Living with the Zoom H24 24-channel digital recorder · Monday March 5, 2018 by colin newell
Recently one of my colleagues at the University of Victoria loaned me one of his studio tools that he was thinking of parting with – The Zoom H24 24-channel digital portable recorder.
Now for the record, way back when I first started recording multi-track style I was using a cassette tape based TASCAM 244 – 4 tracks of audio on a cassette… and that was mono tracks. Granted, the Beatles recorded some amazing music on recorders not much bigger than that… but I am not them.
Anyway. Armed with a couple of good microphones, headphones, a guitar, ukulele and a bass guitar I came up with a bunch of sample demos (warts and all…) way faster than I could have on my PC based audio work-station. Here is one. Trust me: Listen on headphones or ear buds!
Gear: APEX Floating plate microphone and Shure SM81 condensor microphone.
Cort acoustic guitar, Kala Ukulele, Godin bass – and three vocals provided by yours truly.
The Zoom H24 digital recorder is jam packed with features and to be honest, I likely utilized less than 5% of its capabilities. For instance, the R24 offers eight inputs on combo connectors that can accept either XLR or ¼” balanced or unbalanced cables.
Click on any image for the bigger view!
All inputs can handle mic/line/instrument level signals, and Input 1 can also handle low impedance signals from passive electric guitars and basses.
I took advantage of the phantom power (+24 or +48 volts) which can be applied to up to six inputs, allowing the use of professional grade condenser and floating plate microphones. I use Chinese made APEX cardioid patterned plate microphones at around 1/10th the price of a German made Neumann U-87 (which sounds utterly dreamy with the right voice!) and for my voice, it’s just fine. I use the SM81 for picking up some of the features of my acoustic guitars but plugging directly into the R24 works just as well.
The Zoom H24 can record 8 tracks at the same time and works really well if you are a band that wants good isolation for fine tuning after a recording session. I found that I could easily eat up 8 tracks with just a couple of guitars or a ukulele and some vocal harmonies. Another great feature is the ability to bounce, swap or transfer tracks around with the press of a button. Example: I have my microphones plugged into inputs 2 and 3. When I get the take that I am happy with, I “bounce” those tracks over to Channels 4 and 5 and carry on (having now left tracks 2 and 3 to record on again.)
The Zoom H24 has velocity sensitive drum pads and built in rhythms – and I never got anywhere near them. There are hundreds of effects for most electric stringed instruments and a wide variety of mastering algorithms for mix-downs that I could literally fill a page commenting on. Bottom line: If you are a singer or guitar player or podcaster who wants to produce broadcast ready materials or demo’s worthy of a listen with the pro’s, this could be the right tool for you.
In the following “sample” I used a single APEX microphone to record one lead vocal, two harmonies, 3 tracks of guitar picking or strumming, an electric bass track and a ukulele – there is at least one jarring rhythmic error in this track but you get the general idea. Singing and playing aside, it is pretty amazing what you can do quickly.
The manual is fairly helpful but you do need some background in the concepts of recording and mixing – and there are a few useful YouTube videos for getting started.
Living with the Instant Pot - Pot in pot steel cut oats · Monday February 12, 2018 by colin newell
We have had our Instant Pot less than 1 week and we are firmly in love with it. Ours is the 1000W 6 quart. We have a 7.5” Steel bowl that we put to use for a “pot in pot” process classic.
What is pot in pot? Well, you add the requisite cup and a half of water to the bottom of the Quick pot stainless steel insert. Drop in the trivet. And then drop in a suitable bowl that fits well. The 7.5” standard stainless steel bowl is perfect. Doing porridge or oats this well takes a few minutes longer BUT it is as tasty (if not more so) and the clean up is a breeze!
Measure out 1 cup steel cut oats.
Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt into the oats
Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the oats
Add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar.
Combine.
Add 2 1/2 cups of cold water into the mix – stir well.
Peel and chop one apple into small cubes.
Add to mixture.
Add this to your 7.5” stainless steel bowl and put on top of the trivet into the Quick Pot – that already has a minimum of 1 cup of water (I add 1.5 cups water for good measure).
There is a porridge setting for the Quick Pot. So, when you are ready – locked and loaded as it were: Press the porridge preset and you are off to the races. Steam time is 7 – 10 minutes and 10 minutes of natural pressure release.
We add pecans, dried apricot bites and dried cranberries to the oats (and some milk, cream or almond milk) but the options are as limitless as your imagination.
Colin Newell is a Victoria resident and coffee expert always on the look out for something simple and delicious.
Living with the INSTANT POT - CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA · Saturday February 10, 2018 by colin newell
My New Years resolution for 2018 was doing more meal planning and preparing meals in our gourmet country kitchen. Now don’t get me wrong. I do my share of sous chef work; chopping, mincing, blending and eating!
Part of this plan was getting onto the pressure cook bandwagon that is currently sweeping the nation. So, off to the online marketplace to get an Instant Pot – and after watching a handful of instructional videos from Florence Lum and her husband of Vancouver, B.C. I was ready to dig in and start steaming!
My favourite foods are South Asian Punjabi spiced cuisine and Italian – so the Instant Pot was the right tool to start the experimentation and learning process.
Chicken tikka masala is good recipe to start with, and one of the most popular Indian dishes ordered at South Asian restaurants in Western Canada. It goes great with basmati rice to help soak up all of the delicious sauce, or with some plain naan bread on the side.
I enjoy Indian dishes that most of us Westerners simply label as “Curry”, which is completely inaccurate and misleading – Curry literally means “gravy” or “sauce” – so calling South Asian cuisine “Curry” does not do this very broad spectrum of cuisine justice.
Anyway – as I said, chicken is really easy to work with and really showcases the fragrant and aromatic spices that make up this dish.
Let’s do it!
Ingredients
For marinating the chicken:
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 cup Buffalo yoghurt (you can use cows or sheep yoghurt)
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
For the sauce:
15 ounces canned tomato sauce or puree
5 cloves garlic minced
4 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 cup heavy whipping cream added last
The process
Rice: I prepared 1 cup of Basmati rice with a 1 cup of water and a few scratches of salt in the Instant Pot in 4 minutes of pressure cooking. Perfect! I set that aside while I moved on to the chicken.
Marinating the chicken: Combine all marinade ingredients (minus the chicken) in a bowl and mix well.
Add chicken chunks and coat with the marinade.
Let sit in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Pressure cooker saute mode:
Select the saute mode on the pressure cooker for medium heat. When it has reached temperature, add chicken chunks (along with any marinade sticking to them) to the pressure cooker. Saute until the chicken is cooked on all sides, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.Turn off the saute mode.
Pressure cooker high pressure mode: Add all of the sauce ingredients except the cream to the pressure cooker, over the chicken, and stir. Secure and seal the lid.
Select the manual mode to cook for 10 minutes at high pressure. Use the quick steam release handle to release pressure.
Pressure cooker saute mode: Select the saute mode on the pressure cooker for low heat. When it has reached temperature, add cream to the pot, stirring with the other ingredients. Simmer until the sauce is thickened to your liking, a few minutes.
Serving: Serve with basmati rice or naan. Garnish with cilantro. It’s crazy delicious and there is enough here to serve 4 folks hungry for some great South Asian eats!
You can check out Florences YouTube channel for more hands-on recipes and inspiration.
Colin Newell is a Victoria resident and coffee drinker who is always looking for better ways of cooking great food faster with less hassle.
Stamping out breast cancer with Erica and Sue. · Saturday January 27, 2018 by colin newell
Join Erica & Sue
– Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators, for an afternoon of stamping in support of breast cancer research.
Make six all occasion greeting cards while learning a few cardmaking techniques.
When – February 25, 1 PM-5 PM
Where – Cedar Hill Recreation Center
How Early registration: $50 / after Jan 31 until Feb 11: $55
Seating is limited so register early
Proceeds to be donated to the Run for the Cure – including 25% of sales (minus material costs)
supplies by Stampin’ Up!
bring an adhesive (tape runner or liquid glue)
materials pre-cut and packaged
You DO NOT have to be crafty to take part. Just come and enjoy the company of friends and have fun.
pick up Stampin’ Up catalogues
view sample projects
hourly prize draws
thank you gift
Contact Event Coordinators Erica or Sue to register. Erica: 250-686-3402; ericaedney@shaw.ca Sue: 250-661-5680; suephilipcda@gmail.com
