Capturing and layering multiple vocal or instrumental ideas
When you first launch Songzap, it loads with an almost empty song (featuring some helpful drums to get you going – don’t fret, you can easily turn them off if you prefer recording to a click or nothing at all). Songzap’s really a pocket four-track recorder (or a voice memos on steroids) if you want to use it in its most basic form. So when inspiration strikes, and you just want to capture and layer vocal or instrumental ideas, tap on TRACK in the Home Screen and you’ll be presented with the 4-track TRACKING page. This is where you can record your vocals or instruments just using the (very capable) iPhone/iPad microphone. And, yes, you guessed it, you can also layer multiple parts to start shaping your songs (vocals, guitars, piano, anything you like).
Now most musicians like to record to a rhythmic pulse, to keep everything tight and groovy. So, let’s tap on the Metronome button at the top-right of the TRACKING page to get things started. This opens up the Metronome Settings menu, where you can choose whether you want to record to a click, how loud you want that click and what tempo you want to record to. Tap the Metronome enabled button to make your choice, drag the Click Volume button left (quieter) or right (louder), and drag the BPM (beats-per-minute) slider left (slower) or right (faster) to set up your recording preferences (you can also tap on the + or – buttons to fine-tune your selection). That’s it. You can now close the Metronome Settings menu and you’re ready to record.
Hit the Record Enable button on Track 1 in the TRACKING page and press Play to start recording!
You’ll hear a preset beat playing in time with your click and/or tempo selection. We find this quite helpful, as it inspires rhythmically tight performances. But if you don’t want to record to any drums, simply drag the fifth slider (the one with the drum icon) all the way down and the drums will be muted. Or simply adjust their volume to your liking.
Once you’ve finished recording your first performance, tap the Pause button. Your recording is instantly saved and you’ll see a waveform appear on Track 1 representing the audio captured. Tap on the Go To Start transport button and press Play again to review your performance. Great – you’ve made your first recording!
Let’s now record another instrumental layer on Track 2. Hit the Record Enable button on Track 2 in the TRACKING page and press Play to start recording. You’ll hear your first recording playing back (and the drums, if you didn’t mute them) and you can use the Track 1 volume slider to adjust its volume. Don’t worry if you make any mistakes while recording. You can always tap the Go To Start transport button, hit Record Enable on the intended track and record over your previous take.
Well done – you’ve made your first multitrack recording. You can now repeat the same steps to record more layers and ideas on Tracks 3 and 4. It’s a lot of fun layering multiple tracks, reviewing how they work together and reflecting on your performances – you’re on your way to creating your very own pop symphonies!
If you want to learn more about how to create and customise your drum grooves and/or mix your recordings, go onto the Creating a Groove or Mixing a Song tutorials.
