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Roland SP-808(original), any users?
Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 11:08 pm
by scooterjack
Bout to get a SP-808 and was wondering if anyone had any tips, tricks, mods etc.. that aren't in the manual (that i've been reading on lightly and about to dive into) or easily available on the web. Google hasn't done me too much good as most of the sites linked are down, and what is left are the same 3 or 4 things over and over.
Will be using this for live applications, mainly hiphop, but possibly some dubsteppin too.
Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 11:09 pm
by deadly_habit
BASTARD!
Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 11:10 pm
by hurlingdervish
sp-forums.com
they got a tips thread on each sp
heres the section
http://sp-forums.com/viewforum.php?f=10
Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 11:12 pm
by hurlingdervish
if you havent bought one yet i would recommend the 555 over the 808
the polyphony is 4 voices on the 808 as i recall
Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 11:15 pm
by scooterjack
Deadly Habit wrote:BASTARD!
aint I
gettin it, an old Roland DJ-2000, a 1200 i originally sold him, and a pmc06 from a homie that has got to clear space for a baby that's coming soon
hurlingdervish wrote:if you havent bought one yet i would recommend the 555 over the 808
the polyphony is 4 voices on the 808 as i recall
not buyin it, sort of a permanent loaner

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:44 pm
by scooterjack
any users
the SP-Forums are a bit, um, slow.....
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:40 pm
by hurlingdervish
ScooterJack wrote:any users
the SP-Forums are a bit, um, slow.....
slow maybe but it has a huge back log of common questions and tips
good luck finding anybody who still uses that thing though...
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:48 pm
by ghostsinsmoke
I've got one. used to gig with it during the dnb days many moons ago.
just a heads up the drive on them's a little slow for one shot drum samples but if you use long samples or you're bringing parts in and out on the fly with the faders/effects they work well live.
whatcha wanna know?
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:04 pm
by ghostsinsmoke
oh yeah and it does have 4 polyphony but bounces internally with no loss in quality so you can make stems.
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:16 pm
by scooterjack
ghostsinsmoke wrote:I've got one. used to gig with it during the dnb days many moons ago.
just a heads up the drive on them's a little slow for one shot drum samples but if you use long samples or you're bringing parts in and out on the fly with the faders/effects they work well live.
whatcha wanna know?
any tips on workflow, things that won't work, or nifty tricks that'll come in handy?
I'm mainly going to use it to trigger phrases and FX for a live hiphop set. Read about the one shot issues, but that shouldn't be a problem as i do all my writing on my pc and will be exporting 4-8 bar phrases to use on the 808.
i'll take anything i can get on it. Definitely wouldn't be in my 'to buy' list, but i'll be damned if i pass up an opportunity to use and abuse one.
between the 808, the DJ-2000, and other various bits and bobs i'll be picking up saturday, it should turn out to a fun little experiment and an interesting live show
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:22 pm
by FSTZ1
I had one in 1989
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:24 pm
by scooterjack
FSTZ wrote:I had one in 1989
SP-808 not
TR-808

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:37 pm
by ghostsinsmoke
off hand. sounds like what you'd want to do is quite doable as that's what I used to use mine for. the best part...the filters are BIG, it can instantly drop into 50% speed for tempo and speed change breakdown.
I still use it for the effects from time to time or if I want to actually ride faders (true dub style). the tape delay and dub box delay are awesome.
I upgraded the os and the drive on mine to act more like the new ones...which is very easy to do.
If I think of anything else I'll let you know
