Some SP555 tips / methods

[blavatsky]

Just some methods/tips I use on the SP555

-High pass filter your drums that are not the bass to free up room.....EQ / LPF/ sub your bass to get it heavy

-You can use sub-bass like a bass line, by using it on a drum break (for example)...tweak threshhold to get just the notes you want, then tweak pitch. Loop capture this. Add fuzz, vox changer, etc to get it less like a pure sine wave.

-Some random FX that are cool: reverse (the one with reverse delays afterwards), pan/tremolo (some good stereo panning to be had), Auto-wah (can do pretty good Dub bass, or make anything sound like a wah guitar with enough tweaking). Vocal changer (or whatever its called) can beef up drums or make sort of an FM/Sync/formant sound on instrumental stuff , and can be dialed to almost "tune" with the key its in.

-The SUB pad lets you switch patterns instantly rather than at the end of the bar...this is very useful for breaks, quick switch ups, ambient sections, rolls.....consider making 1 bar patterns for these.

-SUB pad is also great for making your own non-quantized snare rolls...turn off fixed velocity and get rolling....

-Use effect memory; set up isolator, delay, fuzz etc and remember where they are. You can do some really fast changes between effects and flip them on and off fast this way. Try flipping between switching patterns and effect memory to keep it interesting.

-Once you have a pattern you like, copy it to a couple other spots.
Modify the patterns (drop out bass, etc). Now capture those patterns in loop mode, and drop each to a pad. You can have entire patterns on one pad that way, only using 2 voices up

-One you have some patterns on pads, you can play them like samples with rolls, stutters, off time stuff etc. Now sequence those pads

-use roll to get your hi hats tight, then add a filter/vinyl flutter/delay to make them evolve (save on a pattern, then as a loop to pad)

-Use all that pad space to make variations of bass/snare /hh etc

-Vinyl FX and BPM looper can be very cool and stuttery, or sound terrible (I'm usually in the middle). Play with the knobs to learn the sweet spots.
Vinyl FX can also be used to dial down the pitch (sometimes better than the pitcher) but you are limited to 10% increments basically

-Delay/Tape Echo keeps going after a pattern change, can be very useful for build ups/dubby parts/disguising a weird change - then you can dial it back/shut it off based on the new pattern

-Loop capture is not perfect, but if you set the BPM and the bars and record silence first then dub over that (w/ metonome still going) you can get it pretty tight.

-Watch out for peaking....a sample that plays that makes the display flash red has peaked. When resampling leave a little headroom; you can go up in volume but you can't fix a peak afterwards.

-The D-beam synth will make you sound like a douche
EDIT: idea, if you resampled the notes (individually) and put some good effects, might be ok played from pads.

[EndorShores]

^^^^^^^
Serious, serious 555 knowledge here. Better get out the notebooks and thank Blavatsky for this serious run down. I learned a few things in there as well. Ive used that bpm set for the loop capture before but still felt that I have better luck just using it on free and trying to get it as close as I can on my own. I am going to try to record the blank space first and overdub it. GREAT TIP. The D-beam synth tip was umm but yeah you are right. I have gotten some cool sounds out of resampling some synth stabs with different effects.

I also learn something new EVERYTIME I open the manual on this thing. The other day I learned you can turn effects on all pads in just the bank you are currenty in by pressing effect assign and pads 1 and 16 at the same time. Thanks again for the rundown Blav. Anyone else???

[springwater]

nice tips.
I used to do the record silence loop capture thing. Just never captured my loops right to the tempo when i was hitting the end point. Made it so easy to lay stuff down like drums, then bounce it to a pad, then overdub some bass, then take that to the pads. Then you have 16 pads of an entire track. I wish all sp's had that feature, sort of like resampling and recording at the same time. I hear the 303 can do it.

[EndorShores]

nice tips.
I used to do the record silence loop capture thing. Just never captured my loops right to the tempo when i was hitting the end point. Made it so easy to lay stuff down like drums, then bounce it to a pad, then overdub some bass, then take that to the pads. Then you have 16 pads of an entire track. I wish all sp's had that feature, sort of like resampling and recording at the same time. I hear the 303 can do it.

Pretty much how I do all of my beats. oh yeah I tried the loop capture thing with silence still wasnt cuttin it. better for me to rock it free.

Oh yeah springwater that was your 808 post and u rock one

[admbmb]

I love the D-Beam as a filter. Kind of a handy extra effect on the fly. I also use the D-Beam as a trigger for hihats while I tap the kick and snare.

All the promo videos for the D-Beam make the artists look like a complete asshole.

[Kobevs]

Thanks!