I think about the gear I own a lot, and try to figure out the capabilities I have at hand.
To arrange and master on the 404 would go like this, and I am sure there are better ways, but this is how I’ve approached it in the past.
You bring in your one shots to get a rhythm, you adjust pad velocity as you go to get the levels where you need them. Once you get everything sequenced, then you can stem it out to pads by muting all but one pad and resampling the pattern, using “wait to rec”.
Here is where you do some light EQing, and start applying some effects. Reverb on the hats let’s say. Then you resample again, and add all that to a new pattern, keeping the old pattern as a dry mix to start over if you need.
Now you start adding in any parts you like. Synths, more samples, live instruments.
You play along with the pattern, but recording to a pad, not the pattern, keeping it out of the mix. Then you add it to the pattern, resampling it to get EQ or a chorus effect or whatever you want. Take out the dry, add the wet sample.
That’s the intention of the workflow. Resampling everything to a new pad.
Once you make all your parts in different patterns with unique variations, you resample all the patterns chained together to a pad. This is your final arrangement. Then you resample again, keeping all the previous samples intact through their various iterations on separate banks to stay organized.
Then here you add compression for final mix. Resample to a pad for a final bounce down if it sounds good, then export to the SD Card or export to your computer.
Finished track.
