Hi, I'm Adam Marcello.
As a professional drummer, musical
director, and Roland artist, I've
been using the SPD-SX sample
pad for a long time.
In this video, I'm going to explain
what the sample pad is, what
it can do, and ways that you
can use it.
The concept of the sample pad is
that you can place any audio you
want to play back into the unit,
then hit any of the pads on the
surface to play those sounds.
Playing back audio can mean
anything: a whole track,
a song part, an effect, a
click track, or an individual
one-shot sound.
Then there's the consideration of
how you want the audio to play back.
Does it need to start and stop on
demand? Does it need to repeat
every single hit?
Does it need to be dynamic, or
should it play back all at one fixed
volume?
The SPD-SX sample pad can handle
all of this and a lot more,
giving you the tools to better
the production value of your
performances, all within
a rugged and reliable single
unit that's intuitive to use.
Let's take a look at the SPD-SX
and see what it can do.
As a drummer, I'm using the
SPD-SX sample pad with the drum
kit today, but it's important to
note that this isn't only a sample
pad for drummers.
Almost any musician that wants to
play back audio and control it
can use it.
Musicians and especially drummers,
are required more and more to play a
wider palette of sounds, such
as those from recordings that can't
easily be played on a live stage.
For example, a wide variety of
percussion sounds, both acoustic
and electronic, especially
808 and 909 style sounds
or instruments recorded in a studio
that may not be practical
to perform live, such as a string
section.
Modern performances can also require
the running of backing tracks and a
click track to stay in time too.
A combination of tracks, clicks,
and individual sounds can all
be placed inside the SPD-SX
and the internal 16 GB of
memory can store all your sample
audio.
That's up to 25 hours of
stereo or 50 hours of mono
audio.
Even audio for multiple gigs can be
stored in here.
The SPD-SX comes loaded
with 16 preset kits
and a whole host of different loops,
one-shot sounds, and melodic
phrases.
There are 210 samples inside
the SPD-SX.
These kits and sounds are designed
to give inspiration and show you
what the SPD-SX can do.
They're usable, but also all
sounds and kits in the SPD-SX
can be overwritten with your own
samples, and all kit patches
can be re-programed and re-named
with your own audio and settings.
The sample pad is all about
your sounds and samples and making
it your own.
The SPD-SX supports WAV
audio files in 44.1 kHz, 16-bit
format, essentially CD
quality audio playback.
The sounds that you place into the
SPD-SX are played by
the nine built-in rubber pads.
These are velocity sensitive pads,
meaning that when you play the pads
lightly, the sound will play back
more quietly.
And when you play them more heavily,
the sound will play with a louder
volume.
However, any sound in the SPD-SX
can also be set to be played at
a fixed velocity, meaning that no
matter how hard you hit the pad,
the volume of the pad will be fixed
at the level you have set.
LED indicators on the pads make
it obvious to see which pad
you have triggered and also let you
know if a sample or loop is still
playing.
Any sound you place inside the
SPD-SX can be assigned to any
of the nine pads.
There's also external trigger inputs
in the SPD-SX. Two stereo
trigger inputs allow an external
Roland pad, kick pad,
or acoustic drum trigger to be
connected to play sounds inside the
pad.
These two inputs can be split
using a stereo to twin mono
1/4" TRS cable
to allow up to four pads to be
connected. Additionally, a foot
switch can be connected to the
SPD-SX which can be used
to start or stop a WAV,
change the kit number, or even play
a sound depending upon the function
you choose.
Once you have loaded in the sounds
you wish to play, you need to choose
the way that they play back.
You can choose and customize the way
that a sound plays back as you hit a
pad.
There are three main playback types
for any sound: Single,
Phrase, and Loop.
Single is perfect for playing basic
drum hits, claps, and
percussion sounds.
Phrase will play an audio file
once all the way through and it
will stop when it comes to the end.
Loop will play the audio file
from the start to finish and then
seamlessly loop the audio again
repeatedly.
Phrase and Loop are particularly
ideal for audio tracks, whether
short or long.
You can also specify the type of
triggering when you hit each pad.
Choosing SHOT will play the audio
each time you hit it, while
ALT will play or stop the audio
on the pad in sequence each time you
hit it.
Combining the playback template with
triggering type and the velocity
dynamics on or off gives
you full flexibility of how
every sound you place in the SPD-SX
will playback.
I've spoken about putting a sound on
a pad, but it can sometimes be
useful to place two sounds
on a single pad.
This creates a layer of two sounds.
Assigning a sound as a SUB layer
within the pad menu allows you to
select another sample that you
can layer with your original sample,
effectively giving MAIN and SUB
sounds on the same pad.
The SPD-SX also gives you
the ability to have separate volume
control over both sounds to
ensure the correct blend
is created when choosing to layer
two sounds together.
Separate to this, there are
occasions when linking two separate
pads together can be very useful.
For example, if you have an audio
backing track and an audio click
track that need to start together in
sync, by using pad link,
you can hit a single pad and start
two pads at the same time.
Combining the pad link with the ALT
trigger type we showed earlier
enables you to be able to stop
and start the loop by simply
hitting the same pad again.
So now we know that we can put any
audio in the SPD-SX
and that every audio file or track
can be individually set to play
back and controlled in different
ways.
But you may not want all audio
that you play from the SPD-SX to
be heard by your audience.
Using that same example of
the backing track and click track,
you would only want
the audience to hear the main audio.
You definitely don't want them to
hear the click track.
However, as the performer, you
certainly do need to hear it.
The SPD-SX has a host
of different outputs and it's
possible to send audio from each pad
through these different outputs.
First, we have the main output: two
1/4" TRS outputs
assigned left and right, with the
left being designated for mono
audio, can be connected to the
mixing desk so that your audio
will come through the PA.
A stereo pair of sub outputs,
also designated left and right,
again left being good
for mono audio signals,
allows audio to be sent to a sub
mixer for monitoring and fold
back.
Last of all, there's a stereo
headphone output for monitoring.
Each pad has the ability to route
audio through the main outputs and
headphones, sub output
and headphones, or headphones
only.
Using our backing track example,
your track assigned to one of the
pads may need to go through the main
outputs and headphones while
the audio click track on
a separate pad can be routed
through the sub outputs and
headphones.
Your audience then only hears
the backing track, while you as the
performer have the backing track
and the click track through the sub
outputs and headphones.
A good hack that many SPD-SX
users have worked out is that
with the use of panning audio left
and right within the module, it
is possible to use the main and sub
outputs as four mono individual
outputs.
We already know that the SPD-SX
is about performing with your sounds
and samples.
But how do we get the sounds
into the sample pad?
There's a couple of ways to do this.
The first is via the Wave Manager
software.
This can be downloaded from the
SPD-SX page on roland.com
and is available in PC and
Mac versions.
When you connect the SPD-SX
to your computer via a USB
cable, the software and the pad
communicate, allowing you to drag
and drop samples from your computer
to the SPD-SX, creating
kits and naming as you go.
You can also save backups from your
kits via the application.
Incidentally, the same USB
connection with the computer allows
you to send stereo, audio, and
MIDI to the computer for recording
with a DAW.
The second way to get audio into
the SPD-SX is via USB
flash memory.
Just save your audio files to the
USB and import them via the Utility
menu.
We've talked about importing your
existing samples, but what if you
need to quickly record a sample to
perform with or re-sample
audio?
The SPD-SX has a Line and
Mic input allowing you to record
directly to one pad or
to multiple pads.
You can even re-record an existing
sound with an added effect to it
or play a performance and record
it to play back.
As well as being a storage and
playback device for your own
samples, the SPD-SX
gives you creative options
that you can employ quickly to
bolster your performances.
Once you've got your audio into the
SPD-SX and created and named
all your kits, you need to know
how to call upon a particular kit
for a certain song in the setlist.
The kit chain function allows you to
specify the order that kits will go
through as you change up or down.
You can create up to eight
different setlists, so you can
have variations for different
performances or even a few setlists
for different bands or gigs.
And you use up to 20 kits
with each of the eight setlists.
Using pad or foot switch control,
you can also assign
pads of the SPD-SX
or external pads and foot switch to
scroll up and down through the kits.
When you're out on the road, you
might quickly need to edit samples.
For example, adjusting the volume
of a sample, adjusting its pitch,
adjusting the start or finish point
of the sample, or deleting unwanted
parts of the sound.
The SPD-SX has an onboard
WAV editing function
that allows you to adjust the sample
inside the pad without needing
to revert back to your DAW
and adjust and re-export samples.
Adding effects to your samples and
controlling the effects in real time
gives you more performance options
and can add a real live element to
your show.
The SPD-SX has two effects
engines that can be employed
simultaneously.
You can use a master effect, of
which there are 21 different types
to perform with, and three common
effects presets on the control panel
for filters, delays, and short
loops that will apply to any
audio playing from the pad at that
time. But you can also assign
effects to individual kits in the
SPD-SX so that you can
choose the effect type and turn
it on and off within your
performance when using a particular
kit in a certain song.
The final thing to talk about here
is the MIDI connectivity.
Of course, the sample pad is all
about storing, controlling, and
playing back your samples from a
single device.
But there can be a need to control
software instruments, control
other gear on stage, or to connect
to live control and automation
software such as Ableton.
The SPD-SX includes general
MIDI in and out connections for this
and can also be connected with MIDI
over USB cable as well.
We've covered a lot of ground here,
and we're really just giving you an
overview of what's possible with the
SPD-SX.
No doubt, you'll have come across a
drummer or fellow musician somewhere
that's already using one on stage.
So why not talk to them about how
they're using the SPD-SX and
take inspiration from them to learn
about using it within your own
performances.
Also available is the SPD-SX
PRO, the flagship model
sample pad, which takes everything
we've shown you here with the SPD-SX
and adds further features to get
even more creative with live stage
performances.
To watch the video, check
the link in the description.
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