Matching loops

[Blackie1]

I have an SP-404, and I can't figure out how to match loops, timewise. They all eventually mess up, no matter how precise.

Is there an instrument that plays loops in time with each other? Or is that what a sequencer will do? I've looked into the sequencer function on the 404, but can't seem to figure it out. I've read the manual, but it seems like a sequencer just plays a number of bars made up of various samples to create a song.

How do electronic musicians match their beats and melodies up?

[tallowwaters]

How do electronic musicians match their beats and melodies up?

with their ears, eyes, and fingers.

It's a fine skill, not something that just happens. Your best bet is going to be beat matching, time stretching, down sampling, etc. Find any tutorial on sampling loops that should at least give you a clue.

[Hugo76]

Blackie, you may want to check out the SP-404 section over at the SP Forums site:
http://sp-forums.com/viewforum.php?f=3

I don't know how this is done in the 404, but there is indeed such a function in the 606.

[Yoozer]

I have an SP-404, and I can't figure out how to match loops, timewise. They all eventually mess up, no matter how precise.

You play 2 loops; one being, say, a millisecond longer than the other.

In this case the only thing you can actually trust is the sequencer triggering said loop every 4 or 8 bars, over and over again. Trying to make 'm go in sync by just leaving it to the sample looping engine simply will not work.

[Shreddie]

Trying to make 'm go in sync by just leaving it to the sample looping engine simply will not work.

Unless you actually cut the loops to precisely the same length. I'm not familiar with the 404 but most samplers have a loop length or sample length readout of some sort, if both loops are cut to exactly (for example) 4867891 samples in length, they will stay in sinc. If however one loop is 4867889 samples long and the other is 4867895 long, a difference of only a few samples, then they will slowly drift apart over time.

As Yoozer said though, retriggering every 4-8 bars or so is the best option.

[hageir]

or just cut it up into little pieces and re-sequence them and fill in the holes with something creative

[Mush]

Edit your samples in whatever sample-editor you have on your computer and just time-stretch them to the same lenght... Not a huge science really...

[cartesia]

instead of leave the loop running,
retrigger it at the start of every measure