SP404mk2 midi mode B

Hapax Instrument Definitions
1

Here’s my first attempt at making a Hapax definition, so let me know if there’s anything I messed up. The CCs, assignments & automations work well. The program changes may be a little rough though, I haven’t tested beyond bank A.

VERSION 1
TRACKNAME 404MK2_1
TYPE POLY
OUTPORT D
OUTCHAN 1
INPORT NULL
INCHAN NULL
MAXRATE 192

[PC]
1 PATT01
2 PATT02
3 PATT03
4 PATT04
5 PATT05
6 PATT06
7 PATT07
8 PATT08
9 PATT09
10 PATT10
11 PATT11
12 PATT12
13 PATT13
14 PATT14
15 PATT15
16 PATT16
[/PC]

[CC]
16 B1 CTRL1
17 B1 CTRL2
18 B1 CTRL3
19 B1 FX ON
80 B1 CTRL4
81 B1 CTRL5
82 B1 CTRL6
83 B1 FXSEL
[/CC]

[ASSIGN]
1 CC:16
2 CC:17
3 CC:18
4 CC:80
5 CC:81
6 CC:82
7 CC:19
8 CC:83
[/ASSIGN]

[AUTOMATION]
CC:16
CC:17
CC:18
CC:80
CC:81
CC:82
CC:19
CC:83
[/AUTOMATION]

[COMMENT]
SP-404mk2 midi mode B, for pad banks 1-8 and bus FX 1. Defaults to Outport D to utilise midi TRS type A.
[/COMMENT]

VERSION 1
TRACKNAME 404MK2_2
TYPE POLY
OUTPORT D
OUTCHAN 2
INPORT NULL
INCHAN NULL
MAXRATE 192

[PC]
1 PATT01
2 PATT02
3 PATT03
4 PATT04
5 PATT05
6 PATT06
7 PATT07
8 PATT08
9 PATT09
10 PATT10
11 PATT11
12 PATT12
13 PATT13
14 PATT14
15 PATT15
16 PATT16
[/PC]

[CC]
16 B2 CTRL1
17 B2 CTRL2
18 B2 CTRL3
19 B2 FX ON
80 B2 CTRL4
81 B2 CTRL5
82 B2 CTRL6
83 B2 FXSEL
[/CC]

[ASSIGN]
1 CC:16
2 CC:17
3 CC:18
4 CC:80
5 CC:81
6 CC:82
7 CC:19
8 CC:83
[/ASSIGN]

[AUTOMATION]
CC:16
CC:17
CC:18
CC:80
CC:81
CC:82
CC:19
CC:83
[/AUTOMATION]

[COMMENT]
SP-404mk2 midi mode B, for pad banks 9-16 and bus FX 2. Defaults to Outport D to utilise midi TRS type A.
[/COMMENT]

2 Likes
2

Great , I’ll test it out later

3

I’ve been thinking about getting an SP-404mk2 to use with my Hapax, do they play well together?

I was a bit worried that it wouldn’t be that great just as a plain sampler because it has it’s own inbuilt sequencing stuff which is obviously of no interest when you’re using Hapax.

4

Yeah, I reckon they go together nicely, probably better than any other sampler-sequencer combo. The SP series shines through the FX & resample workflow, not because of their sequencers. Seems like Roland’s approach to the 404 is ‘design a weird multi FX unit, add a recorder, then an undercooked sequencer’.

It’s kinda the opposite mindset to Elektron, Korg & Akai’s samplers over the past 15 years (can’t speak for other brands like 1010’s Bitbox). They all put sequencing, optimised/simplified sound design & workstation functions ahead of sampling, despite being marketing some of their gear as samplers.

TBH I just ignore the 404mk’s sequencer & resample/skipback everything the Hapax (or Pyramid) tells it to do. I use the mk2 & Hapax almost like an IRL version of the old Reason rex players & I love how simple it is.

1 Like
5

so what are you automating on the 404 with hapax? can you modulate sample start index?. how deep can you get with automation?. can you sample from usb? can you record sequences from hapax to its internal patterns? with automations?

6

You can automate the fx buses 1-4 and input
No you can’t modulate sample start .
Only the fx can be automated via cc , you can automate sample pitch , vol and pan with the sp sequencer
Yes you can sample via usb
Yes you could sample the audio from hapax patterns to the sp pads

2 Likes
7

i meant record midi into the 404 sequencer as midi not audio

8

You can record midi , but only note data

1 Like
9

Adding to this , the sp has two midi modes , a/b , A- has 16 notes for the pads per bank , each bank (10) has its own midi channel.
B uses 2 midi channels and the 10 banks are split across those chromatically .

there is also a chromatic mode , where you can set 1 sample to play chromatically and you can record that to the sp seq . I think the note range is limited to 16 notes tho

1 Like
10

I also think they work well together, I generally use mine as a drum machine, sample player/recorder . I’ve got enough trks on my hapax to set to the individual sp banks if I want , I like setting a hapax trk to drum mode and picking out 8 samples , from different banks ( due to being able to assign different notes and midi channels to the hapax drum pads ) and you have the separate automation channel for the fx , which works well with how Roland set up cc on the sp .

I also like that it loads the last project you was working on , a sp project can hold 160 samples , and with the freedom of the hapax drum trk , and depending on how many samples you use in a song , you could have quite a few hapax projects pre loaded in a sp project .

The sp sequencer itself is ok , the step sequencer works well, a lot of the sp workflow for altering a sample, is to resample it to another pad , which is pretty easy , and as you can automate the fx from the hapax , recording a precise filter sweep or something is simple too.
I’m actually thinking about sampling my hapax patterns to the sp pads and then arranging them on the sp with the step sequencer , bypassing the hapax song mode

1 Like
11

The chromatic mode’s OK but pretty limited, was wondering if I should probably make a Hapax definition for it the other night. Thoughts?

Your proposed workflow is similar to mine: Hapax sequences everything but audio from the synths & outboard FX are routed through a patchbay & mixer. The mixer’s outs go to the 404mk2 for sampling & tweaking. By recording in this way I’m slowly building a stack of longish stems/loops/tools etc for the (underrated) DJ mode.

Gotta say midi mode A feels kinda irrelevant now. Only advantage it brings is allowing bus 3 & 4 to be automated via an external sequencer. That was fine on the Pyramid with 64 tracks & stacks of layers per track, on the Hapax that’s spending 2 tracks on what’s normally set & forget.

2 Likes
12

Personally I’ve not used it much , I think it’s more useful if you use the sp standalone , but it could still be useful to others .

I see your point with midi mode a , with your definition I’ll start using B mode .

1 Like
13

Thanks! Will probs make a chromatic definition in the next few days.

1 Like
14

Might be a dumb question, but how do I get the definition on to the hapax ( I know where you put it )

I thought there’d be a txt file to download , or do I have to copy and paste the text you posted in this thread to a txt file ?

15

That’s not dumb at all, I don’t recall seeing anywhere saying ‘store it here’ or ‘follow these steps’. I was a little lost as well to begin with too. I still don’t know what the M means in ‘RTFM’.

You’ll need to create your own .txt file & paste the text into the .txt.

Make sure it’s a plain text, not rich text. I set mine to the UTF-8 standard so there’s no weird chars the Hapax can’t read. Seeing I’m using a Mac, I also explicitly add the txt suffix so it’s like ‘Definition_1.txt’.

From there I put the def files into the Hapax’s SD card to the ‘Hapax’ folder. The SD card my Hapax came with wasn’t formatted/set up, and after formatting the required folder didn’t exist. To fix that try either:

  1. Save a project to the card to create the required folder.
  2. Create a folder in the card’s root called ‘Hapax’.

Even though 2 is easier, I recommend 1 because it means the Hapax is guiding the user with its’ expectations (so expect fewer errors).

If the definition doesn’t work the Hapax will let you know which line contains the error. I really like that kind of guidance (my day job is in database development so errors are my bread & butter). If you’ve got a spreadsheet program like Excel or a decent notepad editor like Notepad++, just paste the definition in there & scroll to the correct line. It should be obvious what needs fixing from there.

1 Like
16

Thanks , at first I copied all the txt to a new text file , and I see Mac OS wanted to save as rich text , so I downloaded a template from the squarp webpage , then copied over that , that gave me a syntax error line 2 msg , then I realised I should split the text to two definitions, trk 1 and 2 , then I got syntax error line 2 and line 3 .
Found the settings for txt editor so I’ve set it up to save a Utf-8 and plain txt .

I don’t work with computers, but pick things up through the net when need be , I know about syntax line , because I had to make a snow leopard bootable usb from a cd , that was for a different mac , had to go in and change the model listed , and I put a comma or something in the wrong place , when I tried to install it on my MacBook it gave a syntax error, which I then corrected.

I’ll try it out later , but I’m sure it’s the UTF thing causing the problem

17

Ah, yep & pardon, I totally forgot about the fact that each definition needs to be stored in its own file. That’s to ensure stuff like that the Hapax’s midi is assigned explicitly to a single device (no overlapping CCs etc). This kinda formatting can feel fussy, but it’s for the best.

Try just copy-pasting my text from the start of the 1st ‘VERSION 1’ through to the end of the 1st ‘[/COMMENT]’. Don’t include the line I added to the post to separate channel 1 from 2. Save that into its own txt file & test that one in the Hapax. Let me know if that works (key C1 = bank A pad 13). Remember the definition above automatically points to outport D.

A couple of my first dud attempts at making definitions probably had hidden characters or whatever that corrupted the txt file, so delete any files that failed more than once & create new files instead. After getting 1 working definition I’ve been copy-pasting & tweaking it to make new ones for other gear.

Nice work with the disk imaging too, glad I haven’t had to do that yet, bet it was a PITA.

18

All good now , it must of been the txt edit app settings.

Yeah that was a pita , I’ve got rid my old akai sampler , which was the reason I had it , try to stick to modern gear now

1 Like
19

hey this is awesome thanks alot. question which may be obvious but im slow: do you need two different tracks to control bus A and bus B effects? and do they need to use the two different definitions you provided?

20

split the definition above into 2 separate definitions ,( the comment section halfway down is the end of the first definition) and use on two tracks , reason being is that bus a is on midi channel 1, and bus b is on 2 , You don’t have to use the definition, you could set it from the hapax , but it saves time