Roland SP-404 Mk2

I somehow missed it because of all the other silk screening and button combos, but did y’all notice you get into dj mode by holding “D” and “J”? :joy:

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Ha, I didn’t put that together in my tiny mind either.

Has anyone actually used D and J mode? :wink:

This works! Workflow hack of the year, in my book, you have my vote! Thank you. :slight_smile:

EDIT: Why is this exciting? Because it allows the user to record layers of a section/loop onto individual pads (eg. chord progression on one pad, bass line on the next pad, melody on the next pad, drums on the next pad etc) all while playing them in in time with one another:

e.g. I record drums to the click. Then mute the recorded drum loop to send it to cue out so I can still hear it but Skip Back doesn’t pick it up anymore. Now I can play a bassline in chromatic mode while listening to the beat…hit “Mark”, save the loop to a new pad and boom, now I have my drums and my bassline on separate pads, perfectly in time and mutable independently from one another. nice.

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I feel like the limitations are exactly what have led to SP- music having the sound and vibe that it does. Some amazing artists have produced their rawest works on there. A lot of them go to daws later on but it doesn’t always have the same vibe.

It’s always more human music than electronic music. Wasn’t sure if these limitations would be included in the mk2 but glad to hear that they are. I think it’s a strength

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Hey there. Happy to see more units are trickling out to those in need.
I have played around a little more with zero progress in skills but have learned a few more things and the fun factor is intact.
The fun factor is btw a wastly underrated aspect of any gear and easily lost among features and specs.
So is there a battle on the horizon?

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Still a week to go on the battle @Dubcat if you fancy joining in.

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Great to hear it works! I haven’t tried it out yet. I need to break out the manual to figure out setting up the headphone cue. This is definitely something I had really been wanting, so, as you say, it’s huge.

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so here is described the first mkii hack

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I’m glad I could be of help! I think I described this workflow in this thread somewhere after the latest update dropped, because previously it was only possible to cue out one sample at a time without the ability to do anything else simultaneously.

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I think I will join the next beat battle. My focus at the moment is pretty much just trying to get a handle on the sp workflow. I’ve been listening to some of the beats on the most recent battle and as always, it is a crazy amount of quality stuff.

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As I mentioned a few posts above, it is also possible to do this in pattern mode. Just run the pattern and have input routing set to “ExtIn”. That way you play along to the pattern but it doesn’t get recorded in skip back. A bit different workflow, but is essentially another way to skin a cat (not sure what psycho came up with that phrase but it fits). As I think @DimensionsTomorrow mentioned, the sp invites to use a mish-mash of different workflows to achieve whatever result you’re after. I haven’t settled on what works best for me yet but I do like the basic workflow of getting a main pattern going than using skip back to add peices as needed.

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It’s not the same thing in this case. The “hack” is to separate the pads you want to resample from pads you do not want to resample (but still have them audible as a guide) by using the cue function to exclude them from the main mix that is captured by skip back. The external inputs are not being used in this case, it’s only about choosing what pad you want to resample internally.

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I hear you. Believe me, I will use the technique you shared and it will be the only solution in certain cases. I meant that they are similar only in that both are ways to isolate audio for skip back sampling.

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Anyone still looking for a MK2 try Sam Ash . They just called me & confirmed mine also they said a new shipment just arrived !!

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And gone they are…out of stock

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Another idea to increase the production value of the SP404mk2:

I’m into having the option of playing my own chord progressions for a beat, so what I’m currently experimenting with is sampling an instrument (eg pure piano iOS app) note by note onto a bank (16 notes in total which diatonically gives me a max of 2 octaves per bank).

What is more, I’m experimenting with applying the Push layout for easy chord playing with the same patterns I used to use on the Push - for those who don’t know that layout, it looks as follows (numbers = scale degree, order matches the pad layout):

10 11 12 13
7 8 9 10
4 5 6 7
1 2 3 4

This particular layout makes playing triads, inversions, 6th chords and 7th chords super easy.

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Damn these things move quick !

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Version 0.14 of the guide is up at https://neartao.wordpress.com/2022/02/02/roland-sp-404-mk2-guide-v0-14/

Spent some time on the Sample Edit section, and tried to think about how to discuss some workflows without getting into it too deeply. Interested in any feedback on things people would like to see more or less of.

I’m trying to strike the right balance between opinions, thoughts on how to do things, and just stuff that feels like issues with Sample Edit. Maybe I am being too picky, or maybe these things could just work better.

Still happy with the mk2 though, and will continue writing things up. I’ve just started a new job, so trying to balance transitioning my old work, picking up new work, family, and working on music, has caused me to slow down a bit on the guide for a little bit. I promise I am still keeping at it though!

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I mentioned this in the Sample Edit section… but damn when you are in Chop -> Assign to Pad, Sub Pad should play the currently selected mark… because I shouldn’t need a note pad to write down what chop I want to go to which pad, or which chops I want to keep and which chops I want to get rid of…