Conduct your whole rig from the SP-404MKII

Play, sequence and tweak your synths straight from the SP. Pads play notes, CTRL dials send CC, and patterns drive every synth on its own channel. No computer needed.

Patch your firmware Quick start

Free to use. For Roland firmware 5.52, with DOOM OS 0.6.2 built in.

The SP's MIDI page: CTRL 1 to 3 with their values, the synth each one plays and the control it moves, by name

Everything your synths need, on the SP

DOOM OS turns the SP into a deeper sampler. MIDI Conductor turns it into the centre of your setup.

Sequence your synths

Every step of a pattern goes out as a MIDI note. Point pads at different synths and one pattern plays them all.

Each pad on its own synth or channel
Piano-roll pitches come with each step
Notes follow the step's gate

Pad C4 set to play the synth MINILOG — Pad C4 plays the Minilogue.

36 dials of CC

Turn on MIDI Controls and the CTRL dials send CC instead of moving the effect. Six banks of six, each dial set to any control on any synth.

SHIFT + FX1..FX6 picks the bank
MARK sets a dial's synth and control

Edit mode on the MIDI page with CTRL 2 selected — Setting CTRL 2's synth and control.

Record dial moves

Sweep a filter while the pattern plays and it comes back on every loop. Each pattern keeps its own moves, saved on the SP.

SHIFT + VALUE starts recording
64 points per dial for smooth sweeps
Grab a dial to take over live

The MIDI page with REC in the title bar — Recording into the current pattern.

Speaks your synths' language

Choose your synths when you patch and the SP knows their controls by name. Pick CUTOFF, not CC 43.

Korg Minilogue, NTS-1 and volcas
Behringer Grind and TD-3-MO, Roland S-1
Novation Bass Station II
Elektron Digitone II, Audiothingies MicroMonsta 2
Or load your own list

The patcher's synth list with four synths added — Choosing synths in the patcher.

Route synth to synth

Play one synth's keys and another plays along. Map one synth's dials onto another's controls. The SP sits in the middle, so a single keyboard can drive the whole rig.

Notes, CC, pitch bend and aftertouch, each on or off per route
Turn a dial to map it

CC map from the Minilogue to the NTS-1: CUTOFF to RESO and LFO RT to LFO RT — The Minilogue's cutoff dial moves the NTS-1's resonance.

Play and record samples from a keyboard

Route a keyboard to the SP and it plays the pad of the track DOOM OS is on, pitched like the SP's own keyboard. In record mode the notes are recorded too, with their pitch and velocity.

Route MINILOG to NTS-1 with CC and BEND on and two CC map pairs — Setting up a route.

Set up on the unit

SHIFT + REMAIN opens MIDI SETTINGS: your synths, your pads, your routes. Every screen has a help line, and everything is saved.

The MIDI SETTINGS menu: PADS, DEVICES, ROUTES and PATTERN — The MIDI SETTINGS menu.

By the numbers

36: CTRL dials in six banks
7: synths, each on its own channel
160: patterns, each with its own dial moves
64: points per dial, per pattern
64: dial-to-control pairs between synths
250: controls known by name

Up and running

From Roland's download to a synth playing from a pad.

Get Roland's firmware
Download the SP-404MKII system update 5.52 from Roland and unzip it.
Patch it
Drop SP404MKII_APP1.bin on the patcher and pick your synths. Nothing is uploaded.
Install it
Install it with Roland's SP404MKII_APP0.bin, the same way as DOOM OS. DOOM OS is already inside.
Play
The quick start puts a synth on a pad and a dial in five steps.

Experimental. Modified firmware can brick your SP-404MKII. This is tested on one unit only, with Roland 5.52 and DOOM OS 0.6.2-alpha (build 3824). Keep Roland's original files so you can go back.