Emu XL-7 & MP-7 User's Group

--- In xl7@yahoogroups.com, Atom Smasher <atom@...> wrote:

> i don't get the "16 variations" bit... if i had an XL7, couldn't i 
just 
> use 16 patterns and consider each one a "variation"? how is that 
> different/better about the RM1x?

It's not 16 unrelated patterns, it's just different assignment of 
MIDI phrases to the same tracks. Say you have a nice drum loop going 
on track 1, but would like to add some breaks to it once in a while. 
On XL7, you'd have to dedicate another track to the task (say track 
16), set it to the same MIDI channel, and then for a break you'd have 
to mute 1 and unmute 16 simultaneously. This is possible, but isn't 
easy, and this is just for variation on a single track.
On Rm1x, all 16 tracks can switch to playing something else in 
realtime (the switch is quantized to 1 bar or 1/16th) with a single 
button press.

> my impression of the XL7 is that it could also be used for 
performance 
> remixing, and in theory the sequencer largely overlaps the features 
of the 
> RM1x. ignoring the sounds, would you say that they largely overlap 
for 
> that purpose?
> 
> if you were also using the hardware sequencer to compose, which 
would you 
> like better?

When I first got the Rm1x and we were jamming with friends, I would 
start banging some grooves, and the others got on and the jam starts 
rolling, and then I'd have to say: OK folks, please hold it, I gotta 
record that.  It was really frustrating :)). The XL7 sequencer is 
much more immediate and fun.
Since I got the XL7, I got a bunch of loops made in an easy, free-
flowing way - start sequencer, record something, move on to the next 
track; don't like what you did - erase and repeat. The main problem 
with stuff made this way is that it doesn't go anywhere - all 
variation is limited to muting/unmuting tracks.

Maybe the real deal would be to make loops on XL7 and then dump them 
to Rm1x - if I could just figure out a way to do it :)

> > - nice "midi echo" effect. Would be even nicer if it worked on 
incoming 
> > MIDI notes - as it is, works on recorded notes only.
> ==================
> 
> i wonder if that's similar to the feature on the MC50... it can 
emulate a 
> delay? i've got plenty of effect units, so it's not something i 
need.

Since it's MIDI delay, you can modify velocity and even note number 
of successive repeats - so, if connected to a *real* synthesizer or a 
sampler (make a patch that reacts to velocity in an interesting way) 
this opens some possibilities that an audio delay cannot provide. 
Still haven't tried it myself, though ))

have a great day!
Boris.