Sunday, March 02, 2008

SP-404 Studio Jam



Sampling has never been one of the arts that I have been able to master and unfortunately it has never found a place really in my gear set at all. I am constantly on the look out for a sampler to somehow incorporate into my gear and normally everyone's suggestions for the live artist gravitate towards the MPC series or the Korgs ESX-1. All that being said I have on several occasions looked at the SP-404 from Roland as another alternative and I think it is unfortunately overlooked in many circles. . In the video above we have drewzle showing a nice little off kilter usage of the 404 and it gets me thinking again about this oft under looked groove sampler.
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2 comments:

  1. felix1:08 AM

    Yeah the 303 and the 404 are both under appreciated.

    I used to have an MPC 1000 and the 404 (which I borrowed from a friend) was a lot more fun to use. It lacked many of the sample copy/move and beat/sequence editing/saving that the MPC had...but it was a lot nice in terms of getting something sampled and playable quickly.

    There are some producers (like Madlib) that have done entire albums with just a few records and a 303.

    Oh yeah, and the 404 operates on batteries (for an impressive amount of time) and has a built in microphone!

    Jeez, I want to buy one right now.

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  2. Unknown1:08 AM

    Hi,
    thanks for sharing my video, and giving the humble SP some attention :)

    it is definitely a great live tool - the effects are heaps of fun, the CF card allows HUGE amounts of audio storage, and the pads are great for directly accessing your sounds/loops.

    keep up the good work!

    peace

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