Roland SP-404A, Owner'S Manual

12

Playing Sounds

3. 

Press a pad, and the pattern will play .

The pad will change from blinking to lit, and the 

pattern will begin playing.

4. 

Press another pad to reserve the next pattern .

If you press another pad while a pattern is playing, 

the pattern to play next will be reserved, and that 

pad will blink. When the currently playing pattern has 

finished playing, the reserved pattern will play.

If you hold down the [SUB PAD] pad and press a pad, 

the pattern will change immediately.

5. 

Press the currently playing pad, and the pattern will stop playing .

Pattern playback will also 

stop if you press the [CANCEL] 

button.

MEMO

For details on how to create a pattern, refer to “Recording a Pattern” (

&

PDF).

Adjusting the Tempo

Here’s how to change the playback tempo of the pattern.

1. 

Press the [TIME/BPM] button so it’s lit .

MEMO

If the [SELECT] button is lit, you’ll be changing the pattern’s tempo. If 

the [SELECT] button is extinguished, you’ll be changing the current 

sample’s tempo.

2. 

Turn the [CTRL 2] knob .

The display will indicate the tempo in terms of the BPM, and the pattern playback 

tempo will change.
Permissible values for the BPM range from 40 up to 200. However, if the BPM is 

within the 40–60 or 160–180 ranges, it can be set only in even-numbered values. 

If the BPM is above 180, you can set it to either 180, 183, 186, 190, 193, 196, or 

200.

You can also set the tempo by pressing the  

[TAP TEMPO] button several times at quarter note 

intervals of the desired tempo.

3. 

 Once you’ve specified the tempo, press the [TIME/BPM] button to turn it off .

What’s BPM?

This stands for Beats Per Minute, which is the number of quarter-note beats played in one minute.