking up a drum performance with multiple mics. In 8-track recording mode, inputs 1 – 8 and tracks 1 – 8 correspond to each other. When the status key of a track is lit in red, the signal of that input can be recorded on the track. When the status key is out or lit in green, the signal from the respective input is sent directly to a point immediately before the [MASTER] fader.

Status keys

Red Red Red Red Red Red

12345678 MASTER

Green

(or out)

Green

NOTE

• In 8-track recording mode, recording on tracks 9/10 – 15/ 16 is not possible. To perform overdubbing on a mono track after you have recorded tracks 1 – 8, you must move the recorded takes to tracks 9 – 16 ﬁrst (

• In 8-track recording mode, the auto punch-in/out and bounce functions are not available.

→

p. 63).

Assigning an input signal to a track

After adjusting the level of the signals from the INPUT jacks 1 – 8 or the GUITAR/BASS INPUT jacks 1/2, the signals are sent to tracks 1 – 8 in the recorder section.

Verify that the instruments or microphones to be recorded are connected to the INPUT jacks 1 – 8 or GUITAR/BASS INPUT jacks 1/2.

The insert and send/return effects are available also in 8track recording mode.

ZOOM MRS-1608

NOTE

You can use either GUITAR/BASS INPUT jack 1 or INPUT jack 1, and either GUITAR/BASS INPUT jack 2 or INPUT jack

2. If both jacks are connected, the GUITAR/BASS INPUT

jacks 1/2 are given priority.

Press the [8TRACK RECORDING] key in the

input section.

The key lights up and the MRS-1608 switches to 8-track recording mode.

Press the [ON/OFF] keys for the INPUT jacks 1 – 8.

Reference [Recorder]

307 2 2

When pressed, a key lights up, and the corresponding input is active.

While the instruments are played, adjust

the [INPUT] controls to obtain a suitable input sensitivity level.

When using the GUITAR/BASS INPUT jacks 1/2, perform the adjustment with the [GUITAR/BASS INPUT] control 1/2 on the front panel.

To use an insert effect, press the [INPUT

SOURCE] key in the effect section, and press the [ON/OFF] key for the input to which you want to apply the effect.

The respective [ON/OFF] key lights up orange, and the insert effect is applied. When 8x COMP EQ is selected as algorithm for the insert effect, all channels can be processed by the effect. Otherwise, two selected channels can be effect-processed.

HINT

In the default condition of a project, a patch suitable for guitar/bass playing is selected as insert effect. If necessary, select a different patch (

While the instruments are played, use the [REC LEVEL] control to adjust the recording level.

Set the recording level as high as possible, but avoid settings that cause the [CLIP] indicator to light. The current signal level can be checked with the level meters IN1 – IN8.

Repeatedly press the status keys for the tracks (1 – 8) to be recorded so that the keys are lit in red.

Up to eight status keys can be activated simultaneously. When a track is switched to the recording standby condition, the signal from the input mixer will be sent to the corresponding recording track.

→

p. 139).

To cancel the 8-track recording condition,

press the [8TRACK RECORDING] key.

The key goes out.

Marker function

This function lets you set marks at any recorder position, and return to the mark using a simple operation. Up to 100 marks can be set.

HINT

• It is also possible to switch mixer settings or effect setting groups (scenes) at a marked position (

• When creating an audio CD, marks can be used to provide index information. This will allow the CD player to access speciﬁc points within tracks (

→

Setting a mark

Here’s how to assign a mark at the desired location in a song.

Locate the point to which you want to

assign a mark.

HINT

•A mark can be assigned either during playback or when stopped.

•You can use the scrub function ( position with high precision.

Press the [MARK] key in the control section.

A mark will be assigned to the current location. The mark number will appear in the MARKER ﬁeld of the counter.

→

p. 84).

p. 155).

→

p. 38) to locate the

If the [ON/OFF] key for a track is ON but the corresponding status key is lit green (or is off), the respective input will not be recorded.

Move to the start point of the recorder, and

start recording.

When recording is ﬁnished, stop the recorder.

307

The MARKER ﬁeld shows the number of the mark at the current position or the closest preceding mark. When the current position matches the mark, a marker symbol appears to the right of the mark number.

0 01

Mark number

Marker symbol

ZOOM MRS-1608

The mark number is assigned automatically in ascending

order from the beginning of the song. If you add a new mark between two existing marks, the subsequent marks will be renumbered.

Mark

0000010102

number

Song

Mark

0000010102

number

Song

HINT

Mark number 00 is already set at the beginning of the song (the counter zero location). This cannot be changed.

Add a mark

030304

Locating a mark

Reference [Recorder]

Deleting a mark

Here’s how to delete a mark that you assigned.

Locate the mark that you want to delete.

A mark can only be deleted when it exactly matches the current location. Make sure that the mark symbol is shown. If not, use the MARKER [U jump to the exact marker point.

Press the [CLEAR] key in the control section.

The selected mark will be deleted, and subsequent marks will be renumbered.

NOTE

•A deleted mark cannot be recovered.

• It is not possible to delete mark number “00” located at the beginning of the song.

] / [I

] keys to

Here’s how to move to the location of a mark. This can be done in two ways: you can use key operations, or specify the mark number directly.

◆

Using keys to locate

From the main screen, press either the

MARKER [U] or [I] key in the control section.

Each time you press the key, the unit jumps to the next mark before or after the current location.

Mark

Song

◆

Specifying the mark number to locate

Current location

From the main screen, use the cursor left/ right keys to cause the mark number on the counter to ﬂash.

Turn the dial to select the desired mark number.

As soon as the number is changed, the recorder jumps to that number.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Recorder]

PreCount COUNT

COUNT

VOLUME 10

Making settings for precount operation

In the default condition of a project, a pre-count of four beats is heard before the start of recording. The number of beats and the pre-count volume can be changed as follows.

From the main screen, press the [UTILITY/

TRACK EDIT] key in the display section.

The indication “UTILITY TR EDIT” appears on the display.

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up

the indication “UTILITY PreCount” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes as follows.

To change the volume of the pre-count, use

the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “PreCount VOLUME” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes as follows. Turn the dial to set the volume (0 – 15).

VOLUME 10

alue of pre-count volume

When the setting is complete, press the

[EXIT] key to return to the main screen.

If you initiate the recording procedure in this condition, the selected number of pre-count beats will be heard at the selected volume.

PreCount COUNT

To change the number of pre-count beats,

press the [ENTER] key. Then turn the dial to make the selection.

• OFF

The pre-count is turned off.

•1 – 8

A pre-count of 1 – 8 beats is heard.

• SPECIAL

A special pre-count as follows is heard.

COUNT 4

Number of pre-count beats

When the setting is complete, press the [EXIT] key to return to the screen of step 2.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Track Editing]

UTILITY TR EDIT

TR EDIT COPY

Copy Src TR 1- 1

Copy Src TR 5- 1

Copy Src TR 1/2

This section explains how to edit audio data contained on tracks 1 – 16 of the recorder section. There are two major types of editing functions: specifying a range within a track for editing, and editing an entire V-take.

Editing a range of data

The procedure for specifying a range within a track and then performing an editing action is explained below.

Basic steps for range editing

When performing editing for a speciﬁed range of data, some steps are similar for each action. These are as follows.

From the main screen, press the [UTILITY/ TRACK EDIT] key in the display section.

The indication “UTILITY TR EDIT” appears on the display.

UTILITY TR EDIT

interval.

• REVERSE

Reverse a speciﬁed range of audio data.

• TimStrch (Time Stretch/Compress)

Change the duration of the entire audio data on a track without changing the pitch.

• PitchFix

Apply pitch compensation to a speciﬁed range of audio data.

• HARMONY+ (Harmony Generate)

Add 3-part harmony to a speciﬁed range of audio data.

• DUO HARM (Duo Harmony)

Add 1-part harmony to a speciﬁed range of audio data.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The screen for selecting the track and V-take for editing appears. The display shown below is an example for selecting the COPY command in step 3.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The track edit menu containing various editing commands appears on the display.

TR EDIT COPY

Use the cursor left/right keys to select the desired command from the following options.

• COPY

Copy a speciﬁed range of audio data.

• MOVE

Move a speciﬁed range of audio data.

• ERASE

Erase a speciﬁed range of audio data.

• TRIM

Retain only a speciﬁed range of audio data and erase the rest.

•FADE I/O (Fade-in/out)

Perform fade-in/fade-out over a speciﬁed audio data

Copy Src TR 1- 1

Use the cursor up/down keys or the status keys and the dial to select the track (1 - 16, MASTER) and V-take number.

Copy Src TR 5- 1

On this screen, V-takes that are not currently selected can also be selected for editing. For commands other than PitchFix, HARMONY+, and DUO HARM, when track 16 is selected, turning the dial further to the right lets you select odd/even track pairs (track 1/2, track 15/16 etc.) or the master track (shown as "M").

Copy Src TR 1/2

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Reference [Track Editing]

Copy Src START

001 1 1 0 00000

Copy Src END

058 3 3 0 00000

Copy Dst TR 1- 1

NOTE

•You can also press the status keys for two adjacent odd/evennumbered mono tracks together to select these tracks.

• Repeatedly pressing the status keys for stereo tracks selects the odd-numbered track, even-numbered track, and stereo track in sequence.

• When a single track has been selected as editing source for a command other than HARMONY+ and DUO HARM, the editing target will also be a single track.

• When two tracks or the master track have been selected as editing source, the editing target will also be two tracks or the master track. The currently selected V-take for each track will be the target.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The subsequent steps will differ, depending on which command was selected. See the sections for the respective commands.

When the editing command has been

executed, repeatedly press the [EXIT] key to return to the main screen.

NOTE

After executing an edit command for rewriting the audio data on a track, the original data cannot be restored. To retain the condition before editing, use the capture and swap functions

→

p. 65) for that track.

(

Copy Src START

0 0 0 0 0 0

The edit range start point is shown on the counter in hours, minutes, seconds, milliseconds, and in measures, beats, and ticks.

Use the cursor left/right keys to move the ﬂashing section of the counter, and turn the dial to specify the copy start point.

The point can be speciﬁed in hours/minutes/seconds/ milliseconds, or in measures/beats/ticks. When a value is speciﬁed, the other units also reﬂect the new location. By causing a mark number to ﬂash, you can also specify edit points using the markers.

NOTE

If you specify a point where no audio data exist, the second line of the display shows symbol.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The display changes to “Copy Src END”. This screen lets you specify the copy range end point.

001

Copying a speciﬁed range of data

You can copy the audio data of a speciﬁed range to a speciﬁed position on a speciﬁed track/V-take. This action will overwrite the existing data at the destination location. The copy source data will be unchanged.

Copy source track

Copy

Copy target track

Refer to steps 1 – 6 of “Basic steps for

range editing” to select the copy source track/V-take, and press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes as follows. In this condition, you can specify the copy start point.

Copy Src END

0 2 21313 0

Use the same procedure as in step 2 to

specify the copy range end point.

If you press the PLAY [R] key at this point, the speciﬁed range will be played.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The display now shows “Copy Dst TR xx-yy” (where xx is the track number and yy the V-take number).

058

Copy Dst TR 1- 1

Specify the copy destination track/V-take

in the same way as when selecting the copy source, and press the [ENTER] key.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Track Editing]

Copy Dst TO

058 3 3 0 00000

Move Src START

001 1 1 0 00000

Move Src END

230

032 4 412120000

Move Dst TR 1- 1

Move Dst TO

230

032 4 412120000

The display indication changes as follows.

Copy Dst TO

0 2 21313 0

Specify the copy destination start point in

the same way as for the copy source, and press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “COPY SURE?” appears on the display.

To execute the copy operation, press the

[ENTER] key.

When the copy operation is completed, the unit returns to the track edit menu. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

058

Use the cursor left/right keys to move the

ﬂashing section of the counter, and turn the dial to specify the move start point.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes to “Move Src END”.

Move Src END

0 0 04242230

Use the same procedure as in step 2 to specify the move range end point.

If you press the PLAY [R range will be played.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The display changes to let you specify the move destination track/V-take.

032

] key at this point, the speciﬁed

HINT

To paste the same range repeatedly, use the phrase loop

→

function (

p. 67).

Moving a speciﬁed range of data

You can move the audio data of a speciﬁed range to a speciﬁed position on a speciﬁed track/V-take. This action will overwrite the existing data at the destination location. The move source data will be erased.

Move source track

Move

Move target track

Refer to steps 1 – 6 of “Basic steps for range editing” to select the move source track/V-take, and press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes to “Move Src START”.

Move Src START

0 0 0 0 0 0

001

Move Dst TR 1- 1

Specify the move destination track/V-take

in the same way as when selecting the move source track/V-take, and press the [ENTER] key.

The display changes to the screen for specifying the move destination start point.

Move Dst TO

0 0 04242230

Specify the move destination start point in

the same way as for the move source, and press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “MOVE SURE?” appears on the display.

To execute the move operation, press the

[ENTER] key once more.

When the move operation is completed, the unit returns to the track edit menu. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

032

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Track Editing]

Ers Src START

001 1 1 0 00000

Ers Src END

042 4 424240000

Trim Src START

001 1 1 0 00000

Trim Src END

230

032 4 412120000

Erasing a speciﬁed range of data

You can erase the audio data of a speciﬁed range and return the range to the non-recorded condition.

Erase

Refer to steps 1 – 6 of “Basic steps for range editing” to select the track/V-take for erasing, and press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “Ers Src START” appears on the display.

Ers Src START

0 0 0 0 0 0

Use the cursor left/right keys to move the ﬂashing section of the counter, and turn the dial to specify the erase start point.

001

Trimming a speciﬁed range of data

You can erase the audio data of a speciﬁed range and adjust the data start/end point (trimming). For example, when preparing to burn the master track onto a CD-R/RW disc, you might want to remove unwanted portions at the start and the end of the V-take that will be used.

Trim Trim

NOTE

When data before a speciﬁed section are erased (trimmed), the remaining audio data will move up by that amount. Therefore the timing may become mismatched with regard to other tracks.

Refer to “Basic steps for range editing” to select the track/V-take from which you want to trim data, and press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “Trim Src START” appears on the display.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes to “Ers Src END”.

Ers Src END

0 1 12020 20

Use the same procedure as in step 2 to

specify the erase range end point.

If you press the PLAY [R range will be played.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “ERASE SURE?” appears on the display.

To execute the erase operation, press the [ENTER] key.

When the erase operation is completed, the unit returns to the track edit menu. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

042

] key at this point, the speciﬁed

Trim Src START

0 0 0 0 0 0

Use the cursor left/right keys to move the ﬂashing section of the counter, and turn the dial to specify the trimming range start point.

All data before the point speciﬁed here will be erased.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes to “Trm Src END”.

001

Trim Src END

0 0 04242230

Specify the trimming end point using the

same procedure as in step 2.

All data after the point speciﬁed here will be erased. If you press the PLAY [R

032

] key, the speciﬁed range will

ZOOM MRS-1608

be played.

Fade Src START

001 1 1 0 00000

Fade Src END

230

018 2 212120000

Fade Src CURVE

IN-1

Reference [Track Editing]

Press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “TRIM SURE?” appears on the display.

To execute the trimming operation, press the [ENTER] key.

When the trimming operation is completed, the unit returns to the track edit menu. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

Fade-in/fade-out of speciﬁed data range

You can fade in or fade out the audio data over a speciﬁed range.

Fade-in

Fade Src END

0 0 02424230

Use the same procedure as in step 2 to

specify the fade-in or fade-out end point.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “Fade Src CURVE” appears on the display.

018

Fade Src CURVE

Turn the dial to select the fade-in or fade-

out curve.

Curves IN-1 to IN-3 are for fade-in, and curves OUT-1 to OUT-3 are for fade-out. The three different kinds of curves look as follows.

IN-1

NOTE

The fade-in/out command does not simply alter the track volume. Rather, it rewrites the waveform data and is therefore not reversible once executed.

Refer to steps 1 – 6 of “Basic steps for

range editing” to select the track/Vtake for fade-in or fade-out, and press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “Fade Src START” appears on the display.

Fade Src START

0 0 0 0 0 0

Use the cursor left/right keys to move the ﬂashing section of the counter, and turn the dial to specify the fade-in or fade-out start point.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes to “Fade Src END”.

001

Fade-in

IN-1 IN-2 IN-3

Fade-out

OUT-1 OUT-2 OUT-3

Press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “FADE I/O SURE?” appears on the display.

To execute the fade-in/fade-out operation,

press the [ENTER] key once more.

When the fade-in/fade-out operation is completed, the unit returns to the track edit menu.

By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Track Editing]

Rvrs Src START

001 1 1 0 00000

Rvrs Src END

042 2 2 0 00000

TmStrDst TR 1- 1

TimStrch

100.00%

120.0

Reversing a speciﬁed range of audio data

You can reverse the order of a speciﬁed range of audio data.

Reverse

A B C D E E D C B A

Refer to steps 1 – 6 of “Basic steps for

range editing” to select the track/V-take for reversing, and press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “Rvrs Src START” appears on the display.

Rvrs Src START

0 0 0 0 0 0

001

Changing the duration of a speciﬁed range of data

You can change the duration of the speciﬁed range of audio data on a track without changing the pitch (time stretch/compress). The stretched or compressed data can be written over the old data on the same track or pasted on another track while leaving the source data unchanged.

Time stretch/compress

A B C D EA B C D E

NOTE

• The editing start point for time stretch/compress is always from the beginning of the V-take.

• The point where you stop playback when checking out the time stretch/compress effect becomes the editing end point.

Use the cursor left/right keys to move the

ﬂashing section of the counter, and turn the dial to specify the reversing start point.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes to “Rvrs Src END”.

Rvrs Src END

0 1 11818 0

Use the same procedure as in step 2 to

specify the reversing end point.

If you press the PLAY [R] key, the speciﬁed range will be played.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “REVERSE SURE?” appears on the display.

042

Refer to steps 1 – 6 of “Basic steps for range editing” to select the track/V-take for time stretch/compress, and press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “TmStrDst” appears on the display. In this condition, you can select a track/V-take on which to place the audio data after time stretch/compress.

TmStrDst TR 1- 1

Use the cursor up/down keys and the dial to select the destination track/V-take, and press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes as follows.

TimStrch

100.00%

Stretch ratio Tempo

120.0

When the reverse operation is completed, the unit returns to the track edit menu. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

To execute the reversing operation, press the [ENTER] key.

This screen lets you specify the ratio for time stretch/ compress in two units, as listed below.

• Stretch ratio (%)

Expresses the length of the track after time stretch/ compress.

ZOOM MRS-1608

•Tempo (BPM)

PitchFix KEY

Sets the tempo (beats per minute) after time stretch/ compress, using the tempo set in the rhythm song as reference. In the default condition, the current tempo of the rhythm section is shown.

Use the cursor left/right keys to select the

unit for making the time stretch/compress setting.

The selected unit ﬂashes.

Turn the dial to make the time stretch/

compress setting.

When you change one item, the other item also changes accordingly. The setting range of 50% – 150% for the stretch/ compress ratio cannot be exceeded.

Press the PLAY [R] key.

The stretched/compressed track is played from the beginning of the V-take. If you continue playback to the end of the V-take, all audio data of that track/V-take are stretched or compressed.

HINT

It is also possible to change the stretch/compress ratio during playback.

At the point where you want the time stretch/compress function to end, press the STOP [P

The indication “TimStrch SURE?” appears on the display.

To execute the time stretch/compress

operation, press the [ENTER] key.

When the time stretch/compress operation is completed, the unit returns to the track edit menu. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

] key.

HINT

To apply time stretch/compress only to a part of the song such as a drum pattern or guitar riff, use the copy function and trimming function to create a V-take of the desired length ﬁrst.

Reference [Track Editing]

Compensating the pitch of a speciﬁed range

This editing command lets you specify a KEY and SCALE and align all audio data in a speciﬁed range to the nearest note in that scale (PitchFix). Instead of the scale, it is also possible to use a phrase from a bass sequence as reference for pitch compensation.

HINT

The edited audio data after pitch compensation will overwrite the existing data.

NOTE

For pitch shift to operate correctly, the audio data should represent single notes recorded without applying delay, reverb, chorus, or other effects.

Refer to steps 1 – 6 of “Basic steps for range editing” to select the track/V-take for pitch compensation, and press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “PitchFix KEY” appears on the display. In this condition, you can select the key for the scale to be used for pitch compensation.

PitchFix KEY

HINT

You can only select a single mono track or one track of a stereo pair as source track for PitchFix.

Turn the dial to select the key.

The selection range for the key is C – B (in semitone steps) and “BassSeq”. When you select “BassSeq”, the pitch of the audio track will be detected and transposed to the nearest note speciﬁed by the bass sequence or by actually hitting a pad. The upper limit for pitch detection is two octaves above center A. For example, if you use an audio track recorded with long tones and apply PitchFix using a bass sequence with a short rhythm, you will get an interesting effect with strong modulation.

Key

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Track Editing]

PitchFix SCALE

Major

PitchFix SPEED

udio track

PitchFix

Bass sequence

HINT

• When you select “BassSeq”, step 3 is not necessary.

• When you select “BassSeq” for pitch compensation, the note in the octave closest to the source material is selected. If the source and the bass track pitch are far apart, the results may be unpredictable.

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “PitchFix SCALE” on the display, then turn the dial to select the scale type.

The scale type selections are “Major”, “Minor”, and “Chrmtic” (Chromatic). When you select Chromatic, pitch compensation is performed to the nearest semitone.

Audio track

PitchFix SCALE

The following illustrations show pitch compensation for the same melody, using D Major and Chromatic.

Major

Pitch compensation (D Major)

Pitch compensation (Chromatic)

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up

the indication “PitchFix SPEED” on the display, then turn the dial to select the speed with which the pitch is adjusted. The setting range is 0 – 30.

Smaller values result in faster compensation speed. For a natural effect, select a fairly high value.

PitchFix SPEED

HINT

By selecting a very high pitch compensation speed, you can produce a robotic voice from a vocal source.

Press the cursor down key to cause the

counter indication to ﬂash. Then use the cursor left/right keys and the dial to specify the start point for pitch compensation.

You can also use the MARKER [U [U

] key, and REW [T

By pressing the PLAY [R check out the editing result.

]/[I

] keys, ZERO

]/FF [Y

] keys to locate the point.

] key at this point, you can

ZOOM MRS-1608

To start pitch compensation, hold down the

REC [O] key and press the PLAY [R] key.

Recording starts with the pitch compensation applied. If you have selected “BassSeq” in step 2, you can check the bass track level on the level meter in the display.

By using the cursor left/right keys during recording, you can call up and edit the parameter values set in steps 2 –

5. If you press the [BYPASS] key, the pitch compensation

effect is bypassed. (This will also be reﬂected in the recording.)

Reference [Track Editing]

Generating a 3-part harmony from a speciﬁed range of audio data

You can use chord information programmed in the rhythm pattern/rhythm song to shift the pitch of the audio data and create a 3-part harmony (chord root/third/ﬁfth). Whether the rhythm pattern or rhythm song is used as source of chord information depends on the mode selected for the rhythm section (rhythm pattern mode or rhythm section mode).

HINT

The manual and automatic punch-in/punch-out functions can also be used at this point.

When recording has progressed to the point where you want pitch compensation to stop, press the STOP [P

The indication “PitchFix SURE?” appears on the display.

To carry out pitch compensation, press the [ENTER] key.

The audio data of the speciﬁed range are overwritten, and the unit returns to the track edit menu. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

] key.

The pitch-shifted audio data can be either added to the source material or written to another track/V-take.

For example, when G Major → C Major → D Major are programmed in a rhythm song, the following harmony is created.

Source track

Generate harmony

Source track Write target track

HINT

• Depending on the pitch of the source material and the rhythm pattern/rhythm song setting, the results of this command may be unpredictable.

• When generating harmony using the rhythm song, chords must be programmed for the rhythm song beforehand.

• When “-- (no conversion)” is programmed as chord type in the rhythm song, no harmony can be created at this point.

• When generating harmony using chord information of the rhythm pattern, the harmony is created for the same chord throughout.

ZOOM MRS-1608

NOTE

For the harmony generate function to work properly, the audio data should represent single notes recorded without applying delay, reverb, chorus, or other effects.

Reference [Track Editing]

Hmny Dst TR 1- 1

HARMONY+ SOURCE

LVL 100

HARMONY+ SOURCE

Pan 0

HARMONY+ FEELING

Select the rhythm pattern or rhythm song to

be used for harmony generation.

When the selection is ﬁnished, press the [EXIT] key to return to the main screen.

NOTE

Make sure that the selected rhythm pattern/rhythm song comprises suitable chord information.

Refer to steps 1 – 6 of “Basic steps for

range editing” to select the track/V-take for harmony generation, and press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “Hmny Dst” appears on the display. In this condition, you can select the target destination for writing the harmony.

Hmny Dst TR 1- 1

“CHORUS 2”, and the parameter for the ﬁfth “CHORUS 3”.

Verify that “SOURCE LVL” is shown on the

second line of the display, and turn the dial to set the volume for the edit source.

The setting range is 0 - 127. A setting of 100 results in an unchanged level.

HINT

When the SOURCE LVL parameter is set to zero, the edit source will be muted, and only the generated harmony parts are written to the track.

To set the pan value for the edit source, use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “SOURCE Pan” on the display, and then turn the dial to adjust panning for the source.

The setting range is L100 (fully left) – 0 (center) – R100 (fully right).

HINT

You can only select a single mono track or one track of a stereo pair as source track for Harmony Generate.

Use the cursor up/down keys and the dial/

status keys to select the track/V-take to be used as destination.

If you specify the same track/V-take as the source, the harmony data will be added to the original data and the Vtake will be overwritten. You can also specify a stereo track or two mono tracks as destination.

HINT

During parameter setting and harmony generation, the status key of the source track is lit in green and the status key of the destination track in red. If the source track/V-take is also selected as destination, the status key is lit in orange.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes as follows.

HARMONY+ SOURCE

LVL 100

HARMONY+ SOURCE

NOTE

When the destination is a mono track, the pan setting will have no effect.

Use the cursor left/right keys and the dial to

adjust the level and panning for the harmony parts (CHORUS 1 - 3) in the same way.

By setting the LVL parameter to zero, you can mute the respective part.

To adjust the speed with which the created

harmony parts will reach the target pitch, use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “HARMONY+ FEELING” on the display and turn the dial.

The setting range for the FEELING parameter is 0 - 30. The larger the value, the smoother the transition to the harmony.

Pan 0

From this screen, you can set the volume and panning for the source and the harmony parts. The parameter for the edit source is “SOURCE”. The parameter for the chord root is called “CHORUS 1”, the parameter for the third

HARMONY+ FEELING

ZOOM MRS-1608

Press the cursor down key to cause the

HARMONY+ CHORD

C Maj

910

0074444 6 60000

DHmnyDst TR 1- 1

counter indication to ﬂash. Then use the cursor left/right keys and the dial to specify the start point for harmony generation.

You can also use the MARKER [U [U

] key, and REW [T

HINT

The manual and automatic punch-in/punch-out functions can also be used at this point.

To start harmony generation, hold down the REC [O

Recording starts. The display indication changes as follows.

] key and press the PLAY [R

]/FF [Y

]/[I

] keys, ZERO

] keys to locate the point.

] key.

HARMONY+ CHORD

C Maj

Reference [Track Editing]

Generating a 1-part harmony from a speciﬁed range of audio data

You can specify a KEY and SCALE and shift the pitch of the audio data by a third up or down to create a 1-part harmony. This is called the Duo Harmony function. The pitch-shifted audio data can be either added to the source material or written to another track/V-take. For example, when KEY = C and SCALE = Major is speciﬁed, and shift upwards is selected for the Duo Harmony function, the following harmony will be created.

Source track

KEY/SCALE = C Maj

0 0 01212910

When the second line of the display reads “CHORD”, the chord of the current rhythm pattern/rhythm song is shown. By using the cursor left/right keys, you can display and edit the parameters of steps 5 – 8.

HINT

When playing the harmony, the drum/bass track will also be played. Use the faders as required to adjust the level.

When recording has progressed to the

11.

point where you want harmony generation to stop, press the STOP [P] key.

The indication “HARMONY+ SURE?” appears on the display.

To carry out harmony generation, press the

12.

[ENTER] key.

The audio data of the speciﬁed range are written. When the process is complete, the unit returns to the track edit menu. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

007

Duo Harmony

Write target track

NOTE

For the Duo Harmony function to work properly, the audio data should represent single notes recorded without applying delay, reverb, chorus, or other effects.

Refer to steps 1 - 6 of “Basic steps for

range editing” to select the track/V-take for harmony generation, and press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “DHmnyDst” appears on the display. In this condition, you can select the target destination for writing the created harmony.

DHmnyDst TR 1- 1

ZOOM MRS-1608

NOTE

You can only select a single mono track or one track of a stereo pair as source track for Duo Harmony.

Reference [Track Editing]

DUO HARM KEY

DUO HARM SCALE

Maj Up

DUO HARM FEELING

DUO HARM SOURCE

LVL 100

DUO HARM SOURCE

Pan 0

Use the cursor up/down keys and the dial/

status keys to select the track/V-take to be used as destination.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes as follows. From this screen, you can set the key to be used as reference for the harmony.

DUO HARM KEY

Turn the dial to select the key.

The setting range is C - B (in semitone steps).

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up

the indication “DUO HARM SCALE” on the display. Then turn the dial to select the scale type and the pitch shift direction. The following settings are available.

• Maj Up:

Create harmony a major third up

Key

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up

the indication “SOURCE LVL” on the display, and turn the dial to set the volume for the edit source.

The setting range is 0 – 127. A setting of 100 results in an unchanged level.

DUO HARM SOURCE

HINT

When the SOURCE LVL parameter is set to zero, the edit source will be muted, and only the generated harmony is written to the track.

To set the pan value for the edit source, use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “SOURCE Pan” on the display, and then turn the dial to adjust panning for the source.

The setting range is L100 (fully left) - 0 (center) - R100 (fully right).

LVL 100

DUO HARM SOURCE

Pan 0

• Min Up:

• Maj Dn:

• Min Dn:

Create harmony a minor third up

Create harmony a major third down

Create harmony a minor third down

DUO HARM SCALE

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “FEELING” on the display. Then turn the dial to select the speed with which the created harmony will reach the target pitch.

The setting range is 0 – 30. The larger the value, the smoother the transition to the harmony.

Maj Up

DUO HARM FEELING

NOTE

When the destination is a mono track, the pan setting will have no effect.

Adjust the level and panning for the

harmony part in the same way, by bringing up the indication “CHORUS LVL” or “CHORUS Pan” on the display.

Press the cursor down key to cause the

counter indication to ﬂash. Then use the cursor left/right keys and the dial to specify the start point for Duo Harmony generation.

You can also use the MARKER [U]/[I] keys, ZERO [U] key, and REW [T]/FF [Y] keys to locate the point.

The Duo Harmony part will be added to the range where recording steps were carried out. By pressing the PLAY [R] key at this point, you can check the editing result.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Track Editing]

TR 1- 1 GTR 1- 1

HINT

The manual and automatic punch-in/punch-out functions can also be used at this point.

To start Duo Harmony generation, hold

11.

down the REC [O] key and press the PLAY [R] key.

When recording has progressed to the

12.

point where you want harmony generation

to stop, press the STOP [

The indication “DUO HARM SURE?” appears on the display.

13.

To conﬁrm the operation, press the [ENTER] key.

The editing result is written to the track. When the process is complete, the unit returns to the track edit menu. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

] key.

Editing using V-takes

Recorded audio data can also be edited in V-take units. This is convenient to exchange the data on two V-takes or delete a V-take that is no longer needed. The procedure is explained in this section.

Basic steps for V-take editing

When editing audio data in V-take units, some steps are similar for each action. These are as follows.

From the main screen, press the [V-TAKE] key in the track parameter section.

The key lights up, and a screen for selecting the V-take appears on the display.

TR 1- 1 GTR 1- 1

While this screen is shown, the level meter section of the display indicates the V-take selection and the presence or absence of audio data by the segment ﬂashing/lit/out status.

V-takes

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Tracks

Use the cursor left/right keys and the dial to select a track and V-take.

The status key for the currently selected track is lit in orange. Alternatively, you can press a status key to select a track. It is also possible to select the master track. In this case, the track number indication shows “M”.

Lit: recorded V-take

Flashing: currently selected V-take

Out: unrecorded V-take

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Track Editing]

HINT

Pressing the status key for a stereo track repeatedly selects the odd-numbered track and even-numbered track in sequence.

Press the [UTILITY/TRACK EDIT] key in the

display section.

A menu for editing audio data in V-take units appears on the display.

Repeatedly press the [UTILITY/TRACK EDIT] key to call up the desired command. The following editing commands are available.

• ERASE

Erase the audio data on a speciﬁed track/V-take.

• COPY

Copy the audio data of a speciﬁed track/V-take to another track/V-take.

• MOVE

Move the audio data of a speciﬁed track/V-take to another track/V-take.

• EXCHG (Exchange)

Exchange the audio data of a speciﬁed track/V-take with the data of another track/V-take.

condition before editing, use the capture and swap functions

→

p. 65) for that track.

(

Erasing a V-take

You can erase the audio data on a speciﬁed V-take. The Vtake is returned to the non-recorded condition.

Erase

Refer to steps 1 – 5 of “Basic steps for Vtake editing” to select the track/V-take to erase and to bring up the indication “ERASE” on the display. Then press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “ERASE SURE?” appears on the display.

To execute the erase operation, press the [ENTER] key once more.

When the erase operation is completed, the unit returns to the V-take selection menu. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

Copying a V-take

• IMPORT

Import any track/V-take from another project saved on the hard disk.

HINT

If necessary, you can also change your selection of track and V-take from this screen.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The subsequent steps will differ, depending on which command was selected in step 4. See the sections for the respective commands.

When the editing command has been

executed, repeatedly press the [EXIT] key to return to the main screen.

NOTE

After executing an edit command for rewriting the audio data on a track, the original data cannot be restored. To retain the

You can copy the audio data of a speciﬁed V-take to any other V-take. This action will overwrite any existing data on the destination V-take. The data on the copy source Vtake will be unchanged.

Copy source track

Copy

Copy target track

Refer to steps 1 – 5 of “Basic steps for V-

take editing” to select the track/V-take to copy and to bring up the indication “COPY” on the display. Then press the [ENTER] key.

A screen for selecting the copy destination track/V-take appears on the display.

ZOOM MRS-1608

COPY TO

COPY TO TR 4- 1

MOVE TO TR 1- 1

EXCHG TO TR 1- 1

TR 4- 1

Use the cursor left/right keys and the dial to

select the destination track/V-take, and press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “COPY SURE?” appears on the display. If audio data exist at the copy destination, the indication “OverWrt?” is shown. When the copy operation is performed, these data will be overwritten.

To execute the copy operation, press the

[ENTER] key once more.

When the copy operation is completed, the unit returns to the V-take selection menu. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

Reference [Track Editing]

select the destination track/V-take, and press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “MOVE SURE?” appears on the display. If audio data exist at the move destination, the indication “OverWrt?” is shown. When the move operation is performed, these data will be overwritten.

To execute the move operation, press the

[ENTER] key once more.

When the move operation is completed, the unit returns to the V-take selection menu. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

Exchanging V-takes

You can exchange the audio data of two speciﬁed V-takes.

Moving a V-take

You can move the audio data of a speciﬁed V-take to any other V-take. This action will overwrite any existing data on the destination V-take. The data on the move source Vtake will be erased.

Move source track

Move

Move destination track

Refer to steps 1 – 5 of “Basic steps for Vtake editing” to select the track/V-take to move and to bring up the indication “MOVE” on the display. Then press the [ENTER] key.

A screen for selecting the move destination track/V-take appears on the display.

MOVE TO TR 1- 1

Use the cursor left/right keys and the dial to

Exchange

Refer to steps 1 – 5 of “Basic steps for Vtake editing” to select the exchange source track/V-take. Bring up the indication “EXCHG” on the display and press the [ENTER] key.

The exchange destination track/V-take is shown on the display.

EXCHG TO TR 1- 1

Use the cursor left/right keys and the dial to select the exchange destination V-take, and press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “EXCHG SURE?” appears on the display.

To carry out the exchange operation, press the [ENTER] key once more.

When the exchange operation is completed, the unit returns to the V-take selection menu. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Track Editing]

IMPORT PRJ004

PRJ 004

PRJ006 GTR 1- 1

TR 1- 1

Importing a V-take from another project

You can import any V-take from another project into a speciﬁed track/V-take of the current project. Any audio data on the destination V-take are overwritten by the imported V-take.

Track in import source project

Import

Import destination track

Refer to steps 1 – 5 of “Basic steps for Vtake editing” to select the import destination track/V-take and to bring up the indication “IMPORT” on the display. Then press the [ENTER] key.

The name of the import source project is shown on the display.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “IMPORT SURE?” appears on the display. If audio data exist at the import destination, the indication “OverWrt?” is shown. When the import operation is performed, these data will be overwritten.

To execute the import operation, press the

[ENTER] key once more.

When the import operation is completed, the unit returns to the V-take selection menu. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

IMPORT PRJ004

Import source project name

Turn the dial to select the import source project, and press the [ENTER] key.

A track/V-take in that project is shown. While this screen is shown, the level meter section of the display indicates the status of the V-take in the source project by the segment ﬂashing/lit/out status.

PRJ 004

Project numbe

PRJ006 GTR 1- 1

V-take name

Use the cursor left/right keys and the dial to select the track/V-take to import.

When an unrecorded track/V-take is selected, the indication “NO DATA” is shown instead of the V-take name.

TR 1- 1

Track/V-take numbe

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Track Editing]

CAPTURE TR1

Track capture and swap

You can capture the audio data of any track and temporarily store them on the hard disk. Later you can swap the captured data with the current data of the track. This lets you save the state of a track before an editing operation. If the result of the operation is not as desired, you can then easily restore the track to its previous state.

◆ Capture

Recorder

Track 1 Track 2 Track 3

Captured

data of

track 1

◆ Swap

Recorder

Track 1 Track 2 Track 3

Captured

data of track 1

Recorder

Track 1 Track 2 Track 3

Recorded data

Capture operation for track 1

Recorded data

Swap operation for track 1

Capturing a track

You can capture the audio data of any speciﬁed track.

From the main screen, press the [UTILITY/ TRACK EDIT] key in the display section.

The indication “UTILITY TR EDIT” appears on the display.

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “UTILITY CAP/SWAP” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes as follows.

CAPTURE TR1

Use the status keys or the dial to select the track to capture.

The status key for the currently selected track is lit in orange. It is also possible to select the master track. In this case, the indication shows “MASTER” and the [MASTER] status key is lit.

HINT

A track for which an unrecorded V-take is selected cannot be captured.

Captured

data of track 1

NOTE

• Capture is performed on a track by track basis.

• Captured track data will be erased from the hard disk when another project is loaded or when the power is turned off.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “CAPTURE SURE?” appears on the display.

To carry out the capture operation, press the [ENTER] key once more.

When capture is completed, the indication “SWAP TRxx” (where xx is the track number) appears on the display. This indicates that the track has been captured and can be swapped if necessary. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

To return to the main screen, press the

[EXIT] key several times.

HINT

By repeating steps 3 – 5, you can capture multiple tracks.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Track Editing]

SWAP TR1

Swapping track data and captured data

You can swap the current data of a track with the captured data.

From the main screen, press the [UTILITY/ TRACK EDIT] key in the display section.

The indication “UTILITY TR EDIT” appears on the display.

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “UTILITY CAP/SWAP” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

Use the status keys or the dial to select a track that was captured.

When you select a captured track, the indication “SWAP” appears on the display.

SWAP TR1

HINT

By performing the swap operation once more, you can return the track contents to the previous condition.

To return to the main screen, press the

[EXIT] key several times.

HINT

If you select a track that was not captured, the indication “CAPTURE” appears.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “SWAP SURE?” appears on the display.

To carry out the swap operation, press the

[ENTER] key once more.

When the operation is completed, the audio data of the selected track will have been replaced by the previously captured audio data. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Phrase Looping]

The MRS-1608 lets you handle part of a recorded track or an audio ﬁle on CD-ROM as a phrase that can be loaded and played freely, in a preprogrammed sequence or for a speciﬁed number of times. The result can be written to any track/Vtake. This function is called “phrase looping”. For example, you could use a commercially available sampling CD to pick up drum loops in any desired order, and use these to create a rhythm track. This section describes the steps for phrase looping.

Which kind of phrases can be used?

The MRS-1608 can manage up to 100 phrases in one project. The phrases are stored on the hard disk in an area called the “phrase pool”. The following kinds of data can be used as a phrase.

(1) Any track/V-take in the currently loaded

project

You can select any track/V-take in the currently loaded project and specify a range to be used as a phrase.

(2) Audio ﬁle on CD-ROM/R/RW

You can load a stereo or mono audio ﬁle (8-bit or 16-bit AIFF or WAV ﬁle with sampling frequency 8 – 48 kHz) from a CD-ROM/R/RW disc inserted in the CD-R/RW drive and use it as a phrase. If the optional UIB-02 card is installed in the MRS-1608, you can also copy audio ﬁles from the hard disk of a computer to the hard disk of the MRS-1608 and then use such ﬁles as a phrase.

NOTE

• After loading, all audio ﬁles are played with a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz. If necessary, ﬁles with other sampling frequencies can be converted (resampled) to

44.1 kHz.

• Discs that do not comply to ISO 9660 Level 2 speciﬁcations will not be recognized.

• CD-R or CD-RW discs that have not been ﬁnalized will not be recognized.

(3) Phrase from another project

You can load any phrase from a project stored on the internal hard disk of the MRS-1608.

HINT

It is not possible to directly load an audio track from an audio CD as a phrase. You must ﬁrst read it into a track 1 – 16 of

→

the MRS-1608 ( the phrase pool.

Once you have loaded phrases into the phrase pool, you can specify various parameters such as playback range and volume level, and then you can specify a playback sequence and number of times each phrase is played. The result can then be written to any track/V-take as a phrase loop.

p. 160) and then load the audio track into

CD-ROM/R/RW

ZOOM MRS-1608

(2)

Project

Phrase pool

Phrase Phrase Phrase Phrase Phrase

Audio track

(3)

(1)

Project

Phrase pool

Phrase Phrase Phrase Phrase Phrase

Audio track

Reference [Phrase Looping]

UTILITY TR EDIT

PHRASE REST

No.0

IMPORT TAKE

Loading a phrase

This section describes how to load a phrase into the phrase pool.

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “PHRASE IMPORT” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

The menu for selecting the import source appears on the display.

Basic phrase loading steps

When loading phrases, some steps are similar for each type.

From the main screen, press the [UTILITY/ TRACK EDIT] key in the display section.

The indication “UTILITY TR EDIT” appears on the display.

UTILITY TR EDIT

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up

the indication “UTILITY PHRASE” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

A screen for selecting the phrase appears on the display.

PHRASE REST

Phrase name Phrase number

HINT

The phrase number 0 is preprogrammed as a rest of 1 measure (4/4 beat). This phrase cannot be overwritten.

Turn the dial to select a number into which

the phrase should be loaded.

If you select an empty phrase number, the display shows “EMPTY”.

NOTE

If you select a number into which a phrase is already loaded, the previous phrase will be erased and replaced by the new phrase.

No.0

IMPORT TAKE

Use the cursor left/right keys to select one of the following, and press the [ENTER] key.

●

TAKE

Import a speciﬁed range of audio data from any track/Vtake in the currently loaded project.

●

WAV/AIFF

Import an audio ﬁle (WAV/AIFF) from a CD-ROM/R/ RW disc inserted in the CD-R/RW drive or from the internal hard disk.

●

PHRASE

Import a phrase from the phrase pool of another project saved on the hard disk.

The subsequent steps will differ, depending on the type of source selected for the phrase. See the sections for the respective commands. After the import operation was carried out, the phrase menu appears again on the display. If desired, you can import another phrase. Up to 100 phrases can be included in a project (with a duration of 1 second – 30 minutes per phrase). To return to the main screen, press the [EXIT] key several times.

HINT

The name “PHxxx-yy” is automatically assigned to the loaded phrase (where xxx is the current project number and yy the phrase number).

The phrase utility menu for loading phrases and creating phrase loops appears on the display.

Press the [UTILITY/TRACK EDIT] key once more.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Importing a phrase from the

ImprtSrc TR 16- 1

ImprtSrc START

001 1 1

ImprtSrc END

002 2 224240000

IMPORT SURE?

current project

You can specify a range from any track/V-take of the current project and use it as a phrase.

Refer to steps 1 – 6 of “Basic phrase loading steps” to select “TAKE” as import source. Then press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “ImprtSrc TRxx-yy” (where xx is the track number and yy the V-take number) appears on the display. In this condition, you can select the import source.

Use the dial or the status keys to select the track, and use the cursor up/down keys to select the V-take number.

ImprtSrc TR 16- 1

Reference [Phrase Looping]

By moving the ﬂashing section to the MEASURE/BEAT/ TICK or MARKER ﬁeld on the display, you can specify the point as a measure, beat, tick, or as a mark number.

HINT

• By holding down the STOP [P

] key, you can perform scrub playback of the V-take of

[ the speciﬁed track (

• The playback range of the phrase loop can be ﬁne-tuned also after importing.

somewhat wider range here.

• If you specify a point where there are no audio data, the second line of the display shows symbol.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes as follows.

→

Therefore it is best to choose a

] key and pressing the PLAY

p. 38).

ImprtSrc END

0 0 0 2 2 10

002

When track 16 is selected, turning the dial further to the right selects tracks in odd-numbered/even-numbered pairs or the master track. (Pressing two status keys for odd/even-numbered tracks together selects the tracks as two mono tracks.) When a stereo track, two mono tracks, or the master track is selected, the phrase can be imported in stereo.

HINT

By repeatedly pressing the status key of a stereo track, you can select the odd-numbered track, even-numbered track, and stereo track.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes to “ImprtSrc START”. In this condition, you can specify the start point for the data range to be imported.

ImprtSrc START

0 0 0 0 0 0

001

0 00

Specify the end point of the range in the same way as described in step 4.

If you press the PLAY [R be played.

When you have fully speciﬁed the import

source, press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “IMPORT SURE?” appears on the display.

] key, the speciﬁed range will

IMPORT SURE?

To carry out the import process, press the [ENTER] key again.

The phrase is imported. When the import process is completed, the phrase menu appears again. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Use the cursor left/right keys to move the ﬂashing section of the counter, and turn the dial to specify the start point.

Reference [Phrase Looping]

IMPORT CD-ROM

IMPORT LOOP.WAV

IMPORT WAVFILES

Folder

WAV/AIFF Resample

Importing a WAV/AIFF ﬁle

You can import an audio ﬁle (WAV/AIFF) from a CDROM or CD-R/RW disc inserted in the CD-R/RW drive or from the internal hard disk. Before doing this, the following preparations are necessary.

●

When importing from the CD-R/RW drive

Insert a CD-ROM or CD-R/RW disc containing audio ﬁles into the CD-R/RW drive.

●

When importing from the internal hard disk

Copy audio ﬁles from a computer into a folder named “WAV_AIFF” immediately under the root directory (top level folder) of the internal hard disk. The ﬁles must have the extension “.WAV” (for WAV ﬁles) or “.AIF” (for AIFF ﬁles).

NOTE

•To copy audio ﬁles to the internal hard disk, the optional UIB-02 card is necessary. For information on using the option card, see page 183.

• Any subfolders in the WAV_AIFF folder are not recognized by the MRS-1608.

• The following procedure will not allow you to ﬁrst listen to the audio ﬁles. Conﬁrm ﬁle content and ﬁle name before you start the procedure.

Refer to steps 1 – 6 of “Basic phrase loading steps” to select “WAV/AIFF” as import source. Then press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “IMPORT CD-ROM” appears on the display. You can now select the source device.

IMPORT LOOP.WAV

File name

HINT

If you select CD-ROM as source without a disc in the drive, the indication “IMPORT Ins Disc” appears on the display and the tray of the CD-R/RW drive opens. To continue, insert a disc containing audio ﬁles and press the [ENTER] key.

Turn the dial to select the audio ﬁle to import.

When accessing a disc in the CD-R/RW drive which has audio ﬁles in a certain folder, turn the dial to display the folder name. When a folder is selected, the indication “Folder” is shown in the right side of the display.

IMPORT WAVFILES

Folder name

When you press the [ENTER] key in this condition, the ﬁles inside the selected folder are displayed. Turn the dial to select the desired ﬁle. By pressing the [EXIT] key, you can return to the next higher level.

When the ﬁle has been selected, press the

[ENTER] key.

Depending on the sampling frequency of the imported audio ﬁle, the following applies.

Folder

The unit searches for WAV/AIFF ﬁles on the speciﬁed device. When ﬁles are found, their names are listed on the display.

IMPORT CD-ROM

Use the cursor left/right keys to select the source device: “CD-ROM” (CD-R/RW drive) or “IntHDD” (internal hard disk), and press the [ENTER] key.

●

Sampling frequency 44.1 kHz

The indication “IMPORT SURE?” appears on the display. When you press the [ENTER] key, the audio ﬁle is imported. When the process is complete, the phrase menu appears again.

●

Sampling frequency other than 44.1 kHz

When you press the [ENTER] key, a selection screen for conversion to 44.1 kHz (resampling) appears.

WAV/AIFF Resample

Turn the dial to select resampling on/off. When you press the [ENTER] key, the indication “WAV/AIFF SURE?” appears. Press the [ENTER] key once more to start the

ZOOM MRS-1608

import process. When the process is complete, the phrase

PRJ SEL PROJ004

PRJ 004

PHRASE PH003-02

No.2

PHRASE REST

No.0

menu appears again. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

HINT

The name “PHxxx-yy” is automatically assigned to the loaded phrase (where xxx is the current project number and yy the phrase number).

NOTE

Imported audio ﬁles are always played with a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz. If resampling was disabled during the import process, a ﬁle with a different sampling frequency will play back with a different pitch and tempo.

Importing a phrase from a different project

You can import any phrase contained in the phrase pool of another project stored on the hard disk.

NOTE

• When you import a phrase from the phrase pool of another project, you cannot specify a range. If necessary, edit the phrase playback point after importing the phrase.

• The following procedure will not allow you to ﬁrst listen to the phrase. Conﬁrm name and number of the phrase before you start the procedure.

Refer to steps 1 – 6 of “Basic phrase

loading steps” to select “PHRASE” as import source. Then press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “PRJ SEL xxx” (where xxx is the project name) appears on the display. You can now select the source project.

PRJ SEL PROJ004

Project name

PRJ 004

Project number

Reference [Phrase Looping]

PHRASE PH003-02

HINT

If the selected project does not contain any phrases, the indication “NO DATA” appears on the display for several seconds, and then the previous screen returns.

Turn the dial to select the phrase, and press

the [ENTER] key.

The indication “IMPORT SURE?” appears on the display.

To carry out the import process, press the [ENTER] key once more.

The phrase is imported. When the import process is completed, the phrase menu appears again.

By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

Adjusting phrase parameters

Once you have imported a phrase into the phrase pool, you will need to specify parameters such as playback range and number of measures.

From the main screen, press the [UTILITY/

TRACK EDIT] key in the display section.

The indication “UTILITY TR EDIT” appears on the display.

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “UTILITY PHRASE” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

The phrase screen appears on the display.

No.2

Phrase numberPhrase name

The display now shows the screen for selecting phrases in that project.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Turn the dial to select the source project, and press the [ENTER] key.

PHRASE REST

Turn the dial to select the phrase that you want to edit.

When you press the PLAY [R] key, the selected phrase

is played. If you select a number where no phrase is

No.0

Reference [Phrase Looping]

PHRASE MEAS x02

No.1

imported, the indication “EMPTY” appears instead of the phrase name.

Press the [EDIT] key.

A parameter of the selected phrase appears.

PHRASE MEAS x02

Use the cursor up/down keys to call up the

parameter you want to edit.

MEAS xXX (XX = 01 – 99)

●

This parameter speciﬁes to how many measures the playback range of the phrase corresponds. The parameter lets you compress or expand the playing duration of the phrase to match the tempo setting of the rhythm section. The setting range is 1 – 99 measures.

TIMSIG

●

This speciﬁes the time signature of the phrase. In combination with the MEAS x parameter, it determines the length of the phrase. The setting range is 1 (1/4) – 8 (8/4).

No.1

Use the dial and the cursor left/right keys to

adjust the setting value.

• Adjusting MEAS x/TIMSIG/LVL

Turn the dial to set the numerical value.

• Adjusting START / END

Use the cursor left/right keys to cause the counter value to ﬂash, and turn the dial to set the value.

• Adjusting NAME

Use the cursor left/right keys to move the ﬂashing section to the character to edit, and turn the dial to select the character.

HINT

You can use the PLAY [R editing.

Repeat steps 5 – 6 to complete the phrase.

If desired, press the [EXIT] key several times to return to the phrase screen, and edit another phrase.

To return to the main screen, press the [EXIT] key several times.

] key to check the phrase during

START

●

Speciﬁes the playback start point of the phrase in milliseconds. In the default condition, this is the beginning of the imported data.

END

●

Speciﬁes the playback end point of the phrase in milliseconds. In the default condition, this is the end of the imported data.

●

NAME

Speciﬁes a name for the phrase.

●

LVL

Speciﬁes the phrase playback level in the range of ±24 dB.

HINT

If you do not intend to match the phrase to a rhythm song, there is no need to set the MEAS x and TIMSIG parameters.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Phrase Looping]

PHRASE REST

No.0

COPY TO PH000-03

No.3

Copying a phrase

You can copy a phrase to any other phrase number. Any phrase at the copy destination will be overwritten (erased). This is convenient to use one phrase as a starting point and save it with different parameter settings.

From the main screen, press the [UTILITY/

TRACK EDIT] key in the display section.

The indication “UTILITY TR EDIT” appears on the display.

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up

the indication “UTILITY PHRASE” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

The phrase screen appears.

PHRASE REST

No.0

Deleting a phrase

You can return a phrase to the blank (empty) condition as follows.

NOTE

Once deleted, a phrase cannot be restored. Use this function with care.

From the main screen, press the [UTILITY/ TRACK EDIT] key in the display section.

The indication “UTILITY TR EDIT” appears on the display.

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “UTILITY PHRASE” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

The phrase screen appears.

Turn the dial to select the phrase to delete.

Turn the dial to select the copy source.

Press the [INSERT/COPY] key in the rhythm

section.

The screen for specifying the copy destination phrase number appears.

COPY TO PH000-03

Turn the dial to select the phrase number

for the copy destination, and press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “COPY SURE?” appears on the display.

NOTE

If a phrase already exists at the copy destination number, it will be erased and replaced by the copy source phrase. Take care not to accidentally delete a phrase.

To carry out the copy process, press the [ENTER] key once more.

The phrase is copied, and the phrase screen appears again. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

No.3

Press the [DELETE/ERASE] key in the rhythm section.

The indication “DELETE SURE?” appears on the display.

To carry out the delete process, press the [ENTER] key once more.

The phrase is deleted, and the phrase screen appears again. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

Writing a phrase loop to a track

Phrases contained in a phrase pool can be played in a speciﬁed order, repeated automatically, and written as a phrase loop to a speciﬁed track/V-take. After writing the phrase loop, the target track/V-take will contain actual audio data which can then be played and edited in the same way as regular audio data.

Phrase A Phrase B

V-take

Write

Phrase C Phrase D

Audio data

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Phrase Looping]

0+(1+2)x

0+(1+2)

0+(1+2

0+(1+

0+(1

0+(

Using FAST input for the phrase loop

When creating a phrase loop, the FAST (Formula Assisted Song Translator) method developed by ZOOM can be used to specify phrase sequence and number of plays. The keys and pads of the rhythm section are used for FAST input, as described below.

Link multiple phrases

●

Use the “(“ and “)” symbols to link a group of phrases for repetition, and then use the “x” symbol to specify the repetition count. For example, entering will result in the following phrase sequence being written.

Phrase 1 Phrase 1Phrase 2 Phrase 2 Phrase 3

(1 + 2) x 2 + 3

[)] key

Enters the closing bracket ")" used for linking several phrases.

[(] key

Enters the opening bracket "(" used for linking several phrases.

Pads 0 - 9

Specify phrase numbers and repetition count.

The basic rules for creating a phrase loop are as follows.

Select the phrase

●

Use pads 0 – 9 to select a phrase number from 0 – 99.

[x] pad

Enters the "x" that specifies the repetition of a phrase.

[+] pad

Enters the "+" for lining up phrases.

An example for entering the formula shown below.

0+(

0+(1

0+(1+

0+(1+2

0 + (1 + 2) x 8

Line up phrases

●

Use the “+” symbol to line up phrases. For example, entering sequence being written.

●

Use the “x” symbol to specify phrase repetitions. “x” takes precedence over “+”. For example, entering

2 + 2

written.

0 + 1 + 2

Repeat phrases

Phrase 0 Phrase 1 Phrase 2

will result in the following phrase sequence being

will result in the following phrase

0 + 1 x

Phrase 0 Phrase 1 Phrase 1 Phrase 2

0+(1+2)

0+(1+2)x

0+(1+2)x 8

ZOOM MRS-1608

HINT

PHRASE REST

No.0

PHRASE IMPORT

CREATE TR 1- 1

CREATE TR16- 1

If the formula does not ﬁt on two lines, the indication scrolls by one character each. If you use the cursor keys to move the input position, the line scrolls accordingly.

Reference [Phrase Looping]

Press the [UTILITY/TRACK EDIT] key once

more.

The phrase utility menu appears on the display.

If you make a mistake during input, correct it as follows.

●

Inserting a number or symbol

Use the cursor left/right keys to move the ﬂashing position to where you want to insert a new number/ symbol. Then enter the new number/symbol.

●

Deleting a number or symbol

Use the cursor left/right keys to move the ﬂashing position to the number or symbol that you want to delete. Then press the [DELETE/ERASE] key.

When formula input is completed, specify the track/Vtake to which the phrase loop is to be written as audio data.

HINT

• The entered formula will be stored as part of the project also after writing the phrase loop. This allows you to later call up the formula, edit it, and write the data again.

• After writing the phrase loop, it is not possible to write only a part of the data or add a phrase to the loop. To make changes, enter the new formula from the beginning to the end and then perform the writing operation.

Writing a phrase loop to a track

This section explains how to create a phrase loop and write it as audio data to a speciﬁed track/V-take.

PHRASE IMPORT

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up

the indication “PHRASE CREATE” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes as follows. This screen lets you select a track/V-take for writing the phrase loop.

CREATE TR 1- 1

Use the cursor up/down keys or the status

keys and the dial to select the track/V-take to which to write the phrase.

CREATE TR16- 1

When track 16 is selected, turning the dial further to the right selects tracks in odd-numbered/even-numbered pairs (1/2, 7/8 etc.) or the master track. (Pressing two status keys for odd/even-numbered tracks together selects the tracks as two mono tracks.) When a stereo track, two mono tracks, or the master track is selected, the V-take currently selected for the two speciﬁed tracks or the master track becomes the writing target.

The indication “UTILITY TR EDIT” appears on the display.

The phrase screen appears.

ZOOM MRS-1608

From the main screen, press the [UTILITY/ TRACK EDIT] key in the display section.

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “UTILITY PHRASE” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

PHRASE REST

No.0

NOTE

• By repeatedly pressing the status key of a stereo track, you can select the odd-numbered track, even-numbered track, and stereo track.

• If the phrase is mono and the selected write target track is stereo, the same data will be written to both tracks.

• If the phrase is stereo and the write target track is mono, the left and right channels of the phrase will be mixed when the data are written to the track.

• When a V-take which already contains audio data is selected, the existing data will be completely erased and overwritten by the new audio data.

Reference [Phrase Looping]

CREATE LOOP01

0+(1+2)x

ADJUST OFF

When you have selected a track/V-take,

press the [ENTER] key.

A screen for selecting the phrase loop number for formula input appears.

CREATE LOOP01

HINT

Ten phrase loops (LOOP01 – LOOP10) can be created.

Turn the dial to select the desired phrase loop number, and press the [ENTER] key.

FAST input is now possible.

Use the keys and pads of the rhythm section to enter the formula for creating the loop.

For information on entry procedures, refer to page 74.

aligned to the measure start of the rhythm song. If one measure of the phrase (phrase playback range divided by number of measures speciﬁed by MEAS x parameter) is longer than one measure of the rhythm song, the phrase is switched when the number of measures speciﬁed by the MEAS x parameter has played, without waiting for the end of the phrase. If one measure of the phrase is shorter than one measure of the rhythm song, there will be a blank until the measure where playback switches to the next phrase.

(measure - beat)

1-1 2-1 3-1 4-1

Phrase A

(MEAS x02)

ADJUST BAR & LEN

●

When you select this setting, the phrase length is adjusted so that the measures of the rhythm song and the phrase are matched. (Pitch will not change.)

(measure - beat)

1-1 2-1 3-1 4-1

Phrase B

(MEAS x01)

0+(1+2)x 8

When formula input is completed, press the [ENTER] key.

The following screen appears on the display. This screen lets you select whether to match phrase playback to the rhythm section measure/tempo.

ADJUST OFF

Turn the dial to select one of the following

10.

methods.

●

ADJUST OFF

When you select this setting, the selected phrase is played continuously, independent of the rhythm song bar lines and tempo. (Default setting)

(measure - beat)

1-1 2-1 3-1 4-1

Phrase A Phrase B

●

ADJUST BAR

When you select this setting, phrase playback start is

Phrase A

(MEAS x02)

Phrase B

(MEAS x01)

NOTE

• When selecting ADJUST BAR or ADJUST BAR & LEN, verify that the MEAS x parameter for each phrase is set to a suitable number of measures. If the setting is inappropriate, the rhythm song and phrase will not synchronize properly.

• If ADJUST BAR & LEN is selected and the expansion/ contraction ratio exceeds a certain range (50 – 150%), the indication “Out of Range” appears, and the results may not be as expected.

11.

Press the [ENTER] key.

The indication “CREATE SURE?” appears on the display.

12.

To carry out the phrase loop writing process, press the [ENTER] key once more.

The phrase loop is written. When the process is completed, the display reverts to the phrase screen. By pressing the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, you can cancel the operation and back up one step at a time.

To return to the main screen, press the

13.

[EXIT] key several times.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Mixer]

This section explains the functions and operation of the two mixer types built into the MRS-1608.

About the mixer

The mixer of the MRS-1608 is divided into two sections: an “input mixer” that processes the input signals from the INPUT jacks, and a “track mixer” that processes the signals from the audio tracks and the drum/bass track of the recorder section. Details of each mixer are described below.

◆

Input mixer

Adjusts the sensitivity for signals from the INPUT jacks and GUITAR/BASS INPUT jacks and assigns these signals to the recorder tracks.

INPUT jacks

INPUT 1

INPUT 2

INPUT 3

INPUT 8

Input mixer

Recorder section

Tra ck 1 Tra ck 2 Tra ck 3 Tra ck 4 Tra ck 5 Tra ck 6 Tra ck 7 Tra ck 8

Tracks 9/10

Tracks 11/12

Tracks 13/14

Tracks 15/16

HINT

In the 8-track recording mode, you can set the panning value and send level for each input.

◆

Track mixer

Serves to process the playback signals of the recorder tracks 1 – 16 and the sound of the drum/bass track, and to mix these signals to stereo. The mixer allows you to adjust the volume with faders and set panning and EQ for each track.

The track mixer lets you adjust the following parameters for each track.

•Track volume

•Track panning

•Track phase

•V-take used for the track (audio tracks only)

• High frequency range EQ boost/cut amount,

turnover frequency

• Mid frequency range EQ boost/cut amount,

turnover frequency, and bandwidth

• Low frequency range EQ boost/cut amount,

turnover frequency

The input mixer serves to adjust the following parameters.

• Input signal sensitivity

• Input signal recording level

• Input signal phase

• Level of signal sent to STEREO SUB-OUT jack

If an input signal is not assigned to a track (recording track not selected), the input signal will be sent straight to the [MASTER] fader. In this condition, the following parameters can be adjusted.

• Input signal panning

• Send/return effect intensity

ZOOM MRS-1608

• Send/return effect intensity

• Signal level sent to STEREO SUB-OUT jack

• Stereo link (→ p. 82) settings (audio tracks 1 –

8 only)

HINT

Audio tracks 9/10 – 15/16 and the drum track are stereo channels. For these, parameter settings except phase and Vtake number (audio tracks only) are linked for the L/R channels.

Reference [Mixer]

From directly after

[MASTER] fader

Recorder section

Tra ck 1 Tra ck 2 Tra ck 3 Tra ck 4 Tra ck 5 Tra ck 6 Tra ck 7 Tra ck 8

Tracks 9/10

Tracks 11/12

Tracks 13/14

Tracks 15/16

Master track

MASTER OUTPUT

To directly before

[MASTER] fader

Bass program

Drum kit

Rhythm section

DRUM

Track mixer

Assigning input signals to recording tracks

This section explains how to adjust the sensitivity for signals input from the INPUT jacks 1 – 8 and GUITAR/ BASS INPUT jacks 1/2, and how to send them to tracks in the recorder section.

Make sure that the instrument or mic that

you want to record is connected to the respective INPUT or GUITAR/BASS INPUT jack.

12345678

BASS

key is already lit, the previous key goes out and the new key lights up. While the key is lit, the input is active. Normally, up to two keys can be activated simultaneously. To activate two inputs, hold down one [ON/OFF] key and then press the other key. It is also possible to press two nonadjacent [ON/OFF] keys together.

HINT

When the [8TRACK RECORDING] key is activated, the 8track recording mode becomes active, and up to eight inputs can be used simultaneously. Each input can then be switched on or off individually.

9/10

11/12 13/14 15/16

From master track

To master track

MASTER

NOTE

You can use either GUITAR/BASS INPUT jack 1 or INPUT jack 1, and either GUITAR/BASS INPUT jack 2 or INPUT jack

2. If both jacks are connected, the GUITAR/BASS INPUT jacks 1/2 are given priority.

From the main screen, press the [ON/OFF]

key of the input to which the instrument or microphone is connected, so that the key is lit in red.

Input selection is performed with the [ON/OFF] keys in the input section. If you press an [ON/OFF] key while another

While playing your instrument, turn the

[INPUT] control or the [GUITAR/BASS INPUT] control for the input selected in step 2, to adjust the input sensitivity.

Make adjustments so that the [PEAK] indicator ﬂickers slightly when you play your instrument at its loudest volume.

If you will be recording the sound through

the insert effect, press the [INPUT SOURCE] key in the effect section and turn the dial to set the insert position for the effect to IN.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Mixer]

INSERT MRS-DRV

No.0

When the setting is complete, press the [EXIT] key to return to the main screen.

HINT

• With the default settings of a project, the insert effect is inserted into the input mixer, and a patch suitable for guitar/ bass recording is selected.

•To record without sending the sound through the insert effect, press the [BYPASS] key in the effect section to bypass the insert effect.

Press one of the [ALGORITHM] keys in the effect section to select the desired algorithm, and then use the PATCH SELECT [Q

]/[W

] keys or the dial to select the patch

to be used.

INSERT MRS-DRV

While playing your instrument, adjust the recording level by turning the [REC LEVEL] control.

The [REC LEVEL] control adjusts the signal level before it is sent to the recording track (i.e., after it has passed through the insert effect). The [CLIP] indicator will light if the level is too high. Set the recording level as high as possible, but avoid settings that cause the [CLIP] indicator to light.

No.0

repeatedly press the status key for one track until the key is lit in red, and then hold the key while pressing the status key for the other track.

The signal ﬂow from the input mixer to the track will change as follows, depending on the number of inputs and recording tracks.

• Mono track selected as recording track

INPUT 1

INPUT 2

Recorder

Trac k

Recorder

Trac k

• Stereo track or two mono tracks selected as recording track

INPUT 1

INPUT 2

Recorder

Trac k

Recorder

Trac k

HINT

• The level of the signal sent to the recording track will change according to the settings of the insert effect parameters. If you switch insert effect patches or edit the parameters, you should once again check whether the recording level is appropriate.

• The precise value of the [REC LEVEL] control parameter can be checked by pressing any key in the track parameter section and then pressing the cursor down key, so that the value of “REC LVL” is shown.

The input signal from the input mixer will be sent to the recording track. You can select record mode for up to two mono tracks (1 – 8) or one stereo track (9/10 – 15/16).

When selecting two mono tracks, only odd/even pairs can be selected (1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8). To select two tracks,

ZOOM MRS-1608

Repeatedly press the status key for the recording destination track until the key is lit in red.

• No track selected as recording track

INPUT 1

INPUT 2

PAN

OUTPUT

Track

mixer

[MASTER] fader

PAN

OUTPUT

Track

mixer

[MASTER] fader

Reference [Mixer]

TR1 EQ HI G G

0dB

TR1 EQ HI

OFF

NOTE

• The diagrams above show the signal ﬂow when the insert effect has not been inserted into the input mixer. When the insert effect is inserted, the signal ﬂow will change, depending on the number of input and output channels of the effect (→ p. 141).

• In 8-track recording mode (→ p. 45), the signals from inputs 1 – 8 are sent to tracks 1 – 8.

HINT

• When no recording track is selected, the input signals are sent directly to the [MASTER] fader. The pan controls of the input mixer can be used to adjust the panning value of the signal sent to the [MASTER] fader. (When a recording track is selected, the pan setting of the input mixer has no effect on the signal.)

• By using the bounce function, you can apply the send/return

p. 42).

effect to the input signal for recording (

→

Use the cursor up/down keys to select the

track parameter you want to adjust. For a list of available parameters, see the table on the next page.

For track parameters which have dedicated keys, you can select the parameter directly by pressing the key.

Turn the dial to adjust the value.

For parameters where on/off can be

selected (marked with an asterisk in the table on the next page), repeatedly press the respective key in the track parameter section until the key is out.

Each push of the key toggles between lit (on) and out (off). For example, when switching high-range EQ from on to off, the display indication changes as follows. Pressing the respective key once more restores the previous condition.

Adjusting the signal for each track (track parameters)

The input mixer and track mixer let you adjust various aspects for each track (called track parameters), such as panning and send/return effect intensity. This section describes how to adjust track parameters.

Press any key in the track parameter

section.

Pressing any of the keys in the track parameter section brings up the respective track parameter on the display. The keys that are active for the target track/input light up. Keys for inactive parameters and for parameters not included in that track/input are out.

Use the cursor left/right keys or the status

keys and [ON/OFF] keys to select the track/ input.

HINT

•To select a single track from a pair of stereo tracks (such as track 9 or track 10), press the status key repeatedly.

• In 8-track recording mode, eight inputs can be used simultaneously. In this case, you can select the input with the respective [ON/OFF] key and adjust track parameters for each input (except for the record level). The display will show the number of the input (INPUT 1, INPUT 7, etc.)

• On condition

TR1 EQ HI

•Off condition

0dB

TR1 EQ HI

Repeat steps 3 – 5 until all desired

parameters are adjusted.

If required, you can use the cursor left/right keys, status keys and [ON/OFF] keys in this condition to change to another track/input and adjust other parameters.

To return to the main screen, press the [EXIT] key.

OFF

ZOOM MRS-1608

◆

Track parameter list

Parameter

EQ HI GAIN (*)

EQ HI FREQUENCY (*)

EQ MID GAIN (*)

EQ MID FREQUENCY (*)

EQ MID Q-FACTOR (*)

EQ LOW GAIN (*)

EQ LOW FREQUENCY (*)

CHORUS/ DELAY SEND LEVEL (*)

REVERB SEND LEVEL (*)

SUB-OUT SEND ON/OFF (*)

SUB-OUT SEND LEVEL (*)

SUB-OUT SEND PAN (*)

PAN (*)

V-TAKE

FADER

REC LVL

STEREO LINK

INVERT

Display

EQ HI G

EQ HI F

EQ MID G

EQ MID F

EQ MID Q

EQ LO G

EQ LO F

CHO SEND

REV SEND

SUB SEND

SUB SEND LVL

SUB SEND Pan

PAN

FADER

REC LVL

ST LINK

INVERT

x-y

Setting range

-12 – +12dB

500 – 18000(Hz)

-12 – +12dB

40 – 18000(Hz)

0.1 – 1.0

-12 – +12dB

40 – 1600(Hz)

0 – 100

ON/OFF

0 – 127

L100 – 0 – R100

x=1 – 16 y=1 – 10

0 – 127

ON/OFF

Description

Adjusts high-frequency boost or cut in the range from -12 to +12 dB. This parameter is only shown when HI EQ is on.

Adjusts turnover frequency for high-frequency boost/cut. This parameter is only shown when HI EQ is on.

Adjusts mid-frequency boost or cut in the range from -12 to +12 dB. This parameter is only shown when MID EQ is on.

Adjusts turnover frequency for mid-frequency boost/cut. This parameter is only shown when MID EQ is on.

Adjusts the Q value (bandwidth) for mid-frequency EQ. This parameter is only shown when MID EQ is on.

Adjusts low-frequency boost or cut in the range from -12 to +12 dB. This parameter is only shown when LOW EQ is on.

Adjusts turnover frequency for low-frequency boost/cut. This parameter is only shown when LOW EQ is on.

Adjusts the chorus/delay effect send level for the track/input.

Adjusts the reverb effect send level for the track/input.

Selects whether the signal at the MASTER OUTPUT jacks (master track signal) is also supplied to the STEREO SUB-OUT jack.

Adjusts the level of the signal sent from the track/input to the STEREO SUB-OUT jack (

→

p. 82).

Adjusts panning for the signal sent from the track/input to the STEREO SUB-OUT jack

Adjusts the panning value of the track/input signal. For stereo tracks, the parameter adjusts the left/right level balance.

Selects the V-take to use for the track (

→

track number and y for the V-take number.

Adjusts the current volume level.

Adjusts the recording level.

Controls the stereo link function for linking two mono tracks (

Allows inverting the track/input phase. When set to off, the phase is normal. When set to on, the phase is inverted.

p. 35). x stands for the

→

p. 82).

Reference [Mixer]

Track

Track 9 – 16

∆

Master track

1 – 8

OO O

OO O O

∆

OO O O

OO O

OO O O

Drum/ bass track

∆

Input 1 – 8

∆

(*) symbol: denotes a parameter that can be switched on and off directly with a key in the track parameter section. O: Valid parameter for this track/input

∆

: The triangle denotes a parameter that is only displayed when the SUB-OUT SEND LVL ON/OFF parameter for the master track is off.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Mixer]

TR7 ST LINK

OFF

Linking two tracks (stereo link)

In the MRS-1608, the parameters of adjacent oddnumbered/even-numbered mono tracks (1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8) can be linked, resulting in a pair of stereo tracks. (This function is referred to as “stereo link”.) The setting procedure is as follows.

Press any key in the track parameter

section.

Press the status key of one of the mono

tracks that you want to stereo-link.

Repeatedly press the cursor down key, until

the following indication appears.

This is the STEREO LINK parameter screen.

TR7 ST LINK

Turn the dial to switch the setting ON.

Stereo linking will be enabled immediately, so that the selected track and the adjacent odd-numbered/evennumbered track are linked. To defeat stereo linking, return the setting to OFF.

To return to the main screen, press the

[EXIT] key.

HINT

•To adjust the volume of stereo-linked tracks, use the oddnumbered fader. (The even-numbered fader will have no effect.)

• The PAN parameter of two stereo-linked tracks will function as a balance parameter that adjusts the volume balance between the tracks.

• Also when stereo-link is on, the phase parameter and V-take selection parameter can be set individually for each track.

OFF

Assigning an input/track signal to the SUB-OUT jack

In the default condition of a project, the STEREO SUBOUT jack carries the same signal as the MASTER OUTPUT jacks. Therefore it can be used as an extra headphone jack. If required, the signal level and panning of the signal sent to the STEREO SUB-OUT jack can be controlled individually for each input or track, creating a mix that is different from that of the MASTER OUTPUT jacks. This is convenient to create a monitoring mix or to send only the signal from a speciﬁc track/input to an external effect.

HINT

• For the audio tracks and drum/bass track, the signal immediately before the fader is sent to the STEREO SUB-OUT jack.

• For inputs 1 – 8, the signal after the [REC LEVEL] control is sent to the STEREO SUB-OUT jack.

Connect a monitor system or external effect to the STEREO SUB-OUT jack.

Use the [STEREO SUB-OUT] control to adjust the signal at the STEREO SUB-OUT jack to a suitable level.

HINT

For connection to a system with stereo inputs, use a Y cable (stereo plug x 1 + mono plug x 2). If you connect the two mono plugs of the Y cable to separate effects, the STEREO SUB-OUT jack functions as two AUX OUT jacks. In this case, you can set the panning value of the signal sent from the track/input to the STEREO SUB-OUT jack fully to L or R to select the send target.

Press the [MASTER] status key and then

the [SUB-OUT SEND] key in the track parameter section.

The indication “MASTER SUB SEND” appears on the display. In the default condition of a project, the master track SUB-OUT SEND ON/OFF parameter is ON, so that the STEREO SUB-OUT jack carries the same signal as the MASTER OUTPUT jacks. In this condition, the signal from other tracks or inputs cannot be sent directly to the STEREO SUB-OUT jack.

ZOOM MRS-1608

MASTER

MASTER SUB SENDONON

TR1 SUB SEND

LVL 100

TR2 SUB SEND

Pan R32

SUB SEND

While the SUB-OUT SEND ON/OFF parameter of the master track is ON, the indication “xxx SUB SEND MASTER” (where xxx is the track/input name) will be shown when another track or input is called up. For this track/input, the SUB-OUT SEND parameter cannot be modiﬁed.

Turn the dial to set the parameter to OFF.

In this condition, the signal level to be sent from each track/input to the STEREO SUB-OUT jack can be adjusted individually.

HINT

•You can also switch between ON and OFF by pressing the [SUB-OUT SEND] key.

• By selecting ON, you can return to the original condition at any time.

Use the cursor left/right keys and status keys to select the track/input, and turn the dial to adjust the level of the signal sent to the STEREO SUB-OUT jack.

When the project is in the default condition, the SUBOUT SEND LVL parameter is set to zero for all tracks/ inputs. A setting of 100 will result in a unity gain (0 dB) signal being sent to the STEREO SUB-OUT jack.

Reference [Mixer]

Press the cursor down key until the

following indication appears. Then turn the dial to set the panning value of the signal sent to the STEREO SUB-OUT jack.

The panning value setting range is L100 (fully left) – 0 (center) – R100 (fully right). By pressing the cursor up key, you can return to the condition of step 4.

TR2 SUB SEND

Repeat steps 4 – 5 to adjust the output level

for all track/input signals sent to the STEREO SUB-OUT jack.

You can set the SUB-OUT SEND parameter for a track/ input to OFF by pressing the [SUB-OUT SEND] key repeatedly so that the key goes out. This is useful to temporarily take that track/input out of the mix. Pressing the key again turns it ON and restores the original condition.

To return to the main screen, press the

[EXIT] key.

Pan R32

TR1 SUB SEND

ZOOM MRS-1608

LVL 100

Reference [Mixer]

Using the solo function

If desired, you can mute all other tracks except one during playback of the recorder section. This is called the “solo function”. It is convenient to ﬁne-tune the parameters for a certain track.

From the main screen, perform playback of

the recorder section and press the [SOLO] key.

The key lights up.

NOTE

Also when the [SOLO] key is lit, the input signals are always mixed. If necessary, turn inputs off by pressing the respective [ON/OFF] key.

Press the status key (except [MASTER] status key) for the track that you want to monitor alone.

The status key lights up in green, and only the corresponding track is heard. You can use the fader of the track to adjust the volume.

Saving/recalling mixer settings (scene function)

The current mixer and effect settings can be saved as a socalled “scene” in a special area of memory, and recalled either manually or automatically whenever desired. This is convenient to compare various mixes, or to automate mix operations. A scene contains the following data.

•Track parameters (except for stereo link on/off and currently selected V-take number)

• The state of all status keys (play/mute)

• Insert effect patch number/input source

• Send/return effect (chorus/delay, reverb) patch number

• Fader settings

Up to 100 different scenes per project can be stored. Scene data stored in memory are saved on the internal hard disk as part of the currently selected project.

HINT

• For stereo tracks, both tracks are monitored.

• While the [SOLO] key is lit, two mono tracks that are stereolinked will be played individually.

To cancel the solo function, press the

[SOLO] key once more.

The key goes out.

Saving a scene

This section explains how to save the current settings as a scene.

Press the [SCENE] key in the control section.

Turn the dial to select the scene number (0 – 99) in which the data will be saved.

If you select a number where scene data are already saved, the existing data will be erased and overwritten by the new data.

Press the [STORE] key.

The ﬁrst character of the scene name ﬂashes. In this condition, you can specify a name for the scene.

HINT

The default name is “SCENExxx” (where xxx is the scene number).

ZOOM MRS-1608

Use the cursor left/right keys to move the

MARK ED SCENE

80 3 32424

ﬂashing section, and turn the dial to select a character.

Repeat this until the name is as desired. For information on available characters, refer to page 36.

To carry out the store process, press the

[STORE] key or the [ENTER] key.

The current mixer and effect settings will be saved as a scene. When the process is completed, the unit returns to the screen of step 2. To cancel the process, you can press the [EXIT] key instead of these keys to return to the previous screen.

Press the [EXIT] key to return to the main

screen.

Recalling a scene

This section explains how to recall a scene that was saved to memory.

Press the [SCENE] key in the control

section.

The display indicates the scene number that will be recalled.

Reference [Mixer]

Switching scenes automatically

The MRS-1608 allows you to assign a scene to a mark (→ p. 46) that was placed at a desired location in the song. This can be used to switch scenes automatically. For example, you could change the mixing balance or effect settings as the song progresses.

Move to the point in the song where you want to change the mix, and press the [MARK] key in the control section.

A mark is entered at this point. Repeat this step to enter marks at all other points where you want to change the mix.

Save the mix setting to be used at the start of the song as well as all other mix settings to be used in the middle of the song as scenes.

While the recorder is stopped, press the ZERO [U move to the recorder start position.

The beginning of the song (counter zero location) already contains the mark number 00. You can assign the starting scene to this mark.

] key in the transport section to

Turn the dial to select the desired scene to recall.

HINT

By pressing the [EDIT] key after selecting a scene, you can edit the name of the scene. Refer to steps 4 – 5 of “Saving a scene” to edit the name.

To recall the selected scene, press the [ENTER] key.

The scene is recalled, the indication “CALL” appears on the display, and the unit returns to the condition of step 1. If you press the [EXIT] key instead of the [ENTER] key, the action is canceled and the main screen returns.

Press the [MARK] key.

When you press the [MARK] key at a location where a mark symbol is shown, a screen will appear in which you can assign a scene to the corresponding mark.

MARK ED SCENE

0 0 0 5 5 50

NOTE

If you press the [MARK] key at a location where no mark symbol is shown, a new mark will be assigned to that location.

Turn the dial to select the number of the

scene you want to assign to this mark, and press the [ENTER] key.

The scene will be assigned to the mark.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Mixer]

MARK ED SCENE

No.1

PERMISSN AllFaderONON

panning parameters manually for each track.

MARK ED SCENE

HINT

To cancel a scene assignment, turn the dial until the display indicates “ -- “.

Use the MARKER [T]/[Y] keys to locate

the next mark at which you want the mix to change, and assign a scene in the same way.

When all desired scenes have been assigned, move to the start position of the recorder, and start playback.

Each time the song reaches a mark to which a scene has been assigned, the settings of that scene will be recalled.

Press the [EXIT] key to return to the main screen.

No.1

Scene number

Press the [SCENE] key in the control

section, and then press the [UTILITY/ TRACK EDIT] key in the display section.

The following screen appears on the display. In this condition, you can select whether the scene controls the fader action.

PERMISSN AllFader

Turn the dial to set fader permission to ON

or OFF.

Except for the fader, scene control for the other groups can be enabled or disabled by pressing one of the keys listed below, in the condition of step 1.

• TRACK PARAMETER group

Any status key except [MASTER] status key

• INSERT EFFECT group

Any [ALGORITHM] key

Deleting certain parameters from a scene

If desired, you can disable a group of parameters saved in a scene. Such parameters will not change even if the scene is changed. The following groups of parameters can be speciﬁed and made active or inactive.

Group

TRACK PARAMETER

INSERT EFFECT

CHORUS/DELAY REVERB ALL FADER

MASTER FADER

Item

EQ HI

EQ MID

EQ LO

CHO SEND

REV SEND

PA N

Play/mute

Patch number

Input source

Patch number

Fader position

[MASTER] fader position

• CHORUS/DELAY group

[CHORUS/DELAY] key

• REVERB group

[REVERB] key

• MASTER FADER group

[MASTER] status key

When a group is enabled, the respective key is lit, and when the group is disabled, the key is ﬂashing.

HINT

• The on/off setting for the TRACK PARAMETER group can be made for each track individually.

•You can use the cursor up/down keys to enable or disable all groups together except MASTER FADER group.

When the setting is complete, repeatedly

press the [EXIT] key.

The main screen returns. The settings made here are stored as part of the project.

For example, after you have programmed a sequence of automatic scene changes, you may want to disable only the TRACK PARAMETER group and set the EQ and

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Rhythm]

This section explains the functions and operation of the built-in rhythm section of the MRS-1608.

About the rhythm section

The rhythm section of the MRS-1608 uses internal drum sounds and bass sounds to generate rhythm accompaniment. It can be used instead of a metronome by playing simple rhythm patterns, or you can program a sequence of rhythm patterns and chord progression into the rhythm accompaniment for an entire song. The rhythm section is made up of the following components.

Drum kits and bass programs

The sound created by the rhythm section is produced by a “drum kit” and a “bass program”. The drum kit is a combination of 36 drum/percussion sounds such as kick, snare, hihat, and conga. A combination of drum/percussion sounds and drum kits for use within a project is called a “drum sound set”. A drum sound set contains over 80 drum/percussion sounds and 15 – 17 drum kits. From such a drum sound set, you may also select desired sounds and create your own drum kits. You can select one of these drum kits and play it manually with the pads on the top panel, or you can use it as a sound source for rhythm accompaniment.

programs. You can choose one of these and play a scale, with the pads, or use it as a sound source for rhythm accompaniment.

Bass program example

The output signal from the drum kit (stereo) and the output signal from the bass program (mono) are sent to the corresponding fader of the internal mixer, where you can independently adjust the volume, panning (balance), EQ, and other parameters and apply send/return effects.

Bass program

Rhythm section

Drum kit

DRUM

123

BASS

Drum kit example

A bass program is a single bass sound, such as an electric bass or acoustic bass, which can be played as a scale with the pads on the top panel. The MRS-1608 has 13 bass

ZOOM MRS-1608

Mixer section

NOTE

While using the pad sampler (→ p. 121), the drum kit/bass program sound is not available.

Reference [Rhythm]

Rhythm patterns

A project can contain accompaniment patterns with drum/bass performance data for up to 99 measures each. This is called a rhythm pattern. The MRS-1608 has 511 such patterns. Inside each rhythm pattern, the area that holds the drum performance data is called the “drum sequence”, and the area that holds the bass performance data is called the “bass sequence”.

In the default condition, a project contains preprogrammed rhythm patterns in numbers 000 – 472, 509 – 510. You can edit a portion of a rhythm pattern, or use an empty slot to create an entirely original rhythm pattern. The rhythm patterns you modify or create are saved on the hard disk as part of the project.

Rhythm

section

1234

PATTERN PATTERN

Drum sequence Bass sequence

Rhythm pattern mode and rhythm song mode

The rhythm section can operate in one of two modes: “rhythm pattern mode”, in which you can create and play rhythm patterns, and “rhythm song mode”, in which you can create and play a rhythm song. One of these two modes will always be selected. The rhythm pattern mode is selected by pressing the [PATTERN] key and the rhythm song mode by pressing the [SONG] key. The selected key lights up.

Rhythm pattern mode Rhythm song mode

Lit Lit

Synchronizing the recorder section and rhythm section

Rhythm song

Multiple rhythm patterns arranged in a desired order of playback are collectively called a “rhythm song”. Besides the rhythm pattern data, a rhythm song comprises information about various aspects such as chord, tempo, and beat to create the accompaniment for an entire song. Up to 10 rhythm songs can be programmed in one project.

PATTERN A PATTERN B PATTERN C PATTERN D PATTERN E

Rhythm song

Measure number

1234 56

PATTERN A

Drum sequence Bass sequence

Chords

Am Dm7 G7 C

PATTERN E PATTERN B

Drum sequence Bass sequence

In the default condition of the MRS-1608, the rhythm section will operate in sync with the recorder section. When you operate the transport section to start the recorder section running, the rhythm pattern or rhythm song will also begin playing. If desired, the rhythm section can be disconnected from the recorder section and used independently.

To see whether the recorder is synchronized with the rhythm section, check the lit/out status of the [RHYTHM] key in the display section. When operation is synchronized, this key will be out. When the key is pressed so that it lights up, the recorder is separated and the rhythm section operates on its own. To restore the original condition, press the [RECORDER] key or the [EXIT] key.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Rhythm]

004#000 08Beat01

BANK:1

TEMPO BPM:

120.0

Playing rhythm patterns

This section explains how to play rhythm patterns, how to change the tempo, and how to change the drum kit or bass program.

Selecting a rhythm pattern

This section explains how to select and play one of the 511 rhythm patterns.

From the main screen, press the [PATTERN] key in the rhythm section, so that the key lights up.

The rhythm pattern selection screen appears. In this condition, the following information is displayed.

Number of measures in rhythm pattern

Rhythm pattern number

The corresponding track will be muted. To defeat muting, repeatedly press the same status key again until it is lit in green.

To stop rhythm pattern playback, press the

STOP [P] key.

The PLAY [R] key goes out.

To play the rhythm pattern by itself, press

the [RHYTHM] key in stop mode, so that the key is lit.

The recorder section and rhythm section are disconnected.

To return to the main screen, press the

[EXIT] key several times.

HINT

During rhythm pattern playback, it is also possible to play rhythm section sounds by hitting the pads.

004#000 08Beat01

Rhythm pattern name

HINT

• When you press the [PATTERN] key from the main screen, the [RHYTHM] key in the display section ﬂashes. This indicates that the rhythm section is synchronized with the recorder.

• The right side of the display shows the pad bank (combination of drum sounds playable with the pads) or octave (bass program register).

Turn the dial to select the rhythm pattern that you want to play.

In the default condition of a project, patterns are programmed in rhythm pattern numbers 000 – 472, 509 – 510.

Press the PLAY [R

The selected rhythm pattern will begin playing repeatedly. If you press the PLAY [R] key while the [RHYTHM] key is ﬂashing, the recorder also starts to run when you start playback of the rhythm pattern.

BANK:1

Current pad bank (or octave)

] key.

Changing the tempo

You can change the tempo of the rhythm pattern.

HINT

The tempo set here applies to all rhythm patterns. A rhythm song for which no tempo information is programmed also will use this tempo.

Press the [PATTERN] key so that the key lights up.

The rhythm pattern selection screen appears.

HINT

You can change the tempo in playback or stop mode.

Press the [TEMPO] key.

The display indication changes as follows.

TEMPO BPM:

120.0

ZOOM MRS-1608

To mute the performance of the drum track or bass track, repeatedly press the respective status key, so that it goes out.

Reference [Rhythm]

UTILITY SoundSel

SoundSel STANDARD

KIT: 0 Standard

BANK:1

Turn the dial to adjust the tempo.

The tempo can be adjusted over a range of 40.0 – 250.0 (BPM).

To change the tempo manually, hit the [TEMPO] key repeatedly at the desired tempo.

The average of the key press intervals is determined and set as the new tempo.

To return to the main screen, press the

[EXIT] key several times.

NOTE

This screen will not appear when the pad sampler is being used.

Turn the dial to select a drum sound set

from the following choices, then press the [ENTER] key.

Available drum sound sets are:

•STANDARD

Dry drum and percussion sounds suitable for a variety of styles.

NOTE

If you record on the audio tracks while listening to the rhythm pattern, and then later change the tempo, the audio track content and the rhythm pattern will no longer be synchronized. Be sure to decide on the tempo ﬁrst.

Changing the drum kit / bass program

You can change the drum kit/bass program used by the rhythm section.

◆

Changing the drum kit

Press the [DRUM] key.

You can now use the pads to play a drum kit.

To change the drum sound set, press the [RHYTHM] key and then the [UTILITY/ TRACK EDIT] key.

The rhythm utility menu appears.

• ANALOG

Drum/percussion sounds for hip-hop, techno, house and other styles that use analog rhythm machines.

• CLASSIC

Drum/percussion sounds in the style of ZOOM standalone rhythm machines.

When you press the [ENTER] key, the respective drum sound set is loaded, and a screen for selecting a rhythm pattern or rhythm song appears.

To select a drum kit, press the [KIT/PROG]

key in the rhythm section.

The currently selected drum kit is shown on the display.

Drum kit number

KIT: 0 Standard

Drum kit name Pad bank

BANK:1

Verify that the indication “UTILITY SoundSel” is shown on the display, and then press the [ENTER] key.

The display changes as follows.

UTILITY SoundSel

SoundSel STANDARD

Sound set name

HINT

If you operate the cursor up/down keys while selecting a drum kit, the combination of sounds playable by the pads (pad bank) will be switched.

Turn the dial to select the desired drum kit.

The drum kit becomes active immediately. For a list of drum kits that can be selected, refer to the appendix at the end of this manual.

To return to the main screen, press the

[EXIT] key several times.

ZOOM MRS-1608

◆

PRG: 0 Finger

OCT:E 1

Pad:Drum PadBank:

RollPlay SYNC:

1/4

Changing the bass program

Press the [BASS] key.

You can now use the pads to play a bass program.

Press the [KIT/PROG] key in the rhythm

section.

The currently selected bass program is shown on the display.

Bass program number

Reference [Rhythm]

From the main screen, press the [DRUM]

key.

The key lights up, and a drum kit to play can be selected. In the default condition of a project, pad bank 1 is selected.

Use the [BANK/OCTAVE] key in the rhythm

section to switch the pad bank.

If you press the [BANK/OCTAVE] key while a drum kit is selected, the pad bank selection screen appears.

PRG: 0 Finger

Bass program name Key/range of scale

HINT

If you operate the cursor up/down keys while selecting a bass program, the octave playable by the pads will be switched.

Turn the dial to select the desired bass program.

The bass program becomes active immediately. For a list of bass programs that can be selected, refer to the appendix at the end of this manual.

To return to the main screen, press the [EXIT] key several times.

Selecting the sound or scale to play with the pads

OCT:E 1

playable by pads

Pad:Drum PadBank:

Turn the dial to select the desired pad bank

(1 – 3).

The sounds assigned to the pads are switched immediately.

Hit the pads to play.

Switch the [DRUM] status key between on and off as necessary, and use the [DRUM] fader to adjust the volume.

To play a speciﬁc pad repeatedly (roll play),

press the [STEP] key in the rhythm section to bring up the following indication on the display.

Pad bank number

RollPlay SYNC:

1/4

Using the pads on the top panel, you can manually play a drum kit or bass program. This section explains how to select the drum sound combination or the bass program octave/scale to assign to the pads.

HINT

The drum kit/bass program can always be played with the pads, regardless of the lit/ﬂashing/out status of the [RHYTHM] key.

◆

Playing a drum kit with the pads

When playing a drum kit, you can switch between three pad banks (combination of drum sounds), giving you a total of 36 sounds.

ZOOM MRS-1608

When you turn the dial at this screen, the interval for roll play can be set as follows.

• 2/4 – 8/4

• 1/3

• 3/8

• 1/4

• 3/16

• 1/6

• 1/8

• 1/12

• 1/16

• 1/24

• 1/32

•HI

. . . . . quarter note x 2 – 8

. . . . . . . . . half triplet note

. . . . . . . . . dotted quarter note

. . . . . . . . . quarter note (default)

. . . . . . . . dotted eighth note

. . . . . . . . . quarter triplet note

. . . . . . . . . eighth note

. . . . . . . . eighth triplet note

. . . . . . . . sixteenth note

. . . . . . . . sixteenth triplet note

. . . . . . . . thirty-second note

. . . . . . . . . . 1 tick (1/48 of quarter note)

Reference [Rhythm]

PAD:BASS CHROMATC

E 1

When you hit a pad while pressing the [STEP] key, the pad plays repeatedly at the speciﬁed interval (roll play). For example, you can repeat a kick drum at quarter note intervals, or play a hihat in sixteenth note units. To stop roll play, release the pad. If you release the [STEP] key ﬁrst, roll play continues also when you release the pad. To stop roll play in this case, press the pad once more.

Pad 1

SYNC: quarter note

Pad 1 Pad 1

Hit once more

Release

You can also set a different interval for different pads. For example, when you select a quarter note interval for pad 1 and an eighth note interval for pad 2, the following play results.

◆

Playing a bass program with the pads

When playing a bass program, you can specify a scale and octave, which will change the pitch of the sounds assigned to the pads.

From the main screen, press the [BASS]

key.

The key lights up, and a bass program to play can be selected.

Use the [BANK/OCTAVE] key in the rhythm

section to switch the scale and octave to play with the pads.

If you press the [BANK/OCTAVE] key while a bass program is selected, the currently active scale type, key, and octave are shown on the display. By changing these values, you can change the pitch of the sounds assigned to the pads.

PAD:BASS CHROMATC

E 1

Pad 2

Pad 1

SYNC: quarter note

Pad 1

To return to the previous screen, press the [EXIT] key.

SYNC: eighth note

Pad 2

Release Release

・・・・

HINT

The roll play function is also convenient during rhythm pattern real-time input.

To return to the main screen, press the [EXIT] key.

Scale type

To change the key of the scale, use the

cursor up/down keys.

The setting range is C – B in semitone steps. The key speciﬁed here is the note that will be played by pad 1.

To change the type of the scale, use the

cursor left/right keys.

The scale type selections are CHROMATC (chromatic), MAJOR, and MINOR. For example, when the key of “E” is selected, the pitch of the pads changes as follows depending on the scale type selection.

Current octave

Scale key

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Rhythm]

---#500 EMPTY

BANK:1

CHROMATC

C C# D D#

G# A A# B

E F F# G

MAJOR

F# G# A B

B C# D# E

E F# G# A

MINOR

F# G A B

B C D E

E F# G A

Turn the dial to change the octave to be

played by the pads.

The octave of the pads can be selected in four steps (1 –

4). For example, a change from 1 to 2 will shift the pitch being assigned to the pads up by 1 octave. Any change in a setting takes effect immediately.

Creating an original rhythm pattern

This section explains how you can create your own original rhythm patterns. There are two ways of doing this: real-time input where you record your play on the top panel pads, and step input where play is stopped and you enter the sounds one by one.

Preparations

Before starting to record, you must make various settings for the rhythm pattern, such as number of measures and time signature, and quantize value (shortest unit for recording). By default, an empty rhythm pattern has a 4/ 4 time signature and a duration of 2 measures.

NOTE

After you have started the rhythm pattern input procedure, you can no longer change the time signature and number of measures. Be sure to make these settings beforehand.

From the main screen, press the [PATTERN] key.

The rhythm pattern selection screen appears on the display.

Hit the pads to play.

Switch the [BASS] status key between on and off as necessary, and use the [BASS] fader to adjust the volume.

To return to the main screen, press the

[EXIT] key.

Press the [RHYTHM] key.

The key lights up, and creating and editing a rhythm pattern becomes possible.

Turn the dial to select an empty rhythm

pattern.

The indication “EMPTY” appears on the display when an empty pattern is selected.

---#500 EMPTY

HINT

If there is no empty rhythm pattern, erase an unneeded

→

pattern (

The rhythm pattern edit menu appears.

p. 103).

Press the [EDIT] key.

BANK:1

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Rhythm]

EDIT QUANTIZE

QUANTIZE 16

TimSig

BarLen

The setting range is 1 – 8 (1/4 – 8/4).

EDIT QUANTIZE

To set the quantize value, make sure the

indication “EDIT QUANTIZE” is shown on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

The display indication changes as follows. The quantize value is the smallest note unit for recording a pattern. When performing real-time input, your play is recorded using the note steps selected here. The default setting is “16” (a sixteenth note).

QUANTIZE 16

Turn the dial to select one of the following

quantize values. Then press the [EXIT] key.

. . . . . .Quarter note

. . . . . .Eighth note

. . . . .Eighth triplet note

. . . . .Sixteenth note (default)

. . . . .Sixteenth triplet note

. . . . .Thirty-second note

. . . . .1 tick (1/48 of quarter note)

When you press the [EXIT] key, the rhythm pattern edit menu appears again.

To set the length (number of measures) of

the rhythm pattern, use the cursor left/right keys to select the indication “EDIT BarLen”, and press the [ENTER] key.

The current length of the pattern is shown as number of measures.

BarLen 2

Number of measures

Turn the dial to select the desired setting.

10.

The setting range is 1 – 99 measures.

When the setting is complete, press the

11.

[EXIT] key to return to the rhythm pattern selection screen.

Drum sequence real-time input

For real-time input of a drum sequence, you play the rhythm pattern on the pads of the MRS-1608.

At the rhythm pattern screen, select an empty rhythm pattern number.

If the [RHYTHM] key is ﬂashing, press it so that it is constantly lit.

HINT

The quantization setting applies to all rhythm patterns.

The current time signature setting appears on the display.

To set the rhythm pattern time signature, use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “EDIT TimSig” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

TimSig 4

4/4 beat

Turn the dial to select the beat, and then press the [EXIT] key to return to the rhythm pattern edit menu.

Press the [DRUM] key so that the key lights up.

In this condition, you can play the drum kit with the pads. Your play will be recorded as a drum sequence.

As necessary, press the [BANK/OCTAVE] key to switch pad banks.

Hold down the REC [O PLAY [R]

A four-beat pre-count is heard, and rhythm pattern recording starts.

HINT

The beat and the volume of the pre-count clicks can be changed (

→

p. 118).

key.

] key and press the

ZOOM MRS-1608

While listening to the metronome, tap the

pads.

Your performance on the pads will be recorded as a drum sequence according to the quantization setting. The intensity with which you hit the pads will also be recorded. When you reach the end of the pattern, the unit automatically returns to the ﬁrst measure, and real-time input continues.

Pad Pad

Pre-count

Recorded repeatedly

Reference [Rhythm]

Drum sequence

Snare

Kick

Snare

Kick

●

To erase the performance of all pads

While holding down the [DELETE/ERASE] key, press the [DRUM] status key. While you are holding down both keys, the performance of all pads is erased from the drum sequence.

If you press the REC [O] key during recording, the REC [O] key will ﬂash, and recording will be temporarily suspended. In this state you can tap the pads to check which sound is assigned to each pad. Recording resumes when you press the REC [O] key once more.

HINT

• During real-time input, you can press the [DRUM] or [BASS] key to switch the target sequence for recording.

• Instead of tapping the pads, you can also input a pattern in real time by using a MIDI controller connected to the MRS1608’s MIDI IN connector. For a list of pads and corresponding note numbers, refer to the appendix at the end of this manual.

• After concluding real-time input, you can change the quantize setting and then record on top of the existing sequence. (Changing the quantize value will not affect the existing playing information.)

To edit the recorded contents during realtime input, proceed as follows.

Drum sequence

Snare

Kick

Snare

Kick

When you have ﬁnished real-time

recording, press the STOP [P] key.

Rhythm pattern recording will stop. Press the PLAY [R] key to hear the pattern that you recorded.

NOTE

• When you select an empty pattern and record it, the pattern name “Pat xxx” (where xxx is the pattern number) is automatically assigned. You can edit this pattern name as necessary (→ p. 101).

•You can use step input to add playing information to a rhythm pattern recorded with real-time input.

To erase the performance of a speciﬁc pad

●

While holding down the [DELETE/ERASE] key, press the pad whose sound you want to erase. While you are holding down both keys, the performance of the corresponding pad is erased from the rhythm pattern.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Bass sequence real-time input

For real-time input of a bass sequence, you play the pads of the MRS-1608.

At the rhythm pattern screen, select an

empty rhythm pattern number.

If the [RHYTHM] key is ﬂashing, press it so that it constantly lit.

Reference [Rhythm]

Press the [BASS] key so that the key lights up.

In this condition, you can play the bass program with the pads. Your play will be recorded as a bass sequence.

As necessary, press the [BANK/OCTAVE] key to switch the scale and octave of the bass program.

Hold down the REC [O] key and press the

PLAY [R] key.

A four-beat pre-count is heard, and rhythm pattern recording starts.

HINT

The beat and the volume of the pre-count clicks can be

→

changed (

Your performance on the pads will be recorded as a bass sequence according to the quantization setting. The intensity with which you hit the pads will also be recorded. When you reach the end of the pattern, the unit automatically returns to the ﬁrst measure, and real-time input continues.

p. 118).

While listening to the metronome, tap the pads.

Bass track

●

To erase the performance of all pads

While holding down the [DELETE/ERASE] key, press the [BASS] status key. While you are holding down both keys, the performance of all pads is erased from the bass sequence.

Bass track

If you press the REC [O] key during recording, and recording will be temporarily suspended. In this state you can tap the pads to check which note is assigned to each pad, and you can also switch the octave. Recording resumes when you press the REC [O] key once more.

HINT

• During real-time input, you can press the [DRUM] or [BASS] key to switch the target sequence for recording.

• Instead of tapping the pads, you can also input a pattern in real time by using a MIDI controller connected to the MRS1608’s MIDI IN connector.

To edit the recorded contents during realtime input, proceed as follows.

●

To erase the performance of a speciﬁc pad

While holding down the [DELETE/ERASE] key, press the pad whose pitch you want to erase. While you are holding down both keys, the performance of the corresponding pad is erased from the rhythm pattern.

When you have ﬁnished real-time

recording, press the STOP [P] key.

Rhythm pattern recording will stop. Press the PLAY [R] key to hear the pattern that you recorded.

NOTE

•You can use step input to add playing information to a rhythm pattern recorded with real-time input.

Drum sequence step input

For step input, you enter each note separately, while the MRS-1608 is in the stop condition. This makes it easy to enter even complex drum patterns or bass lines that might be difﬁcult to achieve with real-time input. For drum sequence step input, you specify the step length (interval to next note or rest) using the quantize value. Then you enter notes and rests. When you hit a pad and then press the [STEP] key, playing (note) information is entered at that point, and the step advances by an interval corresponding to the current quantize value. The intensity with which you hit the pad is also recorded.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Rhythm]

Q:16

001 1 1 0 0

Q: 4

001 2 2 0 0

If you only press the [STEP] key, no playing information is entered, but the step advances by an interval corresponding to the current quantize value. This becomes a rest (see illustration below).

At the rhythm pattern screen, select an

empty rhythm pattern number.

If the [RHYTHM] key is ﬂashing, press it so that it is constantly lit.

Press the [DRUM] key.

In this condition, drum kit sounds are assigned to the pads on the top panel.

As necessary, press the [BANK/OCTAVE]

key to select the pad bank which contains the sound you want to input.

When the setting is complete, press the [EXIT] key to return to the previous screen.

Press the REC [O] key.

The key lights up and the display indication changes as follows. In this condition, step input is possible.

. . . . . .Quarter note

. . . . . .Eighth note

. . . . .Eighth triplet note

. . . . .Sixteenth note (default)

. . . . .Sixteenth triplet note

. . . . .Thirty-second note

. . . . .1 tick (1/48 of quarter note)

HINT

The quantize value setting is linked to the quantize setting for real-time input. If you change one setting, the other will also change.

To enter a note, hit the pad corresponding to the note, and then press the [STEP] key.

The note is recorded, and the unit advances by one step, corresponding to the quantize value set in step 5. Before hitting the pad, you can also use the [BANK/OCTAVE] key to switch the pad bank for a different sound.

Q: 4

Quantize value

Q:16

001

Measure Beat Tick

The ﬁrst line of the display shows the quantize value, and the counter shows the current position is shown in measures/beats/ticks.

Use the cursor up/down keys to select the

quantize value.

This setting becomes the length of the note you want to enter. The setting can be changed at any time during step input.

Drum sequence step input

Quantize: quarter note Quantize: sixteenth note

001

HINT

• The intensity with which you hit the pad is also recorded in the drum sequence.

• If you hit several pads during input, multiple sounds will be recorded at the same position.

To enter a rest, press only the [STEP] key.

If you press the [STEP] key by itself, the position advances by one step (duration of quantize value) but no play information is recorded.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Rhythm]

Q: 4

001 3 3 0 0

Q: 4

Bass sequence step input

001

Repeat steps 6 – 7 while changing the step

length as necessary, to enter the desired rhythm pattern.

When you reach the end of the pattern, the unit automatically returns to the ﬁrst measure, letting you enter more instrument sounds. When you use the [STEP] key to move step by step through a recorded rhythm pattern, the pad recorded at the respective position lights up.

To erase an entered note, repeatedly press

the [STEP] key to move to the position that you want to erase. Then hold down the [DELETE/ERASE] key and press the respective pad.

The note recorded at that point is erased, and the pad goes out.

NOTE

When searching for a note to erase, set the quantize value to the same value as the smallest value used during recording, or to a smaller value. Otherwise the start of a note may be missed.

Compared to the drum sequence step input, the step input procedure for a bass sequence is somewhat more complex, because there are the additional elements of “pitch” and “duration”. As in drum track step input, you specify the step length (interval to next note or rest) using the quantize value, and you use the pads and the [STEP] key to enter notes and rests. But when you input a note, you must also specify the duration parameter. This parameter allows you to vary the actual duration for each note, while keeping the step length the same (see diagram below).

It is also possible to set the duration to a longer value than the step length. In this case, the note will overlap the next note, which can be used to achieve an arpeggio-like effect.

Quantize: quarter note Duration: half note

Beat

Pad Pad Pad

234 1

Pad 3

Pad 2

Pad 1

10.

When you have ﬁnished step input, press the STOP [P

The REC [O] key goes out and the rhythm pattern selection screen appears again. By pressing the PLAY [R] key you can check the rhythm pattern that you recorded.

To return to the main screen, press the

11.

[EXIT] key several times.

Bass sequence step input

Quantize: quarter note Duration: quarter note

] key.

Quantize: 8th note Duration: 8th note

Pad Pad Pad Pad Pad

At the rhythm pattern screen, select an

empty rhythm pattern number.

Press the [BASS] key and select a bass

sequence.

Quantize: quarter note Duration: quarter note

Quantize: 8th note Duration: 16th note

ZOOM MRS-1608

As necessary, press the [BANK/OCTAVE]

Q:16 D: x1/4

001 1 1 0 0

Q:4 D: x1

001 2 2 0 0

Q:4 D: x1

001 3 3 0 0

key to select the octave for step input.

When the setting is complete, press the [EXIT] key to return to the previous screen.

Press the REC [O

The display indication changes as follows. In this condition, step input is possible.

Quantize value Duration value

] key.

Q:16 D: x1/4

Reference [Rhythm]

Q:4 D: x1

001

HINT

• The intensity with which you hit the pad is also recorded on the bass sequence.

• By hitting several pads during input, you can create a chord. The maximum number of simultaneous sounds in the rhythm section is 24 (drum + bass).

001

Measure Beat Tick

The ﬁrst line of the display shows the quantize value, and the second line the duration value.

Use the cursor up/down keys to select the

quantize value.

The value selected here becomes the duration of 1 step.

Turn the dial to select the duration value, as

listed below.

The duration is speciﬁed as “ x yy”, i.e. as multiples of a quarter note. Depending on the value of “yy”, the actual duration becomes as follows.

. . . .quarter note x 1 – 8

1 – 8

. . . . .dotted quarter note

3/2

. . . . .dotted 8th note

3/4

. . . . .8th note

1/2

. . . . .8th note triplet

1/3

. . . . .16th note

1/4

. . . . .16th note triplet

1/6

. . . . .32nd note

1/8

. . . .32nd note triplet

1/12 1/16

. . . .64th note

1/24

. . . .64th note triplet

To enter a note, hit the pad corresponding to the note, and then press the [STEP] key.

The note is recorded, and the unit advances by the step duration set in step 5. You can also use the [BANK/ OCTAVE] key to select a different octave before hitting a pad.

To enter a rest, press only the [STEP] key.

If you press the [STEP] key by itself, the position advances by one step (duration of quantize value) but no play information is recorded.

Q:4 D: x1

001

Repeat steps 7 – 8 while changing the quantize value and duration as necessary, to enter the desired bass pattern.

When you reach the end of the pattern, the unit automatically returns to the ﬁrst measure, letting you continue the input.

To erase an entered note, repeatedly press

10.

the [STEP] key to move to the position that you want to erase. Then hold down the [DELETE/ERASE] key and press the respective pad.

The note recorded at that point is erased, and the pad goes out.

NOTE

When searching for a note to erase, set quantize to the same value as the smallest value used during recording, or to a smaller value. Otherwise the start of a note may be missed.

When you have ﬁnished step input, press

11.

the STOP [P] key.

The REC [O] key goes out and the rhythm pattern selection screen appears again. By pressing the PLAY [R

] key you can check the rhythm pattern that you

recorded.

ZOOM MRS-1608

Reference [Rhythm]

EDIT QUANTIZE

OrgRoot

OrgChord MAJOR

To return to the main screen, press the

12.

[EXIT] key several times.

Entering rhythm pattern chord information

When you have recorded a rhythm pattern, and you later set the chord information (root + chord type), the bass phrase in a rhythm song will be transformed based on the original chord information of that rhythm pattern.

HINT

For patterns not used in a rhythm song or for which no bass sequence is input, this procedure is not necessary.

From the main screen, press the [PATTERN] key in the rhythm section.

The rhythm pattern selection screen appears, and the [RHYTHM] key ﬂashes.

When the setting is complete, press the

[EXIT] key.

The setting is entered and the rhythm pattern edit menu appears again.

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up the indication “EDIT OrgChord” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

This screen allows you to specify the chord type for that rhythm pattern.

OrgChord MAJOR

Turn the dial to select the chord.

For the chord type, you can select MAJOR or MINOR. For example, if you have entered a bass phrase with an E minor chord in mind, set the root to “E” and the chord type to “MINOR”.

Turn the dial to select the pattern for which to specify chord information (root/type), and press the [RHYTHM] key so that the key is constantly lit.

In this condition you can create and edit rhythm patterns.

Press the [EDIT] key.

The rhythm pattern edit menu appears on the display.

EDIT QUANTIZE

Use the cursor left/right keys to bring up

the indication “EDIT OrgRoot” on the display, and press the [ENTER] key.

This screen allows you to specify the root for the selected rhythm pattern.

OrgRoot E

When the setting is complete, press the

[EXIT] key.

The setting is entered and the rhythm pattern edit menu appears again.

To return to the main screen, press the

10.

[EXIT] key several times.

The available range is C – B (default setting: E). When setting chord information for a rhythm song, the root speciﬁed here will become the default.

100

Chord root

Turn the dial to select the root for the chord.

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ZOOM MR-1608 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual