Sample based multi tracking

Yoodooright · Post by **Yoodooright** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 9:25 am

Hi,

Hopefully an easy one here but can't find it in the manual...

How do you sample onto a pad whilst another sample is playing from another pad?

I presume the 404 is capable of this otherwise how do you sample a vocal in time with another loop if you can't hear it whilst recording?

Thanks
YDR

fauna · Post by **fauna** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:41 pm

this is gonna kill ya, but you can't do it.

i'll give you a minute to yell and freak.

now, here's a workaround. if you are recording a vocal (for instance) in thru the 'external source', you can set the BPM to match the pad you wanna rap / sing over. the blue light will flash in time. you then use the flashing as yr "visual metronome" as it is called around these parts.

it takes a bit of practice, but you can get it so it will match up w/ the pad in question.

i donno if the other SP series stuff have other options....i assume the 555's loop function has a different solution.

good luck.

Yoodooright · Post by **Yoodooright** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 3:09 pm

Arrrrrrggghhhh!! okay, got it out.

Well that certainly sucks, id have thought Roland could have included this function quite easily, even just the ability to playback only one sample whilst recording would have opened up a whole new world for 404 users (and something i was expecting it to be able to do).

The fact is, singing/playing a live instrument to a flashing bpm counter means nill 'feel' for the sampled groove. yuk!

That said, its still a great bit of kit... but with a little more multitracking possibilities i'd be creaming my calvins over it.

ydr

fauna · Post by **fauna** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 4:21 pm

for sure, and we all feel yr pain. by this point i really expected somebody to 'mod' the box to provide this functionality, but clearly that's tough to do.

you CAN get that feel going, btw, and i've found that trial and error can sometimes lead to unplanned for and welcomed results.

Arndt · Post by **Arndt** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:07 pm

That was the first thing I was asking for when I checked the SPs out the first time at the store. It was big disappointment to learn, that there's no way to rec and play simultanously. Background is, that Roland/Boss doesn't want to compete with there own Multitrackers on the market, they would disappear successively, if the SPs could do it. As far as I know there are just a few Samplers capable to do so, which are the RedSound Soundbite, and the Kaoss Pad 3, which I owned for a while. The KP3 unfortunately suffers from some other shortcomings and records samples only up to about 16 sec anyway, then you have to overdub. Also the Roland RC50 Looper, which I own, can multitrack, but it's definitely not a Groovebox like the SPs. Not sure about the Akai MPC series, but I'm pretty sure they don't do it either (maybe the new 5K).

I'm going to get either the 404 or the 555 nonetheless, because the approach is more experimental with the SPs, while I can go straightforward with either my Multitracker or the RC50.

By the way, with the 555 you can record into LoopCapture running samples simultanously, but only up to 15 sec.

Bottomline is, that you have to combine several units to get what you want, each unit for the purpose it fits best.

Euclid Ov Oåklånd · Fri Jul 04, 2008 11:07 pm

Um, resample anyone?. The 303,404 and 555 can all do this.

MrZian · Post by **MrZian** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 7:29 am

but you cant resample the ext source. Can you?

georgesbrazil · Post by **georgesbrazil** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:20 pm

no, you cain't. gosh durnit.

jbl · Post by **jbl** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:48 am

the sp-808 can record while playing a track (which is just a sequenced sample/s). but it's sold as a multi-tracker/sampler.

Euclid Ov Oåklånd · Post by **Euclid Ov Oåklånd** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 3:19 am

On the 303 you can resample the ext. source. Great for dj's and the like, I use it all the time. I'll make a beat in the sampler and beatmatch a record to it through the ext. source.

Yoodooright · Post by **Yoodooright** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 4:30 pm

Just going back to this...

I've tried the 'flashing tempo light as visual metronome' trick but hit a block when trying to sample a complicated guitar part ie; having to take my eyes away from the fretboard to keep time!

Has anyone had success at hooking up some kind of midi metronome so you can listen to that click whilst in sampling mode on the 404?

My set-up is a Microkorg driving the SP404 tempo and a bunch of old effects pedals... i don't really want to add anything much more than this so a laptop or seperate sequencer is out the question.

Any simple solutions out there?