Marks

One of my favorite features recording into Zoom recorders is the ability to place a mark in the audio file. You can use these to indicate edit points, sections, reminders, or anything else.

For example, I place a mark when there’s something I know needs to be edited, such as a mess-up, cross-talk in the tracks, or I played the wrong sound clip. I’ll make a double mark (by quickly marking twice) to indicate a section I want removed, or to indicate the end of section I had to let record while I was doing something else. And if a mark is in the middle of silence, that was probably the result of pausing, and the only edit that may be necessary would be to truncate the silence if it’s too long. My producer knows how to handle these marks because we communicated about a code.

Before you rely on these marks, know that they won’t show in all programs. Professional apps like Adobe Audition and such will show the marks when you import the recordings and even maintain the marks when you convert and resave a file. But many other programs, such as Audacity or even Auphonic (at this time) won’t see the marks and also won’t keep them when you convert and resave a file.

To place a mark while recording, click the scroll button in. This isn’t nearly as convenient as on the H4 line of recorders, where pressing the record button on the front would place the marker.

Also, anytime you pause the recording, a mark will be placed at the spot.

A single recording is limited to 99 marks.

You can even place a mark in a file during playback on the H6.

If you want to see a list of your marks, go to Menu > Project Menu > Mark List. This will display the number of the marker and the timecode of its placement.