SONICWARE SmplTrek - Quick Start Guide

Full Disclosure: I occasionally take on freelance work at Sonicware on an hourly rate producing synth & sample sound design, beta testing, checking English text and video manuals like this. Any other shorter videos on my channel containing Sonicware products are not paid content.
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So here's the long awaited SONICWARE Smpltrek quick start guide.
This tutorial is intended as a primer tutorial with a deeper tutorial coming soon.
Edit: information about how to format the SD card etc is missing from this tutorial. Thanks to White Whisker Musica for making a short tutorial covering that information:
• Sonicware SmplTrek | U...
*Please note the realtime loop recording feature has been temporarily removed from the v1.0 of the firmware due to a bug. It will be added back into the SmplTrek in a future update*
0:00 Intro
1:50 Overview
7:21 Track Types
8:59 Loop Tracks & Record Source
20:08 Instrument Tracks & Sampling
30:10 Mixer & Effects
35:59 Shot Tracks & USB Source
38:58 Drum Tracks
42:17 Midi Tracks
44:54 Global Tracks
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#ChrisLody

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Addendum: It needs a class 10 SDHC card up to 32gb to work properly. You'll also need to run the "Format and Duplicate" option in the SD card menu to set up the directory structure it needs. Sorry I didn't mention this at the start of the video but I wasn't sure about this information when I made the video. Update: Thanks to White Whisker Musica for making this tutorial covering the missing SD related information kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2Oci2lqZquZpqM

[@Jovanny_pcpp]

Not more than 32?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

That's right

[@TheBestMethod]

So I got this on kickstarter and it arrived today. But I just also found your lofi-12 and I feel its a better fit. DO you think you can do the same on the smpltrek or should I switch? I want to make lofi beats and play vocal hist over the top live,. Cheers. or could I link both? Curious. SO to be clear the vocal parts are unquantized and i just want to play them with effects. Thoughts? and thanks!

[@TheBestMethod]

part 2: Maybe io create the lowfi beats in lofi 12 and import the track as a global in smplt and tiver the vocals as oneshots? Cheers

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

I'll be making a full tutorial for the Lofi-12 soon so you can see how it works. The Lofi-12 is just designed to work with short samples so you won't be able to record vocals, but you can run something into the Line In like a mic connected to a mixer and then route that thro6the effects so you can add reverb to your voice while a beat plays if that's any use to you

[@fritzcreo6820]

Thanks for the great in depth look into this, can't wait to get my hands on this. Always look forward to your videos

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thanks very much, I hope it's with you shortly and it's a lot of fun

[@validcore]

Great tutorial as always. Can't wait for mine.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you. I hope you have fun with it 😁

[@helixrider]

Yes! Great tutorial. So looking forward to getting hands on with mine! 🤩

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you. I'm glad people are about to get their hands on them, feels like ages 😄

[@realreviews1662]

Chris, I really appreciate you! Thank you for these awesome videos!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thanks for watching, glad you found it useful 😁

[@FutureFolk1985]

Great video, looking forward to mine and glad I can learn about it so deeply in the meantime, thanks!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you. There will be more details coming fairly soon hopefully

[@blazrodic]

Thanks for the review!

[@trevormalcolm4328]

I’m holding off buying a new new sampler until this gets in the stores! Waited months for a “in-depth” video like this one, many thanks 🙏🏽👍🏽✊🏽

[@maripido]

You are doing a great service for us! Thank you very much!

[@ps7365]

Another great tutorial. I've been looking at the SmplTrek for about 2 weeks now and this has convinced me. Thanks.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Nice one. Be sure to check out the video I made about the version 2.0 firmware, it's a much more slick experience than the launch version: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6qplJufj76endk

[@fatkev1983]

I love my old EMU ESI samplers... but they are certainly clunky to use. I quite like the look of this device. I will be keeping an eye out for more videos on it. Thanks for the good work as always!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to seeing what Sonicware have planned for future updates 😁

[@vertigev]

Very clear and informative video, thank you!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you

[@EmceeRad]

Can't wait for future videos about this from you!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you. I'm looking forward to showing any new features they add because they're definitely working on it😁

[@adamkrasneski3679]

Appreciate the help. Subscribed.

[@SimpleHold]

Very interesting sampler! Thanks for sharing the info!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

You're very welcome, thanks for watching

[@tiffanyanthony]

Thanks so much for this tutorial! Mine arrived today, and right away I said, “Oh boy… there’s a learning curve here.” You have become my human user manual. I’m sure I’ll watch this video MANY times ❤️

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

You're quite welcome, I hope it helps a lot. I'll be back with another at some point, there may even be new features by than

[@P-S-T]

Have you learned it by now? What’s your thoughts?

[@tiffanyanthony]

@@P-S-T I’ve decided to sell it. I work much better with a DAW on my computer. It’s just going to collect dust.

[@P-S-T]

@@tiffanyanthony Sorry to hear. Ordered mine yesterday. 😂 But I think I’ll like it coming from a lot of different grooveboxes/samplers and workflow (MPC One, Maschine+, SP404 mk2, Blackbox, Verselab, MC101 etc.).

[@bigwheelshire1733]

@@tiffanyanthony how Mach?

[@InkyDaCaT]

Ooo not long now till it arrives!! Sooo excited

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

I hope you enjoy it , have fun 😁

[@InkyDaCaT]

@@ChrisLodyMusic I will its just the thing I've been waiting for to go to small events with a few small synths n og circuit. Especially the streaming feature (bonus!) Alot of the community are really buzzing about this🙌 Well done to you all!

[@gsboss]

i was confused with shots, this video helped. thanks

[@hovermotion]

Superb how to demo, never heard of this device, looks great for a desktop setup..👍🏻

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you. Yes it's a pretty nice machine 👌

[@hvhvgitaar]

Thank you, very helpful!

[@mCKENIC]

Thanks Chris!

[@edm3633]

Best view on display of all KZbinrs!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you for noticing that 😄 It's not easy to film it that cleanly, I had to film in 4k in manual mode to get the expose and focus correct. It's quite tricky!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

By the way, I'm not sure if you've seen the new Lofi-12 XT that came out very recently, but this is the earlier SmplTrek which is very different. Just to be clear they have the same hardware but they work very differently

[@edm3633]

no, haven't seen it yet. I'll definitely take a look, thanks for the tip 😊

[@GRCyber]

Great intro and tutorial. Absolutely gutted thst I had to cancel my pre-order because money was tight 😭

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Oh damn sorry to hear that

[@vedabou]

Great video, thanks

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you 😁

[@AndyTanguay]

I always like to take a swing at something new without reading the manual, just to sort of gauge the intuitive-ness. And I was pleasantly surprised that I was getting the Smpltrek pretty well. They did a good job with this little powerhouse.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes I found it quite intuitive myself. I had to learn it before the manual was ready because some aspects kept changing. There's definitely some areas where workflow could be improved which they're working on but yeah it's a tidy little box

[@AndyTanguay]

@@ChrisLodyMusic Any suggestions as to where to send feedback? Played with it a lot this weekend and liking it more and more. Its a ton of fun.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes Sonicware are asking for feedback so you can post ideas on the Sonicware PPS Facebook group or send them to the customer support service on the website below sonicware.jp/pages/support

[@macabre2007]

i got the Smpltrek on Thursday last, and can only agree that this is the best of tutorials for the Smpltrek, and now I must apologise if this is a daft question and I have missed it, but one thing I couldn't seem to work out is, how to upload samples from a windows PC to the Sample Pool. It might for instance take steps, but what I am trying to say is how I get my samples onto the Smpltrek without needing to record them.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

So there's one crucial thing that didn't get mentioned in this tutorial because the manual wasn't finished yet 😅 When you install a new SD card you need to go to the SD card section of the System menu and use the Format+Duplicate option. This will create the correct file structure and write the preset samples. Once this is done (it'll take a while) you'll be able to add folders ans samples to SmplTrek\Pool\Audio. Make sure they're .wav format. Internally it uses 16bit 48khz samples in mono. It will convert anything that's not in that format or you can convert them externally if you'd like to save time later There's been a few updates since this video so make sure you update from Sonicware.JP I'll link to videos about that here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6qplJufj76endk kzbin.info/www/bejne/amPbhnmwntOcodE

[@macabre2007]

​@@ChrisLodyMusic thank you so much Chris, you go above and beyond for us mortals - have a great rest of weekend

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

@@macabre2007 Glad to help, have fun 😁

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

@@macabre2007 sorry told you slightly wrong there actually, samples can be stereo not just mono

[@montytsunami]

This is very helpful, TY for posting! Do you think you’ll be uploading any revisions based on firmware updates, or wait a bit longer for more? Do you have any insider info on what features could be coming in new Firmware updates?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thanks very much. I can't say too much about those questions apart from yes and yes. It won't be long now 🤫

[@P-S-T]

Thanks for a great tutorial. The workflow seems like lots of of menudiving, but otherwise it looks pretty great for such a small device.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you. Early days for the workflow on this so I'm fairly sure they will work on that as they go along. There's already a second update on the way

[@P-S-T]

@@ChrisLodyMusic Ordered mine now Thanks to your nice tutorial. 😊 Hopefully a firmware update will improve the workflow, but I take it for what it is right now. 😊

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Glad you like the tutorial 😁 They mentioned making UI and UX improvements recently so I'm sure the workflow will improve in time

[@P-S-T]

@@ChrisLodyMusic Please make an update video now when a new Firmware is released. Hopefully I get mine today. 😊

[@P-S-T]

@@ChrisLodyMusic Got mine now. It is good in many areas, especially launching scenes/clips, but to create clips and sequencing them is a big mess. The UI is really not good, lots of inconsistencies and designflaws. It’s a little off putting, but I will continue to learn smpltrek before I make any bigger complaints. 😊

[@stephenjenkins1323]

Chris will you be releasing as a single 😂 top tunes always

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

The Melodica bit? Yes 😅

[@toitoitoy]

Very nice and friendly overview better than loploop one.) Like the look of this thing, reminds me times when yamaha and casio were cool. Can it resample the project as a new sample?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you 😁 You can set the recording source as a loop back of a track for resampling, I think that includes the master track (I'm not at the studio currently). Also there is the option to export the project as stems offline too which I'll talk about in the future

[@toitoitoy]

@@ChrisLodyMusic thanx Chris, looking forward for more SMPLtrek videos

[@manucontrovento]

AMazing! Could you provide also a video comparing the SmplTrek and the 1010 Blackbox? They seem to be very similar in functionality and it seems they could be an alternative choice to each other. E.g. I own a Blackbox but I'm quite interested in changing it for a SmplTrek... Why should I do it? Tell us the differences and pros & cons

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Sorry I've never used the black box so I can't make a comparison. I seen it mentioned a lot by SmplTrek owners and people thinking about buying one so I'll have to investigate too

[@adamkrasneski3679]

Would be VERY intrigued for a tutorial on controlling jardware via midi. How many synths can be sequenced? 10 maybe? Havent downloaded the manual yet.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

It would be ten yes, one for each of the assignable tracks

[@Monsterism]

With usb audio can use it as an audio interface like the sp 404 mk 2. So for example sample from Ableton then manipulate it and the export it Ableton

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes you can use it as a 2 in 2 out audio interface. So you could set that up in Ableton, play sounds in Ableton and capture them into the SmplTrek by sampling the USB audio track

[@Monsterism]

@@ChrisLodyMusic nice thank you, deciding between this and sp404. Can I ask is the Audi interface any good

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

@@Monsterism I've not tested it extensively but the audio quality it good. Try the Facebook SmplTrek group if you want to ask users to compare it and the sp404 MK2 as some of them own that sampler too

[@edm3633]

👍👍👍

[@rhampton1914]

Hi Chris, thanks for your Video..I just have one question..Is it possible to choose instruments on each pad? instead of loading a whole Kit? another words can i load my own snare on pad 2 and a bass drum on pad 1 and my own hi hat on pad 3? or does it just loads as kits...and last question, is the screen unbearably small? is it a struggle to look at if i'm sitting on couch?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes you can use it like that if you don't want to use a kit per track. You can have a different sample assigned to each track. When you use it like this each sample will take up a whole track so when you record it will record hits for a kick on one track and snare on another for example. So it's a bit more wasteful in terms of how many tracks it uses. You might want to also check out the newer Lofi-12 XT because it can also do that but with the addition of being able to add track choke groups. It's actually got a very different workflow to the SmplTrek. I have a full tutorial video on that coming on the first of May, so does Bo Beats 😁 Regarding the screen, I don't have a problem with it, the text is about the same size as the printed text on the front tof the screen. I've just finished a few weeks worth of sound design work on the Lofi-12 XT and I didn't give a thought to be honest. Some people think it's a bit small, but it's big compared to the screen on the Arturia Microfreak for example! 😄

[@cresshead]

39:02 drum tracks - Q. so one drum track BUT can you have different kits on different sequences?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

No it's a single kit for all scenes. You can always resample the drum track into a loop or global tracks if you'd like to free it up. A freeze\unfreeze option is planned too I think, but don't quote me on that 😅

[@juribasa9156]

Hallo großartig erklärt . Ich wollte das Gerät zusammen mit Denon Prime 4 verwenden, weil es keinen Sampler hat, aber da Denon Prime 4 keinen Sync-Eingang hat, kein MIDI, was wirklich scheiße von Denon ist nur Ableton Link . SmplTrek hat kein WLAN, es gibt eine andere Möglichkeit, die beiden Geräte zu synchronisieren? Danke

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

You might be able to use a device with a headphone socket that will run Ableton Link like a phone or tablet and then connect the headphone socket to the Sync In socket on the SmplTrek. I used Ableton Link to link Korg Gadget to a Pocket Operator via an iPhone 5s in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4uVan-Pqs2rldE

[@MichaelJ023]

Can you set instrument tracks to be poly, monophonic, or legato? I have been playing with the unit and reading through the manual, but I can’t find any way to set it. The liven lofi-12 has that feature, so I figured the Smpltrek would as well.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Sadly not yet no. It's probably the most currently requested feature over on the SmplTrek Facebook group so I hope at some point it's added. I'd love some of the Lofi-12 sound design features to make it onboard too

[@MichaelJ023]

@@ChrisLodyMusic Ok, thank you. Yes it really needs some filter envelopes, LFO controlled filters, pitch, etc.

[@adamkrasneski3679]

Got mine yesterday. Apprexiate thw tuts. Does it not come preloaded w any samples?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

It has some instrument samples and some drum kits. They will appear on the card along with some demo projects when you run the Format and Duplicate option (see pinned comment)

[@adamkrasneski3679]

What card??? And i dont see a pinned comment, but that may be because i cant get the utube app. My phones too old.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Oh sorry, you need to install an SD card. I'll paste the details here: Addendum: It needs a class 10 SDHC card up to 32gb to work properly. You'll also need to run the "Format and Duplicate" option in the SD card menu to set up the directory structure it needs. Sorry I didn't mention this at the start of the video but I wasn't sure about this information when I made the video. Update: Thanks to White Whisker Musica for making this tutorial covering the missing SD related information kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2Oci2lqZquZpqM

[@adamkrasneski3679]

Oh wow. Thats a surprising amount of work just to get started. No wonder i couldnt make any sounds. THANKS CHRIS!!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

It's simpler than I've made it sound but I generally give a lot of detail 😅 It's just switch on with the SD card in, system\card\format and duplicate and it's done ✅

[@DavidDeLuge]

This looks to be a great bit of kit. However, in the UK, it is more expensive than a Roland SP-404MKII, which kind of works against it and that is such a shame.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes it's a shame. With Sonicware being a small company they don't have strong enough distribution to keep prices low in the UK. They have it sorted in the USA, mainland Europe and Japan obviously so hopefully it will improve in time

[@particular_noise]

In order to stream audio thru micro USB, do you have to tweak any settings? Or just plug n play?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

There might be a bit of setup on pc or Mac but on mobile devices it's just a case of plugging the two together and you're good to go. If you want to directly monitor the output of your phone you can just hit the USB AUDIO track button

[@Congasjones]

Hi Chris - a big thing for me would be sampling external synth phrases -can it only do this into a V track?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Hi. No you're not restricted to where you can record these to though there are sample time restrictions for instrument and drum tracks. Instruments can be 5.46 secs stereo and 10.9.secs mono. Drum sounds can be 5.4 secs mono and 2.7 secs mono. There's also the Shots type track but the manual doesn't mention a max length of recording for this type of track which I've been trying to find. I'll have to experiment and get back to you about that

[@Congasjones]

@@ChrisLodyMusic thanks for really helpful reply

[@vince89503]

With the "global tracks" in mind , can you make a record with this thing? Probably yes.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Oh yes you could make whole tracks on this. It has a stem export option too so you can render out tracks as audio to mix them and add more elements in your daw

[@danbunge9787]

Can the SmplTrek receive on multiple midi channels (multi-timbral via midi input)? I would like to use it as a sound module, triggering different sounds on different midi channels from a midi controller.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes, you can define the midi channel on a per track basis. You can either change the midi channel from your external controller or set it to match the SmplTrek's 'Auto Channel', this will enable you to play whichever track is currently selected

[@darkuniversesound]

Where would you recommend that we, the new SmplTrek users, could post and consolidate our collective findings about "things that aren't anywhere in the manual"? My latest are: - INST Track seems to need instruments to be assigned in the first scene area, even if the instrument is not playing in that scene per se (the instrument i assigned kept disappearing after saving, when i was placing the instrument load-in only into the 2nd scene where IT was needed - the first scene was supposed to not have the instrument playing) 🤷‍♂️😒 - You can move quickly through many-step sequences on the piano roll by holding the function button and pushing the #16 step button, which will shunt you to the end of the current 16-steps, and then direction-pad to the right to get into the next 16-steps 👍

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

The best places to discuss things is either the official "Sonicware PPS" Facebook group or the "Sonicware Unofficial" Discord is also very good

[@darkuniversesound]

@@ChrisLodyMusic Thanks a bunch 🙏🙏🙏🌌

[@darkuniversesound]

@@ChrisLodyMusic Hey i made a Discord account, do i need an invite to join the Sonicware conversation? i've never gone into the Discord before and i can't seem to call up Sonicware (or anything else, for that matter).... Maybe i just don't understand how the Discord works 🤷‍♂️🌌

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

I'll need to invite you. Can you tell me your Discord username including the hashtag and numbers please?

[@darkuniversesound]

@@ChrisLodyMusic The Dark Universe #4111

[@particular_noise]

Would attack and release controls be possible for sidechain effect?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

I'm not sure to be honest, I'll have to ask

[@ricardomilice2470]

After watching this video, I want it . Do you happen to know when they dropping it.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

I'm sorry I don't know exactly. There were extra delays late in the development which has slowed things a little. They are shipping to Kickstarter backers right now and I expect it will be make widely available in the next 3-4 weeks

[@jackblackguard8908]

If I want to start using a new sd card can I just add the latest firmware (1.3 now), or do I need to add them all in order?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

As far as I'm aware you can just jump straight to v1.3. If it's a fresh card you'll need to run "Format & Duplicate" from the SD card menu or copy the file structure from another card

[@72ndHUMAN]

anyone know what size the pots are? they look like 6mm on the hunt for some knobs

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

I just tried it and knobs designed for 6mm knurled shafts will just fit, but the shaft is not long so they only just connect so you won't be able to press the knobs if you use the same type, they have a recess in the back before the hole for the shaft

[@briannhinton]

The only thing rough for me is that display. It’s so tiny and I think my poor eyes will have a problem reading it. Though it does look fairly crisp.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes it could be an issue for some people. I personally didn't struggle with it at all. The contrast and size of the pixels is pretty good, especially when you're using it handheld rather than on a desktop though I wasn't picking it up for this tutorial obviously. Compared to the screen on the MicroFreak which I also own and love, it's far easier to use

[@AndyTanguay]

I’m 52 and it’s not too bad for me. Better than I expected honestly. Very bright and the form factor lets you hold it like a gameboy.

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

Well I recreated the funny Harmonica bit and may or may not have added some jazz chords and a silly cheesy sax 😅

[@ivanvelez7668]

I have gotten mine and it is not working for me. the stop and system/home stays on. i put in a blank memory card formatted in exfat won't read. I want record a shot sample from my computer using that usb cable. I try to set it up and it wont recognize the usb source. I believe they sent my a bad one. Do I have to install the batteries and also have to plug in the ac adaptor as well?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

I've not experienced these problems myself but I've seen a lot of people having problems with specific SD cards. The best thing would be to talk to tech support here sonicware.jp/pages/support Also the official Facebook group "Sonicware PPS" is very active so you may find what you need there It sounds to me like an SD card compatibility problem though so try another card too. None of the other features will work if you card isn't working and formatted correctly as it's essentially it's memory

[@yyounmybitniss2701]

Start button does nothing when attempting to sample..it's getting an audio signal just fine. Gonna try another SD card and hope I don't have to send it back. Looks promising.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes it sounds like it's SD card related. Have you used the Format and Duplicate option in the System menu? That's needed to set up the files structure it uses

[@yyounmybitniss2701]

@@ChrisLodyMusic thanks. Looks like a new sd and firmware update did it. Now to learn how to make a beat lol

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Oh glad to hear it, hope you have fun 😁

[@briannhinton]

Can it work as an audio recording / mixer? I see 3 global audio tracks.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes you could use it like that, just recording 3 long audio tracks down to the globals and you're good to go

[@lseven79]

How does this compare to the sp404 mk2? Is it better?...am contemplating between the two...

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

I've been asked this a few times but I've never used one. There are some users on the SmplTrek Facebook group that have though so feel free to ask there

[@lseven79]

@@ChrisLodyMusic thanks for the reply

[@castelmau]

Roland is 50 euro cheaper...sorry, no competition

[@vinylselektaz6475]

Can the velocity sensitivity be changed to fixed or full level?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes it has options for Soft, Linear, Hard and a fixed level from 1 to 127.

[@vinylselektaz6475]

@@ChrisLodyMusic thank you

[@debbyflorence]

I'm struggling! @chrislody This video is awesome but i am at 19:03 and I cannot replicate what you are doing. Your menu shows "Select Rec Mode" and then it has "Loops, Shots, Cancel." When following your steps exactly, mine says "Select Rec Mode" and then mine only has "Shots, Cancel." can you assist? I posted this question in the FB group too

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Sorry that feature had to be temporarily removed from the firmware just before launch due to a bug, by which time it was too late to edit the video. It will be back soon hopefully because it's a really nice feature

[@darkuniversesound]

Can you tell me, please, where i can find this FB group? i looked on FB and could not find any SmplTrek group, in which i desperately would like to become involved 😬🙏🙏🌌

[@zamuaog]

it seems to me that the lack of per track fx is very limiting, but perhaps I’m misunderstanding the workflow. I would like to add different reverbs to different instruments and also sidechain them to a kick track. Is this possible? As far as I can tell these are all send fx and you can only have one send fx at a time. You mention you can have multiple send fx if you use the rec src to edit the samples with your send and such, but doesn’t this lose the midi information? I’ve got a drum track with an effect and I’d like for it to not just be audio, I want to edit the midi afterwards. Additionally it looks like drum tracks can only have effects applied uniformly. You can’t add fx per element. Additionally It appears you cannot move notes around. If I sequence 2 chords and would like to swap them or shift them then I need to remove them and rewrite them. This is very tedious. If we could overdub record then perhaps this would be easier but I can’t quite figure that out either. In any case there is no simple way to turn on and off the metronome/count in. You have to dive into the menu every time. I want it on when I record sometimes but off other times. Also there’s no way to begin recording on first note input, so I have to use a count in, but if I’m even a little bit early it will not record the first note, so I have to record and then go back and put the first note in. It feels like this device tries to do many things, but it does them all with an exhausting ui. The most productive technique likely requires prepping your kits and samples off device and also exporting stems for final mixing / mastering (at that point why use this device in the first place). I’ve only had it for a day, but so far it is very frustrating and not very fun I acknowledge this may be an issue with the user. Perhaps I haven’t figured out the workflow. Happy to hear suggestions Edit: also battery life isn’t great, down to 1 segment after ~3hrs of use

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Currently there are just the 3 effects slot yes, insert, send and master. I you record audio say from an instrument track you won't lose anything as you can add it to a new track or Global and just mute the original. You can have different send levels per drum in the drum kit editor. There is overdub for the midi recording, this is the main method of building up tracks.

[@zamuaog]

@@ChrisLodyMusic thanks!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

I meant to mention I'm soon hoping to hear back from the engineers about which features they plan to add to the SmplTrek

[@aki_gong6271]

I understand there is a master effect that affects all tracks. Then we have a send effect, the same for all the tracks, and the user chooses how much signal gets send to the FX. Regarding insert effects, it there a single one for every track or a single one for all the tracks? Great video manual, congrats!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

It's a single insert effect rather than one for each track. More effects have been requested quite a lot already so I'm hoping the engineers can do something per track even if it's quite basic

[@VSPhotfries]

I kickstarted this, and just got mine, but apparently it's got something wrong with it. I can't can't record, can't do shit. No error indications, just, you know... Nothing works. Can literally not even rename a project, it just freezes for a second and, well, nothing happens. I'm hoping it's just a problem with the SD cards, even though the onboard SD card check said it was fine.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

That does sound very SD card related yes. It needs a class 10 SDHC card up to 32gb to work properly. You'll also need to run the "Format and Duplicate" option in the SD card menu to set up the directory structure it needs. This is something I should have mentioned here but I wasn't sure of the exact procedure at the time to be honest. It stream off the card constantly so if it's not the right spec or setup then it won't work properly. There are also bugs that the team are working hard to squash but this doesn't sound related to those. If that doesn't help there is a very active Facebook group called Sonicware PPS that the staff run. There is also tech support at this link: sonicware.jp/pages/support

[@zamuaog]

I’ve just received mine and there’s no SD card. Checked online and it looks like I need to purchase one separately, but the website claims there are presets. How do I get the presets onto my own sd card? I don’t see any download links

[@OscarMeza_asiapac]

I have the same question. And, what size capacity SD card is recomended? How to organize folders in the SD card?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes that's right it doesn't come with an SD card. You can use up to 32gb SDHC not including SDXC. The presets are embedded in the firmware so you'll need to insert the card, power on, press Func+Home to go to system, card, format and duplicate. This will format the card and add all the presets. There are additional free samples available from the download section here too in the SmplTrek/Sample Library tab: sonicware.jp/pages/downloads

[@zamuaog]

Thanks!!

[@scottmihulka6103]

It says 500+ samples come with the unit, I counted 12 kits and 26 instrument samples. What am I missing here?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Only a small selection are included in the firmware, the rest are available to download through Black Optopus. Use this link then click the "sample library" tab in the SmplTrek section and you'll be able to get them from there sonicware.jp/pages/downloads They need to be added to the SmplTrek\Pool\Audio folder on your memory card

[@scottmihulka6103]

Thank you!

[@berumondothedragonslayer6196]

can you add groove to the midi notes?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

The SmplTrek has been updated quite a lot since this release version. It now supports micro timing so you can play in much more expressively. They also added swing which you can dial in per track too. There's no groove templates or anything like that that can be applied but the potential is there for some expressive stuff for sure

[@christianthompson1473]

What about the battery power?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Oh damn I forgot to film the back 😅 It has a compartment for 6x AA batteries. You can select the battery type between alkaline, NiMH and lithium in the system menu. There is also a tripod mount on the back

[@sinewaymusic]

@@ChrisLodyMusic what's the battery life?

[@christianthompson1473]

@@ChrisLodyMusic thanks for a great review, I've subscribed! 👍

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

The battery life is stated as 4 hours on the Sonicware site when using alkaline batteries

[@NanuVanea-yl7qk]

how to duplicate scene content iside of the same scene?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

You can use the duplicate function that was added in v2.0, I assume that's what you mean. The tutorial for that is here kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6qplJufj76endk

[@gupotus]

Hello Is there parameters locks?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

It has automation for some functions in the piano roll etc but these have to be edited by hand currently. Liven style parameter lock recording is on a list of user feature requests I've sent over so hopefully that will be added

[@electrosonicnebula]

It's almost perfect but why does it have to be so small?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

They designed it to be portable and handheld. Also it's Japanese 😄

[@electrosonicnebula]

@@ChrisLodyMusic True true. I can see the appeal but still I want a big version! That was my main gripe with OP-1 too. There's nothing between these ultra-small devices and the MPC Keys...

[@electrosonicnebula]

PS That screen is quite nice but I'd stick one of those clip-on magnifying glasses on it so it's not as much of a pain to look at.

[@electrosonicnebula]

Also, great work on the video btw

[@PhilanderingBastard]

Oops super interesting. Too bad about micro USB.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Ha yeah they've had a lot of comments about that. I've not had any issues with it, plus micro USB is still better than no USB I say

[@PhilanderingBastard]

@@ChrisLodyMusic true. People just need to be aware that they’ll probably have to spring for one of those magnetic usb connectors, otherwise it’ll become useless in as little as a 100 de / reconnects.

[@AcidAlex]

Does it have a song mode?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes although I don't think it's called that. When the Launch button is on it will play each clip as the buttons are pressed and advance manually. With Launch off each scene plays in turn, the length of which can be defined in the scene settings

[@AcidAlex]

@@ChrisLodyMusic thanks, so you can’t tell it out many times to repeat the clip before moving to the next?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

@@AcidAlex Yes there's a repeat setting in the scene settings

[@AcidAlex]

@@ChrisLodyMusic okay cool, so could lay out a whole track across scenes with repeats and let it play out

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

@@AcidAlex yes that's exactly it 👍

[@boriscat1999]

This box does so much. I wish the price didn't keep going up.

[@chasehadley5230]

Does much, but is a mood killer to the creative process. Just saying.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

That's a fair comment yes. The team are working on many feature requests and I'm sure tiding up the workflow will be one of them

[@chasehadley5230]

@@ChrisLodyMusic I'm glad you said workflow because that's what I had in mind. In addition to my many years of experience working with music tech gear I also work in ux design. It is not my wish to undermine the hard work already put in to the product but yes the workflow should absolutely be *re-thunk*

[@mikoajczeski1272]

Without sample chop choking it's useless

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

It has choking groups in its drum kits. It's entirely possible to build a kit from chopped samples but I'm hoping Sonicware implement an option to immediately assign chopped samples to a kit. Yu Endo says he will keep updating it until he's happy with it

[@mikoajczeski1272]

@@ChrisLodyMusic but You can use only one drum kit on one project; it's only toy, not a sampler :(

[@briannhinton]

@@mikoajczeski1272 pineapple is great on pizza!

[@googlepigs7027]

I think you had the beginnings of a hit there, Chris, with that melodium.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you 😄 The bit with the super wonky cassette master effect on the melodica still makes me laugh 😆

[@googlepigs7027]

@@ChrisLodyMusic It *was* funny !

[@MattGreerMusic]

Very exciting. And thanks, as always, for the helpful guide. I'm sure I'll be referencing this a lot when I receive mine.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Glad to help. I hope you find it useful, have fun 😁