SP-404MKII guide:
Sampling, effects and patterns.

Use direct sampling for a new external sound, Skip Back for an eligible recent unrecorded take, real-time pattern recording for a played groove, and TR-REC for deliberate step placement. Keep a pattern when its hits must remain individually editable. Resample when the audible performance and effects are the result you want to keep. Bounce converts a selected pattern or pattern chain into a sample with BUS 1–4 effects bypassed.

1. Decide whether the result must remain editable as pattern events or can become one sample before recording.

Do not call a bounce an effected mixdown: BUS 1–4 are bypassed during bounce.

RECORD SETTING chooses the capture source. Mix records the unit playback together with external input. ExtIn records only the external input, so pads can serve as backing without being printed. This is the key decision before an ordinary sample or resample.

1. Enter sampling standby, open RECORD SETTING, and set ROUTING deliberately before choosing the destination pad.

Starting a resample with ExtIn omits the samples you expected to print.

External input can enter DRY, BUS 1 or BUS 2. Input FX is separate input-stage processing. In TYPE A, input assigned to BUS 1 then also passes through BUS 2; TYPE B keeps those branches parallel. DRY skips BUS 1/2 but its later path still depends on DRY Routing.

1. Set Input Bus in EFX SETTING, then use RECORD SETTING only when you intend to capture.

Input FX and BUS FX are separate stages; selecting one does not imply the other is bypassed or active.

Resampling records playback into a new sample, including audible effects with Mix routing. It can capture a recorded pattern or combine several playing samples. PATTERN SELECT and RESAMPLE prepare recorded-pattern capture; they do not start playback or recording. After the settings and sample destination are chosen, selecting the blinking-blue recorded-pattern pad starts its playback and sampling. A live pad performance instead uses REC to start before you play the source pads. Finish either capture with REC to save the new sample.

1. For a recorded single pattern: press PATTERN SELECT, then RESAMPLE to prepare capture, not to start playback or recording. Open RECORD SETTING, set ROUTING to Mix, then EXIT. Select an empty blinking-red sample destination pad, then select the desired blinking-blue pattern pad: that selection starts pattern playback and sampling. Press REC again to finish sampling and save the captured audio to the destination pad.
2. For a live pad performance: press RESAMPLE and set the desired length. In RECORD SETTING, set ROUTING to Mix, then leave with EXIT or RESAMPLE. Select an empty blinking-red destination pad, press the REC button to begin recording, then perform on the source pads. Press REC again to finish sampling and save the captured audio to the destination pad.

An occupied destination is not a safe scratch pad; choose an empty blinking-red pad.

Skip Back can save eligible recent audio without having started normal sampling. Auto Trig Level gates recording: audio above its threshold starts the buffer; three seconds below pauses it. The default window is 25 seconds, or up to 40 with SBS Long. While MARK blinks, press MARK to view the waveform, REC, then an empty pad to preserve it. The buffer is temporary: EXIT without assignment or power-off loses it.

1. First look at the MARK indicator without pressing it. Blinking means the background buffer is receiving audio.
2. Press MARK to view the recent waveform. Press REC, then choose an empty pad to preserve that buffered audio.
3. Assign the audio before EXIT or power-off. Check the waveform instead of assuming a missed phrase was retained.

Skip-back memory is temporary; leaving without assigning it loses the capture.

Non-blinking MARK means skip-back memory is not recording and cannot be previewed or sampled; pressing MARK then shows No SKIP BACK Trigger Data. Check Auto Trig Level and the incoming audio. The rolling window replaces older audio, and Skip Back cannot operate alongside the looper. These limits do not provide a recovery method for a missing phrase.

1. Before improvising, verify the MARK indication and choose Skip Back or looper rather than expecting both.

Do not promise that a missing phrase can be recovered when the device reports no trigger data.

Gate plays only while a pad is held. One-shot plays through once and ignores further pad operations until it ends. Loop repeats and normally toggles between play and stop on presses. Choose Gate for held hits, one-shot for long backing audio, and Loop for phrases you want to start and stop.

1. Select the target pad, then use the dedicated [GATE] or [LOOP] control; one-shot is set with [VALUE] plus [GATE].

One-shot turns Loop off, so it is not a way to make a loop more reliable.

A looped pad normally toggles playback. Holding [HOLD] while pressing a looped pad restarts it from its beginning instead. That makes a useful live correction: align a drifting phrase at the next bar without first stopping the loop.

1. Turn Loop on for the target sample, then use [HOLD] plus its pad when you need a restart.

A normal pad press on a running loop stops it rather than retriggering it.

A mute group contains samples that should not sound together. In the same group, the most recently played sample is heard. This is a clean fit for alternate hats or mutually exclusive variations; it is not a mixing control for samples meant to layer.

1. Open MUTE GROUP with [SHIFT] plus pad [8], choose a group, then select the member pads.

Putting complementary drums in one group makes the later hit silence the earlier one.

CHOP follows marker work: use it when the recording should become several independently playable pad samples. It is a structural edit before sequencing, so review the split points before committing a pattern. Keep the original on another pad if you may want different boundaries later.

1. Enter SAMPLE EDIT and use MARK/CHOP for the selected sample; audition the resulting pads before building a pattern.

Chopping is not the same as setting a non-destructive playback start/end region for one pad.

In TYPE A, BUS 1 feeds BUS 2 in series; a source assigned to BUS 2 enters there. TYPE B processes BUS 1 and BUS 2 in parallel, then combines them. Their result passes through BUS 3 and then BUS 4. Pads choose destinations individually, but each bus shares its effect across all assigned sources.

1. Choose the per-sample BUS 1/2 destination first, then decide whether BUS 3/4 should process the later mix.

Treating BUS 3/4 as a per-pad assignment hides their master-effect role.

Each sample can feed BUS 1, BUS 2 or DRY. Select the desired BUS with [BUS FX], then hold [REMAIN] and press the pad. With factory BUS COLOR settings, orange means BUS 1, green BUS 2 and white DRY; these colours are customisable. DRY skips BUS 1/2; it may still encounter later BUS 3/4 depending on DRY Routing.

1. Set the bus effect first, then assign the source pad and use its color as the immediate routing check.

White does not automatically mean no processing anywhere; inspect DRY Routing when BUS 3/4 are active.

DRY means bypassing BUS 1 and BUS 2. EFX SETTING then decides whether DRY stays outside BUS 1–4 or joins immediately before BUS 3. The latter preserves a dry per-pad path while allowing the downstream master effects; it is not the same as a completely unprocessed output.

1. Set DRY Routing according to whether dry sources should bypass all effects or enter before BUS 3.

Confusing DRY with a universal no-effects switch causes surprising BUS 3/4 processing.

BUS 3/4 effect types and parameters are stored in FAVORITE 1–16 and selected independently of project. A favorite other than Bypass enables that master path; Bypass disables their effects without muting the signal. This makes favorites practical performance presets, but they are broader in scope than a project-only mix setting.

1. In EFX SETTING, select a numbered FAVORITE before editing BUS 3/4, and label your intended performance states externally.

Editing a favorite while expecting a project-local change can alter a reusable global setup.

Some effect parameters are shared: the manual specifically groups sub-parameters used by INPUT, BUS 1 and BUS 2 when the same effect is assigned, and says BUS 3 and BUS 4 share parameters as well. Treat duplicate effect assignments as coupled until you confirm their result.

1. Before adjusting a repeated effect, test the other bus or input source that uses the same effect type.

Saving or tweaking an input treatment can unintentionally change a BUS 1/2 sound that shares it.

Real-time pattern recording is the right starting point when pad feel, velocity and live performance matter more than entering exact positions. The pattern sequencer can later be edited, so capture the gesture first and correct only the timing that distracts from it.

1. Create or select a pattern in PATTERN SELECT, record the performance, then use pattern editing only for needed cleanup.

Do not commit the same phrase to a resampled pad if you still need individual hits editable as pattern events.

TR-REC is the sequencer route for placing events deliberately on its steps, including automation support. It suits programmed kick patterns, repeatable variations and corrections where exact placement matters more than a live take. Use it alongside real-time recording rather than choosing one workflow for every part.

1. Create the pattern in TR-REC, add the deliberate anchor events, then audition against any real-time layers.

A grid-perfect pass can remove the timing character you intended to retain from a played performance.

PATTERN CHAIN sequences created patterns in a chosen order. A chain can contain up to 16 patterns, and a project can store up to 16 chains. It is a lightweight arrangement tool: create the section patterns first, then record their order and choose repeat behavior for playback.

1. In PATTERN SELECT, hold [HOLD] and press a pad to choose the chain number, then enter the desired pattern pads.

A chain organizes existing patterns; it does not create new pattern content or turn it into computer-playable audio.

A pattern or pattern chain is sequencer data, not a computer audio file. Resample chain playback with Mix routing when its audible effects are part of the result. BOUNCE is another way to create a sample from a pattern or chain, but BUS 1–4 effects are bypassed. Export the resulting sample as WAV for computer playback; exporting sequencer data alone does not create that audio file.

1. In PATTERN SELECT, press RESAMPLE, open RECORD SETTING and set ROUTING to Mix, then EXIT. Choose an empty blinking-red destination pad.
2. Hold HOLD and select the chain, then press SUB PAD to start chain playback and sampling. With REPEAT Off, sampling ends with the chain; REC also stops sampling and saves the sample.
3. Export the resulting sample for computer playback. Keep the original patterns if you still need editable events.

Exporting a sample is not an export of editable pattern data.

Export samples when the goal is audio for a computer or another SP-404MKII. Export a project when the goal is to move the device’s project data to another SP-404MKII. These are different artifacts: a sample export is a selected audio result, whereas project export preserves project-level work for the hardware.

1. Use the SD-card IMPORT/EXPORT menu, choose SAMPLE for audio handoff or PROJECT for hardware-project transfer, then select only the intended pads/projects.

A WAV export cannot restore an editable project arrangement.

Backup is the recovery and device-transfer route: the manual describes it as data that can be restored if something happens, and permits up to 64 backup sets on one SD card subject to capacity. That purpose is broader than selecting a project or exporting audio for a collaborator.

1. Use BACKUP from the utility screen for a recoverable snapshot, and keep it separate from the working SD-card export you give someone.

Do not rely on a selected sample export as a full recovery copy.