Pad Base Ch + 1 Questions:

1. I have my SP 404 set to Midi sync Off and C.1.
2. I have my SP 1200 set to Omni or Poly mode (this doesn't matter) and Midi Assignment Ch. 1.
3. I can hear and sequence all of the A and B pad notes coming from the SP 404 and using the SP 1200 as the sequencer.
4. I change my SP 1200's midi assignment to Ch. 2 but I cannot hear sounds (notes) from the SP 404's Channels C thru J.

I'm not clear on how this Pad Base Ch + 1 works and if I can actually just change Channel assignments on my SP 1200 to access these notes?

I checked my SP 404 to make sure I did not have the Gate button for sounds on because at first I thought perhaps sounds had the Gate on that was stopping them from being triggered.

It would be great if there was some tutorial on how to do this with these two machines or some chart of the two machines and matching notes etc. I have charts on the SP 1200 and SP 404 separate charts that came with the manuals but the 404 goes from 47 to 118 notes. And SP 1200 from 37 to 67 notes. Looking at the two charts together it seems as though Pad Base Ch A. and B. are the only two that will match the SP 1200 since Pad Base A. and B. go from Note# 47 to 70. I might not be totally reading this Midi Chart incorrectly but I'm just trying to match Note #'s here.

I realize that the SP 404 is mainly just a cool DJ and Producer effects sampler but I really want to be able to access most of the notes that are on the CF card (C thru J pads) and not just only have access to the A and B pad notes.



I have attached an excel file that I marked in Yellow, Light Blue, and Light Green the matching notes on both machines. It appears as though everything on F - J will not be triggered on the SP 1200. mmm...

Believe it or not, but this a common question here that gets answered pretty frequently. I just responded to a similar post yesterday, but I'll try to sum it up for you.

To be able to access other banks of sounds on the SP samplers you need to change the midi channel it receives on. You can only access two banks of sounds MAX at a time regardless of which midi channel you are on.

The way I have mine set up for controlling with external gear is that I have 8 midi channels on my groovebox. I dedicate 2 midi channel to control externally (the 404)

Midi channel 1 accesses bank C
Midi channel 2 accesses bank G

By doing this I can put drums on bank C and my main samples on bank G and use the channel mute buttons on the groovebox to work as mute groups on the 404.

Once again, my 404 is set to receive on channel 1 ( I turned on the machine and held down pad1)


This is how the SP404 midi is setup:

midi channel 1 = banks C/G - when controlled channel 1 will be bank C and bank G will be midi channel 2

midi channel 2 = banks D/H - when controlled midi channel 2 is bank D and bank H will be channel 3

midi channel 3 = banks E/I - when controlled midi channel 3 is bank E and bank I will be channel 4

midi channel 4 = banks F/J - when controlled midi channel 4 is bank F and bank J will be channel 5

* Important...... EACH TIME YOU GO UP A MIDI CHANNEL YOU WILL ALSO NEED TO GO UP AN OCTAVE ON YOUR MIDI CONTROLLER TO ACCESS THE SOUNDS.

Hello?

Did this help?

I'm still only able to access A, B, and C /G. I'm sure the midi implementation from one Roland machine to the next is very intuitive. You have the SP 404 and Roland Sampling Groove Box which are a matched pair. As for me it's not that simple. Basically I just wanted to make a midi template floppy disc that I could save on my SP 1200 so each time I want to sequence samples from my SP 404 to my SP 1200 drum sequencer I don't need to go fishing around or moving samples on the 404 all the time because I already know what pads (notes) will be triggered on the SP 404.

Here's what I tried and the results:

<B>First I tried Midi Channel 2:</B>

1. Midi Channel 2 (on the SP 404) I get C / G.
1. Midi Channel 3 (on the SP 1200). Even if I switch to Midi Channel 3 I'm still only able to here notes on C / G.

<B>Second I tried Midi Channel 1:</B>

1. Midi Channel 1 (on the SP 404) I get A and B.
1. Midi Channel 2 (on the SP 1200). Even if I switch to Midi Channel 3 I'm still only able to here notes on A and B.

I will try playing around more with these midi channels but like I said I'm still having trouble trying to access my midi notes on D / H on my SP 404.

I tried to attach original excel document but this forum doesn't allow it so here's a .jpg of the midi matching notes on SP 1200 and SP 404. The matching notes I highlighted in Blue, Green and Yellow.

I don't think it has anything to do with using a Roland made groovebox. I midi'd the sp404 to a Korg Electribe the same way. Make sure to go through all the octaves on the SP1200 to find the right spot. Like I said, everytime you change a midi channel, the octave to trigger sounds changes as well. Switch your SP404 to midi "auto". That's what mine is set to, not sure if it'll make a difference.

I know there are other cats around this forum that have a Roland SP and a EMU SP.

If you look at my two midi note charts it outlines all the midi notes that match on the two machines by color code and note numbers. The only other Pad I left out was D/H PAD 1 and note 53 on the SP 404 that matches on the SP 1200. Other than this last pad and note that matches I can only midi the Pads and Banks on the SP 404 that are highlighted in color.

If you know for a fact that you can midi all of these notes that are not highlighted in my chart please let me know how to proceed and do this? I have never seen any other cats trying to midi these two machines aside from me on this forum or any other place on the internet. Most cats use SP 1200 with S950 or S900. Sometimes SP 1200 with some old Ensoniq EPS keyboard. For now I need to move all my sounds to one of the C / G or D 1 pads on the CF card. I don't like using the Default A and B pads to do midi with because these pads are memorized by the SP 1200 and used again when it's not desired. For example if I do a track with a two part loop broken up in two pieces assigned to PAD 1 and PAD 2 on Bank A and these two pads are following the midi sequencer drum patterns on the SP 1200 at 90BPM. Now say I want to do another beat on my SP 1200 and use the same PAD 1 and PAD 2 on Bank A but this time I have a new floppy disc with a new beat on my SP 1200 that's 85BPM now when I load up a new CF card on the SP 404 and start to play my SP 1200 the default A and B pads that were midi'd previously are remembered but this is not desired since I'm trying to create a new beat so now I need to mute them if I want to use them again later with the 90BPM beat or remove them but then they'll be lost and i will need to put them back on these pads later when I load up the 90BPM beat.

Also there are no octaves mentioned or seen anywhere on the SP 1200. It's just straight MIDI Parameters 01 - 16. Pitch Keys YES or NO (only used with keyboards) and Omni and Poly which doesn't mean much in this case really.

Maybe now your asking yourself why do I use the SP 404 to do MIDI with the SP 1200 it's because I love the SP 404's effects, vinyl sim, and sampling functions.

Most of the questions I ask on this forum are about MIDI and so far I've learned a lot from friends and this forum a little. The only other cat I see on this forum that might be doing MIDI with SP 404SX and SP 1200 is 'ellaguru'. I saw pics of his set up and it looks like he's got SP 1200, SP 404SX and SP 303 then he uses Propellerhead Record to do MIDI sync. But, I'm not sure if he uses the SP 1200's MIDI sequencer or if he bothers trying to MIDI SP 404 with the SP 1200 at all? He might just be doing everything in Propellerhead Record.