roland sp-404sx

dacelts

New member
Hello, i am getting my own sampler/beat machine shortly. I know i already need interface and a keyboard but there are so many varieties. im short on money but im dedicated to save up for it. Some one tell me how to go about this. i wanna produce my own rap/hip hop music to a professional level. I feel as if my artistic ability and imagination can get me to a professional level. Is the Roland a good way to egt into the production of music?
 
Depends on what you consider pro.
top40 hip hop, or Madlib/stones throw type vibe.
The sp404 has no way to tune/pitch samples, so you either need to do that outside the box, or find creative ways around that inside the box.
Also do you have an audio interface?
This is the extra added cost to get your beats into your computer.

sp404sx $325ish+100ish audio interface= $425
Not really the cheapest route, but not too expensive either.
A used sampler, maybe an og sp404 will run around $225, and a Zoom sampletrak even cheaper. They go for as little as $75, and are very much in the same league as an sp404 plus they can pitch samples, and sound very vintage.
The only major downside to a sampletrak is the storage is old smart media, and only accepts 16mb, or smaller cards.

The cheapest modern options are actually quite good though.
An mpd24, and an audio interface might be had for as little as $200 total.That's just $25 more than a sampletrak, and cheap audio interface.
Software giving the flexibility of an mpc4000 sampling engine is free wich is one of the nice sides of the software realm.
There is an app called Shortcircuit, and it's peerless for a free app, and competes head to head with the best comercial vst samplers.
Add in Podium free (daw sequencer), a handfull of free vst effects, and your set.

I know I just gave you more to think about, lol.

Oh, add turntable+records, and the cheaper routes start looking even better.
 
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thx for responding.

i am about to return the roland so i can get the mpd 24, way cheaper and can do what i want it to do.

i looked up turntables and i found the Numark TTUSB to be cheap but seems confusing how i would fuse the sounds from that to my beat machine?

wb the mpd 26? i cant find the mpd 24 on sweetwater and ebay for me sounds risky or maybe im jsut be impulsive and want the equipemt now lol.
 
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To clear up any confusion the mpd24 is not a sampler like the sp404.
It's a midi/usb controller.
The ttusb can sample in your computer without an audio interface.
Then you can trigger those samples with a daw/vsti sampler via the mpd.

Honestly if you already still have the sp404, you might as well learn it.
You obviously had enough money to cop it, so go ahead, and give it a whirl. Plenty are making really good music with just a sp404+records, and recording into tape decks, or cheap multitracks.
 
yeah im just so new to all this stuff i dont wanna buy something and not be able to work it properly.

so turntable would be best for samplig with this? this is a sampler ( sp 404sx) but cant change pitch nd ish. so what can turntable do tht sp cant?
 
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