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Zoom SampleTrak ST-224
If you're familiar with Zoom's digital guitar effects products, you know that they seem to specialize in packing lots of power into a small package. The same is true of the SampleTrak ST-224. At the heart of the unit is a sampler with 24 pad locations for sample playback, but you also get a simple sequencer and a 22-program effects processor.
Sampler
The SampleTrak's eight pads control three banks, each of which contains eight samples. Individual samples have settings for level, tuning, panning, loop points, reverse play, and trigger/gate (whether the whole sample plays when the pad is hit, or if the sample only plays while the pad is pressed). You can loop a sample by holding down the Loop/Mark pad while pressing a sample pad, and samples of different tempos can be synced in loop playback (as long as each sample is four bars long). You can mix audio from the inputs with the samples stored in memory and route it through the SampleTrack's internal effects processor.
The ST-224 records at sampling rates of 32, 16, or 8kHz. The memory can hold 30 seconds stereo or 60 seconds mono at 32kHz, or up to 240 seconds of mono at 8kHz. Sampling itself is fairly simple: Hit Record, set your levels, and choose whether you want manual or auto sampling. In auto sampling mode, the ST-224 begins recording once the audio source reaches the set threshold level and can stop recording after a set interval. After you audition the sample, you can assign it to a pad or erase it and start over.
You can choose to assign a sample to a major scale (no minor or other scales) across the eight pads -- good for playing melodies or bass lines. When this is done, only one sample is recorded -- saving vital memory -- but the ST-224 assigns the sample eight different pitches. This major scale can also be played on an external MIDI keyboard for a less awkward experience, but the sample will still only be assigned to eight notes.
Resampling is where the fun really begins. You can resample any single sample or combination of samples at a new sample rate, with or without effects applied. For my audio example song, I recorded myself saying a phrase at a slow tempo. I then resampled the phrase using the time-stretch effect to lock it to a drum loop. This kept the pitch of my voice the same while introducing a grainy texture to the tone that comes with excessive time-stretching. Finally, I resampled it again with a pitch shifter, keeping the tempo of the vocal the same while raising the pitch. The result -- my voice altered beyond recognition -- was exactly what I wanted.
Effects
My home studio contains two Zoom rack effects units; I'm totally sold on the quality and diversity of their effects for a low price. So I was not surprised that the 22 algorithms inside the ST-224 were both varied and great-sounding. You can edit two parameters on each effect with a knob and an edit wheel. All the standard effects -- reverb, chorus, distortion, etc. -- are passable, and the delay, flanger, phaser, tremolo, auto pan, and filter LFO can all be synced to tempo. But some of my favorites were of the unusual variety: Step Cry is an effect that must be heard to be understood, and Dimension "produces a spatial broadening of the sound," to quote the manual (see audio examples).
Sequencer
An eight-song, 300-bar, 5,000-note sequencer is packed into the ST-224. To begin recording, first set the bar length, time signature (2/4, 3/4, or 4/4), quantize amount (quarter-, eighth-, sixteenth-, or thirtysecond-note, eighth- or sixteenth-note triplet, or no quantization), and swing amount. Then hit the Record and Play buttons and begin playing the pads along with the click, which can be set to count off before recording begins. After the preset number of bars, the sequencer loops back to the beginning of the song -- you can overdub or delete parts until you hit the Stop key. Keep in mind that the sequencer only records pad on/off data, so if you change any sample settings or apply effects after recording a song, the sample will play back with those settings on any song you play. It would have been great if the sequencer could record effects settings as well.
I found the sequencer to be a great aid in recording my own loops using resampling. For example, to get the bass line in my sample song, I originally sampled one synth note off the bundled CD and mapped it to a major scale. I then recorded the bass line as a four-bar song. Because the ST-224 lets you resample songs, I was able to resample the bass line into a pad as a four-bar loop with some BPM-synced phaser, leaving me free to delete the individual synth notes to make room for more samples.
Although the sequencer is a nice bonus, it can also be frustrating to use. For instance, when the quantization was set at sixteenth-note, a few of my drum loops would play a split second off the "one" beat -- which leads to my second gripe: the lack of song editing. I wouldn't expect sophisticated editing features in a unit like this, but it would be nice to be able to set the bar number at which recording begins, so recording wouldn't always begin at bar one. When you're working on a 48-bar song, and you have to delete a note at bar 46, it's a waste of time to wait for the song to play from the beginning in order to delete one note, and then wait for it to come all the way back around in order to input its replacement.
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