Apart from crunching your samples into digital oblivion, you can process them with various effects like reverb, delay, a multi-mode filter and most importantly, a vinyl simulator for that true 404 flavour. The six sample pads on the front aren't velocity-sensitive, but they're large and responsive enough to do some basic finger drumming.
Unfortunately, cutting a sample spreads it across the smaller keyboard below instead of the larger sample pad. Those keys are small, mushy, and unpleasant to play. Still, if you want something small to mix together lo-fi or boom-bap beats on the go, the P-6 isn't a bad choice.
a small tool kit
When making a beat, you have a lot of tools at your disposal. You can place the steps manually using the step sequencer, or play them live to keep things off the grid. You have 64 steps to work with, plus probability, sub-steps, micro-timing and motion recording to add complexity and variety.
Then, once your loop is ready, you can use some effects to create on-the-fly builds, breakdowns, and fills. Most notably borrowed from the SP-404 are the Scatter, Step Loop, and DJFX Looper.
At least it can be said that scarcity is divisive. It adds stutter and glitch effects based on preprogrammed patterns. It may sound fine when used at low volumes and with the right settings, but it is anything but subtle and can turn more complex and melodic tunes into unheard chaos.
Step Loop loops only the steps you hold down on the sequencer. This is a more flexible and interesting look like the beat repeat effects that you can find on other instruments. Kishore Engineering PO-133This is great for creating live fills and variations while jamming. This is actually one of my favorite performance features on any piece of music gear, and I'd love to see it on more stuff.
Photograph: Terrence O'Brien