Boogie Logo

SP-404MKII

Chapter 14

Recipes

Whole workflows built from the pieces in the other chapters.

Written in our own words from Our own walkthroughs, built from the chapters above. Roland’s manuals

0/7
In this chapter · 7
  1. 14.1Flip a loop into a new beat
  2. 14.2Turn a drum break into a kit
  3. 14.3Build a lo-fi master chain
  4. 14.4Print effects and stack layers by resampling
  5. 14.5Make a bass line from scratch
  6. 14.6Make room for the kick with side chain
  7. 14.7Get ready to play live
14.1Basics

Flip a loop into a new beat

This is the classic 404 workflow: take a few bars of something, cut it into pieces, and play those pieces in a different order. It touches sampling, chopping and patterns, so it’s a good first complete loop through the machine.

Get the loop in

  1. Connect your source to LINE IN (Plug everything in), then press EXT SOURCE so you can hear it. See Plug in a synth, mic or guitar.
  2. Press REC. Empty pads blink red.
  3. Press RECORD SETTING. Set ROUTING to ExtIn with CTRL 2 so you capture only the source, and set LEVEL with CTRL 3. Press EXIT.
  4. Press a blinking pad, then press REC when the part you want comes round.
  5. Press REC again to stop. The sample now lives on that pad.

Chop it

  1. With that pad selected, press SHIFT + START/END to open the marker screen.
  2. Press PAD 1 to play the sample, and tap PAD 2–PAD 16, which blink blue, at each moment you want a cut. Or press VALUE and use AUTO MARK to place the cuts for you.
  3. Press VALUE, choose ASSIGN TO PAD, and press VALUE again.
  4. Press the empty pads you want to use, or turn VALUE to lay the slices out in order from a starting pad and press MARK to confirm that layout. Use CTRL 3 if you want GATE on.
  5. Press VALUE to place the slices. Chop a sample across the pads covers every option on this screen.

Play a new arrangement

  1. Play the slices until you find something you like. Press PATTERN SELECT, then REC, then a pad blinking red.
  2. Press REMAIN until the recording method reads Real-Time. Set BPM with CTRL 1 and LENGTH with CTRL 2. Turn VALUE to choose a QTZ setting if you want your timing tightened.
  3. Press REC and play. Recording loops, so you can add a layer each time round.
  4. Press EXIT twice: once to finish recording, and again to stop playback. The pattern saves itself to the pad.

From the community

3 Sample Chopping Methods on the Roland SP-404 for Quick Easy Chops!

Chris Laps

Three quick ways to chop, shown on piano, drums and vocals, ending in a finished beat.

14.2Intermediate

Turn a drum break into a kit

A sampled break is a drum kit waiting to happen. Slice it on its hits, then program the slices on a step grid to get the original kit’s feel in a brand-new groove.

Slice on the hits

  1. Sample or import the break. See Record a new sample and Bring audio in from an SD card.
  2. Select its pad and press SHIFT + START/END.
  3. Press VALUE and choose AUTO MARK. Turn CTRL 2 to TRANSIENT, which looks for sharp attacks, and pick HARD, MID or SOFT with CTRL 3. Press VALUE and confirm with OK.
  4. Press the pads to audition each cut. Add, move or delete markers where the machine guessed wrong: see Mark where to cut a sample.
  5. Press VALUE, choose ASSIGN TO PAD, and place the slices. Chop a sample across the pads has the details.

Stop hits overlapping

  1. Press SHIFT + PAD 8 to open MUTE GROUP.
  2. Turn VALUE to choose a group, then press the pads that shouldn’t ring together, such as your hi-hat slices.
  3. Press EXIT. Now only the last pad you played in that group sounds.

Program a beat

  1. Press PATTERN SELECT, then REC, then a pad blinking red.
  2. Press REMAIN until the method reads TR-REC. Set BPM with CTRL 1, LENGTH with CTRL 2 and SHUFFLE with CTRL 3, then press REC.
  3. Hold SUB PAD and press a pad to choose the slice to place.
  4. Press pads to light up the steps where it should play. Press a lit pad to remove that step.
  5. Choose the next slice the same way. Turn VALUE to reach later bars.
  6. Press EXIT twice to finish and stop.

From the community

Using the SP404-MK2 to chop DRUM BREAKS - Its almost TOO EASY!

SPVIDZ

A straightforward process for chopping drum breaks with the chop feature.

14.3Intermediate

Build a lo-fi master chain

BUS 1 and BUS 2 are for playing with. BUS 3 and BUS 4 come after them, which makes them the place for a sound you want across the whole track. You save that sound as a favourite, so it stays available in every project.

  1. Press SHIFT + PAD 16 to open the effect settings.
  2. Turn CTRL 3 to reach FAVORITE, and turn VALUE to pick a slot from FAVORITE 1 to FAVORITE 16. This turns BUS 3 and BUS 4 on, using that slot’s settings.
  3. Turn CTRL 3 to BUS 3. Press VALUE, turn it to Cassette Sim, and press it again to confirm.
  4. Turn VALUE to reach the row you want to change, then adjust the values with CTRLS. HISS, AGE and WOW FLUT are good places to start.
  5. Turn CTRL 3 to BUS 4 and do the same with Compressor.
  6. Press EXIT. Your edits save themselves to the favourite you chose.

From the community

  • Contrast works better than coating everything. David Abravanel runs kick and snare through the 303 VinylSim compressor for pressure, and sends some parts through 404 VinylSim for wobble while keeping the hats clean. via CDM

Revealing my SP404-MK2 BUS HOT SAUCE!

SPVIDZ

One producer’s actual effect recipe, explained bus by bus, including what BUS 3 and 4 add.

14.4Basics

Print effects and stack layers by resampling

Resampling is how you get past the limit of two performance buses. Run a sound through an effect, record the result to a new pad, and that sound now carries the effect with it, which leaves the bus free for the next one. Your original stays on its own pad.

  1. Choose your sample’s bus and turn on an effect. See Send each sample to a bus and Turn an effect on from the keys.
  2. Press RESAMPLE.
  3. Press RECORD SETTING, check that ROUTING is Mix with CTRL 2, and press EXIT.
  4. Press an empty pad that’s blinking red to record to.
  5. Press the pad you want to capture, and recording starts along with it. Or press REC to start at the moment you choose, which lets you play several pads and move the effect as it records.
  6. Press REC or the recording pad to stop.
  7. Turn the effect off, move to the new pad, and go again with another effect.

From the community

THIS is why you buy an SP404-MK2 (Resampling walkthrough)

SPVIDZ

A ten-minute walkthrough of the resampling workflow, the reason many people buy a 404 in the first place.

14.5Intermediate

Make a bass line from scratch

You don’t need a bass player or a sample to get low end. The built-in sound generator makes a simple tone, and once it’s on a pad, TR-REC can give each step its own pitch.

Make the sound

  1. Press SHIFT + RECORD SETTING to enter sound generator mode.
  2. Choose a waveform with CTRL 1, such as Saw or Sine 1. Set Freq with CTRL 2 and Level with CTRL 3.
  3. Play the pads to hear it. Turn VALUE to reach settings such as SCALE, NOTE, OCT and ENV.
  4. Press REC, choose the pad to save to, and confirm. Make your own sounds with the sound generator has every setting.

Program the line

  1. Press PATTERN SELECT, then REC, then a pad blinking red.
  2. Press REMAIN until the method reads TR-REC, set BPM and LENGTH, and press REC.
  3. Hold SUB PAD and press your bass pad to select it.
  4. Press PITCH/SPEED to set PITCH MODE to CHROMATIC, so that each step can have its own note.
  5. Set the note, then press the pad for the step. Change the note and repeat for the next one. In this mode, press VALUE to choose a scale, and hold and turn it to choose a note.
  6. Press REMAIN to switch MODE to HOLD STEP for notes that ring across several steps, and set their length with CTRL 1.
  7. Press EXIT twice to finish and stop.

From the community

  • An unofficial trick for a sub layer from any sample: add SBF, set TYPE to SBF5 (cleaner) or SBF6 (a little more saturated), turn INTERVAL and WIDTH up to 100 and raise GAIN towards +10 dB. Set BALANCE to effect only and resample, so you can layer it separately. via pazword on SP-Forums

How to make groovy Basslines on the SP404mk2 | Tips & Tricks

imLowKey

Builds a bass sound in the sound generator, shapes its envelope, writes a simple line, layers it and makes it sit in the mix.

14.6AdvancedSystem 5.50+

Make room for the kick with side chain

A kick and a bass often fight over the same frequencies. Side chain turns the other sounds down whenever the kick plays, so it can cut through. Push the settings further and that ducking becomes a groove of its own. You need a pattern playing to judge this, so start with one you’ve already made.

Split the sounds across buses

  1. Press BUS FX until it’s lit, which selects BUS 1.
  2. Hold REMAIN and press a BANK key to send the whole bank to one destination. While you hold REMAIN, pad colours show each sample’s destination: by default, orange is BUS 1, green is BUS 2 and white is DRY.
  3. Still holding REMAIN, press pads until your kick shows DRY and the sounds you want to duck show BUS 1. Each press flips a pad between the selected bus and DRY.

Set up the compression

  1. Press SHIFT + PAD 16, and turn CTRL 3 to SIDE CHAIN.
  2. Set SOURCE to DRY and TARGET to BUS 1. Move between rows with VALUE, and press it to edit a value. The side chain is on as soon as TARGET isn’t OFF.
  3. With the pattern playing, put RATIO at maximum and RELEASE at minimum, then raise THRESHOLD until you can hear the kick triggering it.
  4. Bring RATIO down to 100, and lengthen RELEASE until the other sounds stop feeling chopped off.
  5. Use GAIN to win back the level that the compression took away. Press EXIT when you’re done.

From the community

Roland SP-404MKII V5.50 Firmware Update

RolandChannel

Five minutes on 5.50’s side chain compression: where the menu is, picking sources and targets, then threshold, ratio, release and gain.

SP-404MKII SIDECHAIN TUTORIAL (Threshold, Ratio & Release Explained!)

Nonjuror

Breaks down source, target, threshold, ratio, release and gain, then applies two contrasting settings to a real beat.

14.7Intermediate

Get ready to play live

The 404 is built to be played, and the difference between a good set and a stressful one is mostly preparation. Do this list before you leave home, then keep the second list in your head on stage.

Before the show

  1. Back up your projects to an SD card. See Back up and restore your data.
  2. Put your own go-to effects on the effect keys with Direct FX. See Put your own effects on the effect keys.
  3. Set the effects how you like them, and hold SHIFT + MARK for at least three seconds to save the main settings on BUS 1 and BUS 2.
  4. Protect your banks so nothing can be overwritten or deleted. See Protect banks and delete samples.
  5. When you’re set up, hold SHIFT + REMAIN for at least three seconds to turn on live mode. This locks DEL, REC, RESAMPLE, COPY and MARK.

On stage

  • Punch an effect in: hold VALUE and press an effect key, and the effect stays on only while you hold it. See Apply an effect only while you hold its key.
  • Drop to the tail: SHIFT + BUS FX cuts the input to the buses so you hear only the reverb or delay. Press it again to come back in. The effects switch off as the sound returns, which makes this a clean way to play a break. See Cut the audio and leave the effect tails.
  • Mute parts: press SHIFT + REVERSE + REMAIN to latch those keys, then tap pads to mute and unmute them one-handed. EXIT cancels the latch. See Mute a pad on the fly.
  • Change patterns: press another pad while a pattern plays, and the new one waits until the current one ends. Hold SUB PAD and press a pad to change straight away. See Play back your patterns.
  • Balance banks: press SHIFT + BANK to adjust a whole bank’s volume. See Balance one bank against another.
  • Emergency stop: press EXIT four times quickly, or press SHIFT + EXIT. See Stop or pause everything.

From the community

How I Build SP404 MK2 Live Sets That Aren't Just Pressing Play

sunwarper

How finished tracks become a live set: choosing what to perform, moving it to the 404, building the performance and finalising the transitions.