samplers
Roland · Sampler

SP-404MKII

Sample, chop, add effects and build patterns.Based on the official manual v5.50 · firmware 5.52

Sampling

Sample something through a cable

  1. Connect: mic or guitar to the front INPUT (for guitar or bass, set the MIC/GUITAR switch to the right). Synth, mixer or turntable with a preamp to LINE IN on the back. Set the level with the GAIN knob on the front.
  2. Press EXT SOURCE to hear the input. If it blinks red, it's clipping: turn GAIN down.
  3. Press REC. Empty pads blink red.
  4. Optional: CTRL 2 sets the length in measures (1–32 or ∞).
  5. Press a red pad, then REC to start.
  6. To stop, press REC or the same pad. It saves to that pad automatically.

Have recording start by itself when sound comes in

  1. Press SHIFT+10 (COUNT-IN) repeatedly until you see WAIT. It cycles 1MEAS → 2MEAS → WAIT → OFF.
  2. Arm recording as usual: REC and choose a pad.
  3. Recording starts as soon as the signal goes over the threshold.

Sample through an effect (INPUT FX)

  1. REC → RECORD SETTING → press VALUE to open INPUT FX Setting.
  2. Go to EFX Type, press VALUE, choose the effect and press VALUE.
  3. Adjust with CTRL 1–CTRL 3 and record as usual.

Resample: record what's playing, effects included

  1. Set up the effects and whatever you're going to play.
  2. Press RESAMPLE. CTRL 2 sets the length.
  3. In RECORD SETTING, check that ROUTING = Mix (CTRL 2). Go back with EXIT.
  4. Press an empty pad (blinking red). It turns orange: «Press Pad to START».
  5. Play a pad to start recording with it, or press REC to start manually.
  6. Stop with REC or with the destination pad.

Recover what I just played (Skip Back)

  1. Play anything: pads, a pattern or the input with EXT SOURCE. If MARK is blinking, the unit is keeping the last few seconds.
  2. Press MARK to see the waveform.
  3. Press REC and choose an empty pad to save it.

Editing samples

Trim the start and end of a sample

  1. Press START/END, then the pad.
  2. CTRL 1 = start, CTRL 3 = end. CTRL 2 = loop point (if LOOP is on).
  3. SHIFT + turning a CTRL zooms in on that point.
  4. Quick trick: press MARK while it plays to mark the start, and again for the end.
  5. EXIT to leave.

Chop a sample into slices across the pads

  1. Play the sample's pad and press SHIFT+START/END (CHOP).
  2. Place markers in one of three ways. By hand: move with CTRL 1 and press MARK. In real time: 1 plays it and you tap 2…16 wherever you want a cut. Automatic: VALUE → AUTO MARK.
  3. AUTO MARK: TIME DIVISION 2–16 (equal slices), LEVEL or TRANSIENT. Adjust with CTRL 3 and press VALUE.
  4. VALUE → ASSIGN TO PAD. Tap the destination pads: empty ones blink yellow; red ones already hold something and get overwritten.
  5. Press VALUE to execute.

Tell a sample its BPM so it plays in time

  1. Press PITCH/SPEED, then the pad.
  2. Turn VALUE to BPM SET.
  3. AUTO: press VALUE, choose a range (e.g. 80-159) and OK. Or MANU to type it in (40–200).
  4. Turn on BPM SYNC so it follows the bank or project tempo.

Choose how a pad plays: hold, loop, reverse

  1. Play the pad to select it.
  2. GATE lit: it plays only while you hold the pad. Off: it plays all the way through from one hit.
  3. LOOP: the pad repeats and each hit starts or stops it. SHIFT+LOOP = PING-PONG (forward and back).
  4. REVERSE: plays backwards.

Change a pad's volume, pitch or speed

  1. Press PITCH/SPEED, then the pad.
  2. CTRL 1 = speed 50–150% (only with BPM SYNC off).
  3. CTRL 2 = pitch ±12 semitones. SHIFT+CTRL 2 fine-tunes.
  4. CTRL 3 = volume 0–127. SHIFT+CTRL 3 = pan.

Copy, swap or delete pads

  1. Copy: COPY → source pad → destination pad → COPY. It overwrites the destination.
  2. Swap: SHIFT+5 (EXCHANGE) → the two pads → COPY.
  3. Delete: DEL → pad → DEL.
  4. Whole bank: COPY+EXIT to copy it, DEL+EXIT to delete it.

Undo something

  1. SHIFT+PATTERN SELECT (UNDO) undoes the last take when recording a pattern or in the Looper. Press again to redo.

Pads and banks

Switch banks (A–J)

  1. Press A/F, B/G, C/H, D/I or E/J. Pressing the same button again toggles A↔F, B↔G…
  2. Lit = bank A–E. Blinking = F–J.

Retrigger the last pad (SUB PAD)

  1. SUB PAD triggers the last pad you played again.

Play rolls (ROLL)

  1. Hold ROLL and play a pad.
  2. Choose the note value with SHIFT+ROLL (ROLL SET): 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, triplets…
  3. Hold ROLL and turn VALUE to speed up the roll while it plays.

Keep a pad playing without holding it

  1. Hold pads that are in GATE mode and press HOLD.

Stop everything at once

  1. SHIFT+EXIT, or press EXIT four times quickly.
  2. To stop a single pad: EXIT+that pad.

Have one pad cut off another (open and closed hi-hat)

  1. SHIFT+8 (MUTE GROUPS).
  2. Turn VALUE to choose group A–J.
  3. Tap the pads for the group and leave with EXIT.

Mute pads live

  1. SHIFT+REVERSE+pad. Muted pads light red.
  2. To keep the mode on: SHIFT+REVERSE+REMAIN. Leave with EXIT.

Play a sample at 16 velocities

  1. Select the pad and press SHIFT+2 (16 VELOCITY).
  2. Pads 1–16 play the same sample from soft to hard. EXIT to leave.

Play a sample like a keyboard

  1. Select the pad and press SHIFT+4 (CHROMATIC).
  2. Turn VALUE to shift the range. Press VALUE to change the scale: Major, minor, Dorian, Phrygian, pentatonics.
  3. ROLL+turning VALUE changes the root note. EXIT to leave.

DJ mode: mix two samples

  1. Press D/I and E/J at the same time.
  2. VALUE → CH1 SELECT or CH2 SELECT → pad, to load each side.
  3. CTRL 1 and CTRL 2 = each channel's volume. CTRL 3 = crossfader or cue (switch with START/END).
  4. Pads: 13/15 play/pause, 14/16 cue, 10/12 sync, 2/6 and 4/8 BPM+/−, 1/5 and 3/7 bend+/−.

Looper: record layers on top

  1. Press SHIFT+VALUE so MARK works as the Looper instead of Skip Back.
  2. Press MARK to enter. CTRL 1 = measures (Free, 1, 2, 4), CTRL 3 = BPM.
  3. REC starts and stops. RESAMPLE = overdub, stacking layers.
  4. To save it to a pad: COPY → pad → VALUE. Leave with MARK.

Effects

Turn on an effect

  1. BUS FX chooses which bus you control: orange = BUS 1, blinking = BUS 2.
  2. Press FILTER+DRIVE, RESONATOR, DELAY, ISOLATOR, DJFX LOOPER or MFX. Again to turn it off.
  3. Adjust with CTRL 1–CTRL 3. Hold VALUE while turning for the secondary parameters.

Choose any effect (MFX)

  1. Hold MFX and turn VALUE, or tap a pad 1–16 to choose the effect.
  2. MFX+DJFX LOOPER = effects 17 and up. MFX+ISOLATOR = 33 and up.
  3. Release MFX to turn it on.

Put my favorite effects on the buttons

  1. SHIFT+16 (EFX SETTING) → turn CTRL 3 to the DIRECT tab.
  2. Choose Direct FX1–5 (FX1 = FILTER+DRIVE … FX5 = DJFX LOOPER) and press VALUE.
  3. Choose the effect, press VALUE and leave with EXIT.

Use an effect only while I hold the button

  1. Hold VALUE and press an effect button. It's only on while you hold it.

Leave only the effect tail (MUTE BUS)

  1. SHIFT+BUS FX (MUTE BUS): cuts the dry sound and lets only the effect ring out.
  2. Again to turn the effect off.

Have an effect apply only to certain pads

  1. Hold REMAIN for a moment: the pads show their bus. Orange = BUS 1, green = BUS 2, white = DRY (no effect).
  2. Use BUS FX to choose the bus you want.
  3. REMAIN+pad toggles that pad between that bus and DRY.

Put an effect on everything that plays (BUS 3/4)

  1. SHIFT+16 → FAVORITE tab → choose FAVORITE 1–16 (Bypass = off).
  2. Edit in the BUS 3 and BUS 4 tabs.

Save the effect settings

  1. Hold SHIFT+MARK for 3 seconds. It saves the BUS 1 and BUS 2 parameters.

Side chain: make everything duck with the kick

  1. SHIFT+16 → turn CTRL 3 to SIDE CHAIN.
  2. SOURCE = what triggers it (e.g. DRY, with the kick). TARGET = what ducks (e.g. BUS 1, with everything else).
  3. Adjust THRESHOLD, RATIO, RELEASE and GAIN.

Patterns

Play and switch patterns

  1. PATTERN SELECT: the pads turn purple. Tap one.
  2. Another pad switches when the current one ends. SUB PAD+pad switches instantly.
  3. Stop with the playing pad (white) or with EXIT.

Record a pattern in real time

  1. PATTERN SELECT → REC → an empty pad (red).
  2. REMAIN lit = Real-Time mode.
  3. CTRL 1 = BPM. CTRL 2 = length in measures (before recording). Turning VALUE = quantize (GRID 16 is a good start).
  4. REC to record. It loops and adds layers without erasing.
  5. EXIT once to stop recording (it saves automatically), again to stop playback.

Erase notes while recording

  1. Press DEL.
  2. Hold the pads whose notes you want to remove: they're erased while you hold them.
  3. DEL again to leave.

Program step by step (TR-REC)

  1. PATTERN SELECT → REC → empty pad → REMAIN until it blinks (TR-REC).
  2. Set BPM and length, and press REC.
  3. SUB PAD+pad chooses the sound.
  4. Pads 1–16 are the 16 steps: tap to turn them on or off. Turn VALUE to go to other measures.
  5. EXIT twice to finish.

Quantize a pattern you already recorded

  1. PATTERN SELECT → PATTERN EDIT → the pattern's pad → RECORD SETTING.
  2. Choose the pads to quantize.
  3. CTRL 2 = grid, CTRL 3 = strength in %.
  4. VALUE → OK.

Change a pattern's BPM or length

  1. PATTERN SELECT → PATTERN EDIT → pad.
  2. CTRL 1 = BPM, CTRL 3 = length (1–64 measures).
  3. VALUE → DUPLICATE doubles the length. CROP keeps only the loop range.

Copy a pattern (and keep a clean version)

  1. PATTERN SELECT → COPY → source pattern → destination pad → COPY.

Copy only some sounds from a pattern

  1. COPY → source pattern → destination pattern → REMAIN. The pads in use light dimly.
  2. Tap the pads you want to keep.
  3. REMAIN again and confirm with COPY.

Turn a pattern into a sample (BOUNCE)

  1. COPY → PATTERN SELECT: the screen changes to «pattern→sample».
  2. Tap the pattern, then an empty sample pad.
  3. COPY to confirm.

Chain patterns to make a song

  1. PATTERN SELECT → HOLD+pad (chain 1–16).
  2. Tap the patterns in order (the bank buttons work). DEL removes one. EXIT saves.
  3. To play it: HOLD+pad → SUB PAD starts and stops.

Record effect moves into the pattern

  1. With the pattern playing: REC → MARK (MOTION REC START).
  2. Move the effects.
  3. Leave with EXIT.

Metronome: on/off, volume, count-in

  1. SHIFT+9 turns the metronome on or off.
  2. Volume: when recording a pattern, RECORD SETTING and hold SHIFT while turning CTRL 3 (METRO VOL 0–5).
  3. SHIFT+10 = count-in of 1 or 2 measures, WAIT or OFF.

Project and system

Switch projects

  1. SHIFT+SUB PAD (PROJECT) → tap the project's pad (1–16).

Load samples from the computer (app)

  1. Connect via USB-C (a data cable, not charge-only) and power on.
  2. Open the SP-404MKII app and click Connect.
  3. Drag the audio files onto empty pads.

Load samples from the SD card

  1. Copy the WAV, AIFF or MP3 files into the IMPORT folder on the SD card.
  2. SHIFT+14 (IMPORT/EXPORT) → IMPORT from SD-CARD → SAMPLE.
  3. Tap the destination pad, choose the file with VALUE and press it.

Export samples or stems to the SD card

  1. SHIFT+14 → EXPORT to SD-CARD.
  2. SAMPLE → tap the pads → VALUE.
  3. MULTIPAD → pattern → VALUE exports one WAV per pad, for mixing in your DAW.

Make a backup

  1. SHIFT+13 (UTILITY) → BACKUP → BACKUP. There are 64 slots.
  2. To restore: same path → RESTORE.

Set the overall tempo (tap tempo)

  1. SHIFT+11 (TAP TEMPO).
  2. CTRL 1 chooses whether the project tempo or a bank's tempo is in charge.
  3. Turn VALUE for the BPM, or tap SUB PAD in time. Leave with EXIT.

Use it as an audio interface

  1. Connect via USB-C. No drivers needed.
  2. On the computer, choose the SP-404MKII output.
  3. Press EXT SOURCE to bring in the computer's audio, then sample it or add effects.

Lock buttons for playing live

  1. Hold SHIFT+REMAIN for 3 seconds.
  2. DEL, REC, RESAMPLE, COPY and MARK are locked. Same to unlock.

How to play it

Mouse or touch

Play it: it sounds, lights up and the screen reacts.

Hold a function button for a moment and it latches for the next one, so you can do combos with one finger.

Keyboard

1pad 12pad 23pad 34pad 4
Qpad 5Wpad 6Epad 7Rpad 8
Apad 9Spad 10Dpad 11Fpad 12
Zpad 13Xpad 14Cpad 15Vpad 16
⇧ Shift
SHIFT
Esc
EXIT
Space
SUB PAD

How to read this cheat sheet

SHIFT+9 means: hold SHIFT and press pad 9. Whatever comes first is held.

VALUE is the big knob on the right. It turns and also pushes (PUSH ENTER). EXIT always gets you out.

There's no save button: samples and patterns save automatically. But there's no undo for samples either, so make backups.

Sounds and lights are approximate. Grey text is the SHIFT function.

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