Longtime SP user, struggling to gel with 404 mkii

[admbmb]

I go back. Had the 202 in 1999, then got the 303 a short time later. Then I got the 404 OG, a 808, the 555 and the 404 SX. I learned and mastered all of these, except the 808.

I got the MKII right when it came out and immediately got frustrated with the workflow and all the combo moves you had to make to get anything done. Everytime I picked it up, the workflow sucked the fun out of it. So I ended up just sticking with 404 SX

I still have it (looks brand new). Lately been thinking about giving it another go. I see other people doing crazy good stuff and makes me think I might have been too lazy or just didn't put the work in, lol. Curious if others were in the same position or powered through into figuring out a speedy/cohesive workflow. For me, inspiration is fleeting and free time is slow, so a complicated workflow is too inefficient for me.

Side note: I grabbed an MPC Sample and it really is everything I hoped the 404 MKii would have been. It still can't hold a candle to the SP effects, but the vinyl sim totally can hang. It's the most fun I have had in years.

[U_J_F_R]

hey mister bmb
I've been a fan for a long time and Im excited to see you back on the forums.

stories like these have prevented me from pursuing a mkii
workflow can really eat creativity.
obvs theres a few people who can make the mkii 'sing'

I saw some foliage beats stuff where he instantly captures loops and turns them into quick hits.
isn't there a skip back feature? meaning, its always listening to the last 90+ secs of whatever you're punching into the machine. Seems like a good way to recall resamples to bounce out to the tried and true 404 og sx whatever fits your flow.

I've used *gasp* koala to trim samples and use it as a source library addon for the OG. highly recommend and much easier to find start and stop points or external resample synths when the 404 sequencer is playing (not available on the 404) trimming samples on the 404 is a complete nightmare for me nowadays.

[SLEEPS NUMB]

YO admbmb WELCOME BACK BROTHA!!! YOU HAVE BEEN MISSED! ALWAYS APPRECIATED YOUR SOUND, HOPE TO SEE YOU IN THE ARENA SOON!

THESE DAYS I ROCK THE 404 MKII, 404OG, (2) 303S. I THINK THE TOUGH PART WITH THE SP-404 MKII IS TO TRY TO UNLEARN THE YEARS OF SP MUSCLE MEMORY. WHILE IT IS A LITTLE CONVOLUTED, I KIND OF SETTLED ON JUST NOT REALLY TOUCHING THE FEATURE CREEP, AND KIND OF USING IT LIKE A SUPED UP SP. I FOUND THAT PRINTING THE KEYCOMBO SHEET WHILE YOUR FIRST BUILDING THE MUCLE MEMORY HELP.

THINGS I USE THE MKII FOR TO SPEED UP MY WORKFLOW:

PITCHING/TIME STRETCHING/PANNING/DRUM SEQUENCES/USB STREAMING/INTERFACE/RESAMPLE STATION USING SKIPBACK/LAZY CHOPPING/MPC SHIT LIKE 16 LEVELS VOLICITY N SHIT. I LIKE TO DO MY DRUM PATTERNS ON THE MKII AND RECORD THEM TO MY 303 EXTERNAL RESAMPLE TRICK. I CAN MUTE DIFFERENT DRUMS WHILE PLAYING LIVE INTO MY OTHER SP WHICH IS FUN!

LIKE UNCLE JESS SAID, IN CASE YOURE MORE FROM THE RESAMPLE SCHOOL, YOU CAN JUST USE SKIP BACK AS A WAY OF REPLICATING THAT WORKFLOW, YOU CAN ALSO DO MY BELOVED SP-303 RESAMPLE TRICK. YOU CAN RESAMPLE IN HELLA WAYS EVEN USING A BUILT IN METRONOME FOR THE RESAMPLING.

I DONT LIKE THE WAY IT PEAKS, THE LACK OF SAMPLE RATES/OLD STYLE PEAK METER, MOST THE EFFECTS COMPARED TO LAST GEN SPS. IT TOOK ME A WHILE AND I HATED AND STILL KINDA DO SOMETIMES. BUT THE QOL ISH HAS MADE ME APPRECIATE THE INITIAL BABY STEPS.

I ALWAYS PREFERRED SPS IN TANDEM FOR BOUNCING, SO MKII PAIRED WITH A LAST GEN SP FOR SANITY N SOUND HAS BEEN BIG FOR ME. MOST OF THE KEY COMBOS FOR BASIC ISH AINT THAT BAD, USUALLY THE SP WILL GIVE YOU A CLUE THAT AND LIGHT UP THE WEIRD BUTTON USED IN THE DIFFERENT PAGES. FOR EXAMPLE WHEN CHOPPING IF YOU WANNA ACTIVATE ZERO CROSSING YOU TOGGLE WITH THE RESAMPLE BUTTON (YES HELLA WEIRD, BUT LUCKILY THE BUTTON ILUMINATES IN THE CHOPPING SCREEN FOR EXAMPLE.

I THINK WE ARE USED TO BEING ABLE TO USE OUR PAST SP EXPERIENCE TO PRETTY MUCH PICK UP ANY OTHER LAST GEN SP AND KINDA KNOW WHAT WERE DOING, AND COMING TO THE MKII WITH THIS MENTALITY JUST KINDA MAKES U HATE IT.

LET ME KNOW IF YOU EVER HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR ANYTHING I CAN HELP WITH! YOUR POSITIVE PRAISE MEANT A LOT WHEN I WAS FIRST COMING UP!! SO I GOT U!

[admbmb]

hey mister bmb
I've been a fan for a long time and Im excited to see you back on the forums.

stories like these have prevented me from pursuing a mkii
workflow can really eat creativity.
obvs theres a few people who can make the mkii 'sing'

I saw some foliage beats stuff where he instantly captures loops and turns them into quick hits.
isn't there a skip back feature? meaning, its always listening to the last 90+ secs of whatever you're punching into the machine. Seems like a good way to recall resamples to bounce out to the tried and true 404 og sx whatever fits your flow.

I've used *gasp* koala to trim samples and use it as a source library addon for the OG. highly recommend and much easier to find start and stop points or external resample synths when the 404 sequencer is playing (not available on the 404) trimming samples on the 404 is a complete nightmare for me nowadays.

Note: I edited my post, I accidentally submitted it when my signal was weak.

Man...first off, thanks! Hopefully I can get back to putting stuff out again soon..

I love Koala. And currently am loving MPC Sample. I love any tool that fuels creativity and is fun. Huge Foliage fan too...his 404 MKii videos are actually what have me wanting to revisit it. Love his looping technique as well. That was my favorite thing about the 555 (and the goat, the d beam is the sh$t!). In theory I want to master the 404 mkii, but I just want to find out if there is a fast workflow if you put the time in. It reminds me of trying to remember mortal kombat codes.

[TGN]

You have to use the mk2 as your main machine for getting the workflow into muscle memory. When i first got it, i was frustated, because the workflow feels more complicated and different from my 404 og. But i was just so biased, because i used 404 og as my main sampler for over 10 years.

Lord Beatjitzu dropped 1 or 2 really dope beat-tapes made on 404mk2 and he talked very positive about the mk2 in the "mk2-thread".
https://sp-forums.com/viewtopic.php?f=6 ... &hilit=mk2

This encouraged me to master the mk2 and it became my swiss army knife for anything related sampling. I took it anywhere, to vacation, to my girlfriend, to work and my muscle memory changed by time. Like others i like to use it for creating drum-patterns, pitching/timestretching and i often work with 404og+404mk2 for sampling back and fourth and creating my main patterns.

[admbmb]

YO admbmb WELCOME BACK BROTHA!!! YOU HAVE BEEN MISSED! ALWAYS APPRECIATED YOUR SOUND, HOPE TO SEE YOU IN THE ARENA SOON!

THESE DAYS I ROCK THE 404 MKII, 404OG, (2) 303S. I THINK THE TOUGH PART WITH THE SP-404 MKII IS TO TRY TO UNLEARN THE YEARS OF SP MUSCLE MEMORY. WHILE IT IS A LITTLE CONVOLUTED, I KIND OF SETTLED ON JUST NOT REALLY TOUCHING THE FEATURE CREEP, AND KIND OF USING IT LIKE A SUPED UP SP. I FOUND THAT PRINTING THE KEYCOMBO SHEET WHILE YOUR FIRST BUILDING THE MUCLE MEMORY HELP.

THINGS I USE THE MKII FOR TO SPEED UP MY WORKFLOW:

PITCHING/TIME STRETCHING/PANNING/DRUM SEQUENCES/USB STREAMING/INTERFACE/RESAMPLE STATION USING SKIPBACK/LAZY CHOPPING/MPC SHIT LIKE 16 LEVELS VOLICITY N SHIT. I LIKE TO DO MY DRUM PATTERNS ON THE MKII AND RECORD THEM TO MY 303 EXTERNAL RESAMPLE TRICK. I CAN MUTE DIFFERENT DRUMS WHILE PLAYING LIVE INTO MY OTHER SP WHICH IS FUN!

LIKE UNCLE JESS SAID, IN CASE YOURE MORE FROM THE RESAMPLE SCHOOL, YOU CAN JUST USE SKIP BACK AS A WAY OF REPLICATING THAT WORKFLOW, YOU CAN ALSO DO MY BELOVED SP-303 RESAMPLE TRICK. YOU CAN RESAMPLE IN HELLA WAYS EVEN USING A BUILT IN METRONOME FOR THE RESAMPLING.

I DONT LIKE THE WAY IT PEAKS, THE LACK OF SAMPLE RATES/OLD STYLE PEAK METER, MOST THE EFFECTS COMPARED TO LAST GEN SPS. IT TOOK ME A WHILE AND I HATED AND STILL KINDA DO SOMETIMES. BUT THE QOL ISH HAS MADE ME APPRECIATE THE INITIAL BABY STEPS.

I ALWAYS PREFERRED SPS IN TANDEM FOR BOUNCING, SO MKII PAIRED WITH A LAST GEN SP FOR SANITY N SOUND HAS BEEN BIG FOR ME. MOST OF THE KEY COMBOS FOR BASIC ISH AINT THAT BAD, USUALLY THE SP WILL GIVE YOU A CLUE THAT AND LIGHT UP THE WEIRD BUTTON USED IN THE DIFFERENT PAGES. FOR EXAMPLE WHEN CHOPPING IF YOU WANNA ACTIVATE ZERO CROSSING YOU TOGGLE WITH THE RESAMPLE BUTTON (YES HELLA WEIRD, BUT LUCKILY THE BUTTON ILUMINATES IN THE CHOPPING SCREEN FOR EXAMPLE.

I THINK WE ARE USED TO BEING ABLE TO USE OUR PAST SP EXPERIENCE TO PRETTY MUCH PICK UP ANY OTHER LAST GEN SP AND KINDA KNOW WHAT WERE DOING, AND COMING TO THE MKII WITH THIS MENTALITY JUST KINDA MAKES U HATE IT.

LET ME KNOW IF YOU EVER HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR ANYTHING I CAN HELP WITH! YOUR POSITIVE PRAISE MEANT A LOT WHEN I WAS FIRST COMING UP!! SO I GOT U!

Apologies for not responding sooner! Total respect for your music. Appreciate your suggestions and the nice words. Really like the strategy you mention here to simplify the approach. I recently went down the rabbit hole of learning how to use the Looper function. Even if I know nothing, I can sample, edit, chop, etc and use the looper. I'm not very quick with command of the MFX's with live performance but I am chipping away at it.

Lately I am messing with the MPC Sample, which kind of has the same immediacy and fun I experienced with the pre 404 MKII SP's. Just a very quick workflow and inspiration just flows out when using it. Still using Koala sampler as well.

Be in touch! I'd like to get your contact info to hit you up if you wouldn’t mind sending me a PM.

Peace,
Adam