worst goddamn manual ive come across. any tips/tricks/decent reference literature welcome! lol
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Go to the Sp404mk2 thread, start at the first post, make some tea, and get reading. (Almost) all of your questions will be answered.
Have fun!
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Roland manuals are generally awful, and the 404mk2 is no exception.
Roland does have a longer video tutorial on youtube that was released around the time of the mk2 that is pretty helpful though. Although, there’s been quite a few updates since then, so it all may not be exactly on point anymore, but it should still be a good starting point and give you basics.
Edit, here’s the link:
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Truth. Along with Korg. Terrible.
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It’s a technical reference, not a tutorial about how to make music with the SP404MKII, there is nothing wrong what Roland wrote.
Some tutorial in pdf was posted multiple times in the original SP404MKII thread, and many links were shared there.
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Just a bit of advice about the SP404.
The 404 is a sampler with a resampling workflow. That’s its root. It’s soul and fundamental structure.
All the extra stuff evolved around that. So to use the extras, they engineered it around the basic core, which is very much button per function.
The effects, the pattern, TR REC, DJ mode.
All great, but just bonus to main function.
And give it a couple weeks, the shift button combos are great, but not important. Just focus on chopping samples.
Then, pick a function or menu, and then just learn that. It’s finite in what it does, and it shares the same buttons, so it will be familiar.
Instead of memorizing all the combos, wait until a function comes up a bunch in a project you’re doing. Check the manual to see if it has a shortcut and remember them as they come up organically in your workflow.
Lastly, the 404 thread is great. It’s an invaluable resource. But there are people who fret that it’s not THE PERFECT MACHINE.
Yes it can run a dawless setup via cc. Yes you can use it as a looper in a live set. But it takes a workaround, and could be easily done better with the actual right gear.
But there are also great people who will guide you. While you read, look for the greats. Any question answered by @jemmons is good money, so watch out especially when he’s explaining something.
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@NearTao is your best address - be that his generous guide (I believe available for free) or his youtube channel, which was shared about but I’ll share it again to make it explicit:
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Yes!
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I posted a pdf/docx with all the commands sorted by category. Search my name on the main 404mkii thread. It’s about a month old.
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Agreed and it’s the easiest functions to use out of the box! Everything else is gravy!
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The problem with the MK2 is they’ve extended it significantly since launch, to the point where it really requires a whole new manual to be written from the ground up (and a new faceplate, ideally). The manual is generally OK for looking things up and reminding yourself how to do X and Y, but it’s not a great tutorial resource. As noted above, NearTao’s videos are a great way to learn what’s in the the various nooks and crannies, combined with practice and the building of muscle memory (and callouses).
You may be tempted to create a cheat sheet to help you, but this is a shortcut to psychiatric trauma. Imagine how the poor souls who maintain the manual feel.
