bronze said ::

the roadblock now is that I can't get much of a rhythm going between them yet AND more importantly i pretty much gave up on trying to match any kinda drums with the sample sound for now.....the drums are always either way too low or just grimy-er sounding or just don't fit....(keep in mind all i have is drum LOOPS at the moment)..

i need some grimey drums i think, that's my next step...

_____________________________________________

The drum loops are probably different bpm and length to the violins. Thats why i suggested using loops from a cd rom from comp music mag - they are generally kept at a precise length and same bpm... just makes it a bit easier going thru what yu are.

see if this works - get yr drum loop going then manually hit the violin pad - try gate and one shot - but try hit it on different beats - one - two - THREE(hit) - four - one etc...

OR - much easier -
try using the preset patterns while pressing the violin samples - change the bpm as you go until you get a bpm the violins DO sound comfortable with.

yr probably better trying to come to grips with patterns now - you can always grime up any drums with the effects in the 404 later.

you didnt buy this to become a slave to other people's drum loops - this isnt acid software , it won't magically match the bpms to other samples.

and any sample is too loud - do as drewzle said - hit the pad then the edit button and turn knob 3 down to reduce its volume.

i know the patterns are very daunting to somebody who just opened the box - I'll admit i may be wrong but in the long run i think once you grasp how they work and program them, you will feel much more confident with the machine.

thanks for the words of advice everyone...still fuckin around with this today

You said that some of your samples sound too loud? Look in the manual it explains how you can adjust the volume of an individual sample without the need to resample it or anything.

Don't give up, it might take some time to get your head around this box and to find a workflow that does t for you. The more you practice the better you get.

Peace

after playin around with this for practically 3 full days I'm definitely gettin used to it..

i was able to chop up a drum loop to get the drum sounds I want and I'm playing around with them over a chopped up sample....for my first beat ever, I've got an OKAY little melody (very simple) going with it but i'm absolutely clueless when trying to record the beat as a pattern...

the Quantize function is confusing the shit outta me

good to hear you feeling more comfortable - but discovering new pain!!!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargggggggh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

recording a pattern means the 404 is just remembering at what intervals you are striking what pads. That means you can spend time making a pattern and then later swap another sample to that pad so you keep the pattern but chanae the sound samples played.

have you got anything to work by following the instructions on page 44 of the manual?

quantize is splitting a bar (or measure) into equal parts -

setting it on 4 is saying that even if you slap pads loosely it will "line up" yr strikes to the nearest part.

if your timing is poor it will 'correct" you - to the divisions of the parts you set to (4, 8 16, 32 and the "t's" stand for triplets - no need to go there just yet)

so trying to record a 2 bar length pattern - set quantize to 4 - watch the beat counter - when its on 1.1 and 1.3 and 2.1 and 2.3 - hit pad 9 on bank A for kick (like in the manual) then try pad 10 (snare) on 1.2 and 1.4 and 2.2 and 2.4-

you should get a basic machinelike dook, dock, dook, dock....

(at that time rza will suddenly swivel his head and peer over his shoulder - "who's that coming up behind?")

then try the hihats on 8 as the manual says...

(madlib goes into panic mode and immediately calls mf doom to hustle his ass to the lab...)

if yu get stuck - call back and state exactly what on the page is stalling you.

remember that each time you record a pattern - or go over a previous one - the quantize will defauklt to "off" meaning it won't line up any of your strikes to anything other than the exact moment you struck.

when you get to that level that means yr badass warrior.

I am stuck at mewling acolyte

^^been workin on that today since I got home from work and all I have to say is:

oh shit, now I'm hooked..

Welcome to the club.

we knew it would happen - it just took you to make it happen.

next step - search for posts on "air swing" to give your patterns some groove and still use quantize.

best of luck.

i'm p*ssed off at my 404's card reader giving up the ghost - no word on a tech to send it to yet - i mean an internal card reader, what you can buy at a supermarket as external accessory for peanuts.. it just goes???

that's fisher-price shit.

if it can't be fixed i won't be going near another roland gear again - that's way too expensive. I would never commit to a 555 or higher after this incident.

i got a lab now - rustled up some old midi cables - scored a 4th hand drum machine - will drive that and the crapped 404 from a mrs4 which WILL have to double as a sampler - it's hilarious.

I don't know about lo-fi, it will definitely be lo-tech.

Dude, that sucks. Roland should replace it for free if you pay for the shipping to get it to them. But I can say I haven't had any real problems with the card reader in my 303. Although sometimes if I switch a pattern and apply an effect or something on the fly, there will be a terrible ring mod type stuttering sound and all my samples on my card will be instantly corrupted. Then I have to format the card and it's fine, until it randomly happens again.