"When it’s time to concentrate on your performance or quickly record when inspiration strikes, you’ll appreciate the intuitive design of this device."

By John Kay

When I first read the numerous features offered by the PSD340 I immediately earmarked “Tempo” and “Key” change and also “A-B Loop” as those that interested me most. However before I experimented with these options I closely examined the unit. I was impressed with its quality construction, compact design and well-placed controls. The LED display is easy to read (particularly important for me, because I have poor vision) and the front and rear in and outputs and various level controls are well organized and marked. When it’s time to concentrate on your performance or quickly record when inspiration strikes, you’ll appreciate the intuitive design of this device.

Next I connected the outputs to external speakers, placed a disk in the CD player and played around with some of the controls, including the internal metronome and tuner. Everything operated easily without having to reach for the manual. However over the years I’ve learned I can save time by not using the “What does this button do?” approach while getting familiar with a new device and so I got a cup of coffee and read the entire manual front to back. It is well written - did not leave me scratching my head at times as to the meaning of certain terms and instructions – and contains a number of tips and recommendations that I found helpful once I really started to test drive this CD recorder. 

My first mini project was to try out the three features I first mentioned. I placed a CD-RW in the recording drive and, using the rear Aux ins, transferred “Roll and Tumble Blues”, an LP track by Hambone Willie Newman recorded in 1929. This blues standby, later covered by Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and numerous others, is played by Hambone’s slide guitar at considerable speed and I’ve been curious about some of the intricacies of his licks. Once finished (but not finalized) I moved the recorded disk to the upper player and using the “Key -Tempo” and “A-B Loop” controls I managed to: slow down the tempo, then “fine tune” pitch so that it matched my guitar’s tuning and finally, create a loop of a particular section I wished to hear repeatedly in order to learn and play along with the licks I was trying to decipher. I was surprised by how quick and easy the whole process was. I could have continued by recording the slowed down loop along with my guitar playing, onto another disk in order to evaluate the accuracy of my playing but decided to move on.

Using the internal mic, I recorded my acoustic guitar and vocal using the “Minute Track” mode, which creates a new track number for every minute of a recording, thereby enabling you to find sections of your performance by track number. I found this feature particularly useful. The resulting recording had a little too much room sound for my taste and so I connected a dynamic mic, adjusted the record level and tried again. The new recording had a drier sound and “up close” presence and suited me just fine.

Later I played around with several other features. I erased tracks on the CD-RW, tried “Voice Reduction” on CDs, and checked the “Reverb/Delay” and “EQ” as well as “Sync” record settings. All performed as advertised so to speak and I’m confident that the unit’s long list of additional functions, which I’ve yet to explore, perform equally well.

"My old song writing Boom Box / Cassette Deck has been replaced by the PSD340. It does a whole lot more, does it better and easily and sounds great."

This is an unusually flexible device, with so many potential uses and options, that one could say it’s only limited by the user’s imagination as to how to best press all of them into service. I encourage anyone curious about this unit to familiarize themselves with everything it has to offer. 

Whether musician, singer, songwriter, music student or teacher, I’m convinced this recorder can make your work process easier and more enjoyable. For all the reasons stated above, my old song writing Boom Box / Cassette Deck has been replaced by the PSD340. It does a whole lot more, does it better and easily and sounds great.         

In the chaotic world of rock 'n' roll, in which the lifespan of most bands can be measured in terms of a few years or a few months, John Kay and Steppenwolf have emerged as one of rock's most enduring and respected bands, delivering hard-hitting, personally-charged music for more than three decades. In the late 1960s, Steppenwolf embodied that era's social, political and philosophical restlessness, building an impressive body of edgy, uncompromising rock 'n' roll that retains its emotional resonance more than three decades after the band's formation. Such Steppenwolf standards as "Born to Be Wild," "Magic Carpet Ride," "Rock Me" and "Monster" stand amongst Rock's most indelible anthems. At last count, the band's worldwide record sales exceed 25 million units. Its songs remain fixtures on classic-rock radio, and have been licensed for use in approximately 50 motion pictures and an even greater number of television programs. Steppenwolf's remarkable resilience is largely a reflection of the fierce determination and never-say-die tenacity that's driven Kay for much of his life. Steppenwolf's aggressive image co-existed with a thoughtful lyrical stance that challenged mainstream values and counterculture platitudes alike. "That idea of speaking your mind in the lyrics is something I had picked up in the folk-music community, and from growing up in post-World War II Germany," Kay states. The band continues to generate vital new music, with a number of recording projects in the works, including the recent John Kay solo effort, Heretics and Privateers. Steppenwolf's dramatic and sometimes turbulent history recently became the subject of an episode of VH-1's documentary series Behind the Music. That much-talked-about broadcast underlined the band's ongoing stature and influence, but John Kay, now in his fourth decade with Steppenwolf, remains focused firmly on the future.

Visit www.steppenwolf.com