The MK2 is such an amazing little device. I fill mine with ambient samples, take it to my favourite places, stick my headhones in and just zone out. Music therapy away from the studio.
@@RickyTinez I had a mk2 for a few moons. I bought this Ripcord 6v adapter cable and a big-ish 20000mah power bank and it would last till my hair become grey. Even my DT2 I bought a 10 euro usb to 12v etc adapter and a 10000mah power bank and I get more time than I can usually last-invest in a session before needing a break. At least 2-3 if not more hours
hi Ricky, hello everyone from Italy. I recently got the MK2 and despite being used to Roland platforms since the MC303, I found this 404mk2 quite surprising due to the amount of things it can do; having bought it a few months ago I found myself facing all the updates at once and videos like this are like gold.🙏🏻
I did love that skipback feature! That was probably my favorite aspect of the MK2. I ended up getting rid of mine for an MPC One Plus. The SX will never leave my lab, but I do wish it had skipback! Haha. Almost made me miss the MK2 here... almost but not quite 😁 Dude. Loving every step of you getting doper and doper on the keys. So refreshing to see.
Bro.. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, time, and energy to relentlessly give to us, for idk how many years now. Haha! Thank you so much! I appreciate you.
skipback is probably THE thing i love when recording, there's no RECORD light on to fluff your take brilliant... ALL samplers/daw's should have it. Roland make the future - now.
skipback is an absolute killer feature on the SP. So liberating for instrument recordings as well as being able to capture all sorts of happy accidents and control all shenanigans. professional field recorders often have this record buffer function as well. should be on every sampler tbh.
This gave me a great reason to pull out my iPad and fire up Loopy Pro. It has the same feature. I definitely come up with better random ideas while jamming with synth sounds. Thanks for the reminder of a good use for that feature.
This is totallly how I like to work too, for all the same reasons. Much easier to get into a groove while playing along and brainstorming anytime. Studio One has this for both audio & MIDI, so that's what I use instead of the SP for now. I really hope this is implemented directly into the Digi 2 though...
oh boy you need to know about rolling sampler! i just found it last week, its pretty much exactly what loopback is but in vst form, i now have everything routed through that and i can just grab a little bit of audio form it when i inevetable cook someting up but forget to hit record or didnt even know i was going to play something fire!. ofcourse this works too but i thought i let everyone know since it might also help with the stuf in daw.
Yes! There is another sampler that could theoretically do that, and you're the right person to pass the message : It is the Octatrack with the pickup machine! It can be done with a set number of bars or make it record till the end of the buffer space at the moment. There is room for improvement, and I guess it might not be to complicated to implement.
I think it would also be interesting for instruments to implement something like "MIDI skipback" - like, something that records the last 40 seconds of note on-off messages and knob/fader movements, instead of audio. That way you could "rewind" back to something you were doing, and maybe tweak it on the fly when you play it back, or swap out whatever patch you were jamming with for a different one and retain the same note information.
I've been frustrated by how few samplers and live looping systems do this since pre-2010, so as soon as I saw the title of this video I got unreasonably excited. It's really not a tricky thing to implement in software and I'm really surprised that it's taken so long for someone to add a feature like this to a popular piece of gear.
Anyway you can technically do something similar with Data Bender, which is one of the main reasons I picked one up, but I would love to see features like this added to more samplers/grooveboxes because it's really handy to be able to go back and reference previous takes/beats/bars, hack them up and re-arrange them, etc...
This is one of the killer features of the mk2 that I haven’t really seen implemented as cleanly on anything other than a computer. I’ve been using this technique to play drums on the sp pads via a pattern or sample while recording a synth with the ext in clean using skip back. I chop it up and have a synced jam.
I firmly believe that there is not a single musician or set-up that could not benefit from the addition of an SP404mk2. It can do more than I can remember lol
Ooh yeah, the software updates have been rolling in and it’s even better these days. The used market has been stable but mint condition ones are a steal. I had little interest in them when they came out having an MPC X already, but it’s a really different device and workflow that is fun and inspiring in its own way. Plus it looks like a giant calculator which is always funny to me for some reason.
Beautiful groove, Ricky,! You truly are a maestro level creatror of vibe, Sir. How's the learning curve of the 404? Thanks for sharing. Knowledge is power, king, and one of thee finest gifts, along with laughter, a person can give or receive. 🤍
Skipback gives you the ability to capture so many possibilities sound deconstruction and re-contextualizing of sounds. Try taking a sound and set it to ping pong looping, then just go ham on the DJFX looper. The textures alone that you can get if you get the playback going extremely slowly where it's almost just noise offer some amazing lofi soundbeds tat you can use to layer so many elements with in tracks. Ive spent hours just experimenting with playing samples using the ping pong loop setting and the DJFX loop and saving the skip back audio that I pulled out of that process.
The 404mk2 has so many great parts. It’s worth it even if you aren’t using it as a main sampler … (I use it as end of chain, mostly for effects, though!)
Oooo maybe an analog heat+fx video is on the cards. One of those devices that when used intentionally it feels subtle but as soon you turn it off you just instantly hear the difference
Doesn't Ableton always capture midi notes even when not recording already? I'm pretty sure it has for a while. And it doesn't take up hdd space unless you commit it to the track
Nooo Ricky…I was just whishing that Ableton had this feature yesterday. But I can/must not by any new Sampler 😭 Anyway, great video as usual, thanks for sharing! Maybe you guys can put SBS in the OT mk2 ;)
Sp404 mk2 is really a special device. Thru the years I had many machines, but these is in a league of its own. I love it and hate at the same time, but theres no machine that can do the same things in the same way, and with a baseus 20.000mhn powerbank and a usb c cable I get kinda 10 to 12 hours of pure musical fun... Its not a perfect device, but its perfect... And these and a Digitakt are kinda perfect companions 🎶🤘✨
Do you not find the SP is so alien in terms of functionality and interaction, I see it as a sampler but alongside a Digitakt the whole work flow is so strange and confusing. Maybe my mind is just wired to elektron stuff, they just feel simpler to work than the SP!?
Thanks for the awesome work. Is there a reason why theres no mention of the usamo by expert sleeper when it comes to midi clock from DAW to external gear? Out of curiosity.
hey, yo ricky, sounds great. i never noticed that synthesizer shelf/drawer thingy to your left. what is that thing? seems legit solution for say 3 or 4 large synths.
I came to this conclusion a little while ago: feed EVERYTHING through the SP. One thing though, do you find the SP colors the sound you feed into it, even with zero effects on the input sound? I feel like it does just a little bit..it's not a huge dealbreaker for me but yeah. Dope video as always!
I found this annoying when I just wanted to play a simple piano part as the sp apples a noise gate or something to it even without effects. I’d love to be able to use mine like Ricky again but the difference in audio quality really bothered me I ended up reverting back.
Ricky do you find the audio quality isn’t as good passing through the 404? I get a noise gate or something in mine even when no effects applied, so it’s hard to make soft ambient music using the same method as you.
are there any similarities between the digitakt 2 and the sp 404 v2? Obviously, there are clear differences. Does the pattern sequencer in the SP 404 work like close or as easy as the sequencer with the digitakt 2?
Hmm. Makes me think. Skip back. I work in the movies and the recordist`s recorders have a „pre-record“ function that does something similar to the 404 but a bit longer. You can set it to a few minutes i think. I wonder how hard it would be to create a „studio buffer“ device that constantly records the last 10 minutes of anything you do. Should not take that much memory if its only acting like a 10 minute buffer. I mean i think even some Surveillance cameras constantly record while they erase the older stuff.
oh that's right! I think my zoom might have that setting. Also I didn't mention it in the video but skipback also stops recording after the audio has fallen below a certain threshold for 3 seconds. So in my situation its pretty nice incase I take a break between chords it compiles them closer
Don't forget you can run MIDI to the 404 from the Digitakt as well and sequence samples from it that way. You don't even have to record everything into the Digitakt and that way you can still use the awesome FX on the 404 on the fly.
I mean sure, but Ableton does this for your entire project by default, with basically zero setup. My point is, with a laptop and a midi controller, there is no actual advantage to using hardware like the SP-404 anymore, and anyone using it is spending a whole lot of money just to limit themselves. A lot. In some vain attempt to gain credibility as an artist, or because they simply don't know any better and have been had by brand loyalty or some misplaced sense of what a "real artist" should be using. One or two of the plethora of Midi controllers available for computer setups will give you every conceivable button, pad, and knob option, and don't even try to talk to me about portability, because a setup like the one in the video is literally less portable than my laptop and midi controller are together. So it'd be great if all the "hardware" people (it's still a digital computer, these devices are not analog gear, and don't really fit the old definition of hardware anymore. Despite the Elektron stuff having analog components, it's still BASICALLY digital, as digital as my laptop with a hardware compressor in my soundcard is) out there could stop pretending their setup is somehow superior because their OS and firmware is hardcoded and locked down by a manufacturer instead of made by Windows, Apple or Linux. Because its the same thing, and you're all officially just playing yourselves, and spending absurd amounts of money on crap your laptop would do for free so you can feel like the trendy, brand shilling hipsters you are. And if you added a midi controller and a little setup and thought to a DAW, there would be functionally no difference except thousands of dollars in price, and your DAW having exponentially more options, which limits you less as an artist. Embarrassing so many otherwise seemingly intelligent people still hop on the hardware is better train.
I don't push the superiority of either approach. They each have their advantages. For me, after staring at a computer screen all day on my day job, creating on a computer is unappealing. Also, I can't make decisions well with so many options available. I need limits to be more creative. It may sound cliche, but I've found it to be true for me.
I hear it too coming from my phone speaker but only with the volume super high, it sounds like either a piece of gear or computer hum. My mpc one has this exact noise and its super annoying. But here on this video its not so bad.
The MK2 is such an amazing little device. I fill mine with ambient samples, take it to my favourite places, stick my headhones in and just zone out. Music therapy away from the studio.
How long is your battery life typically?
@@RickyTinez I had a mk2 for a few moons. I bought this Ripcord 6v adapter cable and a big-ish 20000mah power bank and it would last till my hair become grey. Even my DT2 I bought a 10 euro usb to 12v etc adapter and a 10000mah power bank and I get more time than I can usually last-invest in a session before needing a break. At least 2-3 if not more hours
@@RickyTinez 2-3hours with eneloop pro rechargeable. You can always get more with a powerbank.
I'm getting at least four hours using a ripchord and power bank
@@Jay.Ramone would be interested to know more specs about the powerbank.
If I had one wish, it would be for more SP content. It was always inspiring how you got everything out of the machines ;) Also with the mk2
Really nice flow! The MK2 is an incredible piece of gear for the price.
this beat is absolutely amazing. need this on streaming rn
hi Ricky, hello everyone from Italy. I recently got the MK2 and despite being used to Roland platforms since the MC303, I found this 404mk2 quite surprising due to the amount of things it can do; having bought it a few months ago I found myself facing all the updates at once and videos like this are like gold.🙏🏻
great to see another SP video from you! always appreciate the helpful tips!
I did love that skipback feature! That was probably my favorite aspect of the MK2. I ended up getting rid of mine for an MPC One Plus. The SX will never leave my lab, but I do wish it had skipback! Haha. Almost made me miss the MK2 here... almost but not quite 😁
Dude. Loving every step of you getting doper and doper on the keys. So refreshing to see.
Bro.. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, time, and energy to relentlessly give to us, for idk how many years now. Haha! Thank you so much! I appreciate you.
skipback is probably THE thing i love when recording, there's no RECORD light on to fluff your take
brilliant... ALL samplers/daw's should have it.
Roland make the future - now.
I got so accustomed to skipback on my 404 that I started to resent Ableton for not having it lol
LOL!
@KenDonMusicYT I highly recommend getting Birds rolling sampler, it'll get you exactly that, just way better. :D
@@KenDonMusicYT ableton has midi capture though which is essentially the same thing Ctrl+Shift+C
@@Hoodyhoo504 I've rarely been recording midi lately but that is a great feature to have at hand
skipback is an absolute killer feature on the SP. So liberating for instrument recordings as well as being able to capture all sorts of happy accidents and control all shenanigans. professional field recorders often have this record buffer function as well. should be on every sampler tbh.
Bro such a good idea I’m definitely implementing this into my setup
The beat goes hard man. Love your videos and wisdom
This gave me a great reason to pull out my iPad and fire up Loopy Pro. It has the same feature. I definitely come up with better random ideas while jamming with synth sounds. Thanks for the reminder of a good use for that feature.
This is how I have mine setup. SSL big 6 with aux to mpc and/or sp404, can route anything to the sampler inputs. Great idea about the sbs integration
dope ass track ur working on. nice set up, I wouldn't have thought of working it out like that
This is totallly how I like to work too, for all the same reasons. Much easier to get into a groove while playing along and brainstorming anytime. Studio One has this for both audio & MIDI, so that's what I use instead of the SP for now. I really hope this is implemented directly into the Digi 2 though...
oh boy you need to know about rolling sampler!
i just found it last week, its pretty much exactly what loopback is but in vst form, i now have everything routed through that and i can just grab a little bit of audio form it when i inevetable cook someting up but forget to hit record or didnt even know i was going to play something fire!. ofcourse this works too but i thought i let everyone know since it might also help with the stuf in daw.
Good stuff sir! Definitely 1 of my fav features of 404mk2
Thanks for coming through man! 🙏🏼
This is gold baby! :0 I wish the 1010 Blackbox implemented this feature :\
Killer tip. I haven’t had the SP-404 long so I’m still learning it and didn’t even know about the skipback feature until now.
haha! It's great, and If you don't set the input setting to EXTIN it will work on when you're playing with the samples you have on the machine too!
Ricky - you can control so much of the SP via the DT sequencer including turning on and off effects and modulating them with LFOs.
Yes! There is another sampler that could theoretically do that, and you're the right person to pass the message :
It is the Octatrack with the pickup machine!
It can be done with a set number of bars or make it record till the end of the buffer space at the moment.
There is room for improvement, and I guess it might not be to complicated to implement.
i want know how to do that. how do you set it up?
Using the SP404mk2 this way with skip back is brilliant! Can’t wait to try it on mine😊
Thanks for the inspo, Ricky. Love to see how other folks use the MK2.
Work flow at a whole other level! 🔥
Lovely! Sounds great Ricky.
Thanks for listening
I think it would also be interesting for instruments to implement something like "MIDI skipback" - like, something that records the last 40 seconds of note on-off messages and knob/fader movements, instead of audio. That way you could "rewind" back to something you were doing, and maybe tweak it on the fly when you play it back, or swap out whatever patch you were jamming with for a different one and retain the same note information.
I've been frustrated by how few samplers and live looping systems do this since pre-2010, so as soon as I saw the title of this video I got unreasonably excited. It's really not a tricky thing to implement in software and I'm really surprised that it's taken so long for someone to add a feature like this to a popular piece of gear.
Anyway you can technically do something similar with Data Bender, which is one of the main reasons I picked one up, but I would love to see features like this added to more samplers/grooveboxes because it's really handy to be able to go back and reference previous takes/beats/bars, hack them up and re-arrange them, etc...
404mk2 is simply the best hardware sample processor I think. I feed samples to all of my other gear only after I mangle and effect them from the 404.
Then came along the Digitakt 2
This is one of the killer features of the mk2 that I haven’t really seen implemented as cleanly on anything other than a computer. I’ve been using this technique to play drums on the sp pads via a pattern or sample while recording a synth with the ext in clean using skip back. I chop it up and have a synced jam.
These 404's are all computers, they're just crappy, limited computers. Anyone pretending otherwise is kidding themselves.
Put the rolling sampler plug-in on your master in your daw and you can have the same functionality. It automatically deletes just like the sp404.
I firmly believe that there is not a single musician or set-up that could not benefit from the addition of an SP404mk2. It can do more than I can remember lol
Agreed. Every musician needs one.
Ooh yeah, the software updates have been rolling in and it’s even better these days. The used market has been stable but mint condition ones are a steal. I had little interest in them when they came out having an MPC X already, but it’s a really different device and workflow that is fun and inspiring in its own way. Plus it looks like a giant calculator which is always funny to me for some reason.
retrospective looping would be awesome on this box
Beautiful groove, Ricky,! You truly are a maestro level creatror of vibe, Sir.
How's the learning curve of the 404?
Thanks for sharing. Knowledge is power, king, and one of thee finest gifts, along with laughter, a person can give or receive. 🤍
ricky! you need to checkout rolling sampler by birds, it’s like skip back but for your daw/computer!!!
i thoroughly recommend Bird's Rolling Sampler too if you are working in a DAW
amazing for sound design and grabbing happy accidents
Skipback gives you the ability to capture so many possibilities sound deconstruction and re-contextualizing of sounds. Try taking a sound and set it to ping pong looping, then just go ham on the DJFX looper. The textures alone that you can get if you get the playback going extremely slowly where it's almost just noise offer some amazing lofi soundbeds tat you can use to layer so many elements with in tracks. Ive spent hours just experimenting with playing samples using the ping pong loop setting and the DJFX loop and saving the skip back audio that I pulled out of that process.
Really inspired me to make some music!
The 404mk2 has so many great parts. It’s worth it even if you aren’t using it as a main sampler … (I use it as end of chain, mostly for effects, though!)
Sort of regretting getting the Mpc one over the 404 tbh. I know more now about my workflow and this would sit centre desk for various reasons.
Oooo maybe an analog heat+fx video is on the cards. One of those devices that when used intentionally it feels subtle but as soon you turn it off you just instantly hear the difference
This is giving me some ideas! :) Thanks.
5:22 I've had the SP for about a year and I'm just finding out you can just auto chop like that??? Crazy
Doesn't Ableton always capture midi notes even when not recording already? I'm pretty sure it has for a while.
And it doesn't take up hdd space unless you commit it to the track
Yeah, skip back is central to my workflow on the 404 mk2
What a timing, I just dusted off my Mk2 and plugged it in :)
ricky my goat
love you man
Logic and MPC have that feature as well 👍🏾
Nooo Ricky…I was just whishing that Ableton had this feature yesterday.
But I can/must not by any new Sampler 😭
Anyway, great video as usual, thanks for sharing!
Maybe you guys can put SBS in the OT mk2 ;)
And by "everything" we mean the MPC
Sp404 mk2 is really a special device. Thru the years I had many machines, but these is in a league of its own. I love it and hate at the same time, but theres no machine that can do the same things in the same way, and with a baseus 20.000mhn powerbank and a usb c cable I get kinda 10 to 12 hours of pure musical fun... Its not a perfect device, but its perfect... And these and a Digitakt are kinda perfect companions 🎶🤘✨
Do you not find the SP is so alien in terms of functionality and interaction, I see it as a sampler but alongside a Digitakt the whole work flow is so strange and confusing. Maybe my mind is just wired to elektron stuff, they just feel simpler to work than the SP!?
@@ianbroome6652once you learn it, it’s like riding a back. The workflow is definitely different 😂 your right about that.
Thanks for the awesome work.
Is there a reason why theres no mention of the usamo by expert sleeper when it comes to midi clock from DAW to external gear?
Out of curiosity.
Such a cool feature. Ableton should introduce it as "capture audio" 🙃
You can keep on recording in Ableton and when you are done recording erease the samples. If you have a couple of free Gig.
hey, yo ricky, sounds great. i never noticed that synthesizer shelf/drawer thingy to your left. what is that thing? seems legit solution for say 3 or 4 large synths.
Should be built in in to Digitakt. But hey, how would you sell octa?
Trem-oloooooo
I came to this conclusion a little while ago: feed EVERYTHING through the SP. One thing though, do you find the SP colors the sound you feed into it, even with zero effects on the input sound? I feel like it does just a little bit..it's not a huge dealbreaker for me but yeah. Dope video as always!
I found this annoying when I just wanted to play a simple piano part as the sp apples a noise gate or something to it even without effects. I’d love to be able to use mine like Ricky again but the difference in audio quality really bothered me I ended up reverting back.
How come your Function button on the Digitakt II is now GREY vs OG Yellow??? Percs of working at Elektron or option to buy?
Ricky do you find the audio quality isn’t as good passing through the 404? I get a noise gate or something in mine even when no effects applied, so it’s hard to make soft ambient music using the same method as you.
Great content! Would it be possible to achieve a similar result when using an Octatrack Mk2? Is the OT able to always record the last x seconds?
are there any similarities between the digitakt 2 and the sp 404 v2? Obviously, there are clear differences. Does the pattern sequencer in the SP 404 work like close or as easy as the sequencer with the digitakt 2?
I know this is an SP404 video, but dude what's that stand you have your keyboard synths in? I've been looking for something like that.
Where do you get your cords from? Are those hosa?
SP-Bufferer MKIII
I'm surprised that no one has created a simple inline buffer recorder for this exact thing.
Rick, your UCXii has Durec which can record 36 tracks for hours on usb flash drive. Would not it be simpler and better?
Gonna sound like a noob, is the sp404 clock in sync with the digi?
Was gonna ask if you’re using analog heat. And to my surprise you are 😏😭
protools has something simillar feature wise
Hmm. Makes me think. Skip back. I work in the movies and the recordist`s recorders have a „pre-record“ function that does something similar to the 404 but a bit longer. You can set it to a few minutes i think. I wonder how hard it would be to create a „studio buffer“ device that constantly records the last 10 minutes of anything you do. Should not take that much memory if its only acting like a 10 minute buffer. I mean i think even some Surveillance cameras constantly record while they erase the older stuff.
oh that's right! I think my zoom might have that setting. Also I didn't mention it in the video but skipback also stops recording after the audio has fallen below a certain threshold for 3 seconds. So in my situation its pretty nice incase I take a break between chords it compiles them closer
@@RickyTinez let us s now if you come up with something !
✌
The MK2 is a cassette player on steroids.
Digikat needs that feature, then you don't need to go through so many converters.
No no no... my name is a button named skipback
Don't forget you can run MIDI to the 404 from the Digitakt as well and sequence samples from it that way. You don't even have to record everything into the Digitakt and that way you can still use the awesome FX on the 404 on the fly.
I love my 404 but I thought you were giving it a pass due to its clunky workflow???
They give him the gear free for making these videos
actually all the modern mpc's have "skip back" or "retrospective record"
mpc's retrospective record is for midi events not incoming audio.
I also have an mpc one btw.
Yea that's similar to "capture" in Ableton live but its midi events :/
@@cresshead true.
I mean sure, but Ableton does this for your entire project by default, with basically zero setup. My point is, with a laptop and a midi controller, there is no actual advantage to using hardware like the SP-404 anymore, and anyone using it is spending a whole lot of money just to limit themselves. A lot. In some vain attempt to gain credibility as an artist, or because they simply don't know any better and have been had by brand loyalty or some misplaced sense of what a "real artist" should be using. One or two of the plethora of Midi controllers available for computer setups will give you every conceivable button, pad, and knob option, and don't even try to talk to me about portability, because a setup like the one in the video is literally less portable than my laptop and midi controller are together.
So it'd be great if all the "hardware" people (it's still a digital computer, these devices are not analog gear, and don't really fit the old definition of hardware anymore. Despite the Elektron stuff having analog components, it's still BASICALLY digital, as digital as my laptop with a hardware compressor in my soundcard is) out there could stop pretending their setup is somehow superior because their OS and firmware is hardcoded and locked down by a manufacturer instead of made by Windows, Apple or Linux. Because its the same thing, and you're all officially just playing yourselves, and spending absurd amounts of money on crap your laptop would do for free so you can feel like the trendy, brand shilling hipsters you are. And if you added a midi controller and a little setup and thought to a DAW, there would be functionally no difference except thousands of dollars in price, and your DAW having exponentially more options, which limits you less as an artist. Embarrassing so many otherwise seemingly intelligent people still hop on the hardware is better train.
I don't push the superiority of either approach. They each have their advantages. For me, after staring at a computer screen all day on my day job, creating on a computer is unappealing. Also, I can't make decisions well with so many options available. I need limits to be more creative. It may sound cliche, but I've found it to be true for me.
@@chrisb3389 that's because you literally can't argue the thing you're using is better lmfao
You still have the high pitched hum. Maybe you are too old, because old people don't hear high frequencies.
doubt its age, probably years of being in a band with no earplugs! haha. Protect your hyper hearing please!
Sorry Ricky, old guy here with bad hearing and I can distinctly hear the hf buzz on this video too.
I hear it too coming from my phone speaker but only with the volume super high, it sounds like either a piece of gear or computer hum. My mpc one has this exact noise and its super annoying. But here on this video its not so bad.
I'm 53, my hearing is shot and I hear it too.
Where can we find this track?!!!