I have just a few questions about the 404sx and production

[Deva.]

What I want to know is:

What is the ducking/sidechain compressing trick exactly?

What does compressing actually do?

Can you have your drum track and sample/synth/watever track on different pads through resampling?

How to I pause/stop certain tracks while my other tracks are still playing,
and how can I play new tracks over existing tracks? Would I use the pause button?

How can I have my audio be recorded by DAWs such as ableton? Just play into them? Also, how can I route effects through them?

Are there other ways to chop samples?

Sorry if a couple of these seem really n00b, i'm new to this shyt

[hseiken]

Whoa there, cowboy...let's take it easy...

What I want to know is:
What is the ducking/sidechain compressing trick exactly?

It's something 404SX cannot technically do. It's using one signal to modulate the volume of another signal. I.E. that 'pumping' sound of a 4/4 kick controlling the 'pump' of the music.

What does compressing actually do?

It's meant to keep sound generally even. However, it can be abused to get that pumping sound mentioned or any number of other weird volume effects.

Can you have your drum track and sample/synth/watever track on different pads through resampling?

I don't understand the question.

How to I pause/stop certain tracks while my other tracks are still playing,
and how can I play new tracks over existing tracks? Would I use the pause button?

Still don't understand your question. Are you talking about sequence or samples? For samples, you change the type of sample to loop. Then when you trigger the pad it plays forever until you trigger it again and it stops playing. I can't answer sequencer questions because I literally never use it. Ever.

How can I have my audio be recorded by DAWs such as ableton? Just play into them? Also, how can I route effects through them?

Yeah, it's just audio. If you got a place to plug in your SP and software to record it, it's not any different than recording your guitar. You may want to midi sync it so you can send 'play' data via midi to 404 to sync up tracks, but that's not necessary at all.

Are there other ways to chop samples?

If you're coming from a DAW, you've had the easy life. You gotta put in work on the 404. SX makes it a bit easier, though. But basically, you're going to copy your sample over and over and set the MARKS on each copy manually.

Sorry if a couple of these seem really n00b, i'm new to this shyt

The first step to being good at something is doing it for the first time.

[Deva.]

Whoa there, cowboy...let's take it easy...

Can you have your drum track and sample/synth/watever track on different pads through resampling?

I don't understand the question.

How to I pause/stop certain tracks while my other tracks are still playing,
and how can I play new tracks over existing tracks? Would I use the pause button?

Still don't understand your question. Are you talking about sequence or samples? For samples, you change the type of sample to loop. Then when you trigger the pad it plays forever until you trigger it again and it stops playing. I can't answer sequencer questions because I literally never use it. Ever.

Sorry about that, what I meant was if it was possible to record separate tracks on to different pads through re sampling. Like drums on pad 1 and your sample on pad 2. I don't plan on sequencing either.

My second question was how to pause your loops, like in this vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUru_zM6Aio

What is he doing exactly? (props to sleepyeyes too)

And in this one, you hear how the synth comes in at 0:18:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5GXnljt44U

How does he do that, does he have that part on a separate pad? (Props to TUX KAMEN tho)

Thanks for the other answers to my questions!

[Om_Audio]

What I want to know is:

What is the ducking/sidechain compressing trick exactly?
Allows you to use a sound like a kick drum trigger the compressor so the track gets compressed when kick hits to allow the kick to be emphesized and/or =tamed= if it is too loud. Here--> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91qs3fux5HY

What does compressing actually do?
compression basically squashes the peaks of a wav form very quickly and dynamically thus making everything quieter which allows to to RAISE the volume without clipping or distorting BUT with less dynamics. Over compression especially in the beatmaking world is rampant. Use with discretion IMO. You do not want your mix wav form to look like a brick but to be spiky which shows there are dynamics.

Can you have your drum track and sample/synth/watever track on different pads through resampling?
No, when you resample you are generally trying to -combine- pads or apply an effect or change to a new pad.

How to I pause/stop certain tracks while my other tracks are still playing,
and how can I play new tracks over existing tracks? Would I use the pause button?
No, you use the "Remain/Current Pad" button to choose what pad is active. How that pad reacts to pressing it depends on the Gate and Loop settings for that pad.

How can I have my audio be recorded by DAWs such as ableton? Just play into them? Also, how can I route effects through them?
Just plug it into your DAW audio interface and play it but I prefer to pop the SD card out of the 404SX and into the computer and copy the files directly. As for effects you can either apply an effect on the 404 on the way out, resample the effect, add effects in your DAW, etc.

Are there other ways to chop samples?
? You can chop in the 404 or in your DAW. There are different techniques and tips like this one for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-GztP2f0Js

Have fun, experiment, =read the manual=, SEARCH the forums, join in on the battles and resample challenges you will learn a ton!! Welcome!!

Sorry if a couple of these seem really n00b, i'm new to this shyt

[Om_Audio]

My second question was how to pause your loops, like in this vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUru_zM6Aio

What is he doing exactly? (props to sleepyeyes too)
He is not pausing loops but using the "Effect Grab" feature to turn on the Isolator effect and has it set to cut out all the low frequencies.

And in this one, you hear how the synth comes in at 0:18:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5GXnljt44U

How does he do that, does he have that part on a separate pad? (Props to TUX KAMEN tho)
Ya most likely the part is on another pad. No way to know in this example for all we know he did the whole thing in a DAW

Thanks for the other answers to my questions!