Lately, I have been searching for ways to trigger loops and samples from behind my drum kit. After playing around with a less than ideal setup involving many cables and devices (see below), I decided to buy myself a Roland SPD-S sampling pad. Turned out to be a pretty good move !
About a year ago, I bought myself a Roland SPD-6 to start experimenting with loops. I connected it via MIDI to my Edirol UA-25 interface, which in turn was connected to my laptop. On the laptop, I used Ableton Live to trigger the loops. To stay in sync with the loops, I started one measure of cowbell hits on my Roland DR-770 rhythm box, sent it to one channel of my mini Behringer UB502 mixer, and connected the monitor mix of all other instruments (including the UA-25) to another channel, outputting the UB502’s output to my headphones. Although this setup worked for rehearsals, it should be obvious by now that this wasn’t very handy. Not only did this require a lot of connections and devices, it was also very hard to keep the tempo in sync. Syncing the tempo between the DR-770 and Ableton (with another MIDI cable) at least gave me a central point where i could manage my tempo, but because of the way the MIDI sync worked, it was hard to control just the rhythm box without interfering with the loops. The SPD-6 also gave me a bit of trouble, in that it was hard to program, and that it sometimes triggers if you hit its rim. On top of these major inconveniences, I was a bit reluctant to start gigging with my PowerBook, fearing that it probably wouldn’t take long until some guy spilled beer all over it, and of course that things would start crashing mid-gig (I have faith in OS X, but not in Ableton and/or the UA-25 drivers). I considered buying a Roland SP-404 rhythm sampler as a replacement for the Laptop/Ableton/UA-25 combo. After some testing, this seemed like a very cool device indeed, but the on-screen display didn’t seem enough (I like to see preset names on my display), it had a sequencer i didn’t really need, and I still would be left with an extra device I had to drag around and connect. At just the extra 100 euros over the SP-404, I decided to buy an SPD-S.
After unpacking, the first thing I did was reset the memory. The few sounds I heard sounded pretty decent, but you don’t buy a sampling pad to play someone else’s samples 
Importing my existing sample wave files through the CompactFlash interface of the SPD-S was a breeze. I imported them directly to CompactFlash memory, because the internal memory was full after importing the samples of 3 songs. I also had to experiment with the three resolution settings (long, standard, fine) to find out that long suffers from a good deal of quality loss, whereas standard is nearly as good as fine (at half the space requirements). The SPD-S gave me all the control I wanted to make performances using the samples. I could even pan all the samples/loops to the left and pan a metronome loop completely to the right, such that I could send one channel to my headphones and the other to the mixing table. So, no need for an external metronome anymore, nor entering the tempo manually (it’s saved with the performance). On top of that, I could create a ‘panic’ pad, which turns off all the loops except the metronome, resulting in a perfect situation for live performance. If you try this at home, don’t forget to turn the ambience off, or your metronome will leak through to your other channel.
The sampling process itself also seems decent. Using the ‘auto-record’ function (which starts recording based on input level) and the ability to synchronize the end of the recording by entering the tempo in advance, it gives a pretty handy interface to record loops. One thing I am missing though is the ability to enter the number of measures to record, to have full automatic stop. I’m also not able to stop recording with a foot switch (although you can do it for phrase recording). I don’t really use the begin/end marking features (yet): for more complex sampling, I use software, and upload the loops afterwards.
In conclusion of this review, the SPD-S gives me all the features I need to trigger loops from behind my drums, perfect for on stage performance, and it brings them all in one device. With some pan trickery, I even obsoleted my external metronome (although I lost the ability to use stereo samples this way, but this doesn’t seem like a problem on stage). Two thumbs up !
i am somehow unable to use the drum triggers i bought to trigger anything other than the preset sounds of my roland spd s. i want to trigger my own sounds as well. any ideas? are the drum triggers i bought incompatible?
also, i haven’t figured out how to make assign a pad that stops the samples. any help would be awesome.
@ Annie: If you can trigger the preset sounds, I would say your triggers are compatible. Have you assigned your sounds to the right pads? (the ‘trig 1′ and ‘trig 2′ pad lights should lit when you are selecting the pad to edit).
To assign a pad that stops the samples: put all samples you want to stop with a pad in the same ‘mute group’ (see page 36 of the manual), and create a pad in that same mute group that has no sound assigned to it.
Hi, i put a aif file on 256 MB CF card but the SPDS can not find it!!
any idea?
joris- look in the manual for the import sample feature. once you put it on the card and put the card in the machine you still have to import it i believe. i have been using the spd-s for over a year to trigger all kayboard parts for my band while playing the drums, anyone with questions can email me directly at looseidrummer@yahoo nd ill try to help. you can do quite a bit with this little baby and ive had to mess around quite a bit to find creative ways around some of the limitations.
how do I take off the wave protect mode
i just found this site today and i read where you have the met. with all your samples like the panic pad. could you tell me again how you set that up and with the panning of your met. and samples L and R when you do that, only you can hear the met. it doesn’t go out in the pa?
@JD: It should be described above how you do that, and in the comments are some extra tips. The important part of not hearing the metronome through the PA (apart from the panning L and R) is that you turn off *all* effects on samples. The effects (such as reverb) are mono, and therefore will leak some metronome through both channels (including the one that goes to the PA).
Hi!
I’d like to trigger the sounds sampled in my spd-s from external pads (from a yamaha electronic drum). Can I assign a midi channel to each wave I want to use, and then assign that same midi channel to each external pad of the electronic drum? If that’s not the way, what do I have to do?
Thanx a lot!
Hi
I recently bought a spd-s and a 1G Compact Flash but the spd-s can’t find the card!! Is 1G to much for the spd-s?? Or have I done something wrong? I pressed setup + shift but the spd-s said ‘no card!’
I have a SPD-S and I like to sample clips of my favorite songs from the line in output but I can’t seem to loop the sample right….It won’t end on the 1
and do you have tips on chopping samples
but how do you get the sample to loop right so it can loop on the 1
Hi,
I have an SPDs and use a CF card for my samples. its a 512 card, I’ve used up 275 mb and its says card full when i try to add more samples. there are 78 samples on the card.
Q: I bought another CF. can I load more samples on this new card and load them into card memory? I is one card and that’s it or can i use multiple cards when its powered on.
thanks for any help on this!
I am wanting to put samples from my computer onto my SPD-S. What exactly do I need to do this? (i.e. midi cables, recording software, etc.)
Can someone help me?
Importing waves from the card can really be a drag. First of all, all of the files have to be in the root folder for the spd-s to recognize them, which is complete nonsense if u want to organise your samples in any way. Secondly, i had to import the files from the card ONTO THE CARD just so i could use my samples in patches (the internal memory is full). I put around 200 waves on the card but i could only import 100. When i chose what wave to import it’s like the spd-s can’t count more than 100, it just reads the first 100 samples although there are more on the card.
Can someone help me please?
@ Dumi: The SPD-S copies the files from the root folder to an internal folder. So keeping them organized doesn’t make much sense anyway, as after importing they should be thrown away. Do you have enough room to store the 200 patches? Because not only does the SPD-S copy the waves, I think it also converts them into its own wave format (which might be larger than the one you are using)
@ Scott: A compact flash card reader to attach to your pc.
@ Ludovic: If you can attach the pads to your SPD-S directly, you don’t need MIDI, you just need to assign the samples to the ‘extra’ pads. Otherwise, you should use one channel, and make sure the assigned notes of the pads on your drum match the notes on the pads of your SPD-S (the notes on te SPD-S can be assigned in the pad setup IIRC; how to assign the notes on the drum depends on your drum of course).
I couldn’t manage the metronome panning trick. After i read this page more carefully i found out that u have to turn off *all* of the effects on the patch so the metronome won’t leak to the other channel. Besides this, are there other conditions for using metronome panning?
Thanx in advance.
Oh, and thank you Remko for your reply.
@Dumy: No, that’s it: make sure that your metronome pad is panned all to the left, and that your other pads are panned all to the right, and make sure that both the left and right output are connected to something; the left channel should carry your metronome, the right channel should carry your other samples (in mono of course).
Going to give it a try. Thanx a bunch!
There’s also a way of getting stereo sound (using L and R) and STILL using a metronome AND one source for tempo’s
(as a reference I use the DB-90, but it shoudl work wit all metronomes with a midi in socket)
-Just connect the MIDI output of the SPD-S with the MIDI in from the metronome.
-Make sure that you’ve set the tempo of the patch (and loop) or single loop.
-Turn the metronome on.
-press midi on the metronome
-play the sample or whole patch
and enjoy. What will happen, is that the metronome follows the tempo of the loop/sample.
! make sure that the tempo is a full nummer (like 98 and not 98.5 or so) if you don’t do this, you will notice that the metronome keeps switching ind tempo between 2 full numbers !
SPDS will NOT accept more than a 512mb card. I confirmed this last night. 512mb works great.
Hey…just got an spds and I was wondering if anybody has any good suggestions on where to pick up/find new waves sounds for the pad. Preset ones are ok, but as im sure all of you would agree they get old pretty quickly.
Thanks in advance for any help.
The wave info says: “not found” so the sample i have made in wave mode does not exist in any patch. How do i fix this?
after creating a beat, using 8 pads, it won’t allow me to save it to a flash card. it keeps saying memory full. can u give me some assistance on this please. i have a 512mb flash card…
thanks in advance
(ps sorry for the repeat but my email address has changed thank you)
Hey guys,
I saw a previous comment that didn’t receive an answer for this, and I’m having the same problem. I just bought a gig compactflash and the SPD-S says that:
1: Unsupported!
and
2:cannot read card / no card!
Do I have to reformat the card? And if so, does anyone know how to do it?
Thanks for your help everyone, so far, you guys have been a great help!
Ok, here’s a question that may seem pretty basic. I’m trying to use the samples/panned left, metronome/panned right trick, which I have gotten to work more or less. My question is: How is everyone using the SPD-S to create the metronome? I figured out a way that works, but I’m not sure its the right way. My big issue comes on songs that I want to fly more than 8 separate samples into. Going to the next patch kills my metronome. I can program the last pad on a patch to automatically advance to the next patch, and it still plays the sample from that pad, but the click I have running is cut short. Am I going about this all the wrong way?
@patrick,
*FACEPALM*
1 gig doesnt work, only up to 512mb!!!
anyone got any links to buy some memory cards for this thing? I keep looking but am not finding any that match the model numbers listed on the roland FAQ. ebay? craigslist?
@Jeff: Any CompactFlash card should do, as long as it’s not over 512 Mb apparently. I generally use SanDisk cards.
I just bough the card and it is saying unsupported!! try to reset it and it says NO CARD… Any ideas?
the unit is brand new as well
I am trying to use my spd-s to trigger sounds through garageband but it will not recognize the device. I have hooked up my midi keyboard to do this but when I switch the midi cord to my spd-s it does not work. Are there settings I need to change in the spd-s? Is there a setting to change in garageband? I have tried to do it through system prefs, but it is not helping. Thanks
does anyone know how to stop a stray pad from triggering when hitting another pad . The 7th pad always triggers off without wanting it to when hitting other pads not even close to it . I ve looked thru the manual and cant find out how to undo. any help appreciated .
@matt: you could try to set the sensitivity of that pad lower to avoid it triggering unwillingly
I have read thru the threads and understand I can import sample files directly on to the Flash memory card via a A compact flash card reader. Does anyone have any advice about which flash card readers will work with an Apple Mac G5 and transfer on to the SDPs? Any suggestions welcomed..
@suttonsam: Any CF cardreader should do, as these are very standard, and should work on any operating system. And all CF cardreaders work with the SPD-S, as long as you use the right CF card (it seems 512Mb is the maximum), the card is formatted using the SPD-S, and your operating system supports the format SPD-S uses (which all operating systems do, including Mac OS X).
Hey there,
I read the whole wall. Thanks for all your answers Remko. Really helps.
I wanna know more about the metronome.
Have you been able to create a metronome with another tempo than standard. (Like not 120 BPM but 123 BPM)
I am not using an external device but using my spds phrase maker to program the met. loop
Many thanks
Oh by the way, i’m using a Roland TD3 just to trig multiple pads on the spds via midi. It works great after changing the note numbers on the TD3 to the same note # on the spds.
The only problem i am having is that small impacts will trigger some pads. I have turned the sensitivity down on the TD3 but to no avail, it keeps beeing set off by the slightess touch ou even taping of the foot. Is this because the TD3 is on the cheap side or does someone else see this with another brain like the TD20 or something.
I am curious to know if the pads on the SPDS can be assigned to start and stop the record sample function. I want to record live sound via a microphone but want to trigger it with the pads instead of the record button. Thanks.
Mine also suddenly stopped reading cards. I have two 1GB SanDisks and one 16MB SanDisk. After the welcome message, it says “unsupported” and if I go to the formatting screen, it says “no card”.
I don’t abuse it and it has been in the cupboard for about 6 months.
Googling this, it looks like others also have this fault happen.
Hallo .. from Austria,
nice collection of know-how regarding the SPD-S here.
I wonder if anybody could help me with the following question:
I´m planning to connect my SPD-S (MIDI-IN) to a MIDI-sequencer, to be able to trigger sounds/waves accoring to the ‘plan’ automatically and keep my hands free for additional extra drumming, singing, drinking, shaking, etc.
I know already that I will have to set [WAVE], [EDIT], [WAVE SETUP], TRIGGER=GATE at the specific wave on my SPD-S to allow the wave to be triggered from outside.
According to the manual, I will have to assign a MIDI-note# to the pad I would like to be triggered via MIDI-IN (at least, if I´m not happy with the preset note# of the pad).
This MIDI-note is assigned at PATCH-level
([PATCH], [EDIT], [PAD CONTROL], Note# = 0-127 (=C-..G9)
So far, so good;
.. but here comes my question:
BUT when MIDI-note# is assigned on Patch-Level,
.. does this mean, that I can only trigger sounds via MIDI-IN of the PATCH currently ACTIVE ?
If so, this would mean, that I can only trigger waves/sounds of the currently active PATCH.
Due to the reason, that my sequencer can´t know which patch I´m playing at the moment (he doesn´t care; he´s the master), and no variable is available telling him that I want pad#1 of patch#1 to be triggered by him, even though patch#2 is active at the moment, my assumption is, that only active-patch triggering via MIDI is possible.
Does anybody know, if I would be able to trigger the wave/sound that is assigned to PAD#1 of PATCH#1, even though PATCH#2 is activate and played by me manually at the moment ??
I would like to trigger sounds, that are NOT assigned to the actually ACTIVE PATCH! (otherwise, I could do it by myself and wouldn´t need outside-triggering)
Any ideas ?
Thanx a lot in advance,
Markus
how do you delete the internal memory of the spd-s? i’m havin trouble what to do. can someone please help me?
Hi, i was wondering if it is possible to trgger the samples i have on my memory card without importing them (as my internal memory is full). Or is there a wasy of upgrading the internal memory?
cheers Mike
@Mike Yes, samples can be triggered from the memory card (Otherwise, the memory card wouldn’t have much use). You will have to import the samples to get them into the Roland format, but you can import them directly to the memory card itself.
Yea i worked it out now thanks!
Hey guys i dont no much about the SPD-S i was thinking about getting it but i have a question about triggering thru the SPD-…
If i put a bass drum trigger on my accoustic bass drum could it be plugged into the SPD-s, so that it acts like a drum module for the trigger? If so i could assign ANY sample i want on the SPD-S to trigger whenever i hit that bass drum??
Hi, i was just wondering, due to the fact that the compact flash cards the spds can use are limited to 512mb and that they are hard to find. Would something like this work? or does anyone know a way to have more memory or a place to get CF cards?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ex-Pro-Compact-Flash-Memory-Adapter/dp/B000XEJJFU
http://www.delkin.com/products/adapters/sd-to-cf/sd-to-cf.html
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=48016&doy=search
cheers mike
hey john
you can certainly do that. i used to do that i figured out that i can basically program whatever sound i want the bass drum to produce whenever i hit it. i am experimenting on creating a small pad and connected the trigger to it just because spinal problems restrain me from constantly lifting. Now i don’t have to use the acoustic bass drum, just this pad and get any sound i want even an actual acoustic bass drum. You can definitely play around with it however you want.
The Spds is a great machine. i just wish they would have come up with an easy metronome function. i want to activate stereo out and still have click coming through to me. i can send the samples out in mono by panning left or right. How can i send out in stereo and have click only coming to me?
@Neil As far as I know, you can’t. You’ll have to use an external metronome.
I have been having a hard time with this here. I recorded a click track on logic going to the left with music and right just music. When the signal goes into the spd-s, I can tell that there is true stereo happening. However when it comes out the click is both left and right. How can i separate this signal while playing on the one pad.