How I set up my SP404sx for live sets + tips & tricks

[@spvidz]

Sorry for the pause that is now in this video at around 7:00 unfortunately the artist made a copyright claim. I will look into re-doing this video soon using only my own beats for demo purposes.

[@soulcraft814]

Some artists are stupid and need to get out their feelings. That could've been free advertising for them.

[@carterpenny2536]

How do you get stickers on your SP?

[@蛸壷蛸壷]

Why didn't you just tag the artist in the first place? Not trying to be rude, just asking honestly. You tag a whole lot of merch, Amazon, whatever. Why not give a shout out to the person who made the music?

[@spvidz]

It doesn’t work like that on KZbin. It’s an algorithm that detects their music and they will just automatically tell youtube to file a copyright claim. Tagging it would make no difference. (I’m not even sure you can tag songs) It’s fair enough imo it’s not my song - I’m happy to redo the video in the future

[@蛸壷蛸壷]

@@spvidz I understand. Thank you for an honest answer. I love your videos and your channel, was just wondering honestly. Peace.

[@ChristopherHowardRgnD]

I hold remain, then turn on the effect. That turns the fx on all pads... so you don’t have to worry about accidents. And it helps with doing fx transitions.

[@spvidz]

Good shout man yeah!

[@tadarohn3305]

thanks for that one amigo !

[@SandcastleTheory]

@@spvidz You can also hold the remain button to set the position of the knobs *before you turn on the next effect. Normally, of course, the knobs apply to either the current effect or the last one used; but by holding the remain button you can, for example, set up the knobs for a filter sweep, ahead of time, even if the last effect you used was actually the delay or whatever. I see a lot of people tapping the FX on and off really quickly, just so they can set the knobs to where they want them, before turning the effect back on again; but they could be using the remain button instead. Cheers!

[@larsyvegas8140]

Is there a video on this method?

[@thisismaplesyrup]

Omg, you have my beat on your pad 5! That was surprising haha Great videos man, watching every new one, thanks for the knowledge you’re sharing.

[@spvidz]

No way man thats sick haha!

[@dudemanxx]

From 8:24... hitting remain + the pad you want to apply FX to will ADD that pad to the group of pads that'll be affected. Double tapping it will "solo" the pad so it's the only one receiving the FX. Either would seem to work in your case, as the other pads wouldn't be playing in this workflow.

[@spvidz]

Cheers for the info man!

[@Babeli]

Very informative. The best tip you gave me during this video is the part where you say that you just need to basically set each beat as a loop and then you can decide when to end the beat in the set. I was thinking to use reverb and delay or even the DJ FX looper to fade out a beat and then playing the next beat (pad) during the set.

[@spvidz]

the looping really helps to give you more brain space on stage yeah!

[@Hitnrun69ify]

Man, I would have to say your way of explaining this box is much better then most of this videos on KZbin. I appreciate you taking the time on putting this together for us on here in this Roland 404 community. I just picked one up my self and it does look overwhelming for me. But hopefully with your help I be able to to grasp the concept of it. Thank again for sharing your knowledge.

[@spvidz]

Thanks a lot man really glad to hear that! Yeah at first it can look a bit daunting but everything starts to make sense pretty quickly!

[@lyuboslaviliev445]

this has been very helpful. figuring out the sp404 on your own can be so confusing. thank you for this video and the great tips

[@spvidz]

🙌🙌🙌

[@slimyzombie]

Hell yeah man ! really great information here... nice work with the consistency !! ... long live the SP404SX!!!!

[@spvidz]

Cheers man, appreciate it :)

[@bbailey0625]

u can create a seamless loop on the sp via loop button and resample method. no need for external software in case anyone was wondering

[@spvidz]

Definitely but I do think its a lot easier in a DAW. I've heard a lot of people record their sample chops into a DAW to get it looping perfectly then bounce it back into the SP. Keep forgetting to try it out :)

[@bbailey0625]

@@spvidz most definetely. I think people shy away from the loop button on the sp because it takes a bit of fiddling to get it perfect until u get super fast and master the mark button. once you master how to time the mark button, the sp gets alot more fun. I enjoy the maticuluousness of creating the music stricly on the SP. Not hating on others who dont, dopness is all that matters but I am more fasinated when i figure out a producer strictly created beats on the SP

[@spvidz]

@@bbailey0625 Yeah same man I always make my beats as much on the SP as I can, the only thing I use Ableton for is a little bit of EQ and to boost the overall output but apart from that I do everything else on the SP. One thing I do find a bit frustrating is when you get a perfect loop going then realise you want to add another MFX over the top and you have to resample and re-do the loop markers. Can become a bit time consuming some times

[@tonycarrera69]

Thanks for the tip about the effects ! i wondered and was puzzled at some point! cheers

[@spvidz]

No worries! Glad I could help

[@colinpeet2389]

Yoooo thank you for that remain button tip! Not being able to use an effect on my beat after I triggered a sample was killing me.

[@spvidz]

Glad it helped man. Thanks for watching!

[@germacam3498]

Just got an SP so these videos are so perfect thank you so much man so helpful

[@spvidz]

Glad to hear it man, hope you're enjoying using it!

[@miguel7er]

These videos are gold. Thanks

[@spvidz]

Thanks for tuning in!

[@whenmountainsmove]

I can't believe you don't have more views. Brilliant work mate. Love your videos. DO you make your beats on the SP as well or do you make them in Ableton/ Logic/ Something else?

[@spvidz]

Thanks a lot mate glad you are enjoying the content. I've made beats in ableton and you can make good lofi tracks in it but for me now its all about the SP being the centre of the workflow. I just can't replicate that end result in a DAW. Check out my latest EP - I did everything on the SP. The only time I used Ableton was to record them out of the SP then bounce them back in to add effects. I will do a video where I talk about it in more detail soon explaining the difference. Might even do some ableton tutorials! soundcloud.com/user-100688196/tracks

[@whenmountainsmove]

spvidz That’s so awesome man. I’d be SUPER into some ableton tutorials and would do a blast share to all my pals.

[@spvidz]

@@whenmountainsmove Cool man, I need to start doing some more definitely

[@monomad7655]

Thank u so much! Please do another one one transitions and stuff! cheers

[@spvidz]

Yes definitely! I will post that soon

[@joey.h14]

Hey man, I’m really inspired by what you do, and I thought that I might give the sp404 a try for Christmas, but I’m kinda clueless as to what I need for it to work on my MacBook Air, do you have any ideas?

[@spvidz]

Not sure what you mean by work on your MacBook Air? It’s a stand alone sampler. It doesn’t require anything additional to use. Let me know if you need more info man!

[@CTR-UTH]

So that's something that you'd recommend for music production? Making the track on a daw, then exporting to the SP? I was always thinking about doing it that way, especially since you showed that you could take tracks out from the SP and place them onto a daw.

[@spvidz]

Well at some point you are going to have to get your beat recorded into an external device like a computer and from that you will have a finished wav file. so just take those wavs you make and use them. I tried ableton for beats but I prefer working in the SP as much as I can to get the waveyness and the fx as well. Its all personal preference tbh you can make full lofi beats in ableton and other DAWs for sure but it just depends how you prefer to do it.

[@CTR-UTH]

@@spvidz Dang, that clears up a lot of confusion for me! Thank you for the information!

[@spvidz]

Cet.Saail no problem man glad it helped!

[@karelguzman9419]

Good video, do yo recomend use efect limit? to play live, or is not necesary? sorry my english!

[@wildcardt_]

Hey man. This is a really epic video even tho I don’t have an so yet! I do have a question tho. How and where do you get your gigs because I’m finding it hard to get some for lofi especially (I’m in the UK and Japan :) )

[@spvidz]

Yo man, thanks for watching! I've only done a few gigs so far and they've all be in my local town. I've played live music for years so have a lot of connections - thats how I ended up getting them really!

[@wildcardt_]

spvidz I see! Thank you for the help!

[@spvidz]

No problem, good luck!

[@allprominence]

bro love the vids and the music! i subbed and liked! nice work and keep it up! real tight!

[@spvidz]

Appreciate that man, thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed the content

[@pyrotarkus6491]

Are the beats you have loaded up in this video all done with the SP? Or did you just use it for DJaying?

[@spvidz]

They are loaded in - not my beats either so who knows how they were made 🙂 I’m sure some in my set would have been from the SP!

[@maxh98492]

is there a vid for the transition related stuff? I can’t seem to find anything on your channel unless I’m missing it

[@spvidz]

Don’t think I’ve done anything around that yet no!

[@1samwhich]

Hey, thanks for the tutorial. I am new to stand alone samplers. Can you please explain to me about this device and in particular maintaining timing during sample changes. I want to load the sample banks up with a bunch of 16 bar Kick and Bass loops to use as backing tracks and be able to seamlessly switch between these loops say with a buildup or filter sweep leading into the switch (for example). What is the procedure for this and will it automatically stay in time/sync? or does it depend on your ability to hit the pads at the exact time? For example, I am used to Ableton where you can launch a clip and it will play at the start of the next bar (or whatever you set the launch settings it to...)Cheers :)

[@spvidz]

You won’t get that with the SP - it’s all about the user with this one. You gotta hit those pads in time :)

[@maxh98492]

​@@spvidz hi nice vid, really helpful. i was wondering the same thing as Sam Livingston but it seems you cannot queue patterns on the sp to play on the following beat/bar like the way you can queue clips/scenes in ableton. Im wanting to use the SP in a similar way to you do but I'm wanting to also use ableton to trigger the drum patterns to the (drum-less) songs on the sp. would i run into any timing issues? E.g the drum loops from ableton slipping out of sync over the duration of the song? i was thinking sending midi tempo data to ensure this but then each song will be at different tempos which would then cause issues on the ableton end, unless i had separate ableton projects but that seems to clunky. The reason i want drums and the rest of the song on different devices is so i can improvise with effects separately. i hope this makes sense

[@arktikfoxtrix]

Thank you!

[@mumionebeats2415]

Great tips. Thanks homie 👍

[@spvidz]

No problem man. Thanks for watching

[@nujerusalemtv809]

Dope Vid, Bruv

[@spvidz]

Cheers for tuning in!

[@ManishSharma-po2el]

sir. How to set sp 404 sx one finger or one touch main? Because to go to the second loop main button has to be pressed along with the first button...means the first loop which is running can also be used and the next loop has to be pressed as well..please sir help🙏😞

[@wariatosss]

Awesome stuff!!

[@spvidz]

Thanks man appreciate it!

[@TasteNate]

You think the SX is more translatable for live sets than the MKII? Is the audio quality any better or worse?

[@spvidz]

If you're just DJing tracks then the MK2 is easier to load tracks into and actually has a dedicated DJ area now (I find it a little fiddly but I'm sure with practice its good)

[@Millsmillsmills]

I’m two years late but this was so helpful

[@CTR-UTH]

I have a question: How do you keep your drum pattern and the finished song (the beat) in sync when you are changing effects for live sets? I've tried to do so but, I find that I have to rerecord the entire thing into one pad and then record effects after... I think that's what I am supposed to do with it but it honestly isn't as ideal

[@spvidz]

Cet.Saail for live sets I have the whole beat on one pad without FX then put them over that. It’s much easier

[@coppersoul3211]

Got a quick question for u man. Do u only use an SP for ur sets? or do u use other gear as well?

[@spvidz]

Just the SP man yeah 👌

[@coppersoul3211]

spvidz one more for ya. Have u ever done a live Lo Fi set? if so, how was it received?

[@spvidz]

Yeah i've done live sets, thats why I made this video, to explain how I set up for them. They went down well I think haha

[@seven7sseven7s83]

Great advice subscribed

[@spvidz]

Glad to hear it helped. Thanks for the sub!

[@WoodenAxle]

DAMN! Sooooooooo helpful!

[@spvidz]

Thanks for watching! Glad the video was useful for you

[@TheFunStreet]

Thanks for the great video! Question: When you perform with Sp404sx, are all the songs have to be in same tempo?

[@spvidz]

Not at all. You can put anything you want on each pad, different tempos, different styles of music, whatever you want

[@TheFunStreet]

@@spvidz Thank you!

[@HANNAH-GT]

great video!

[@spvidz]

Thanks a lot!

[@saulberg5247]

Thank you

[@spvidz]

You're welcome! Thanks for waching

[@sherylbaker9025]

do you think this piece of equipment is still relevant or is there something better?

[@spvidz]

If you like dawless beat making yes. It’s a lot of fun. I am enjoying using it in conjunction with a DAW more recently though. The fx are killer for processing things through!

[@visual_grooves]

Yooo thanks for this !

[@spvidz]

No problem! Thanks for watching

[@mothsinthecanyon]

2:50 damn. relatable.

[@spvidz]

😄 thanks for watching man

[@felipecatnich9145]

I need to ask you a question, should I record in mono or stereo? thanks!

[@spvidz]

I would do drums in mono and samples in stereo :)

[@felipecatnich9145]

@@spvidz and resampling?

[@spvidz]

@@felipecatnich9145 I do the same - drums in mono, samples in stereo

[@felipecatnich9145]

@@spvidz Thank you very much, very good channel helps me a lot with my sp 404 sx, I would like one of work with ableton live

[@spvidz]

@@felipecatnich9145 glad to hear that man!

[@aaahelen]

Also! I want to buy your drum pack but the soundcloud link to hear it is down.

[@spvidz]

Check out my beats playlist. I use my drums for almost every single beat I upload - kzbin.info/aero/PLVoItRMMtSwtfQvcjrWF7h67BVlVXPEeg

[@okimoto3101]

Yo i use lubitel to👍👍👍

[@spvidz]

Awesome. It’s such a nice camera

[@sprb4725]

Do I sample from tape/vinyl straight to sp404 or do I have to load it from a computer?

[@spvidz]

You can use the phono input in the back of the box - static.roland.com/assets/images/products/gallery/sp-404sx_back_gal.jpg

[@sprb4725]

Cool, thanks for responding might be getting ind soon

[@spvidz]

No problem! :)

[@csyk1990]

Did you buy those coloured knobs for the top man or? if so where from!?

[@spvidz]

I did man yeah. They give you much better grip and control - look pretty nice too. Do a search for ‘chromacaps’ think they are by DJtechtools

[@csyk1990]

@@spvidz cheers man

[@csyk1990]

spvidz is there no difference between the sx & a? I’m about to buy one but can’t get hold of an sx one near me

[@csyk1990]

@spvidz

[@spvidz]

c syk from what I’ve heard there is absolutely no difference apart from the colours!

[@softeyez6700]

only got a 1gb sd card in my sp and i can still fill up 3 banks of songs and have samples and songs on other banks

[@spvidz]

Yeah man its so good how little space they take up! Thanks for watching again :)

[@felipecatnich9145]

I have a problem with the sp 404 d software, I have a macbook pro high sierra, I can install the software but not upload files, you know why?

[@spvidz]

sorry mate, i'm not really able to offer tech support. I guess try reinstalling it and see if that solves the issue!

[@felipecatnich9145]

@@spvidz In what format do I have to upload the files in the sotware?

[@joehamling3194]

Hi, can you tell if it’s possible to load other samples whilst you’re playing? Or are you limited to what’s on the 12 pads from the start? Cheer mate.

[@spvidz]

Not sure how that would work man, you'd have to swap the SD card and I'm sure the SP just stops playing if you do that. The best way would probably be another SP tbh or another device in the chain

[@joehamling3194]

spvidz cheers mate, I’m getting a kp3+ and want to add a 404. I guess recording into the Kaoss pad and looping on that whilst loading new samples on the 404. Is an option. Thanks for the response,much appreciated. Really enjoying all the videos.

[@joehamling3194]

Am I right in thinking each pad had more than one sample stored to it? Can you switch through those live?

[@spvidz]

It’s one sample per pad but you have banks so it’s 12 * how ever many banks there are on the SP. don’t know off the top of my head!

[@joehamling3194]

spvidz nice one, that’s a huge deal breaker for me! Thanks again for your help. Sorry for the questions, I’m sure you’ve got better things to do on a Saturday!

[@jorbbie]

Where's the link to the effects auditioning workflow?

[@spvidz]

Yo man here we go - kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5zYloZ3aZmSmK8

[@spvidz]

Wasn't feeling great when I made this one so missed doing that haha. Thanks for point it out

[@7thNoteOfficial]

Can u play 2 tracks at same time

[@spvidz]

technically yes although I'm not sure why you would want to do that. You can just hold 2 pads at the same time or use the 'hold' button

[@AstralVelvetV12]

ay @spvidz I'm waiting on my 404sx and I have a MacBook, creative Bluetooth subwoofer speaker set, dual rca male to rca male cord, basically my question how do I set up the 404sx to a external speaker source, do I need to invest in monitor speakers? thanks

[@AstralVelvetV12]

I know to use MacBook, Ableton Live lite and the 404sx I need to get 2 1/4 dual to rca TS dual cables.

[@spvidz]

Hey man, I have monitor speakers and a mixer so when I want to go straight out the speakers I just use my mixer. You might be able to go through your laptop but there could be delay issues with that. Even if its a fraction of a second its really difficult to play drums in time etc

[@AstralVelvetV12]

@@spvidz yeah im looking to get a interface but I have no speakers and was reading the manual. is it true when you turn on there's a delay or powering on 32 minutes, like you don't use right away right when you turn on? thanks man

[@spvidz]

@@AstralVelvetV12 When you turn on the SP? Not at all, it boots up in seconds

[@lakshmivalenci99]

7:55 What is the name of that song? It’s good ❤️😍

[@spvidz]

Yo man just searched all through my live set playlists and cant find it. Maybe it was taken off spotify. Sorry I couldn't help - love the beat too

[@aaahelen]

What's the best way to load tracks onto the SP? I use the program the sp came with but its kinda shit.

[@carotare5261]

There are alternatives to the default program. The one that I use is called "Bankrobber" (hah) by drummachinefunk (dot com). It's a free software for loading tracks to the SP that has a FAR better design and usability. Highly recommend!

[@aaahelen]

@@carotare5261 I appreciate the tip! I'll check it out.

[@spvidz]

Look at the Import feature. Super easy to use. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZC1nIx-ncd0rdk You can also try this which is an amazing project - github.com/MatthewCallis/super-pads

[@GrimSingmuf]

@@spvidz really digging Super Pads

[@OliverRabies]

do you know it mutes on 7:06? dont know what youre saying while muted.

[@spvidz]

Yup I had to mute because of copyright on the beat 🙁

[@forevershampoo]

It’s important for a dj to know his records front to back, and when you are doing a set you should have the structure of each song memorized really.

[@spvidz]

True enough but its not easy to do that with beats that have no lyrics. Theres loads of stuff going on in your head when you're doing a live performance so really easy to lose your trail of thought in my experience

[@dragon-id5uj]

Every live setup tutorial ive seen involves the hold button. I dont understand why no one just has it set to loop, or takes off gate. Starts to feel like a lot of people just have the machine for the aesthetic of it

[@spvidz]

The problem I’ve found with having loops is that you have no concept of how long you have been doing the beat which can feel a bit strange when you are up on stage but yeah it’s something I’ve looked into and could possibly help make things a little more seamless. I’m definitely not just using it for the aesthetic or I’d just DJ straight out of ableton. I’m constantly on the FX which is basically the best feature of the SP and the reason I chose to DJ with it in the first place

[@dragon-id5uj]

Totally fair game considering it's such an open ended instrument. There's probably 20x more ways to use it that neither of us have discovered! Thanks for the thoughtful reply, and excuse me if my thoughts came off derogatory. Keep on rockin

[@spvidz]

乁dragon違 all good man. It’s good to hear other perspectives :)

[@brawndothethirstmutilator9848]

Always have at least one timer that you can see at your workstation. Click start on it soon after you transition to a new song. You can also keep a second timer that runs constantly from the start of your set. Time distortion can be severe on the performer in a live set in some contexts.

[@PeacePeaceGawd]

yoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyyo

[@spvidz]

Yo man good to see you here! Thanks for dropping in 👌

[@fait6617]

some rap songs is the shit no way i just found it here

[@fait6617]

im getting my sp in a couple of days and im just binging ur vids so thank you man

[@spvidz]

Nice man! Hope they help 🙏

[@Kevinschart]

video is no good without sound.

[@spvidz]

yup i know, it got copyrighted, I have pinned a comment explaining that I will re-record it in the future

[@whitenoisefromelectronicto1728]

Can I have 4 or more pads playing at the same time or do I have to put a complete track on a pad?

[@spvidz]

Having 4 pads playing all together sounds very chaotic. I imagine it would be hard to trigger them at the same time and maybe difficult to stop them all as well. You could try using ‘hold’ I think that’s your best bet