Hi, guys, Pj from Roland here,
and today I'm going to be showing
you through the SP-404MKII
firmware v3.0.
This massive update adds a stack
of new features for new performance
workflows, a majorly
boosted DJ Mode, improved
MIDI sync implementation
for jamming with external
instruments, and loads of additional
enhancements.
In v3.0, the sequencer
has now been upgraded to
provide improved stability for
playing back multiple samples.
This is great for jamming with files
from your recording sessions or
bounce straight from your DAW.
In this example, I've bounced out
some eight-bar files from my
DAW.
I've sequenced these files using
TR-REC to play on the first
beat.
Now that they are playing back in
sync, I can finger drum,
drop new samples, and manipulate
my track with effects.
Now with the upgraded
v3.0 MIDI Clock output,
I can confidently sync external
instruments to my session for
expanded performances.
If you go to UTILITY and
SYSTEM and then go to
the MIDI Menu,
you can turn MIDI SYNC OUT
to ON.
This will now send MIDI
Clock and START/STOP to any attached
hardware.
If you need to finesse the sync
timing, you can go to the
UTILITY, then MIDI TAB,
and then set the Sync Delay value
to tighten it up.
Here I have the MC-101 attached
via MIDI and running into my
external input.
If I go to the PATTERN SEQUENCER,
when I start a pattern playing on
the SP, it will also start the
clock on the MC-101.
So now I can drop in new synth
layers on the fly.
On top of adding external
instruments, it is now possible
to mute and automate playing
pads in the PATTERN SEQUENCER.
This is great for using with my
extended multi-track audio files
to create dynamic changes and
arrange my performance on the fly.
To do this, enter the PATTERN
SEQUENCER and choose the pattern you
want to edit.
Then press PATTERN SELECT to
access your bank sample.
Once you're in here, press SHIFT,
REVERSE, and REMAIN to
enter PAD MUTE MODE.
The pads will now turn white.
So
if you press REC now, when
you mute pads it will record the PAD
MUTE automation and play it
back.
If you would like to delete some pad
automation, just press DELETE
and hold a pad.
If we press SHIFT and REVERSE,
we can turn the pad automation off,
and if we press SHIFT
and REMAIN and REVERSE, we can turn
it back on again.
Another really cool feature is now
whilst in Pattern Record, you
can also Motion Record your
effects movements.
This lets me add even more detail
and movement to my pattern.
To do this press PATTERN SELECT
and choose your pattern.
This works in both TR-REC
and REAL TIME mode, but
in this example I'm going to press
REC to enter REAL TIME
recording.
I can now press the MARK button
to start Motion Recording.
Notice that it also records me
turning the effect on or off.
When you have recorded your
movements, you can then press
START/END to turn playback on
or off,
or you can press SHIFT and MARK
to delete your Motion Recording.
You can now easily make a bunch
of variations of a single master
pattern.
If I take the pattern I was just
working with, I can quickly
copy specific samples from this
and paste them into a new
pattern.
So this will make it really easy for
me to make a bunch of different
variations of my main pattern,
like just drums and bass, for
example, or just sample
them both. Then I would be able to
play them back to create a song
structure or even use
a pattern chain to lock in an
arrangement and jam over the top
of it.
To do this, when copying a pattern,
I'll press REMAIN when the pattern
is selected, and
then using the pads, I can choose
which samples I want to include
in the new pattern.
So here I'm just going to choose my
drums and my bass,
and then I'm going to press REMAIN
again and choose a pad to copy
to. Now, when I press ENTER, you
will hear I have a new pattern with
just drums and bass.
You can now convert or "bounce"
your pattern to audio samples.
This helps to convert complex
musical moments like the pattern
I was just playing into easily
manageable samples.
To do this, press PATTERN SELECT,
and I'm going to choose this
pattern.
Then if we press COPY and
we choose the pattern.
Now, if we press PATTERN SELECT,
you can see at the top of the
destination it has changed to
sample.
I'm going to put my new sample here
and then we press COPY again to
bounce the pattern to the pad.
When you're in the COPY SCREEN, and
you've selected your pattern, you
can use the REMAIN button
to choose which samples you want to
include when converting.
This makes it easy to bounce out
the separate parts as stem groups.
So for example, if I choose just
these pads, this
will bounce just the sample and the
bass together.
If I now press REMAIN again,
press PATTERN SELECT to
create a sample and choose
this pad.
Now when I press COPY, here
I will have a new bounce file
with just the sample and the bass.
One-Shot Playback is another new
function that's been added that
allows for other ways to jam
with your longer audio files.
This function means that samples
will play in their entirety
and not re-trigger if the pad is
pressed again or triggered
by the PATTERN SEQUENCER.
To show you how this works, I have a
32-bar evolving melody,
and I will make this a one-shot
trigger.
To make this sample a one-shot
trigger, hold the [VALUE] knob and
press the GATE button.
When it is activated, you will see
the GATE button pulse.
Now, when I press the pad afterwards
it will not re-trigger.
This is very useful because it
allows us to do some interesting
things in the PATTERN SEQUENCER.
So if I press PATTERN SELECT
and create a new one-bar
pattern in TR-REC
mode,
now I can choose my
sample and
I can put it on the first beat.
And now it will trigger and
then not re-trigger until
it reaches the end of the 32-bar
sample when it will re-trigger
and start again.
So now I can add drums and bass
into my sequence.
I can now even add things like
acapellas.
Or I can even add synth
sequences.
So this means you can
create live jams with evolving
patterns while still working
in a one-bar structure.
Another new added benefit, which
helps you get right into your
performance, is setting the effect
loaded to the MFX button
on startup.
To do this press SHIFT
and Pad 13 to enter
the UTILITY menu, then go to
the EFX SETTINGS menu
and use Knob C3 to
scroll all the way to OTHER.
Then
go to MFX Top,
and you can choose the effect you'd
like to be loaded on the startup.
You can now also save your
effects parameters, so when you
start up the unit, the effects will
be at the right value.
For example, this is very useful
to maintain reverb settings for
your patterns.
To do this, put your effects on the
desired settings, then
hold SHIFT and MARK for three
seconds.
You will see a confirmation pop
up on the screen.
In v3.0, we also
see DJ Mode getting a
massive boost.
This adds a load of new features
for taking this performance style
even further.
Cue points can now be added to audio
files and can be used in DJ
Mode. They can be used to start the
audio from a certain position, jump
to different sections of a song, or
other performance tricks.
One way to add these into your files
is to go into the CHOP menu
by pressing SHIFT and START/END.
In here
you can control the cursor using
C1 and then enter
a cue point by pressing MARK.
You can then adjust the cue point
using C2.
Alternatively, you can enter cue
points directly in DJ Mode.
If you hold SHIFT, you can see the
cue points for Track One on the
left-hand side and cue points for
Track Two on the right-hand side.
Here we have the start of the track
and the cue point lines
in CHOP Mode.
To enter a new cue point in
real-time, just press SHIFT and
MARK. If
you would like to delete a cue
point, press SHIFT and DELETE
and the pad.
You can jump directly into the
Waveform Edit Screen from DJ
Mode by pressing SHIFT and START.
And in here you can
adjust your cue points very
accurately.
As mentioned previously,
v3.0 provides enhanced
MIDI Clock output stability.
Much like with my patterns, I can
sync external instruments to my
DJ sets for layering other
ideas and live remixing.
Here you can see I have my AIRA
Compact T-8 attached
and it's going to be playing some
additional percussion.
Pressing PLAY on my track in DJ
Mode will also start the MIDI
Clock on the T-8.
Now, if I increase the BPM on
the SP, the BPM will also
increase on the T-8.
I now also have the option to set
my external instrument to
sync to the BEND + and
- controls.
As you can hear, when I turn the
pitch, the T-8 stays in time
with the song.
You can access this in the UTILITY
menu under the MIDI
tab.
And if the BEND value is too small
or too large, you can
adjust the BEND sensitivity in
the GENERAL tab of the UTILITY
menu.
When you are prepping your songs for
mixing or matching loop
tempos with your patterns, you may
need more precise BPM adjustment,
allowing your audio to sync up
just right. You can now access
BPM settings of up to two
decimal points by going into
the PITCH/SPEED page, then
turn the [VALUE] knob to the right
and set the BPM setting to
MANUAL-F.
This will allow you very fine
adjustment to the BPM.
In the new update, you are now able
to quantize your patterns after
recording. This helps correcting
mistakes or tightening up the
timing. To do this press PATTERN
SELECT.
Then we press PATTERN EDIT.
We can then choose a pattern to
edit.
I have a pattern here with some
hi-hats that were played in
unquantized.
If we then press RECORD SETTING,
we can now use C2 and
C3 to adjust the quantized
grid setting and the quantized
strength. I'm going to put this on
eight and strength
on 100.
Choose the pad you would like to
quantize and then to add the
correction to the pattern press in
the [VALUE] knob.
Now you can hit the hi-hats have
been quantized. Here,
I only quantized one pad, but
you can change several pads at the
same time if needed.
There is now the ability to copy
patterns, samples, or even
full banks to other projects,
making it much easier to clean
up and re-organize projects.
To copy a sample or a pattern,
press COPY.
And as you can see, there is a new
value above the destination.
You can then use the C3 knob to
choose which project you would like
to copy to.
I'm going to copy to Project
Six.
So now I choose my sample, I'm gonna
choose my kick drum here,
and I'm going to choose that to go
to a one in Project
Six. Then I'll just press COPY.
Now, if I go to Project
Six on a
one, we have the kick drum.
You can now also copy entire
banks to new projects here.
I'm going to copy these sounds to
another project.
To copy a bank, press COPY
and EXIT.
Choose your bank to copy.
I'm going to copy Bank A.
Now you can use your C3 knob to
choose where you're going to copy
to. I'm going to copy to Project
Six again.
Then use the [VALUE] knob to move to
the destination and choose the
bank in Project Six you want to
copy to.
I'm going to copy to Bank B,
So now if you press COPY, and
we go to Project
Six Bank B,
my files will have been copied to
this bank.
You can now change all of the
parameters of the PITCH/SPEED menu
or the ENVELOPE menu for an entire
bank simultaneously,
making batch editing a group of
samples much easier.
To do this, enter the menu and then
hold the REMAIN button whilst
changing a parameter.
To change the MIDI Mode layout
settings, go into UTILITY
system and then scroll
down to MIDI.
At the bottom of the menu, you
can change
the MIDI Mode from A
to B.
In the original MIDI Mode, Bank
A would send and receive
MIDI on Channel One, Bank
B will send and receive
MIDI on Channel Two, and
so on. In the new MIDI Mode,
MIDI Mode B, the MIDI layer
will now change so that Banks
A to E will be
on Channel One
and Banks F to J
will be on Channel Two.
This is useful as samples from
several banks can be triggered from
a single MIDI keyboard without
changing the MIDI channel, or the SP
can be used to send MIDI to other
devices like Ableton Drum Rack, for
example.
In addition to MIDI note
functionality, this new mode
also receives program change
messages using these MIDI
channel assignments.
This allows you to move through up
to 80 patterns on both
MIDI channels.
Also, in this MIDI menu,
you can choose whether the SP sends
out notes via MIDI.
This can be useful to not
send unwanted MIDI note data
when connected to external
devices.
It is now possible to set the
release time on gated examples.
To do this, take a gated sample,
go into Envelope mode, and adjust
the release time with C3.
The SP-404 app has
also been updated.
This allows for much faster transfer
of files from your computer
to the SP.
You now also have the ability
to load the SP-404
editor app in your DAW.
This gives you all the functionality
of the standalone editor app inside
your favorite DAW.
So there you go, guys.
Those are the new features in the
SP-404MKII v3.0
update.
Go and grab the update from the
Roland.com website and be
sure to register your SP-404MKII for
all the latest info.
Thanks a lot for listening, and I'll
see you next time.