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

I'm bored and sick of work, so here's some tricks and tips, some of which 
I may have posted before:

1. Random Presets.  If you use the Randomize Preset command a lot (in the 
Save menu), you can come up with some pretty cool sounds.  However a lot 
of times the Randomize function will assign sounds to ALL of the Presets 
layers, and many times not all of them actually produce anything you can 
hear (or it's too quiet when in the mix to matter).  Use the Solo Layers 
function in the Preset Edit menu to solo each layer one at a time.  If you 
solo one and don't hear anything, it's best to "deactivate" that layer by 
selecting no sounds (the first sound #0000) in the Preset layer.  That way 
you save polyphony that would have otherwise been dedicated to a sound 
that wasn't even audible!

2. Need phatter drums?  Many of the drum sounds in the XX-7's only use one 
layer.  If you want to add more punch to your drums, go into the Save menu 
and select the "Copy Preset Layer" screen.  Use that to copy layer 1 to 
layer 2, then do the same with the "Copy Preset Cords" cords function. 
Save the Preset to a user location.  For more variety, use the Trasnpose 
screen in the Preset Edit menu to change the sound of the second layer, 
this will help add more variety and/or texture to each hit.  Note that 
some of the "kit" presets may actually use all 4 layers, so you should use 
the Solo Layers feature to see which of those can be safely overwrittern 
with the Copy Layer command.

3. Still need phatter drums?  If you use the Grid Record method to enter 
your drum hits, the notes can be quite short.  Use the Scale/Shift 
Duration feature in the Pattern Edit menu to make the notes longer, which 
can help add more sustain to the drum hits.

4. More human sounds.  If you go into the Preset Edit menu, and then the 
Patchcords screen, there's a simple way to make your songs sound more 
human, and less robot like.  Create the following  patchcord:

KeyRand1(or KeyRand2) ---> AmpVel = X

Where X is the value that provides the best amount of randomization for 
your needs (typically I use somewhere between 1 and 10).  Now, each time 
you press a key or the sequencer plays a recorded note, the velocity of 
that note will be modified randomly.  Works great on HH's! 

Anyone else got any? 

rEalm

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