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

Now that you've had some time, would you mind elaborating on the strengths 
and weaknesses of each of these two platforms, specifically with regard to 
live performance? I know the ability to apply dynamics processing and 
incorporate samples was a big factor in your decision, but I'm primarily 
interesting in the live sequencing angle myself.

>>>Yes, for me, the main attraction was being able to use other tools that 
I'm confortable with in order to prep my live set.  Wasn't strictly for 
dynamics and samples, but certainly that was part of it.  Comparing the 
two is very hard, as they are at almost polar opposites of the music gear 
spectrum.  The XX-7's are obviously heavily midi and synthesis based, 
while Live 4 is really designed for manipulating audio files and using 
effects.  I've always been more comfortable working with audio as opposed 
to midi (even in the studio, I render midi drive tracks to audio as soon 
as possible), so I have to say I'm really liking Live for this reason more 
than any other.

In terms of Live sequencing, I have my Live set pretty close to where I 
was with the PX-7 too, so there's nott a huge difference except in the 
interface.  I still have each track in Live dedicated to a particular 
sound or drum (i.e. bassline, BD, kick, snare, leads, etc) and each scene 
I treat as a pattern.  So from an organizational standpoint, they're 
pretty similar.  Both also are totally flexible with regards to tempo, 
which is a bg draw if you do use samples, as you're no longer locked to a 
single tempo like you would be if you were trigger them from the PX-7. 

The hardest thing to get used to was just the actual interface of using a 
laptop to "perform" music.  You'd think having a nice big screen (15.4" on 
mine) would be a blessing, but in reality it just means you need to get 
close up or squint to see everything clearly anyway.  So not much 
different from the displays on the XX-7's! :)

I ended up adding a Korg MicroKontrol to my setup for controlling Live, 
though the original intention was to use the PX-7 for this.  Sadly, it's 
just too tall for me to use the way I want, makes it very difficult to 
trigger things from the laptop keyboard if I place it in front as I 
prefer.  Also, it's one more thing to plug in too.  The Korg helps with 
this, it's USB/battery powered and small, but I still think that it's not 
the best solution for controlling a live set.  Works ok, but like all the 
controllers I've investigated for this (all of them, minus custom boxes), 
there's always frustrating issues to deal with (lack of knobs, no relative 
assignments, controls nnot updating to reflect current values, etc).  To 
be fair though, this is true of all general purpose controllers built so 
far IMO, and is the one area I wish manufacturers would spend more time 
addressing. In terms of hands on control integrating with the sequencer, 
the XX_7's are definitely the winner here.

Somethings like dealing with loops on the fly are handled so differently 
by both, that's it's hard to compare.  the XX-7's loop shortcuts are great 
for this IMO, very simple to just grap a 1 bar section of a pattern as it 
plays and go nuts with that.  Live 4 actually has much more comprehensive 
loop functions, but I personally don't care for the way they've been 
implemented, it really needs a multiple loops function to work the way 
they intended IMO.

In terms of hands on tweaking of your sounds live, it's probably a toss 
up.  Both allow you to assign knobs to any control you could want, so it's 
all about how much prep work you wanna put into it.  One nice thing about 
the XX-7's, is that all your Quick Edit settings are stored with the 
sound, so any time you call up that preset, you know what the knobs do. In 
Live, the knob assignments for the effects and synths are tied to the 
track, not the sound (Clip in Live speak), so you need to make compromises 
inhow you set up any hands on control as it will affect every sound on 
that track, regardless of the song/scene you're playing.  This is probably 
my biggest frustration with Live, you have to be more general when setting 
up all your custom knob assignments. <<<

I like my Command Station a lot and prefer hardware sequencers and synths 
in general, 
but I've been keeping an eye on Ableton from the start and with v4 they've 
addressed 
some of my biggest reservations about the software (namely, the lack of 
MIDI and the lack 
of grid programming)....

>>>Yeah, the new MIDI features are nice, but keep in mind they are also 
very basic, the PX-7's have way more MIDI editing options that Live does. 
You get a nice simple piano roll, and that's pretty much it.  They've done 
a nice job of working on the eidting interface though, I think it's well 
thought out and has some great new ideas.  For  instance, say you sequence 
a multiple hit drum track in the midi editor.  Once your done, you can 
"Fold" the midi editor, so that only notes you have actually recorded midi 
data to are shown, no more scrolling up and down the piano roll to edit 
your note placements.  My one gripe is that if you activate the snap to 
grid features, the grid resolution is always tied to the zoom factor (ie, 
you have to zoom in more to get finer note resolutions).  NOt a biggy, but 
it can be a pain sometimes. 

I really wish Emulator X was available without being tied to the PCI 
soundcards.  I'd love to be able to use the sequencing and live control of 
Live 4, with the synthesis engine and sounds of Emu.  :(  It would make it 
more or less like a virtual command station.  Surprised EMu hasn't thought 
of doing something like thie anyway to be honest....<<<

But I'm reluctant to go laptop, given the immediacy of hardware, and am 
wondering what else I might be losing if I left my ComStat at home 
(there's no substitute for dedicated buttons with LEDs).

>>>I hear you, this is what kept me away for so long too.  But really, how 
dedicated are the buttons and knobs on the XX-7's anyway?  They're 
multi-purpose, just like any other generic controller if you think about 
it that way.  For me, the switch to the laptop was only possible because I 
knew it would be dedicated just making music, and not writing emails, 
surfing the net, etc.  I only use Reason and Live on this machine, so I 
try and just think of it as any other piece of gear in my studio.  One of 
the best features about the new Live 4 update, is the ability use the 
QWERTY keyboard as a midi input device.  That way you can still "play" 
your VSTi's in Live, without needing a seperate controller.  Yeah, you 
don't get velocity response (though they did assign some smart key 
commands to control this), but I can live with that.  Very easy to route 
this to Reason via rewire too, it's a super smart function that doesn't 
get much press.

All I need it my laptop and some headphones and I can make music anywhere 
(you don't want to know how many times I'll be in the middle of the woods 
ready to start and realize I forgot the headphones either!).  To me, it's 
not a computer, it's just another groovebox.  I admit it, I'm hooked, I 
even started recording all my vinyl to wave files to use in Live as well, 
no more lugging a record box with me to gigs.  It also means I can really 
blur the lines between DJing and live sets, I can mix and match between 
the two as I see fit.  In that respect I think it's much more powerful 
than the XX-7's, but I also realize how unfair a comparison like that is. 

Anyway, I've rambled on a bit beyond what you were asking, sorry!  The one 
aspect of Live 4 I like the least is surprisingly it's Live capabilities 
with regards to control.  They give you a lot of options certainly, and it 
is pretty customizeable, but there are still areas where I think it could 
be better.  More relative midi control is one, along with the option to 
map multiple CC sources to a single destination and vice versa.  Even with 
those shortcomings though, I think it's something I'm going to stay with 
for a long time.  Really blurs the lines between all my musical endevors, 
be it DJing, playing live, or composing in the studio, and that's a big 
attraction to me, along with it's portability.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, so feel free to ask ANY questions and 
I'll answer them as honestly as possible.

rEalm







 






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