SP404 mk2 production tips/tricks/problem solving/bugs

I really dig the Tuxedo Kamen album. Super dope! Thanks for posting!

I’m still not sure what the advantage to having the sample stop playing the second time around when Loop is enabled. Trying to figure out what I would use that for.

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It’s not that it stop the second time around, it’s that triggering a looped sample alternatively start and stops it. Like when you press its pad. First press starts, second press stops.

So as I understood, if you sequence a 1 bar looped sample, in a 16 bars sequence, you may let it loop 3 times, trigger it again to stop at bar 4, and relaunch it at bar 6… as an example.

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Ah, that’s great! I suppose as long as you aren’t repeating the pattern, it’s not an issue that it turns itself off when it loops back to bar 1. That opens up some really cool sequencing possibilities! Thanks!

Listening to those beat tapes posted above, my mind was blown. It’s like I’m seeing so many possibilities. This thing is deceptively deep. Like seriously I could see myself getting lost in this thing for years. Definitely my best purchase in a long time!

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imagine you are playing with a 2 bar pattern with a drum break looping,last 16th note you trigger the drumloop again together with a resampled filtered kick, so the looping stops the kick plays. then when the pattern restarts u got a drum break that restarts too. then you have chops from different fills on ur pads, as to when youu feel like you need a change you just trigger the fill the same time with the drum loop on the 8th beat (last snare), so then the fill plays then the filtered kick, then the drum loop restarts with the 1.1.
hope i was clear enough
the seq is pretty nifty as it was for integrating live stuff with ur sequenced samples. also the limited polyphony was fun as you could also use it as a mute if you knew that when u press a pad the first programmed loop would stop playing and then restart with on 1.1
i was really into resampling and then integrating those into the sequencer.
also really using the 99bars method of sequencing as is was like a tracker on a cassette recorder.
it was really cood to put 40 bpm, 99bars and then track all the resampled loops with the loop on, if/when they go kinda out of time i make a change, hit the fill or a chop together with the looping sample, when the fill stops retrigger the loop… easy peasy

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Thanks for all of the info. So much to explore.

Apparently fixed in 1.14

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I just managed to find a used MkII locally on Facebook from a fine man who sold it at €10 below it’s new price, which blew my mind. Goodness is not dead in the world. I’m just making my way through the video manual to better understand fundamental workflow and to see what it can do. I’m really excited I got it just in time for a firmware update. From my stalking of this thread and it’s release, it seems like Roland’s really invested and engaged with the product. Over the summer before the MkII was announced I was close to trying to snag an older SP303, so I couldn’t be more excited this was released.

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Is that a setting now?

Same here, even though I have an SX! Actually had my eye on the 505 as it was going cheaper than the 303 but noticed 505 prices were on the up too.

Nice work (and nice seller) on picking one up used!

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I should have asked, can anyone recommend any feeds for people using the MkII in a way more akin to Animal Collective or outside it’s “normal” usage? I’m hoping to learn to use it in more unusual ways and integrate it with my modular, bass and guitar and hopefully find my way into unusual sounds and patterns. It would be nice to see workflow from folks who approach it in different ways.

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Yes

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Animal collective is also what drew me to use an og 404 back in the day. Avey tare and panda bear switched to using octatracks (and digitakts) for the past few years, but geologist is still rocking a 404. And panda is still using a 303 sometimes, based on some of the stuff he posted on Twitter. I don’t really have a clue how they do what they do, but I remember reading an interview of the recording process for merry weather post pavilion: the producer (Ben Allen) was completely baffled that they all played their samplers completely unsequenced or unsynched via midi. As far as I can tell, they use one rhythmic sample to keep the time, e.g. the shaker loop in the latter half of safer or the shaker loop used throughout brother sport and then they each trigger one shots or loops on top of that (all while singing, these guys are nuts). I wonder if they are also psyched for the 404mkll and will integrate them in their future shows. Their current material relies more on live instruments though.
On a side note, I can’t wait for their new album time skiffs to drop in early February.

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@uNAQ Any other good tapes you recommended? I’ve rocking the hell out of this one.

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yeah sure here u go:
The One True Sensei Himself https://youtu.be/fUtxntrLUo0
Samyinam (probably Sensei is one of his alter egos… probably) https://youtu.be/Jc5yROBIMb8 / https://youtu.be/R4XCt56wOQs
Lord Beatjitsu https://youtu.be/G3DuLc4bWMA /
https://youtu.be/fuFJFF1UPpM
aNTOJE from TEAM CANADUH https://youtu.be/zZP6dXe-mpw
CULP from TEAM CANADUH https://youtu.be/11pBYckhE1I
check out the channels their beats are uploaded and u’ll find other gems too

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SPFORUMS CLASSICS!

I have most of these on my cpu too!

Check out this channel. Bunch of sp stuff similar to what UNAQ posted from the golden era of sp forums.

Also check out dirty tapes and el sereno records on Bandcamp!

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i second that!

every member! those are must haves

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@uNAQ and @Sleepynumb Thanks for those.

I’ve heard a bunch of the Lord Beatjitzu stuff, which I really dig, but a lot of the others are new to me.

I’ll definitely be studying the old techniques for ideas. Maybe experiment a bit in the next beat battle. I don’t want to totally bite anyone’s style, but good to have some more colors on the palette.

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Anyone knows what Roland means by “pop-up” time? There’s a new setting to specify if it’s short, normal or off.

I assumed it was for the effects parameters when switching effects ON but it seemed to not change anything when I tried it.

I haven’t checked, but I think it relates to how long the pop-up messages stay on the display, for example when you toggle end snap recording on or off.

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Ah these pop-ups, could make sense. I’ll check. Thanks!

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