Zoom Gear & Home Recording Forum

Is it possible to loop only a portion of a track? For example, if I have a track that is played across four measures (M1 to M4), is it possible to program the R24 to play M1->M2->M3->M4->M2->M3->M4->M2->M3->M4...? So M1 would be like the intro of a song that is played only once and M2 to M4 would be the verse that is looped throughout the song?

Yes, you can set the starting point and length of a loop.
There's even a graphical presentation of the wav form to do this more precisely (P.51)
However you can only set this once so if you want to use other parts of the track as well like in your example you need to copy the track.
In your case you would need 4 identical tracks each with the loop set to a different part (different starting point and length).

Much thanks for the suggestion. I understand how to loop a track using the R24 loop function. So, based on my example, I have recorded one track that is comprised of just four measures. I can start the loop at M2 and stop it at M4, but I want the track to play M1 FIRST before going into the loop. It sounds like I can't do this on one track and so I need to copy it and use two, right?

If I use two identical tracks, then:
a) how do I set one to just play M1 one time and then stop, and
b) how do I set the other one where the M2->M3->M4 loop to starts AFTER M1 plays? What I find happening is that after I set up this loop, I hit play and both M1 and M2 start are the SAME time.

Sorry if this is a NOOB 101 question. Thanks again for the feedback.

If both M1 and M2 start at the SAME time, you did not program and/or activate (set to on) the track sequencer.
The track sequencer is the tool which lets you program WHEN a loop should start in your song (and how many times).
It's like the name says you need to create a sequence of when tracks should start (P.54 - P.58).
When you've finished programming, the last step is to tell the track sequencer that it actually can control the tracks.
That means setting the track sequencer playback to on from the top screen (fourth softbutton below the display P.59).
If you don't turn on the track sequencer from the top screen, loops will keep on starting together despite programming it.
The track sequencer itself is fairly simple with a grid etc and you can program it real time or step by step.

This is exactly what I needed to know, I appreciate it! Another follow-up question: Is it possible to loop a rhythm pattern indefinitely in the track sequencer without having to set it at each position? I want to loop a certain rhythm pattern I created for the entire length of a song, but the song is long and I can't imagine I would have to manually set all 100+ positions - or do I?

No, it's not possible, a rhythm pattern will not play indefinitely, you have to set them all.
BUT and here's a neat little trick, it's not as bad as it looks.
When you go into step by step mode of the track sequencer and set/program entries for a rhythm pattern, the cursor will automatically jump to the next point according to the length of the pattern.
So if your pattern is 4 measures long and you press enter at the first beat (to input data) the cursor will jump to measure 5 etc. etc.
And because you are in step mode, you don't have to do this in time so you can keep on pushing [ENTER] repeatedly as quick as you can.
With this little trick you will have your song filled with the same pattern in no time.
Just keep on bashing that [ENTER] button

Everything is up and running, really appreciate all of your help Henky. Hopefully others can also benefit from your knowledge in this thread. Cheers!

Everything is up and running, really appreciate all of your help Henky. Hopefully others can also benefit from your knowledge in this thread. Cheers!