Sampling with the SP808

In the past, many people were intimidated by the sampling process. Traditionally, sampling meant you had to navigate through endless menus and parameters just to record something. Then, you would spend hours trimming and looping your samples by trial-and-error. This process seemed to have more relation to mathematics than music. The SP-808 allows you to do all of these things quickly and easily without wasting lots of your time. Let’s get started:

1. Insert a SP-808 formatted Zip™ disk into the drive.
2. Press SAMPLING so the “Sampling” screen is displayed (see Fig. 2).
3. Press the pad you wish to sample to.

Note: When you press the sampling button, the SP-808 will automatically select the next available pad.

4. CURSOR to Start/w and rotate the VALUE/TIME dial to select “Lev. 1.”
5. Play your instrument or CD and adjust the LINE or MIC INPUT knobs so that the signal is just below the dotted line on the meter. After you have set the desired level, stop playing.
6. Press SAMPLING and then start playing your instrument or CD.
7. Press SAMPLING again when finished. “Finished. Check Result. OK?” will be displayed.
8. Press any pad to hear the playback of your sample. Press ENTER/YES to keep it or EXIT/NO to try again.
If you have a Sampling CD (CD with pre-programmed loops and sounds), you can record large portions of the CD at one time and use a special SP-808 feature called “Auto Divide” to automatically separate the samples to the different pads. This feature will save you tons of time because you don’t have to stop and setup for each sample. Here’s how you do it:

1. Follow steps 1 – 5 in the Sampling section above.
2. CURSOR down to Auto Trim and rotate the TIME/VALUE dial to select “ON.”
3. CURSOR down to Auto Divide and rotate the TIME/VALUE dial to select the amount of silence needed before division takes place. You can select from 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 seconds.
4. Press SAMPLING and then start playing your CD.
5. Press SAMPLING again when finished. The SP-808 will start dividing the samples to each available pad. If it fills up an entire pad bank, “PADs are Full. Use Next Bank?” will be displayed. Press ENTER/YES to continue.

Fig. 3
Musical Note Values
III. Sample Editing
After sampling to the pads, editing is a breeze. First of all, the SP-808 has a section on the front panel called QUICK EDIT. The main sample editing features (Trim, Level, Stretch, and Pitch) allow you to quickly cut, adjust the volume, change the tempo, or change the pitch of your sample. Let’s start editing our sample:

Trim
Trimming a sample is the process of changing the start, loop and end point (see Fig. 4 on page 7) of the sample so that it loops smoothly and/or plays only the portion of the sample that you want to play back. A perfect loop should sound seamless when it repeats. The SP-808 lets you trim samples in a more musical fashion than most samplers, using parameters such as BPM and measure number. Because of this, we are going to start with a quick overview of some common musical terms. Here’s a brief description of some musical terms that will be helpful to know:

Beat = Each time you tap your foot in time with the music is equal to one beat. In most popular music, this is referred to as a quarter note (q).
Measure = A grouping of beats. In most dance music, there are usually four beats to a measure and the first beat (the downbeat) is usually emphasized.
Quarter Note = A division of time in music. Represented by the “q” symbol in musical notation. In most popular music, a quarter note is equal to one beat and there are usually four quarter notes in a measure.
Half Note = A division of time in music equal to two quarter notes. Represented by the “h” symbol in musical notation. In most popular music, there are two half notes in a measure.
Whole note = A division of time in music equal to four quarter notes. Represented by the “w” symbol in musical notation. In most popular music, there is one whole note in a measure.
Eighth Note = A division of time in music equal to 1/2 a quarter note. Represented by the “e” symbol in musical notation. In most popular music, there are eight eighth notes in a measure.
Sixteenth Note = A division of time in music equal to 1/2 an eighth note. Represented by the “x” symbol in musical notation. In most popular music, there are 16 sixteenth notes in a measure.
Tempo = In music, the tempo indicates how fast or slow the beats are counted. In other words, it is the speed of the music. Tempo is normally indicated in beats per minute (BPM).
Time Signature = In music, the time signature determines two things: the note value that is equal to one beat and how many beats there will be in a measure.

Note: Most of today’s music is written in a time signature of 4/4. This means that the quarter note will be equal to one beat and that there will be four beats in each measure. A typical “House Beat” is a good example of this. The kick drum usually plays on every beat which, in musical terms, is the equivalent of quarter notes. A new measure begins after every four beats. The speed at which the kick drum is played is determined by the tempo. A tempo marking of q = 120 BPM indicates that the kick drum would play 120 times in one minute and, in 4/4 time, would be 40 measures long.

Knowing the tempo and time signature of your sample will allow you to set the loop points quickly and easily. The SP-808 will estimate the tempo of your sample based on the note type and length parameters that are set on the Sample Parameter screen and the length of time between starting and stopping the sampling function. Many sample CD’s have the BPM for each sample listed. The trick is to first determine the length of the sample in order to get the correct BPM. For example, if you are sampling a two bar drum loop in 4/4 time, you would set the BPM BaseNote to “q” (a quarter note) and the length to “x 8” (because there are eight quarter notes in two bars of 4/4 time). When you finish sampling, the tempo in the upper right portion of the display should match the tempo listed for that sample. If it does not match, you can adjust the Length (>End) parameter until the tempos match. Now, when you play back your sample, it should loop smoothly.

Tip: If you hold down SHIFT and rotate the VALUE/TIME dial, you can change the values in exact doubles or halves. Also, the Start and Loop points can be moved without changing the length of the loop by rotating the VALUE/TIME dial while holding the STOP button.

If you do not know the tempo, you can hold down SHIFT and tap the HOLD button in time with the sample until the tempo is displayed on the screen. This feature is called Tap Tempo and it can be very helpful. You may need to tap the button several times in order to get the correct tempo.

Note: If you cursor up, you can set the Loop Mode. “START-END” will repeat the entire sample. “LOOP-END” will allow you to set a loop point that is different from the start point. When you press a pad, the sample will play from the Start Point to the end point. When the sample repeats, it will play from the Loop Point to the End Point.

Use the following procedure to set the loop points of your sample:

1. Press TRIM followed by the pad you wish to edit.
2. CURSOR to X (Times) and rotate the VALUE/TIME dial to adjust the length of the loop (total number of beats). For example, if you have a one measure loop, you will select “4.” If you have a two bar loop, select “8.”
3. CURSOR to Length (->End) and rotate the VALUE/TIME dial to adjust the end of the sample until you get the desired BPM.
4. Play the pad to check your results. Playback will start just before the end of your sample so you won’t have to wait to hear the loop point.

Time Stretch
Stretching a sample will allow you to change the tempo or BPM of the sample without changing the pitch. This is extremely useful when you wish to match the tempo of one sample to another or when you want to change the tempo of a sample to match the tempo of a tune you’re working on. Use the following procedure:

1. Hold SHIFT and press STRETCH.
2. CURSOR to SOURCE and press the pad you wish to change.
3. CURSOR to TO and press the pad you wish to write the new sample to.
4. CURSOR to NewBPM and rotate the VALUE/TIME dial to select the desired BPM and press ENTER/YES.
You can also use RATIO to determine your new tempo. Here’s an equation you can use to get the ratio:

(ORIGINAL TEMPO / NEW TEMPO) x 100 = RATIO

1. Divide the original tempo by the new tempo. For example, if the original tempo is 100 BPM and you want to change it to 110 BPM, your outcome would be .9090.
2. Multiply your outcome by 100. In our example, our result would be 90.9.
3. CURSOR down to Ratio and use the VALUE/TIME dial to enter your result and press ENTER/YES.
4. Press PLAY to return to the main play screen and press the pad to hear the results.
If you want to match the tempo of another pad:

1. Hold SHIFT and press STRETCH.
2. CURSOR to SOURCE and press the pad you wish to change.
3. CURSOR to TO and press the pad you wish to write the new sample to.
4. CURSOR up to Match/w and press the pad you wish to match.
5. CURSOR down to TYPE and rotate the VALUE/TIME dial to select “TEMPO.”
6. Press ENTER/YES.
7. Press PLAY to return to the main play screen and press the pad to hear the results.
Pitch
Changing the pitch of a sample without changing the tempo can also be a very useful tool. Sometimes, you may already have the correct tempo, but the pitch just doesn’t fit with the tune your working on. For example, you might have a horn hit that needs to be a half step higher than when it was originally sampled. Use the following procedure to change the pitch of a sample:

1. Hold SHIFT and press PITCH.
2. Press the pad or rotate the VALUE/TIME dial to select the SOURCE sample you want to change.
3. CURSOR to TO and press the pad you wish to write the new sample to.
4. CURSOR to GRADE and rotate the VALUE/TIME dial to select the desired grade (1-5) of the effect. Higher numbers result in better fidelity, but may affect the rhythm of the sample.
5. CURSOR to NewPitch and rotate the VALUE/TIME dial to select the desired pitch. For example, if you want to shift the sample a whole step up, select “2.” If you want to shift it a whole step down, select “-2” .
6. Press ENTER/YES.
7. Press the PLAY button to return to the main play screen and press the pad to hear the results.

Level
The Level function allows you to adjust the volume of each sample. This will help you blend all your samples so that one is not louder than another. Use the following procedure to set the level of a sample:

1. Press LEVEL.
2. Press the pad you wish to change.
3. Rotate the VALUE/TIME dial to adjust the level as desired (0-100).
4. Press PLAY to return to the main play screen and press the pad to hear the results.

Knowledge Base