Hi, guys. PJ from Roland here,
and today I'm going to be taking you
through the new SP-404MKII
to firmware 2.0.
There are some really cool features
in this update so let's jump
straight in.
So here we are in the standard
Playback mode and if we choose a
sound and then go
into the Chromatic mode
by pressing Shift and Pad 4
we
can then play the sound
chromatically over the pads.
You'll notice how each time we play
the sample it will cut the other
sample off,
but if we press.
the Remain button now, we can choose
from Legato mode
or from Poly mode.
In Legato mode, when you press a
second pad, the sample will continue
to play, but it will change in pitch
to the pitch of the new pad you have
pressed.
If we press Remain again, we can go
into Poly mode.
In Poly mode, you can play multiple
pads at the same time with a maximum
polyphony of 32 voices.
This gives you a lot of creative
flexibility in creating chords
with your samples.
You can also change the scale
by pushing in the Value knob.
This will mean that the pads will
only. play the notes in that scale,
so this is very useful
for staying in key.
One of the biggest new features of
this update is the pattern sequencer
now has a
TR-REC step sequencer.
This now exists alongside
the REAL TIME pattern recording
and lets you enter sounds into your
patterns by selecting individual
steps on the sequencer.
Both modes can be used to edit
patterns, so you can choose which
mode you want to use depending on
the tools that you need at that
time.
To use the TR-REC sequencer, first
enter the Pattern Select screen.
Then
press Record to record
a new pattern.
Choose an empty pad to record
to and then look at the
Recording Settings screen.
Here we can change the BPM
using Control knob 1.
We can change the length of the
pattern by using Control knob 2.
This note goes up to a massive
64 bars.
But for this demo, I'm going to keep
it on one bar.
But if you're working with more than
one bar, turn the Value knob to move
between your bars.
You can also change the shuffle
amount by using Control
knob 3.
If you hold down the Shift button,
you will get a secondary menu where
you can change the time signature,
which has now some really cool
timings like 7/4.
And you can use Control knob 3
to change the metronome volume.
At the bottom of the display.
You will notice it says Real
Time.
If we press the Remain button, it
will change the mode to
TR-REC mode.
Press Record again and we're ready
to record our pattern.
We are now in the TR-REC
step editor as you can see by
the indicator light flashing across
all pad steps.
To choose a sound, press the Sub
Pad.
This will then open up our sound
banks and we can choose a sound.
Choose a sound and then
let go of the Sub Pad to enter the
steps into our 16-step
sequence.
We can also change the velocity
of our hit using C3 and
enter these into the pattern.
Let's press the Sub Pad now.
Choose an open
hat and add some hats into
our pattern.
Let's do the same for the claps.
I'm also going to add some extra
percussion now. As
you may have noticed, there's a menu
item called Substep.
We can control this by using Control
knob 1.
And as you can see there is a lot
of different Substep variations.
These Substeps range from double
and triple hits to sample
offsets and more.
Using these settings, we can now
add rhythmic variations into
our patterns on certain hits.
So I'm going to change the Substep
to a slightly
offbeat timing and add a
hit on step 12.
And then I'm going to change it to
default timing and add a hit on
step 15.
Another really cool feature is
you can now Motion Record certain
values into the TR-REC
mode.
I'm going to press in my Sub Pad
again. I'm going to choose
my hi-hat here
and then I'm going to add it on
every step of my sequence.
Now, if I hold down Roll and I turn
the C3 knob, this will motion
record my volume across my
hi-hat hits.
You can also motion record for
substeps and for pitch as
well. So let me record a pitch
variation in as well.
I'm going to press the Sub Pad to
choose a new sample now
and this time I'm going to go for a
melodic sample: a bass.
With the new update, it is now also
possible to change the pitch of
samples for each step
by using the C2 knob.
You can also change the scale you're
using by pushing in the Value knob
and change the root key by pushing
in the value and turning.
So I'm going enter hits on one
and seven and then I'm going to
change the pitch to +5 and
enter another hit on pad 15.
As you can hear, the two samples are
being played at different pitches.
I'm going to go back in now and
choose another sample: this
pad sample.
I'm going to enter a hit on Pad 1.
At the moment, the sample is only
playing for the duration of Pad 1
and then stopping.
Therefore, we can't even hear it
because of the attack time.
We want this pad to play for the
entire sequence, so if we press
the Remain button, you can see the
Substep changes to Hold Step.
If I change this value now to
16 and
I take my pad off when I put it back
on, it means the pad will play from
Pad 1 and hold all the way
to Pad 16.
Now when I enter the hit back into
the pattern, you hear it plays for
the full 16 measures.
Now, if we press Exit and we go back
in through our Pattern Select menu,
you can hear the pattern is still
playing.
If we press the Record button now,
we will jump into the Real Time
recording mode and we can edit the
same pattern further.
Another really cool feature that has
been added in the new update is
the ability to record chromatically
into patterns.
If I press Record again,
we can enter Rehearsal mode and
we can choose a sample.
I've selected this chord here.
Then if we press Shift and Pad
4, we can enter Chromatic
mode.
Now we can play the sample over the
pads melodically.
When we are ready to record, we can
press Record again and enter
the notes into our pattern.
In the new update, the undo steps
have now been increased from 8 to
16, so now that is twice
the amount of Undo.
So if you add something by accident,
it's very easy to remove by
pressing Shift and Pattern Select.
In the Pitch/Speed menu, there are
now new time-stretching algorithms.
These have been based off our
legendary VariPhrase algorithm.
So you can now stretch a sample's
pitch and time with
superior sound quality and less
audio degradation.
To select a different algorithm,
press Shift and then turn the Value
knob.
The first option is Backing.
This is suitable for instruments
with a clear attack such as drums.
The next option is Ensemble.
This is good for sustain-type
instruments such as bass
or pads.
It is now possible to change the
values of multiple sounds at the
same time.
To do this, add all of the sounds
you want to change to a mute group
by pressing Shift and Pad 8.
When you enter the Pitch/Speed menu,
if you hold the Copy button, you'll
mute group will flash.
Now, if you change any of the
control knobs, those settings will
be changed across all the sounds in
your mute group.
You can also use this technique to
change the volume, the BPM
value, BPM Sync,
Gate, Loop, or Reverse
of multiple sounds at one time.
There are four new awesome MFX
in this update.
You can get to them quickly by
pressing MFX and Isolator
and then pressing one of the pads.
First, we have SX Reverb.
Next, we have a SX
Delay.
Then we have Cloud Delay.
And then we have my favorite:
Backspin.
There is now also the option to
change the Reverse style to the
version from the SP-303.
You can change this option in
Utilities, System, and then General, and scroll
down to
Reverse Type.
With the 303 Reverse mode on,
the Reverse button will trigger an
immediate reverse continuing
from the current playback point.
There has now been a new Harmony
effect added to the input effects.
This means you can add this to your
signal whilst recording.
To access this, go to the Input
Settings screens by pressing Shift
and External Source, then
push in the Value knob.
You can then choose the Harmony
effect from the menu.
With this effect, you can change the
pitch and formant of your voice,
as well as adding extra voices at
pitched values in the key of your
choice.
This is great for people who want to
add thickness and depth to their
vocals or recordings.
Now, when editing samples using
the Start/End screen, you
can snap to the zero crossing points
of the wave by pressing the Resample
button. This helps
you to eliminate pops and
clicks when trimming your samples.
You can now recall a massive
40 seconds of Skipback
audio. To allow this change
go to the Utility menu by
pressing Shift and Pad 13.
Then choose System, General,
and then change SBS time
to Long.
On previous firmware to stop all
sounds playing on the SP, you would
press the Exit button four times.
This function can now also be
accessed by using the quick command
of Shift and Exit.
There has been an awesome update
to the DJ mode on this new firmware.
That means you can now DJ using
your patterns.
So let's start by going into DJ mode
by pressing Bank D and J
together.
I'm then going to load a WAV track
into Channel 1 by pressing
the Value knob and do Channel
1 select.
I'm gonna choose my drum loop here.
So let's start that playing.
Then if we press Pattern Select
and choose the pattern that we would
like to mix, then
when you press Pattern Select again,
that pattern will be loaded for
you to play.
You can then use the parts to
control the pattern, just like you
would if it was an audio track.
If you would like to go back to your
WAV tracks, just press Pattern
Edit.
Another awesome new feature
of DJ mode is if you press the
Start/End button, you
can now use the C3 knob as
a cross-fader to mix out your tracks
perfectly.
Another new feature that's been
added to DJ mode is the Quick
Loop function. To
activate the Quick Loop, hold down
the Roll button and press Pad
13 for Channel 1 or Pad 15
for Channel 2. Now,
if we press Roll again, we can
change the speed of our loop by
pressing Pads 1-4.
You can see the loop has been
activated in the screen here.
Now, if I press and hold Roll again,
I can change the speed of our loop
by pressing Pads 1-4. For
any additional information, as
always, please visit the SP-404MKII
page on the Roland.com
website.
Thanks a lot for listening and I
hope you enjoyed the update.