The SP-404MKII is my Favorite Musical Sketchpad!

[@Gazmatron82]

Just to jump in here about external batteries, the SP404 MK2 can plug into an ipad with USB C and the ipad acts as an internal battery, as well as audio of usb! So good!

[@FreeBeat]

Good information for all the iPad users out there!

[@gibsongk]

So you can sample to Pad

[@osvos3278]

Totally agree, such a versatile beast. So many work flows, some easy access but with depth if you want to get deep with it.

[@FreeBeat]

Definitely, thanks for watching!

[@dmanh5144]

Keep up the good work! We need more demos of using this beast in its different modes of operation: looping tracks, live sampling, pad copy/paste/delete during composition, etc.

[@FreeBeat]

I admittedly haven't played with doing those sorts of things live yet, maybe I will!

[@Sammy-B]

I enjoyed watching the workflow. Always get new ideas when I see how other people use the gear.

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks so much!

[@01kmacias]

There are a lot of button combinations. It’s ALMOST silly. But would I rather them be there and ignore them if I’m not ready to use them? Absolutely. It you want a daw, then use a daw? If you want a daw in a box, get an mpc

[@666.pastel]

almost too many i feel this

[@GrennXBlizzard]

What is an mpc..?

[@alexmorado2182]

Well said!

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah, you don't have to memorize every single function, but they're there if you want them!

[@diavlo_chris]

@@GrennXBlizzardthe akai mpc one, its like a sampler but it has a screen and a daw, still standalone gear but not a dawless thing

[@nomad1517]

I believe that any producer can benefit from a hardware sampler. Especially if you are producing electronic music. The 404s are famous because of how fast you can make a beat and perform at the same time. It's great for DJs because you can fit it in tight spaces and as a stem launcher. There is so much you can do with it. Plus you can make it unique with all the skins and knobs. Well worth the money.

[@FreeBeat]

Definitely!

[@damelos4039]

Normally, I have a hard time following along with these "build a track" videos but this one was easy to follow and fun! Thanks. You went a little fast but I can always slow it down. hehe

[@Muldvarp_]

Its so great, and the update really made it future complete, i honestly cant think new of features it does almost everything!

[@saggygnaw]

It doesn’t wipe my butt! Get it together Roland!

[@FreeBeat]

The *only* thing I want is the ability to assign MIDI note numbers to each pad for easier external triggering. Outside of that I think it's absolutely fantastic.

[@towerrunner4675]

Track-based song mode is on my wish list.

[@tomb6576]

I hated it at first cause I expected a groove box but once I let go of that notion I realized how versatile it really is! The 404, an MC-101, and a midi keyboard in combo is honestly all I'd really need for the rest of my life! I'm very thankful for all the diverse functions but I do wish they'd take some time to further flesh out the current ones. If they got midi interfacing and sequencing together it'd be a near perfect device.

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@jaydeepalmer]

Yeah the 101 goes deeeep

[@krazywabbit]

Super sick! Fantastic demo.

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks a lot!

[@TokyoScarab]

I have no idea why Roland ever got rid of the Skipback Sampling feature in their line of Fantom workstations. It's so incredibly useful!

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah I absolutely love it, I wish it could go back even further! Thanks for watching :)

[@gagealbright]

i like the drums and bass you came up with

[@FreeBeat]

Thank you!

[@CreamOfBeats]

The 404 MKII does so much, it makes no sense for any producer to not own one. Easily the most versatile piece of gear I’ve ever owned! 🙌🏽

[@FreeBeat]

Agree 100%!

[@necrotictrust]

cool, quite helpful to get the idea of different workflows and so on. thank you

[@FreeBeat]

Absolutely! Thanks for watching :)

[@bogard08]

Right. Roland did an amazing job with the update. With the Koala app, you have a portable studio setup.

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks for watching!

[@steveaguay]

Even as a complete novice with these types lf instruments the button combination start to make sense and become second nature rather quickly.

[@FreeBeat]

I agree!

[@dontwatch1227]

That's what I was picking up on also. We're semi rural here and not many creative outlets. I need something that will be intuitive enough for a novice yet to keep them interested. Looked at Po-33 ect but seemed limited and possibly fragile. Expecting lots of us from a heap of folks

[@bjamminsincebirth3494]

People complain about the button combos but most of the buttons that have a feature are lit on the pads. While I love my daws they too have key command combos or multiple clicks to do things too. It’s honestly more about do you wanna learn or not. I learned it before the recent update and it took me a couple weeks.

[@TheChameleon2008]

I think the button combo's give it a extra layer of awesomeness because it takes skill to master it makes it so much more awesome when it succeeds.

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah it's really not that bad, especially if you focus on learning the ones you use often.

[@wiggesobk]

Nice Workflow!

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks!

[@jantuitman]

It looks so appealing and I would love to noodle on this thing but I think I can better avoid it, since I am very much “design a non realtime sequence first, then arrange, then play or improvise with it” person and this is very much a “play or improvise first, collect fragments, arrange” workflow.

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah this is very different from a traditional groovebox, and it can certainly be a shock at first haha. Thanks as always!

[@Sammy-B]

What does it mean to design a non real-time sequence first?

[@jantuitman]

@@Sammy-B it means that I write music entering notes on a sequencer, before I press a play button 🙂. Much like writing sheet music and only after it has been written, performing it, but in electronic form.

[@Sammy-B]

@jantuitman ok. I'm just trying to work out if the 404 would fit that. You can sequence empty pads into a step sequencer, say 1 or 2 bars, and then drop different samples onto those sequenced pads. You can swap pads around, which would alter where they sat in the sequence. I think some people do use it that way. You can sequence in real time too, of course.

[@jantuitman]

@@Sammy-B ok, curious what that means? do you mean step sequencing on the SP404 itself or midi triggering the pads from an external step sequencer? And how would swapping pads work?

[@Creecher10]

The sp404 is a beast! I absolutely love the new looper mode with the recent update. Made sampling things in much simpler and I got seamless loops no problem. Also, I thought SBS only went back 25 seconds? Must've missed it being 40 seconds, I'll have to dig through the manual again and see

[@FreeBeat]

Pretty sure I read it's around 40! Super handy haha. Thanks for watching :)

[@JACKSTAY]

In the menus, set it to SBS (long) for the 40 seconds

[@mikezoltan3227]

I owned the old sp404. Didnt have any problems understanding it. I've owned this for about 5 months now. I can't even figure out how to use the website to update the device or drop samples on the pads. 😊

[@FreeBeat]

Oh no! Are you getting errors or something?

[@mikezoltan3227]

@@FreeBeat Yes, it says I've downloaded what I need and then there is nothing there when I go to open it. I think maybe my operating system is too old. Windows 10?

[@798beer]

live looper is great you shuold try it with your guitar!

[@FreeBeat]

Idk if my guitar skills are good enough for that haha, maybe bass!

[@dontwatch1227]

Well there goes my next check... Thanks😢

[@FreeBeat]

Make sure it's not just the G.A.S. talking! What're you gonna be using the 404 for?

[@jimjamjerry]

It’s so worth it!! Have fun

[@loubang100]

It's definitely a Swiss Army knife

[@FreeBeat]

Absolutely!

[@ghostcoder3342]

so awesome but the sequencer is not working to me.. the tr style is bad.. and im not a finger drummer.. :( but with my polyene tracker it starts to work like it should! :)

[@FreeBeat]

Ah, to each their own. I absolutely love the TR style sequencer!

[@james9789]

Is there anything i can plug my bass into just like what your doing but with less buttons less complexity.somewhere I can play to drums capturing the bass parts.?

[@FreeBeat]

It's actually pretty simple to record bass/guitar into the SP-404MKII! Maybe I'll do a dedicated video on it :)

[@james9789]

That would make a great video I think a lot of musicians like this product but are similar to me a bit daunted by the amount on offer.Youve got me more interested in it now using it on a basic recording level ,just need to not get distracted by the wealth of buttons.Ive had lots of gear over the years but never really got on with Roland menus and operating systems.Another option I'm looking into is the Yamaha seq track.

[@tysonsaner2527]

👍👍

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks!

[@Hakucho64]

Newbie question, could you record your entire jam to a sample?

[@TheChameleon2008]

i think you can record up to 16 minutes to a pad.

[@FreeBeat]

Yup, 16 minutes per pad!

[@PololiNuskil]

Assuming your SP-404 MKII is on firmware 4.0.4? A big bug in it! Load a sample from sd-card and resample, instant crash. Roland will update the 4.0.4 firmware as soon as possible.

[@FreeBeat]

OH you might be right! I don't do a ton of exporting from the SD card anymore (most of my stuff is already on there) so I didn't notice that. Nice catch. Hopefully it's fixed soon.

[@rexcellencemagee6729]

I do agree it is so awesome you can’t remember all the button combinations. I have ordered the Yamaha Seqtrack as well,

[@FreeBeat]

Curious as to what you'll think of the Seqtrak :)

[@alancalvitti]

the display tho, why isnt it a xy pad like kaoss

[@FreeBeat]

What do you mean?

[@mikoajczeski1272]

better than smpltrek?

[@FreeBeat]

Too different to compare I think.

[@TheChameleon2008]

BARROW? YOU TELL ME YOU DONT OWN IT? SHAME ON YOU MY FRIEND!!!!

[@FreeBeat]

I'll get my own before I have to send this one back, I promise!

[@TheChameleon2008]

@@FreeBeat word, but if Roland where smart they would let you buy it with as nice discount :)