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

> ...What seems to happen is that, when a pattern is made active, it 
> initialises the presets for the channels addressed by its 16 tracks, 
> leaving the remainder of the 32 preset slots alone. Does this sound 
> right? (I'm not going to think about what happens if multiple tracks 
> address the same channel.)
>
> >>>when a new pattern begins to play, the first thing (well, almost) 
> it does is to send a program change message on all 32 channels loading 
> up the correct presets you saved with the Pattern.


You're both almost right.  The sequencer only saves preset information 
for channels that it references and for which it has data.  For example, 
if you have a pattern with only one track recorded, it only saves the 
program change for the channel which that track references.  For "Multi" 
tracks, it only saves program changes for the used channels on that 
multitrack.  Therefore, the sequence saves anywhere from 1 channel to 64 
channels (32 internal, 32 external) worth of program changes, depending 
on how many MIDI channels you actually used.

> - Where is the initial setting of the GLIDE button (on/off) stored?   
> I've been assuming that it's part of the track initialisation, but 
> it's remembered (temporarily at least) for non-track channels.
>
> >>>It's based on the Preset settings, not Pattern settings. <<<

Realm's right.  If you search back just a bit through the archives, I 
posted just a couple weeks ago detailing the algorithm and easiest ways 
to use this...  Maybe Realm wants to put that in the FAQ?  =)

Cheers,
  -Aaron

Yes sir!  :)  I'll get to it tomorrow...

rEalm




Realm's right.  If you search back just a bit through the archives, I 
posted just a couple weeks ago detailing the algorithm and easiest ways to 
use this...  Maybe Realm wants to put that in the FAQ?  =)

Cheers,
  -Aaron

> You're both almost right.

I'll settle for "almost right" over "utterly wrong" any day...

> The sequencer only saves preset information 
> for channels that it references and for which it has data.

That was roughly my guess.

Aside: tonight I started making some backups of presets and patterns,
using Digital Performer since I don't have an editor/librarian for the
XL-7. (Well, I have a copy of Galaxy and know the scripting language,
but Opcode is dead and my current PowerBook has no floppy drive, so
it's now useless to me.) I notice that a preset dumps as 8 sysex
messages, and (at least as far as DP is concerned) they come through
in indeterminate order. I've also had a quick look at the SMF's that
come out of the ELoader application: all sorts of controller messages
(including mix output and arp status, or should I call them "anchor"
and "libra" as per the manual?), but no bank select, which is a bit
odd. (Or does the pattern choose presets in its own back by default?)

Aaron, is there a way I could get the sysex spec from E-mu? I know the
Audity one is available for download on the XL-7 page, but the
architecture is ever so slightly different so I'm not sure that's of
much use. I just want to know enough to be able to capture and
sanity-check sysex dumps.

> Realm's right.  If you search back just a bit through the archives, I 
> posted just a couple weeks ago detailing the algorithm and easiest ways 
> to use this...

I've only had the XL-7 for a little over a week, so I'm still catching
up. But, yes, sounds like a good one for the FAQ.

-- 

  nick rothwell -- composition, systems, performance -- http://www.cassiel.com
  upcoming gig at cybersonica, london, june 5th  -- http://www.cybersonica.org

Nick Rothwell wrote:

>I've also had a quick look at the SMF's that
>come out of the ELoader application: all sorts of controller messages
>(including mix output and arp status), but no bank select, which is a bit
>odd. (Or does the pattern choose presets in its own back by default?)
>
They should have bank selects.  I seem to remember someone in our sound 
department having problems with bank selects in Digital Performer.  We 
had her do something with OMS (I think; I'm not a Mac guy) that enabled 
them to show up in DP.  They are there though.  Be careful, because as I 
remember, DP was stripping out bank selects upon resave.

>or should I call them "anchor" and "libra" as per the manual?
>
Huh?  Do you have some non-english manual?

>Aaron, is there a way I could get the sysex spec from E-mu? I know the
>Audity one is available for download on the XL-7 page, but the
>architecture is ever so slightly different so I'm not sure that's of
>much use. I just want to know enough to be able to capture and
>sanity-check sysex dumps.
>
Unfortunately, that's the most recent document we have.  I believe the 
preset dump is identical.  The multisetup dump has changed radically. 
 Each of the individual parameter IDs and parmeter set commands are the 
same.

-Aaron

> They should have bank selects.  I seem to remember someone in our sound 
> department having problems with bank selects in Digital Performer.

Digital Performer is a whole world of problems of all varieties, so it
doesn't surprise me. This is partly the reason I wanted a copy of the
sysex document so I could make some sense of the dumps. The last thing
I want is to create corrupt backups...

(I just fired up an ancient copy of Vision and imported the pattern
file there - bank select messages all present and correct...!)

> >or should I call them "anchor" and "libra" as per the manual?

> Huh?  Do you have some non-english manual?

Nope, I was just being flippant about the symbols used for the
controller table footnotes. (Most writers make do with daggers...)

> Unfortunately, that's the most recent document we have.  I believe the 
> preset dump is identical.

The obvious architectural difference is that the XL-7 has layer and
preset cords, where the Audity has only layer presets. (There may be
other differences; certainly, the XL-7 knows about more front-panel
knobs and so on.)

-- 

  nick rothwell -- composition, systems, performance -- http://www.cassiel.com
  upcoming gig at cybersonica, london, june 5th  -- http://www.cybersonica.org

>
>
>>Unfortunately, that's the most recent document we have.  I believe the 
>>preset dump is identical.
>>    
>>
>
>The obvious architectural difference is that the XL-7 has layer and
>preset cords, where the Audity has only layer presets. (There may be
>other differences; certainly, the XL-7 knows about more front-panel
>knobs and so on.)
>

Actually, the Audity2000 has preset cords too, they were just renamed 
from FX CORDS to PRESET PATCHCORDS when they started to have more 
destinations than just FX.  In any case, the dump structure should be 
identical, though it may have extended values that the Audity didn't 
have (like those extra destinations...).

I'll see if I can at least get a parameter list posted so you can get to 
all the parameters in the box...

-Aaron

> Actually, the Audity2000 has preset cords too, they were just renamed 
> from FX CORDS to PRESET PATCHCORDS when they started to have more 
> destinations than just FX.

So it does, way down near the end of the edit pages. Since I don't use
Audity/XL-7 effects that much I've never ventured there... (Also, I
finally noticed that PRESET PATCHCORDS are described in the
Audity/P2000 sysex document, so I was going to look closer at the
Audity in any case.)

> I'll see if I can at least get a parameter list posted so you can get to 
> all the parameters in the box...

That would be really useful - ta.

-- 

  nick rothwell -- composition, systems, performance -- http://www.cassiel.com
  upcoming gig at cybersonica, london, june 5th  -- http://www.cybersonica.org