Roland SP-404SX manual

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A good user manual

The rules should oblige the seller to give the purchaser an operating instrucion of Roland SP-404SX, along with an item. The lack of an instruction or false information given to customer shall constitute grounds to apply for a complaint because of nonconformity of goods with the contract. In accordance with the law, a customer can receive an instruction in non-paper form; lately graphic and electronic forms of the manuals, as well as instructional videos have been majorly used. A necessary precondition for this is the unmistakable, legible character of an instruction.

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First and foremost, an user manual of Roland SP-404SX should contain:
- informations concerning technical data of Roland SP-404SX
- name of the manufacturer and a year of construction of the Roland SP-404SX item
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- safety signs and mark certificates which confirm compatibility with appropriate standards

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Usually it results from the lack of time and certainty about functionalities of purchased items. Unfortunately, networking and start-up of Roland SP-404SX alone are not enough. An instruction contains a number of clues concerning respective functionalities, safety rules, maintenance methods (what means should be used), eventual defects of Roland SP-404SX, and methods of problem resolution. Eventually, when one still can't find the answer to his problems, he will be directed to the Roland service. Lately animated manuals and instructional videos are quite popular among customers. These kinds of user manuals are effective; they assure that a customer will familiarize himself with the whole material, and won't skip complicated, technical information of Roland SP-404SX.

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Table of contents for the manual

  • Page 1

    Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English[...]

  • Page 2

    2 F eatur es Quick and Easy Sampling! Sample anywhere, an ytime using the built-in mic and battery power . Line and mic inputs are also available . Killer E ec ts Onboard! Create a signa ture sound using the 29 DSP e ects including the standard  lter , delay and unique e ects such as voice transformer and looper FX. E ects switch sea[...]

  • Page 3

    3 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English C onten ts F e a t u r e s ................................... 2 P a n e l D e s c r i p t i o n s ......................... 4 A b o u t B a t t e r i e s ............................ 6 Basic Operation 7 B e f o r e Y o u S t a r t ........................... 8 Connecting the SP-40[...]

  • Page 4

    4 P anel Descr iptions 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Name Description Page 1 [ VOL UME] knob This adjusts the volume. p. 9 2 [CTRL 1]–[CTRL 3] knobs These knobs control e ec t parameters. Y ou can also use each k nob to make the following settings. p. 13 CTRL 1 The starting location of a sample The playback time of a sample p. 29 p. 30 C[...]

  • Page 5

    5 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English Name Description Page 8 Pads [1]–[12] When you press these pads , you’ll hear the samples that are assig ned to the pads. If the [P A T TERN SELECT ] button is lit, the pads will select patterns. p. 11 p. 14 9 [ST AR T/END/LEVEL] button Use this button when you want t o change [...]

  • Page 6

    6 About Batt eries Remove the battery compartment cover located on the bottom of the SP - 404SX, and insert the batteries in the correct polarit y (direction) as marked inside the battery compar tment. Then close the cov er securely . NO TE • Battery handling Incorrect handling of batteries, rechargeable batteries, or a ba ttery charger can cause[...]

  • Page 7

    Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English Basic Opera tion[...]

  • Page 8

    8 Befor e Y ou Star t C onnec ting the SP -404SX to Y our Speakers Make sure that the SP-404SX and y our ampli ed speakers (which we’ll simply call “speakers”) ar e powered o , and then make connections as shown below . Ampli ed speakers (sold separately) Audio cables (sold separately) AC adaptor LINE OUT jacks DC IN jack LINE IN jac[...]

  • Page 9

    9 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English T urning the P o wer On NO TE Once the connections have been completed , turn on power to your various devic es in the order speci ed. By turning on devices in the wrong order , you risk causing malfunction and/or damage to speakers and other devices. 1. Minimize the volume of t[...]

  • Page 10

    10 Inserting an SD c ard If you insert a commercially available SD card into the SP -404SX, you’ll be able t o sample for longer times. This section explains how to insert an SD card; however , when you purchase the SP-404SX, an SD card c ontaining the factor y- set preload data is already inserted, so the proc edure described here won ’t be ne[...]

  • Page 11

    11 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English Pla ying Sounds Pla ying Samples What’ s a sample? Samples are pieces of sampled (recor ded) sound together with their loop settings, etc. That are assigned to the twelve pads. Y ou can play a sample by pressing the corr esponding pad [1]–[12]. When you press a pad, its sample[...]

  • Page 12

    12 12 3. Press a pad to pla y its sample. That pad will blink while its sample is playing. Y ou can press two or more pads to play them simultaneously . T ry playing samples using the functions described below. Holding a sample While holding down a pad, press the [ HOLD] pad to make the sample continue playing even after you r elease the pad. T o s[...]

  • Page 13

    13 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English Applying E ec ts The SP-404SX con tains 29 types of e ects. As an example, here ’ s how to apply the “FIL TER + DRIVE” to a sample . 1. Press a pad to pla y its sample. 2. Press the [FIL TER + DRIVE] button. Use these buttons to switch e ects (to switch an e ect [...]

  • Page 14

    14 Playing P atterns What’ s a pattern? The SP-404SX lets y ou successively play sev eral samples by pressing a pad, and cr eate a song by recor ding this per for- mance. Such a succession of samples is called a “pattern. ” Pads to which a pa ttern is assigned will blink red. When you press a blinking pad, the pattern will play . What is a pa[...]

  • Page 15

    15 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English 3. Press a pad , and the pattern will play . The pad will change from blinking to lit, and the pattern will begin playing. 4. Press another pad to r eserve the next pattern. If you press another pad while a pattern is playing , the pattern to play next will be reserved, and that p[...]

  • Page 16

    16 Recor ding Samples— Basic Operation STEP 1: Connecting Equipment Connecting a P or table Music Play er or Ster eo If you’ re c onnecting your por table music player , stereo, or CD play er , use audio cables to connect your device ’ s output jacks (LINE OUT jacks, A UX OUT jacks, etc.) to the SP -404SX’ s LINE IN jacks. Y our stereo’ s[...]

  • Page 17

    17 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English Connecting a Mic T o use a mic, connect it to the MIC IN jack, then press the [MIC ] button so it’ s lit. MIC IN jack Press the [MIC] button so it’ s lit. MEMO If you’ re not using a mic, lea ve this button unlit. Using the built-in mic If you want to use the built-in mic, d[...]

  • Page 18

    18 STEP 2: S ampling Here we ’ll explain how to use Sampling to r ecord to pad [1] of bank J. 1. Make sure that the [P A T TERN SELEC T ] button is extinguished. If it’ s lit, press the button to turn it o . 2. Press the [ REC] button so the button is lit. If you decide to cancel sampling, P ress the [CANCEL] button. 3. Press the BANK [E/J] [...]

  • Page 19

    19 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English Applying an e ect while you sample By pressing an e ect button at this time, you can sample the sound pr ocessed by the e ect. MEMO In this case, you can use the [CTRL 1] and [CTRL 2] k nobs to adjust the e ect settings. Because the [CTRL 3] k nob is used to adjust the[...]

  • Page 20

    20 7. Produc e sound on the device that’ s connected to the SP-404SX, and Pr ess the [REC] button when you want to start sampling. [REC] button will light, and sampling will begin. NO TE Never turn o the power while sampling is in progr ess. If you turn o the power , not only the sample being rec orded but also other samples may also be des[...]

  • Page 21

    21 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English Deleting a S ample If you are not satis ed with the sound you sampled, use the f ollowing procedure to delet e it, and then sample the sound again. 1. Press the [ DEL] button. 2. The display will indicat e “ dEL , ” and the pads that can be deleted will blink. Select a bank[...]

  • Page 22

    22 By using the included “SP-404SX W ave C onverter” software, W A V or AIFF  les from your comput er can be written to an SD card and assigned to pads of the SP -404SX. Use the “SP-404SX W av e Converter” software on your computer to cop y the data to SD card Load the data from SD card into the SP -404SX Card reader (sold separa tely) W[...]

  • Page 23

    Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English A dvanc ed Opera tion[...]

  • Page 24

    24 Pla ying an Ex ternal I nput Sound Audio input from an external source (such as fr om a portable music player connected to the LINE IN jacks or a mic connected to the MIC IN jack) can be handled much like samples are on the SP-404SX; it can be pla yed and eects can be applied to it. 1. Connect your portable music player or mic to the SP-404SX[...]

  • Page 25

    25 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English Recor ding Samples— Advanc ed Operation MEMO This section explains more advanced methods of sampling. F or basic sampling, ref er to “Recording Samples— Basic Operation ” (p. 16). About the A vailable Sampling Times The maximum sampling time (size) for a single sample is a[...]

  • Page 26

    26 S ampling with a Specied T empo If you specify the BPM (tempo) while you ’ re still in sampling standby mode, the end point (the timing at which the sound stops playing) will be automatically set after sampling to a beat of the BPM value you specied . 1. Prepar e for sampling as described in steps 1–6 of “STEP 2: Sampling” (p. 18).[...]

  • Page 27

    27 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English Editing a Sample MEMO For details on setting a sample ’ s GA TE, LOOP , REVERSE, and L O-FI parameters, refer t o p. 12. Setting a S ample’ s V olume Here ’ s how to adjust the volume of each pad. 1. Make sure that the [P A T TERN SELEC T ] button is extinguished. If it is l[...]

  • Page 28

    28 Adjusting Both the Star t P oint and End P oint 1. Make sure that the [P A T TERN SELEC T ] button is extinguished. If it is lit, press the [P A T TERN SELECT ] button to turn it o . 2. Press the pad whose pla yback region you wan t to adjust, making it sound. MEMO If the [MARK] button is lit, the star t point or end point has already been ad[...]

  • Page 29

    29 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English Making F ine Adjustments t o the Star t P oint and E nd P oint 1. Make sure that the [P A T TERN SELEC T ] button is extinguished. If it is lit, press the [P A T TERN SELECT ] button to turn it o . 2. Play the pad whose playback r egion you want t o adjust, making it the curren[...]

  • Page 30

    30 Changing a S ample’ s BPM A sample’ s BPM (tempo) is automatically determined by the length between the sample’ s star t point and end point. However , depending on this length, the calculated BPM value may be half or double the actual BPM. In this case, you can correct the BPM as f ollows. 1. Play the pad that y ou want to change, making [...]

  • Page 31

    31 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English Ex changing S amples between T w o P ads Y ou can exchange samples between two pads. This lets you bring together the desired samples int o a single bank. MEMO If you decide to cancel this operation during the procedure , press the [CANCEL] button. 1. Hold down the [FUNC] button a[...]

  • Page 32

    32 P attern Sequencer The SP-404SX con tains a Pattern Sequencer function that can record sample-playback operations. Another w ay to use this capability is to combine several phrase samples to create a simple song , or to combine rhythm samples to create rhythm pa tterns. MEMO Here we ’ll explain how to rec ord into the pattern sequencer , and a[...]

  • Page 33

    33 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English The [REC] button will change from blinking to lit, and recording will beg in. There will be a one-measure count befor e recording actually begins, so wait for one measure while list ening to the metronome. During this time, the displa y will indicate a count of -4, -3, -2, -1. Whe[...]

  • Page 34

    34 Deleting a P att ern 1. Press the [P A T TERN SELEC T ] button so the button is lit. The display will indicate “ Ptn ” and the pads that have been recorded will blink. 2. Press the [DEL] button so the butt on is lit. The display will indicate “ dEL . ” If the display indicates “ ENP , ” that bank does not contain any pads to which a [...]

  • Page 35

    35 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English About SD Car d MEMO For details on r ecommended SD cards, and on ho w to insert or remove an SD card, r efer to “Inser ting an SD card” (p. 10). For details on SD car d capacity and available sampling times, ref er to “ About the A vailable Sampling Times” (p. 25). F ormat[...]

  • Page 36

    36 Impor ting W A VE Files Y ou can impor t W A VE  les via SD card and assign them to pads. MEMO By using the included “SP-404SX Wa ve Conv erter ” software, you can easily import W A VE  les from your computer . For details, ref er to “Impor ting W av e Files from Y our Computer” (p. 22). 1. Using your c omputer , copy the W A VE ?[...]

  • Page 37

    37 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English S aving Backup Da ta (Backup S av e) This operation will sav e backup data (all data including sample banks and pattern banks) to the SD card . Y ou can save up to 12 backups. MEMO If you’v e saved numerous samples and patt erns on a card, and it doesn ’t hav e much space rema[...]

  • Page 38

    38 About the Pr otec t Function Y ou can protect an SD card so that the samples and patterns on the card cannot be ov er written or deleted accidentally . NO TE On the SD card included with the SP-404SX, sample banks [A]–[F] and pattern banks [ A]–[E] contain preload data and are protected . If you cancel protection for these banks, it is possi[...]

  • Page 39

    39 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English List of Functions Y ou can access the following functions by holding down the [ FUNC ] button and pressing the corresponding pad. For details on each function, ref er to the page listed in the table below . Pad F unction Description Page T AP TEMPO P AUSE Stops all sound p. 12 1 C[...]

  • Page 40

    40 Restoring the F ac tor y S ettings (F ac tor y Reset) This operation will rest ore the SD card’ s sample and pattern data, as well as the SP -404SX’ s internal settings and data to their factory-set condition. In order to per form this operation, you ’ll need a computer and a commercially available card r eader . NO TE When you perform thi[...]

  • Page 41

    Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English Appendix[...]

  • Page 42

    42 Eects that Y ou Can Selec t by Directly Pressing a Butt on T ype C TRL 1 function (display) CTRL 2 function (display) CTRL 3 function (display) FIL TER+DRIVE CUTOFF ( CoF ) RESONANCE ( rES ) N DRIVE ( drU ) N A low-pass lter with over drive. It cuts the high frequencies and adds distortion. Adjusts the frequency that will be cut. Adjusts p[...]

  • Page 43

    43 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English No. Type CTRL 1 function (display) CTRL 2 function (display) CTRL 3 func tion (display) 5 PHASER DEPTH ( dPt ) N RA TE ( rAt ) MANUAL ( NAn ) Creates modulation by adding a phase-shifted sound. Adjusts the depth of modulation. Adjusts the speed of modulation. A djusts the pitch of[...]

  • Page 44

    44 No. Type CTRL 1 function (display) CTRL 2 function (display) CTRL 3 func tion (display) 22 C.CANCELER L–R BALANCE ( L-r ) LOW BOOST ( L o ) HIGH BOOST ( H i ) Cancels the vocal or other sound located in the center . Adjusts the point at which maximum cancellation occurs. Boosts the low-frequency sounds located in the center , such as the bass.[...]

  • Page 45

    45 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English Error Message List Message Description EJC Eject Processing is not possible because the SD card was r emoved. * Don’t r emove the card while the power is on. LoC Lock The SD card is locked. The SP -404SX will be unable to function properly if the SD card is locked. (“ LoC ” [...]

  • Page 46

    46 Problem P oints to check Action Acoustic feedback (a whine or howl) is heard Howling could be produced depending on the location of mics relative to speakers . This can be remedied by: 1. Changing the orientation of the mic(s). 2. Relocating mic(s) at a greater distance fr om speakers. 3. Lowering volume lev els. Can’ t sample Is it possible t[...]

  • Page 47

    47 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English About MIDI MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, and is a global standard that allows electronic musical instru- ments and computers to ex change per formance data. “MIDI Implementation Chart ” (p. 48) is a chart that provides an easy way of checking which MIDI[...]

  • Page 48

    48 MIDI Implementa tion Char t Function... Basic Channel Mode Note Number : Velocity After Touch Pitch Bend Control Change Program Change System Exclusive System Common System Real Time Aux Messages Notes Transmitted Recognized Remarks Default Changed Default Messages Altered True Voice Note On Note O Key’s Channel’s : True Number : Song Pos[...]

  • Page 49

    49 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English Specications SP-404SX: Sampler Maximum Polyphon y 12 voic es Recordable Data Samples: 120 (12 samples x 10 banks) (stored on SD card) Patt erns: 120 (12 patterns x 10 banks) (stored on SD car d) Sampling T ime (T otal T ime for All Samples) The maximum sampling time (size) for [...]

  • Page 50

    50 A AC A DA P TOR 8 AI F F 25 , 35 AUTO S A MP L IN G 25 AUTO TRI G LE V E L 25 B BACKUP DELETE 37 BAC K UP LOAD 37 BAC K UP S A V E 37 BA T TERIES 6 BP M 15 BUIL TIN MIC 17 C CA N CE L BU T TON 12 CA R D LOC K SC R E W 10 COMPUTER 22 , 35 COP Y 31 COUNTIN 26 D DC I N J AC K 8 DE L A Y 42 DE L BU T TON 21 , 30 , 34 DELETING A M ARKER 27 DISP[...]

  • Page 51

    51 Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português Nederlands English USING THE UNIT SAFEL Y Used for instructions intended to alert the user to the risk of injury or material damage should the unit be used improperly. * Material damage refers to damage or other adverse eects caused with respect to the home and all its furnishings, as well to dom[...]

  • Page 52

    52 IMPORT ANT NO TES P ower Supply P ower Supply : Use of Batt eries • Do not connect this unit to same electrical outlet that is being used by an electrical appliance that is controlled by an inverter (such as a refrigerator , washing machine, microwave o ven, or air conditioner), or that contains a motor . Depending on the way in which the elec[...]

  • Page 53

    For China For EU Countries[...]

  • Page 54

    This product complies with the requirements of EMC Directive 2004/108/EC. For EU Countries For Canada This Class B digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian Interference-Causing Equipment Regulations. Cet appareil numérique de la classe B respecte toutes les exigences du Règlement sur le matériel brouilleur du Canada. NOTICE AVIS [...]