ROLAND SPD SX SAMPLE PAD

WWW.RHYTHMMAGAZINE.CO.UK JANUARY 2012 |
121
CONTROLS
Sited below the playing
area, controls are within
easy reach of the performer
VERDICT: This is a must-have product
which could make me run out of
adjectives describing it – suffi ce to say
the SPD-SX is as stunning as it is
formidable!
BUILD QUALITY
PLAYABILITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
RATING
PLAYING SURFACE
Surface is divided into six
durable, rubber velocity-
sensitive pads
PRICE
SPD-SX, £585
PADS
9
POLYPHONY
20 voices
RECORDABLE
WAVES
10,000
SAMPLE TIME
(APPROX)
180 minutes (stereo) or
360 minutes (mono)
DATA FORMAT
16-bit linear PCM (WAV/
AIFF)
SAMPLE
FREQUENCY
44.1 kHz
NUMBER OF KITS
100
KIT CHAINS
8
EFFECTS
Master Effects (21 Types),
Equalizer Kit Effect 1 (20
Types), Kit Effect 2 (20
Types)
GRAPHIC DISPLAY
Contrast adjustable
backlit LCD 128 x 64 dots
SOCKETS
USB (A Type) for memory
stick, USB (B Type) for
computer, ¼" jacks for
headphones, Master Out
(L/MONO, R), Sub Out
(L/Mono, R), Audio In,
Trig In, Foot Sw, MIDI
connectors (In, Out),
DC In
USB INTERFACE
Hi-Speed USB (MIDI/
AUDIO depending on
selected mode), USB
Mass Storage Class,
USB Flash Drive
POWER SUPPLY
DC 9V (AC Adaptor)
Roland PSB-1U
CONTACT
Roland (UK) Ltd
01792 702701
www.roland.co.uk
Essential spec
knob, creating a whole new sound and
rhythm – awesome.
Having had a great time with the supplied
sounds and various effect features – it is a
sampler after all – it’s time to check out the
various methods of capturing/creating
samples. This is performed by either the Wave
Manager software (import or drag and drop
facilities) or importing samples from a
standard USB stick and, sampling directly into
the SPD-SX via the mic/line input. Having
imported a variety of samples using Wave
Manager and the simple utilities of the SPD-SX
itself, I fi nd myself compelled to create some
‘fresh’ samples – I opt to sample my own
snare, an empty bottle for a percussion sound
and my own voice. For this task I am using my
trusty old Shure SM58 plugged directly into
the rear of the pad.
Sampling starts with a selection of menu
options and an intuitive display guide – the
only diffi cult part is choosing what to sample!
After following the guide I manage some
convincing samples with ease but decide to
leave the snare and the bottle sounding ‘dry’
for now as these can be edited later. However,
after sampling my voice, I wanted to create
something a little sinister so I lowered the
pitch and applied plenty of reverb – scary!
Once a sample is created and stored
in the SPD-SX, any of the onboard effects
(for example, fi ltering) can be applied.
Samples may be reversed, chopped,
resampled, truncated, normalised and have
the pitch altered – then it’s just the task of
saving the result as a new sample or
overwriting the original.
RHY198.gear_roland.indd 121 11/24/11 10:21:37 AM