SP404 MKII Review + outro download + MKII SB2021 sample pack

Hi there!

The original SP-404 is a much-beloved sampling / beat-making / lo-fi "thing" - it's simple, immediate, and has a ton of effects. However, considering it has been around for many years, it has been up for a modern update, and that's exactly what Roland did with the SP-404 MKII - satisfy a long list of requested features, but still remaining true to the original.

It's nice to see this kind of approach - where most sampler/groovebox manufacturers seem to be aiming at the same target - as many features as possible (and I'm ok with that!) - the SP-404 MKII embraces immediacy at the expense of meticulous sequencing and programming and a long list of features.

Does this mean sequencing is now out of favor? Of course not, it's just a different experience - used for different types of music-making workflows. So, for example, the intro/outro track is based on a track I created with the Analog RYTM - sampled and chopped up. There's no way you can make that kind of track from scratch on the SP-404 MKII, and yet there's no way you can go to town with effects and re-mix it as quickly and easily on the RYTM. So, different things!

More details in the video of course... I've attached the intro/outro performance to this post. I also created an SP-404 MKII version of my Superbooth sample pack - here's a link to it.

That's it for now! I'm not bugging you too much with contest updates, but I have to say listening to the tracks submitted is the favorite part of my day - there are no bad ones (and quite a few excellent ones) -  just people expressing themselves in their style of music and sharing how they did it. So, if you haven't created one yet, there are still 11 days left to participate!

All my best,

Ziv (it's not that I can't finger-drum in time, it's lofi - on a youtube channel called "Loopop")