404 workflow

[f1f2]

hi everyone, have some vague n00b questions for you. basically just trying to figure out a workflow with the 404sx. or maybe you could tell me how you do things.

so I usually make tracks on my esx/yamaha an1x/pedals --> ableton. i'm playing my first solo live show later this month and after a lot of deliberation i decided it would be best to take my tracks off ableton and on to a sampler. so I picked up a 404sx last month, cause the esx I have is always low on memory and I didn't want to play a laptop. I think the session view in ableton is pretty conducive to transferring things to a sampler too, because everything is in chunks.

I'm used to the esx though so i'm having trouble wrapping my brain around the 404. I chopped up all my songs in ableton into the main sections, like 2 bars of drum line a, drum line b, bass line a, bass line b, and then sequenced it all on the 404. this seems ok, but it also seems like there isn't a lot of flexibility, like if I want to build up the fuzz on the bass line and layer in a white noise buildup you cant really do that in pattern mode on the fly. I guess i should do that externally? was thinking a microsampler would be good for buildups. or am I on meth is that easy to do

I read the thread critiquing the sequencer on the 404, and it seems like the main beef is that its just clunky, but the sequencer was the first thing I understood. the resampling to one or 2 pads method seems really difficult to me if you have a complex track that isn't a jam? most of the stuff i'm doing is kinda post punk/italo sounding so the beats are pretty mechanical with particular arpeggios etc. anyway i guess what i'm saying is sequencing seems 100x easier than sampling to one pad, to me

that said today I was watching a lot of youtube demos to see how other people use the 404, and i'm pretty sure I didn't see one person using the pattern mode, everyone was sorta doing mpc finger style drumming techniques. so my other question is, is chopping up your tracks into sections and using the pattern mode sort of frowned on? is it the equivalent of premixing a dj session on an ipod?

uhh anyway hope that made sense!

[Rabot]

When I jam my tracks, I usually split my shit in 2 bars. I'll try to have at lease 1 of my sample in loop mode juste for the actual BPM/cohesion of the beat. Usually the bassline or drum. The other one are triggered on the fly.

Depending on your music, it could be different, but I usually have 2-3 drum pattern, 2 bass lines, and 3-4 main sample/synths part. I usually use 1-2 pad for drum / 1 shots.

[zeroblitzt]

like if I want to build up the fuzz on the bass line and layer in a white noise buildup you cant really do that in pattern mode on the fly.

You sure can. Say you have an 8 bar pattern for your buildup. You could have a "white noise buildup sample" that you could trigger manually or as part of the sample. You would switch to this buildup pattern, queue your next pattern, switch to pad mode and hold remain, choose your bass sample pad, apply whatever effect, and the 404 will automatically go to the next section of your song for you.

is chopping up your tracks into sections and using the pattern mode sort of frowned on? is it the equivalent of premixing a dj session on an ipod?

I dont think so... you gotta do what you gotta do. It took me a while but the way I prepare my songs for performance is sequence all the drums and "background samples" (anything thats like 4 or 8 bars long that is triggered at the beginning of the phrase). Then as that pattern is playing I layer other things on top. I don't think its cheating - its making life easier. To frown upon that would be frowning upon everyone who uses ableton live in a live setting... and many other programs / devices.

[f1f2]

@rabot the 2 bars bass things makes sense, seems like a good way to do it. a lot of my stuff is arpeggios and repetetive drums so i think it wouldn't work for me. like everything except the fx has to be dead on bpm. but anyway what youre saying seems to be the normal way


@zeroblitzt yeah the white noise buildup! i overlooked that.
ok here's a n00b question about that, so on the 404SX you can 'switch seamlessly between effects'. so if i'm playing a sequenced track with one of the samples being an arpeggiated synth and i want to apply a noise buildup to it, how do i do that seamlessly? without pausing the sample? the manual mentions nothing. or am i misinterpreting what seamlessly means

[IIIII]

if i understand what your trying to do- when the efx are off you can hold remain and tap the pad your sample is on, then when you turn the sample on it will effect that pad

[f1f2]

was wondering what the remain button did
will give that a try, thanks!