It’s insane how much fun this thing is. I don’t have space for a full kit. This thing squeezes into a corner. But with this and a hi hat and base pedal I can do most anything to play with my guitar tracks.
Thank you for this great overview. The SPD-SX Pro is now my 3rd SPD Pad (since SPD-S and SPD-SX) - and its the best. With your video you can get a deeper view in all the possibilities. Thank you very much.
I bought spd sx pro couple of days ago. Im using SPD sx for several years. However, navigating SPD sx pro seems complex. I couldn't find some important feature yet. Kindly answer: 1. How to do tempo mach for different loops? 2. How to sync kit tempo for loops? 3. How to do wave edit (star and end) quickly? I called reseller, Roland Canada, checked Roland backstage. Got No answer yet.
I bought this unit, the Roland SPD-SX-Pro a little over a year ago, and absolutely love it (in fact I used this video as the final deciding factor of the purchase) It has great sounds and is very user-friendly. However, I have one glaring beef with it and it is a mighty big one, indeed: although it has fantastic timpani and crotales (?? why crotales and not glockenspiel?) sounds, there is not a single instance of a xylophone, chimes, or marimba sound. In order to have them, I had to download off of free WAV websites. The unit does do a beautiful job of transposing and editing those sounds as needed, though. But why not include those basic sounds that a percussionist needs?! I do a lot of musical theater where I use this unit, and it seems to me that those instruments should be absolutely expected sounds to have on a purchase like this, just like on a Roland synth. But the thing that makes it even more irritating is that there is like a million (exaggeration, obviously) versions of other sounds that seem quite unnecessary. How many handclap and sub-bass sounds does a person freaking need?!!! Otherwise- it is a truly excellent purchase and I would highly recommend it to any drummer/percussionist.
It does seem like an oversight now that you mention it. It was a bit unbelievable at first, so we checked the sound list and you're right, out of 1553 sounds, we didn't find a single instance of a xylophone, marimba, or other melodic bells. The only reason we can think of is that with the limited number of pads available, they couldn't justify which notes to sample/synthesize. But there are plenty of other brass hits etc. that have a note/pitch that one would have to transpose for their use, so the same could have been done with bells/bars instruments. We're glad to hear you're happy with it nonetheless, and after importing your own samples, you've made it fully functional for your use.
@@longandmcquade Thanks very much for your reply. I found that if you find a good WAV file, it will transpose within 1 octave and maintain the timbral clarity of the instrument. For example, the timpani WAV files Roland includes has both a A & D pitch, so those pitches can be manipulated as needed closer to the actual pitches, as one may need. I do hope that in the future Roland will add those necessary percussion keyboard mallet instrument sounds and perhaps add 3 or 4 octave WAV file examples for each instrument- the player can do the rest with programming. But it does offer other excellent percussion sounds such as tam tam (gong), concert bass drum, crash cymbals, etc. It was a truly game-changing purchase for performance and recording - I love it!
Only design choice that really bugs me is the lack of dynamic hi hat. You only get open and closed, with no half open. Which is really annoying since the pad can detect he amount of pressure on the external hi hat controller. I'm hoping that the dynamic hi hat will be added in an upcoming patch.
You can designate any pad, trigger input or foot-switch input to control the Step Sequence. Then, you can assign any of the pads, triggers or foot switches to the Sequence in a pattern between 2 and 16 steps long, in any order. Consecutive strokes on the “control” pad will cycle through this pattern. You can string interesting percussive and/or melodic phrases together like I did in this demo, or even simply cycle through a few different handclaps so the sound is more varied and realistic… lots of great applications for this new feature.
Beatiful video and such wonderful playing. But I have a question, as I'm just about to order one. What matters a lot to me is the FEEL of the pads. E.g., the Nord Drum pads feel too hard and I don't like that bounce, or lack of it, that I get when I strike. I want something that feels really natural, like the best V-Drums. They really feel nice. Nice bounce back.
You can designate any pad, trigger input or foot-switch input to control the Step Sequence. Then, you can assign any of the pads, triggers or foot switches to the Sequence in a pattern between 2 and 16 steps long, in any order. Consecutive strokes on the “control” pad will cycle through this pattern. You can string interesting percussive and/or melodic phrases together like I did in this demo, or even simply cycle through a few different handclaps so the sound is more varied and realistic… lots of great applications for this new feature.
I bought spd sx pro couple of days ago. Im using SPD sx for several years. However, navigating SPD sx pro seems complex. I couldn't find some important feature yet. Kindly answer : 1. How to do tempo mach for different loops? 2. How to sync kit tempo for loops? 3. How to do wave edit (star and end) quickly? I called reseller, Roland Canada, checked Roland backstage. Got No answer yet.
Great presentation. I wish Roland would offer a little bit more premium quality acoustic kits in this device. On par with the higher end TD modules. Would make for a great piece of gear for using in tighter spaces. Higher quality sound processing hardware e.g. 24bit/192khz is cheap these days. Oh, and mesh pads please in the next version. Would not mind paying 2K for a seriously pro V2.😊
My first though is that the menus and controls are a bit complicated after the other versions. I think it’s a great machine, I can use two samples per pad and have a crossfade point that makes a triggered snare more realistic, lower the attack transient to stop it sounding plasticky on the front end and it will get close to a v-drum or tm-6 pro. FX are expanded. Master FX have shrunk sadly, I liked master fx and used a lot of delay on hihats and ping ponged it between my left and right speakers and I can still do that with multifx but I just liked the 4 masterfx. Feedback on the master fx is controllable on the knob but I still only get one master fx. Audio over usb is great, multiple outs are great, click and midi clock wonderful. I like to trigger 4 toms, double kick and a dual zone snare on rock gigs, then on pop gigs I have single kick trigger, pad, dual zone hats and it’ll be nice to trigger dual zone snare and two toms, if I want to switch between those gigs I have to reprogram the triggers, I’d like to see trigger banks available, 8 or 16 wouldn’t go amiss for a journeyman drummer. That would be a pro feature. Even better would be individual trigger settings per kit. That’d really be cool. The onboard sounds are great, so much choice for snares and kicks, claps and percussion etc. couldn’t find any fingersnaps. EDIT, found them under snaps. I exported my sounds from my SX and then loaded them into the Pro tonight, took me an hour to set up the 6 kits I need for my next gig with Tom triggers, snare trigger and kick and hihat, all my sounds are set and I just need to test the levels on my speakers with my kit which I’ll do in rehearsal. I’ll set up some midi control kits another evening to control superior drummer, Ableton drum racks, breaktweeker and addictive drums. I want to find out how to set up the control foot switches and see if I can plug triggers into the input in some way. Set up the hihat pedal and make use of it, and the expression pedal. The click can be started when you hit any pad or trigger, so you can start with a sound and get the click in your in-ears, it’ll play, loop or start stop each time you hit the pad for that sound. There’s also sample delay. You can hit a pad and have it nit start until a note value has gone by, so you could have 2 pads start at the same time without using pad link by hitting them each consecutively on 8th notes with each pad delayed by a correct note value, or pad link them, hit one and gave 4,5 or however many start up later without having to build silence into the front of the sample, it does the maths for you. This might not seem useful but to someone out there this will save a lot of time. Pad sequencer is a cool tool, the alesis dm4 trigger module allowed you to hit a pad and it would cycle through 4 different timbale or bongo sounds, it was fun and allowed you to play a pad with broken 16ths that sounded like you were playing like an expert percussionist. This goes way further on this unit. Up to 16 steps of any sound in your kit patch, so you could have all the intro synth hits from Big in Japan by Alphaville for example in your kit, sequence them in the correct order and put them on a pad, each time you hit a pad it plays a synth sound in order, hit your snare at the same time and everyone thinks your a genius, even better map the snare trigger to the sequencer and do it with just the snare, change kit patch to the next kit to carry on with a snare sound. Instant cool. You could also do this with alternate hihat sounds and have an evolving hihat sound, my take would be then to put delay in the hihat, ping pong it and put it into a stereo field and it could sound amazing. Masterfx does effect audio in when going out through main outs, if audio in is only routed to headphones then masterfx doesn’t get passed to the signal. This is very important as if you’re receiving an in ear mix via that audio in, you definitely don’t want to add delay to it while you’re trying to listen to it, if you’re sending that audio in out through your master outs you do want masterfx to work, and then they work in your headphone mix as well. Cool feature and well thought out. Turns out the resampling and performance sampling i hadn't found was actually solved, the sampling mode has a choice of inputs, input from audio in jack or input from pads, or both, so if you want to record a performance, merge two samples or do anything that is not in the menu from the old one, you can actually do it this way. This also includes the masterfx as a sampling manipulation. It’s actually pretty awesome when you do it. Still annoyed that masterFX is global and doesn't change with kit, that'd be cool and losing 4 masterFX buttons when they could have given us 4 programmable ones is annoying. Trigger banks is also annoying but then the first update might change that. Sounds can be edited for pitch, and for decay very easily and can be blended with cross fade from velocity, switched from velocity too, all in all a much faster way to edit your sounds when you turn up at a gig and the sounds you thought were ok have too much bottom end through the ginormous PA speakers and with a turn of a knob you can change the sound. So my only real quibbles after playing with it and finding out what it’s about are no trigger banks, no global masterfx toggle global/kit., these could be addressed by a firmware upgrade, the loss of 4 masterfx knobs can’t really be changed so I might carry a seperate fx unit for slicing incoming audio and dj style fx if I ever need it.
If you changed the tempo on a kit that you’ve programmed as a starting tempo (say 115bpm) via tap tempo and then leave that kit then return to it the tempo is where you left it, not as you programmed it. It’d be nice if there was a tempo control switch per pad that allowed tempo to be sticky (stay as you left) revert to programmed and another option to make tempo follow the sticky from another kit. Firmware update could do this.
I bought spd sx pro couple of days ago. Im using SPD sx for several years. However, navigating SPD sx pro seems complex. I couldn't find some important feature yet. Kindly answer: 1. How to do tempo mach for different loops? 2. How to sync kit tempo for loops? 3. How to do wave edit (star and end) quickly? I called reseller, Roland Canada, checked Roland backstage. Got No answer yet.
@@beatsofsourove3108 hi. There’s no tempo loop match. They left it out and the Facebook group Roland SPD SX PRO users has been discussing some of the things missing. Tempo setting for the individual kits can be done page 69 of the owners manual. It’s in kit edit 2. Start and stop is in wave edit page 82 of the manual. Menu/Wave/List. Then press the wave edit tab at the bottom of the screen. There you can edit start loop and end. The other thing you can’t do is sampling to multiple pads while playing in an audio sample. The manual is ok but could do with a couple of things clarified. Once you get used to navigating the menus it gets a lot easier. The app is very good and helps a lot in setting things up quickly. The pad edit knobs having multiple functions is confusing at first but they can be programmed to do different things very well. The other problem I found is if I change kit tempo and then change kit, come back to the kit again it’s at the tempo I left it at rather than the tempo I programmed. It would revert back to the tempo you programmed on the previous model. This annoyed me a lot on my first gig and a few other people have said it was annoying trying to do it before starting a song. I use a tap tempo pad but it was still really annoying. I’m hoping this and tempo matching will be in a future firmware upgrade along with adding panning delay to all delays that don’t do it at the moment and hopefully trigger banks.
Thank you for the demo. Made me realize my existing daw station already does all this and far more. Rather this not a good fit for all cinematic composers. It’s really for the performing drummer. I have the original OctaPad 8 from 1985, and was looking to upgrade. But I see now that I’m still covered. I trigger the drum kits in my daw station which don’t sound like a library for kids and young adults. Rather it’s killer sounds used for major motion picture films. A MIDI Thru is needed which is missing here., Congrats con such an outstanding video 👍🏻
Yes, a lot of the features in the SPD-SX Pro are similar to what you see in some DAW softwares (specifically the software platforms designed with live performance in mind). The SPD-SX can absolutely be used for recording, but one of it's primary intended purposes is bringing DAW-style production techniques to a live show WITHOUT having to rely on a computer. It's great for shows or tours with space\input\time considerations, in which a full computer set-up may not be practical. Also, the SPD-SX PRO does indeed offer MIDI Thru. You can trigger any software or hardware MIDI instrument from the SPD, as well as send MIDI through it to your MIDI capable devices.
Hi great video and learned a lot!! In the old spd sx you could tempo sync or you could speed up or slow down the tempo of all your loops on one kit can this be done on the new one? Also if I have a couple of loops that are not the same tempo on a kit is there a way of tempo matching them? Cheers
Very cool! Original SPDS didn't respond consistently to hand or finger strikes? Has this been improved in the Pro? Wound up with Handsonic's due to that, however really wanted the feature set of the SPD. Unfortunately no stores here ever have them to audition!.. Thanks for sharing!
Incredible review Miles. Really impressive loop e-drumming. I am so excited that I just bought this. Currently using an Alesis Multipad, amongst others but this will take it to the next level, especially if I understand correctly that if I import one of my stereo backing tracks, the spd pro will create a click for me?
You can use the onboard click if your backing track is true to tempo (does not deviate). If you have a song with tempo deviations you can export an audio file of a click to match your track and use that.
Has anyone tried their hands on using multiple balanced outs (apart from the master out)? Would like to know how one goes about routing them...unless if there is a video or forum that talks about this specifically?
Great Video. Do you have a video showing the connections using V-Drums with the Roland SPD Routing \Recording into a DAW like Protools? So I'm saying I would like to use Roland SPD as a recording device along with my Roland E kit Inside of Protools or DAW
You can't use both devices - the SPD-SX Pro and your V-Drums module as recording devices in Pro Tools. Choose one or the other as our audio interface for the DAW, and bring the output of the other into the MIX IN / AUX IN / Audio In of the module you've selected to use as the audio interface. The primary module will show individual tracks for each channel, whereas the secondary module using the MIX IN will be combined into a single stereo track.
Great video what stand do you recommend and do you use standard drum sticks or are there better options for the pads I plan to use the unit with a KT 10 as it will be used a a drum kit to accompany my aerophone and sax recording into my live 11 Daw
Thanks! We recommend a Roland PDS-10 or PDS-20, although other stands will work. Standard drum sticks are totally fine for the SPD-SX PRO pads. Cool setup you are imagining!
Quick question: Is there a feature that's similar to the "Perform & Record" function that's on the SX version? Or is the new step sequencer another approach to doing that? Thanks and thanks for the video!!
Great question! The SPD-SX PRO still has “Perform & Record” functionality. The sampling interface has been streamlined, so you won’t see a “Perform & Record” icon. Instead, you can choose INPUT&PADS or PADS as your sampling source, and record new loops and phrases by playing the pads… the process and results are the same, even though the menu is different. All of the SPD-SX’s sampling functions are incorporated into the SPD-SX PRO, the menu just looks different.
I bought spd sx pro couple of days ago. Im using SPD sx for several years. However, navigating SPD sx pro seems complex. I couldn't find some important feature yet. Kindly answer or send video link: 1. How to do tempo mach for different loops? 2. How to sync kit tempo for loops? 3. How to do wave edit (star and end) quickly? I called reseller, Roland Canada, checked Roland backstage. Got No answer yet.
Hey thanks for the questions! We reached out to Miles directly and he said you did ask these same questions on the Roland Backstage support platform, and he got back to you there.
The two pads use a different audio format and a complete different menu/feature architecture. Luckily the new screen, and new app make setting up kits and parameters quick and easy.
Question please - what kind of machine do I use to add drums to a song recording I make on my home studio? I am not a drummer. I want to get a nice drum beat and be able to change it some for a song I record. How do I do this please? Thank you - John
Hello, Is it possible to route a stereo loop on the direct outputs ? Or are they just can be use as "mono". For exemple, is it possible to do that : pad 1 stereo loop to "master out " / Pad 2 - stereo loop - to "output 1-2" / Pad 3 - stereo loop - to "output 3-4" / I am afraid that direct outputs can't be used with a stereo signal ? Only with a mono ( snare, kick, toms...) . Thanks in advance !
Direct Outs 1&2 and 3&5 can be grouped as stereo pairs, or as individual mono outputs. When assigning your sound, press the DOWN button until two of the Direct Outs are highlighted.
Hi guys great video! I've got a question about the Loop section of your video. Let's say I have pre charged 3 loops into 3 pads. Time is 4/4. I trigger the first loop and it starts playing. I want to launch the second loop but I want it to start in time at the end of the measure of the previous loop or to be more precise at the beginning of the first beat of the new measure. Is it possible to do that? Thank you. 👍
Yes, you can link the 1st Loop to the 2nd Loop so it retriggers in unison, when you activate the second one. You can trigger Loop 1 on it’s own, and trigger both Loops when you strike the second pad. You can set up multiple “link” groups in each kit.
Absolutely it is! With the 8 additional trigger inputs and the hi-hat control input, you can plug in any additional pads including mesh or rubber snare/tom pads, a hi-hat, a kick pad with a real kick pedal, or a foot controller that triggers a bass drum, hi-hat, cowbell, etc.
Good Video, one question fromm my Site: can you Change the Tempo of the click by hitting one of the pads? E.g. start with 130, First Hit Change to 150 next Hit 120 ...
Great question; there is no way to assign pads to change the tempo of the built-in click. There may be a few different ways to achieve your goal. You can load in several of your own custom made click loops at the tempos you want, and assign them to different pads - you can hit each pad to trigger the click loop assigned to it, and if all the pads are in the same "Mute Group," hitting one will cancel out the previous one. You can trigger various clicks this way. You could also make several copies of the same kit at the different tempos you'd like - you can use pads, a footswitch, or the buttons to move between the kits. There is no latency or audio dropout as you move between kits, so the tempo will change immediately. This would be the best option if you are using tempo sensitive MFX in the SPD-SX PRO. You could also, if you plan on playing the same arrangement each time, import a full-length custom made click track that features your tempo changes.
@@baumeister2880 Hi! If you read my full comment above, I explain three ways you could incorporate different tempos in one song… maybe one of those will work for you?
Hello, you said SPD SX PRO can do everything that SPD SX can, but how can I: 1, chop sounds like exporting record part and chop the parts to the pads by hitting them? 2, export waves to computer via the SPD SX PRO app? cant figure it out these two.. thanks
Great video! I’ve watched several times to get the most out of this brilliant demonstration. I have a question about the step sequencer if you don’t mind, Miles. Does it work with all the pad layering options? I see that you used melodic sounds and shakers in your demo. What would happen if each time the sequence got to a pad selected with the alternate function as an example? Would it work as each time it cycles to say Step 1, that could have different samples on alternate sequences? That could save space in the sequencer and be very useful!! I hope that makes sense. Many thanks
Great question! Yes, all of the Layer modes still function as expected, even if they are assigned to pads included in the Step Sequence. So, if you have a pad set to the "Alternate" layer mode, it will play one sound the first time through the sequence, and the other sound the second time through. 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A then 1B, 2B, 3B, 4B, for example... as you've deduced, this effectively lengthens your step sequence - up to double the steps. Thinking creatively like you have means you can create some really varied and nuanced patterns, using different combinations of the sequence and layering.
@@milesgibbons9287 Yes! That’s great news and well thought out by those who designed this. Thanks for answering my question 😊 and providing more info about the PRO in comments across other videos.
Got mine today. Such an amazing product! But once again want to say thank you, Miles, this demo made things a lot easier to dive deeper very quickly out of the box 😊
Great presentation! Does it have horns and/or can you import horns from a keyboard? I guess I'm asking if you can sample horns or any other unusual sounds? If so, do you save a wav and/or AIFF file? I am wanting to be able to perform the horn sound at the intro of Tequila Little Time by Jon Pardi....for example. Super thanks!
Great Video! I've been having issues with trying to have sound from my MacBook whilst having sound from the Spd sx pro in my headphones at the same time. I've tried to route the sound from my Mac into the Spd by the Line In but nothing comes out. Is there any way to achieve this?
If you install the SPD-SX PRO's USB driver, and set it's USB mode to Vendor, you can select the SPD-SX PRO as an audio input\output device for your computer when connected via USB.
@@musiqsoundsproductions but you can put your own samples in so it‘s really a good alternative and the hybrid possibilities are amazing. Mine arrives tomorrow 😎
Aucun tuto en français je dessue donc je n achète pas cette appareil bien que je doit en acheter un . Roland pourrai faire des progrès pour la France cordialement
Bonjour Florian ! Long & McQuade est un magasin de musique canadien, d'où la langue anglaise dans cette vidéo. Il y a peut-être d'excellents magasins de musique français qui ont produit des vidéos similaires !
@@brandonspivey8020 Correct, it's a computer interface that sends 8 channels of digital audio to your computer. In a studio setting, isn't this what the 8 audio outputs would typically be used for? Instead of 8 analog outputs on the SPD-SX Pro (it has 6 analog outputs), the USB interface lets you send 8 individual tracks of audio to your computer without the need for another 8 channel audio interface or AD/DA converters.
That’s one facet of a very multifaceted piece of kit… obviously the creative potential for non-traditional sounds with electronics is limitless, but some people just want to play traditional sounds, and maybe have volume or space limitations they need to work around.
The best tutorial of the Spd so far... because he acctually plays...
Yes! The other chats are gab, gab. So frustrating and actually stupid as a marketing effort. Just show me the damn thing please!
It’s insane how much fun this thing is.
I don’t have space for a full kit.
This thing squeezes into a corner.
But with this and a hi hat and base pedal I can do most anything to play with my guitar tracks.
you can add a mesh snare too. pretty great
Thank you for this great overview. The SPD-SX Pro is now my 3rd SPD Pad (since SPD-S and SPD-SX) - and its the best. With your video you can get a deeper view in all the possibilities. Thank you very much.
Please Roland, on a next update make a right to left handend ir mirror pad layout switch option in the software for us left handed drummers!
"A MUST SEE VIDEO!!!" If you watch this and see all the features you are going to want to buy one!!! Great Demo!!!
Miles, your knowledge of everything Roland is truly amazing. Keep the videos coming.
Watching this as I’m waiting for my SPD-SX Pro to be delivered. 😁
how much u pay
@@jessihawkins9116 $1199 from Sweetwater.
@@rappy007 oh wow I found mine in the dumpster but I had to clean the membrane buttons with alcohol but it works now. i almost left it there
@@jessihawkins9116 Oh wow!!!! What a nice and lucky find!!! 🙌🏼
one of the best videos on this instrument that I have seen. I have one and still come back here occasionally to check it out.
well explained Miles! I understood clearly..doesnt always happen with these vids.. thanks!
I just bought one of these and its my first dabble in electro acoustic! Very informative thank you 👍
I bought spd sx pro couple of days ago. Im using SPD sx for several years. However, navigating SPD sx pro seems complex. I couldn't find some important feature yet. Kindly answer:
1. How to do tempo mach for different loops?
2. How to sync kit tempo for loops?
3. How to do wave edit (star and end) quickly?
I called reseller, Roland Canada, checked Roland backstage. Got No answer yet.
thanks for deep review !!! you guys know what people want..!
Well done Miles! Need more... training videos that are more indepth.
I bought this unit, the Roland SPD-SX-Pro a little over a year ago, and absolutely love it (in fact I used this video as the final deciding factor of the purchase) It has great sounds and is very user-friendly. However, I have one glaring beef with it and it is a mighty big one, indeed: although it has fantastic timpani and crotales (?? why crotales and not glockenspiel?) sounds, there is not a single instance of a xylophone, chimes, or marimba sound. In order to have them, I had to download off of free WAV websites. The unit does do a beautiful job of transposing and editing those sounds as needed, though. But why not include those basic sounds that a percussionist needs?! I do a lot of musical theater where I use this unit, and it seems to me that those instruments should be absolutely expected sounds to have on a purchase like this, just like on a Roland synth. But the thing that makes it even more irritating is that there is like a million (exaggeration, obviously) versions of other sounds that seem quite unnecessary. How many handclap and sub-bass sounds does a person freaking need?!!! Otherwise- it is a truly excellent purchase and I would highly recommend it to any drummer/percussionist.
It does seem like an oversight now that you mention it. It was a bit unbelievable at first, so we checked the sound list and you're right, out of 1553 sounds, we didn't find a single instance of a xylophone, marimba, or other melodic bells. The only reason we can think of is that with the limited number of pads available, they couldn't justify which notes to sample/synthesize. But there are plenty of other brass hits etc. that have a note/pitch that one would have to transpose for their use, so the same could have been done with bells/bars instruments. We're glad to hear you're happy with it nonetheless, and after importing your own samples, you've made it fully functional for your use.
@@longandmcquade Thanks very much for your reply. I found that if you find a good WAV file, it will transpose within 1 octave and maintain the timbral clarity of the instrument. For example, the timpani WAV files Roland includes has both a A & D pitch, so those pitches can be manipulated as needed closer to the actual pitches, as one may need. I do hope that in the future Roland will add those necessary percussion keyboard mallet instrument sounds and perhaps add 3 or 4 octave WAV file examples for each instrument- the player can do the rest with programming. But it does offer other excellent percussion sounds such as tam tam (gong), concert bass drum, crash cymbals, etc. It was a truly game-changing purchase for performance and recording - I love it!
Only design choice that really bugs me is the lack of dynamic hi hat. You only get open and closed, with no half open. Which is really annoying since the pad can detect he amount of pressure on the external hi hat controller. I'm hoping that the dynamic hi hat will be added in an upcoming patch.
More in depth tutorials please. Quantize, tempo, looping issues etc.
Great demo and playing on this! Thanks for helping me make my decision on buying one of these units.
You're welcome Keith!
I’d love to see more details on the pad sequencer, there are no videos on the net explaining this in detail
You can designate any pad, trigger input or foot-switch input to control the Step Sequence. Then, you can assign any of the pads, triggers or foot switches to the Sequence in a pattern between 2 and 16 steps long, in any order. Consecutive strokes on the “control” pad will cycle through this pattern. You can string interesting percussive and/or melodic phrases together like I did in this demo, or even simply cycle through a few different handclaps so the sound is more varied and realistic… lots of great applications for this new feature.
Great review! Lovely Roland! Thanks for sharing! Have a great weekend
Many thanks!
I have spdsx..spd20/n my next choice spdsx pro...lv u Roland
Powerful tutorial!
I really needed this kind of review/tutorial.... thx
Great explanation. That SPD is a great tool.
Excellent demo!
Great demo, any concerns for the exposed screen and buttons near the sticks? I wonder if Roland designed the knobs/screen for accidental hits.
Beatiful video and such wonderful playing. But I have a question, as I'm just about to order one. What matters a lot to me is the FEEL of the pads. E.g., the Nord Drum pads feel too hard and I don't like that bounce, or lack of it, that I get when I strike. I want something that feels really natural, like the best V-Drums. They really feel nice. Nice bounce back.
Great video guys. Thanks for the upload Still a little confused by the step sequencer … Any chance of a seperate in depth video into this feature?
You can designate any pad, trigger input or foot-switch input to control the Step Sequence. Then, you can assign any of the pads, triggers or foot switches to the Sequence in a pattern between 2 and 16 steps long, in any order. Consecutive strokes on the “control” pad will cycle through this pattern. You can string interesting percussive and/or melodic phrases together like I did in this demo, or even simply cycle through a few different handclaps so the sound is more varied and realistic… lots of great applications for this new feature.
Cheers Miles! Can’t wait to order one and have it later this year
@@milesgibbons9287 Can you confirm you can only have one trigger pad pattern per kit? We could not have like 2 trigger pad for 8 step per kit.
@@Chrisloft One pad per kit can control the sequence.
I bought spd sx pro couple of days ago. Im using SPD sx for several years. However, navigating SPD sx pro seems complex. I couldn't find some important feature yet. Kindly answer :
1. How to do tempo mach for different loops?
2. How to sync kit tempo for loops?
3. How to do wave edit (star and end) quickly?
I called reseller, Roland Canada, checked Roland backstage. Got No answer yet.
Thank you for great clip.
Quick question is
How you deal with syncing , matching tempo of a loop like Spd SX?
Nice demo and Chuck Norris movie
3:08 this reminds me of the 80s/90s hip hop sound like Salt N Pepa's Push It
Great presentation. I wish Roland would offer a little bit more premium quality acoustic kits in this device. On par with the higher end TD modules. Would make for a great piece of gear for using in tighter spaces. Higher quality sound processing hardware e.g. 24bit/192khz is cheap these days. Oh, and mesh pads please in the next version. Would not mind paying 2K for a seriously pro V2.😊
Earned a sub.+like! Love it!
Thanks brother for your review
My first though is that the menus and controls are a bit complicated after the other versions.
I think it’s a great machine, I can use two samples per pad and have a crossfade point that makes a triggered snare more realistic, lower the attack transient to stop it sounding plasticky on the front end and it will get close to a v-drum or tm-6 pro. FX are expanded.
Master FX have shrunk sadly, I liked master fx and used a lot of delay on hihats and ping ponged it between my left and right speakers and I can still do that with multifx but I just liked the 4 masterfx. Feedback on the master fx is controllable on the knob but I still only get one master fx.
Audio over usb is great, multiple outs are great, click and midi clock wonderful.
I like to trigger 4 toms, double kick and a dual zone snare on rock gigs, then on pop gigs I have single kick trigger, pad, dual zone hats and it’ll be nice to trigger dual zone snare and two toms, if I want to switch between those gigs I have to reprogram the triggers, I’d like to see trigger banks available, 8 or 16 wouldn’t go amiss for a journeyman drummer. That would be a pro feature.
Even better would be individual trigger settings per kit. That’d really be cool.
The onboard sounds are great, so much choice for snares and kicks, claps and percussion etc. couldn’t find any fingersnaps. EDIT, found them under snaps.
I exported my sounds from my SX and then loaded them into the Pro tonight, took me an hour to set up the 6 kits I need for my next gig with Tom triggers, snare trigger and kick and hihat, all my sounds are set and I just need to test the levels on my speakers with my kit which I’ll do in rehearsal.
I’ll set up some midi control kits another evening to control superior drummer, Ableton drum racks, breaktweeker and addictive drums.
I want to find out how to set up the control foot switches and see if I can plug triggers into the input in some way. Set up the hihat pedal and make use of it, and the expression pedal.
The click can be started when you hit any pad or trigger, so you can start with a sound and get the click in your in-ears, it’ll play, loop or start stop each time you hit the pad for that sound.
There’s also sample delay. You can hit a pad and have it nit start until a note value has gone by, so you could have 2 pads start at the same time without using pad link by hitting them each consecutively on 8th notes with each pad delayed by a correct note value, or pad link them, hit one and gave 4,5 or however many start up later without having to build silence into the front of the sample, it does the maths for you. This might not seem useful but to someone out there this will save a lot of time.
Pad sequencer is a cool tool, the alesis dm4 trigger module allowed you to hit a pad and it would cycle through 4 different timbale or bongo sounds, it was fun and allowed you to play a pad with broken 16ths that sounded like you were playing like an expert percussionist.
This goes way further on this unit. Up to 16 steps of any sound in your kit patch, so you could have all the intro synth hits from Big in Japan by Alphaville for example in your kit, sequence them in the correct order and put them on a pad, each time you hit a pad it plays a synth sound in order, hit your snare at the same time and everyone thinks your a genius, even better map the snare trigger to the sequencer and do it with just the snare, change kit patch to the next kit to carry on with a snare sound. Instant cool.
You could also do this with alternate hihat sounds and have an evolving hihat sound, my take would be then to put delay in the hihat, ping pong it and put it into a stereo field and it could sound amazing.
Masterfx does effect audio in when going out through main outs, if audio in is only routed to headphones then masterfx doesn’t get passed to the signal. This is very important as if you’re receiving an in ear mix via that audio in, you definitely don’t want to add delay to it while you’re trying to listen to it, if you’re sending that audio in out through your master outs you do want masterfx to work, and then they work in your headphone mix as well. Cool feature and well thought out.
Turns out the resampling and performance sampling i hadn't found was actually solved, the sampling mode has a choice of inputs, input from audio in jack or input from pads, or both, so if you want to record a performance, merge two samples or do anything that is not in the menu from the old one, you can actually do it this way. This also includes the masterfx as a sampling manipulation. It’s actually pretty awesome when you do it.
Still annoyed that masterFX is global and doesn't change with kit, that'd be cool and losing 4 masterFX buttons when they could have given us 4 programmable ones is annoying. Trigger banks is also annoying but then the first update might change that.
Sounds can be edited for pitch, and for decay very easily and can be blended with cross fade from velocity, switched from velocity too, all in all a much faster way to edit your sounds when you turn up at a gig and the sounds you thought were ok have too much bottom end through the ginormous PA speakers and with a turn of a knob you can change the sound.
So my only real quibbles after playing with it and finding out what it’s about are no trigger banks, no global masterfx toggle global/kit., these could be addressed by a firmware upgrade, the loss of 4 masterfx knobs can’t really be changed so I might carry a seperate fx unit for slicing incoming audio and dj style fx if I ever need it.
😳
If you changed the tempo on a kit that you’ve programmed as a starting tempo (say 115bpm) via tap tempo and then leave that kit then return to it the tempo is where you left it, not as you programmed it. It’d be nice if there was a tempo control switch per pad that allowed tempo to be sticky (stay as you left) revert to programmed and another option to make tempo follow the sticky from another kit. Firmware update could do this.
I bought spd sx pro couple of days ago. Im using SPD sx for several years. However, navigating SPD sx pro seems complex. I couldn't find some important feature yet. Kindly answer:
1. How to do tempo mach for different loops?
2. How to sync kit tempo for loops?
3. How to do wave edit (star and end) quickly?
I called reseller, Roland Canada, checked Roland backstage. Got No answer yet.
@@beatsofsourove3108 hi. There’s no tempo loop match. They left it out and the Facebook group Roland SPD SX PRO users has been discussing some of the things missing. Tempo setting for the individual kits can be done page 69 of the owners manual. It’s in kit edit 2.
Start and stop is in wave edit page 82 of the manual. Menu/Wave/List. Then press the wave edit tab at the bottom of the screen. There you can edit start loop and end.
The other thing you can’t do is sampling to multiple pads while playing in an audio sample. The manual is ok but could do with a couple of things clarified.
Once you get used to navigating the menus it gets a lot easier. The app is very good and helps a lot in setting things up quickly.
The pad edit knobs having multiple functions is confusing at first but they can be programmed to do different things very well.
The other problem I found is if I change kit tempo and then change kit, come back to the kit again it’s at the tempo I left it at rather than the tempo I programmed. It would revert back to the tempo you programmed on the previous model. This annoyed me a lot on my first gig and a few other people have said it was annoying trying to do it before starting a song. I use a tap tempo pad but it was still really annoying.
I’m hoping this and tempo matching will be in a future firmware upgrade along with adding panning delay to all delays that don’t do it at the moment and hopefully trigger banks.
can u make a turtorial about the layer, because i'm struggle with that
Brilliant demo!
Great helpful video.. well explained Miles!
Fantastic video! Thanks.
You're welcome Edwin!
Thank you for the demo. Made me realize my existing daw station already does all this and far more. Rather this not a good fit for all cinematic composers. It’s really for the performing drummer. I have the original OctaPad 8 from 1985, and was looking to upgrade. But I see now that I’m still covered. I trigger the drum kits in my daw station which don’t sound like a library for kids and young adults. Rather it’s killer sounds used for major motion picture films. A MIDI Thru is needed which is missing here., Congrats con such an outstanding video 👍🏻
Yes, a lot of the features in the SPD-SX Pro are similar to what you see in some DAW softwares (specifically the software platforms designed with live performance in mind). The SPD-SX can absolutely be used for recording, but one of it's primary intended purposes is bringing DAW-style production techniques to a live show WITHOUT having to rely on a computer. It's great for shows or tours with space\input\time considerations, in which a full computer set-up may not be practical. Also, the SPD-SX PRO does indeed offer MIDI Thru. You can trigger any software or hardware MIDI instrument from the SPD, as well as send MIDI through it to your MIDI capable devices.
Hi great video and learned a lot!! In the old spd sx you could tempo sync or you could speed up or slow down the tempo of all your loops on one kit can this be done on the new one?
Also if I have a couple of loops that are not the same tempo on a kit is there a way of tempo matching them? Cheers
I bought one. I have same question. Still waiting for answer
I contacted Roland about the old tempo sync/match feature,the new pro doesn’t have it
Very cool! Original SPDS didn't respond consistently to hand or finger strikes? Has this been improved in the Pro? Wound up with Handsonic's due to that, however really wanted the feature set of the SPD. Unfortunately no stores here ever have them to audition!.. Thanks for sharing!
Unfortunately for your use-case, both the SPD-S and SPD-SX PRO were designed to be played with sticks.
Really, It is an amaaaazing session... Thank you bro
Thanks for watching!!
Great video. How do you delete a wave you have sampled and no longer want that wave? Thanks
Is there a lefthand mode, to swap all presets instantly? 🤔 (Swapping every single pad from left to right would be a bit annoying…)
great all covered up....thx .
th sequencer can it act work how a Roland 505 ?
p.s. on feature I miss is MPE midi....
Incredible review Miles. Really impressive loop e-drumming. I am so excited that I just bought this. Currently using an Alesis Multipad, amongst others but this will take it to the next level, especially if I understand correctly that if I import one of my stereo backing tracks, the spd pro will create a click for me?
You can use the onboard click if your backing track is true to tempo (does not deviate). If you have a song with tempo deviations you can export an audio file of a click to match your track and use that.
Can you assign an effect and or master effect to a pad to turn that effect on and off in real time?
Has anyone tried their hands on using multiple balanced outs (apart from the master out)? Would like to know how one goes about routing them...unless if there is a video or forum that talks about this specifically?
Loved it how much
Is it
@@hackerma3n664 The link with current pricing is in the description!
Great Video. Do you have a video showing the connections using V-Drums with the Roland SPD Routing \Recording into a DAW like Protools? So I'm saying I would like to use Roland SPD as a recording device along with my Roland E kit Inside of Protools or DAW
You can't use both devices - the SPD-SX Pro and your V-Drums module as recording devices in Pro Tools. Choose one or the other as our audio interface for the DAW, and bring the output of the other into the MIX IN / AUX IN / Audio In of the module you've selected to use as the audio interface. The primary module will show individual tracks for each channel, whereas the secondary module using the MIX IN will be combined into a single stereo track.
really a great in depth video, is there any way to use a loop footswitch to loop a sample on a pad
No, but you CAN assign a loop (and start & stop it) with a footswitch.
@@milesgibbons9287thank you, I'm new to it and wasn't aware of all the things it can do...appreciate your video, it's amazing!
Great video what stand do you recommend and do you use standard drum sticks or are there better options for the pads I plan to use the unit with a KT 10 as it will be used a a drum kit to accompany my aerophone and sax recording into my live 11 Daw
Thanks! We recommend a Roland PDS-10 or PDS-20, although other stands will work. Standard drum sticks are totally fine for the SPD-SX PRO pads. Cool setup you are imagining!
I use mine to write with when I’m away from my acoustic set that’s left at my studio.
Quick question: Is there a feature that's similar to the "Perform & Record" function that's on the SX version? Or is the new step sequencer another approach to doing that? Thanks and thanks for the video!!
Great question! The SPD-SX PRO still has “Perform & Record” functionality. The sampling interface has been streamlined, so you won’t see a “Perform & Record” icon. Instead, you can choose INPUT&PADS or PADS as your sampling source, and record new loops and phrases by playing the pads… the process and results are the same, even though the menu is different. All of the SPD-SX’s sampling functions are incorporated into the SPD-SX PRO, the menu just looks different.
@@milesgibbons9287 Excellent! Thank you so much for taking the time to reply! Looking forward to working with this new SPD! Take care!
I bought spd sx pro couple of days ago. Im using SPD sx for several years. However, navigating SPD sx pro seems complex. I couldn't find some important feature yet. Kindly answer or send video link:
1. How to do tempo mach for different loops?
2. How to sync kit tempo for loops?
3. How to do wave edit (star and end) quickly?
I called reseller, Roland Canada, checked Roland backstage. Got No answer yet.
Hey thanks for the questions! We reached out to Miles directly and he said you did ask these same questions on the Roland Backstage support platform, and he got back to you there.
A lot of fun indeed
Thanks for this! Is it possible to transfer old kits from SPD SX to PRO the easy way?
The two pads use a different audio format and a complete different menu/feature architecture. Luckily the new screen, and new app make setting up kits and parameters quick and easy.
Instead of having the kick drum on the pads, can you add an electronic foot pedal kicker to trigger the bass drum ???
Yes you can! Check out 24:28.
Question please - what kind of machine do I use to add drums to a song recording I make on my home studio? I am not a drummer. I want to get a nice drum beat and be able to change it some for a song I record. How do I do this please? Thank you - John
Hello,
Is it possible to route a stereo loop on the direct outputs ? Or are they just can be use as "mono". For exemple, is it possible to do that : pad 1 stereo loop to "master out " / Pad 2 - stereo loop - to "output 1-2" / Pad 3 - stereo loop - to "output 3-4" / I am afraid that direct outputs can't be used with a stereo signal ? Only with a mono ( snare, kick, toms...) . Thanks in advance !
Direct Outs 1&2 and 3&5 can be grouped as stereo pairs, or as individual mono outputs. When assigning your sound, press the DOWN button until two of the Direct Outs are highlighted.
@@longandmcquade Thanks ! That's awesome. Exactly what I am looking for !
Hi guys great video! I've got a question about the Loop section of your video. Let's say I have pre charged 3 loops into 3 pads. Time is 4/4. I trigger the first loop and it starts playing. I want to launch the second loop but I want it to start in time at the end of the measure of the previous loop or to be more precise at the beginning of the first beat of the new measure. Is it possible to do that? Thank you. 👍
Yes, you can link the 1st Loop to the 2nd Loop so it retriggers in unison, when you activate the second one. You can trigger Loop 1 on it’s own, and trigger both Loops when you strike the second pad. You can set up multiple “link” groups in each kit.
@@milesgibbons9287 Thank you very very very much for your super kin reply. i really appreciate it!!! 😊 The Roland will be mine!
great video
So, is it possible to assign a sound, like a bass drum to a foot controller, for a more intuitive playing?
Absolutely it is! With the 8 additional trigger inputs and the hi-hat control input, you can plug in any additional pads including mesh or rubber snare/tom pads, a hi-hat, a kick pad with a real kick pedal, or a foot controller that triggers a bass drum, hi-hat, cowbell, etc.
TQ bro
Good Video, one question fromm my Site: can you Change the Tempo of the click by hitting one of the pads? E.g. start with 130, First Hit Change to 150 next Hit 120 ...
Great question; there is no way to assign pads to change the tempo of the built-in click. There may be a few different ways to achieve your goal.
You can load in several of your own custom made click loops at the tempos you want, and assign them to different pads - you can hit each pad to trigger the click loop assigned to it, and if all the pads are in the same "Mute Group," hitting one will cancel out the previous one. You can trigger various clicks this way.
You could also make several copies of the same kit at the different tempos you'd like - you can use pads, a footswitch, or the buttons to move between the kits. There is no latency or audio dropout as you move between kits, so the tempo will change immediately. This would be the best option if you are using tempo sensitive MFX in the SPD-SX PRO.
You could also, if you plan on playing the same arrangement each time, import a full-length custom made click track that features your tempo changes.
@@milesgibbons9287 any advice what ways there might be?
Would bei quite helful If you e.g. Play a Medley with different tempos
@@baumeister2880 Hi! If you read my full comment above, I explain three ways you could incorporate different tempos in one song… maybe one of those will work for you?
@@milesgibbons9287 oh, my fault, didnt recognice that it IS so long
@@baumeister2880 Connect to Ableton Midi, switch to Follow and it will follow your tempo
Hello, you said SPD SX PRO can do everything that SPD SX can, but how can I:
1, chop sounds like exporting record part and chop the parts to the pads by hitting them?
2, export waves to computer via the SPD SX PRO app? cant figure it out these two.. thanks
This Spd Sx PRO is Jupiter -8 of electronic drum modules...
Mega gutes tutorial, danke 🤘
Can I link my TD30 drum module to the SDP SX Pro and use the sounds from the kits I have set up in that?
Yes you can! MIDI OUT of the SPD-SX Pro into the MIDI IN of the TD30.
Great video! I’ve watched several times to get the most out of this brilliant demonstration.
I have a question about the step sequencer if you don’t mind, Miles. Does it work with all the pad layering options? I see that you used melodic sounds and shakers in your demo. What would happen if each time the sequence got to a pad selected with the alternate function as an example? Would it work as each time it cycles to say Step 1, that could have different samples on alternate sequences? That could save space in the sequencer and be very useful!!
I hope that makes sense.
Many thanks
Great question! Yes, all of the Layer modes still function as expected, even if they are assigned to pads included in the Step Sequence. So, if you have a pad set to the "Alternate" layer mode, it will play one sound the first time through the sequence, and the other sound the second time through. 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A then 1B, 2B, 3B, 4B, for example... as you've deduced, this effectively lengthens your step sequence - up to double the steps.
Thinking creatively like you have means you can create some really varied and nuanced patterns, using different combinations of the sequence and layering.
@@milesgibbons9287 Yes! That’s great news and well thought out by those who designed this.
Thanks for answering my question 😊 and providing more info about the PRO in comments across other videos.
Got mine today. Such an amazing product! But once again want to say thank you, Miles, this demo made things a lot easier to dive deeper very quickly out of the box 😊
It's too bad you can't change the tempo of the loops. I hope roland releases an update for this issue.
Can we record and run a loop w this?
Can I connect phone or available jack to phone system?
You can connect your phone to the Audio Line In, yes… you’ll need an 1/8” to 1/4” TRS Adapter cable.
Great presentation! Does it have horns and/or can you import horns from a keyboard? I guess I'm asking if you can sample horns or any other unusual sounds? If so, do you save a wav and/or AIFF file? I am wanting to be able to perform the horn sound at the intro of Tequila Little Time by Jon Pardi....for example. Super thanks!
You can import your own sounds! They can be WAV, MP3 or AIFF. Check out 1:17.
sorry it is not possible
@@jessihawkins9116 Yes it is. You can import WAV, MP3 or AIFF samples. Miles confirms at 1:17.
@@longandmcquade maybe with the updated firmware on the pro model but no with the regular one
@@jessihawkins9116 Well yes, this is a video on the SPD-SX Pro model. Not the older SPD-SX.
Great Video! I've been having issues with trying to have sound from my MacBook whilst having sound from the Spd sx pro in my headphones at the same time. I've tried to route the sound from my Mac into the Spd by the Line In but nothing comes out. Is there any way to achieve this?
24bit 48000 rate???
If you install the SPD-SX PRO's USB driver, and set it's USB mode to Vendor, you can select the SPD-SX PRO as an audio input\output device for your computer when connected via USB.
Bro I am from India, can I use spd SX pro as midi with spd 30 for Church Worship . ❣️❣️
I guess this Pro should replace any drum module with success.
This is definitely the most versatile and powerful multipad yet!
In terms of funtionality. Yes.
Sounds. Not so much
@@musiqsoundsproductions but you can put your own samples in so it‘s really a good alternative and the hybrid possibilities are amazing. Mine arrives tomorrow 😎
@@GSA_Drums oh for sure. I still want to get one.
How many layers? Only two?
Did I just missed why gigahertz are important?
It’s funny how Roland made different velocity layer settings as “different new modes” it’s just velocity layering in different ways.
Yes , All these modes are present 10 years old spd 30 😊
Lord please help me get money to buy this genius thing
Just show sequencing pattern making that's it, rest all we can fix it normally, we want to know how good its sequencer
30gigs of memory? 5 years ago it would have been 30 megabytes!
Aucun tuto en français je dessue donc je n achète pas cette appareil bien que je doit en acheter un . Roland pourrai faire des progrès pour la France cordialement
Bonjour Florian ! Long & McQuade est un magasin de musique canadien, d'où la langue anglaise dans cette vidéo. Il y a peut-être d'excellents magasins de musique français qui ont produit des vidéos similaires !
If this had 8 outputs it woudl be a great studio tool.
It has 8-channel output via USB. It IS a great studio tool!
@longandmcquade USB is not 8 audio outputs s.Its a computer interface.
@@brandonspivey8020 Correct, it's a computer interface that sends 8 channels of digital audio to your computer. In a studio setting, isn't this what the 8 audio outputs would typically be used for? Instead of 8 analog outputs on the SPD-SX Pro (it has 6 analog outputs), the USB interface lets you send 8 individual tracks of audio to your computer without the need for another 8 channel audio interface or AD/DA converters.
I love how electronic instruments try to emulate real instruments...
That’s one facet of a very multifaceted piece of kit… obviously the creative potential for non-traditional sounds with electronics is limitless, but some people just want to play traditional sounds, and maybe have volume or space limitations they need to work around.
Wow maybe you should buy one of these then!!!
The Multi 12 is still king in terms of sound.
-1 all talk
just normal and like the older one 6 pads the top 3 pads no good and this device too expensive
La mejor presentacion que he visto del spd-sx pro felicitaciones!
Hey bro toland spd sx loop tempo sync best setup tempo up down setup best and roland spd sx pro no loop tempo sync setup 👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎
Really annoying how many times you mention the name of this piece of kit....
Apart from that interesting what it can do
I mean, if that’s your criticism of the video, that’s shows how good the demo is 🤷🏻♂️