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

> Welcome to the group!  Enjoyed your posts on daw-mac, though I
> hardly read daw-mac anymore.

that list can get a bit heavy sometimes!  as someone who's still on '90s technology i'm flying the flag for older hardware...  *lol*


> What led you to the PX7, given your already respectable equipment
> collection?  

simple : i can never have too many drum sounds!!!  i tend to layer a lot of stuff together so being able to pick'n'choose gives me a wider palette to work with.

its quite interesting using the older hardware - we played a few shows last year and a lot of people where asking what software i was using to create the 'amazingly dynamic' drum sounds.  just a little old r8m module with 3 cards!!  *lol*


> but did snag some expansion ROMS at
> blowout prices just in time, and scored the XL7 off ebay).

if i do keep the PX7 i'll add the rob pappen chips, at around $200 a piece.  some of the ones on ebay are duplicates ie not originals.  i've got some of the same soundset on the e4xtultra & like them enough to have them in the command station, simply for convenience sake.  i could then take the px7 & my ibook out to mate's places & have a really good workstation.


> The PX7 may have been marketed as a drum machine, but it's really
> a Command Station with a different default ROM than the XL7.

well, the command station design was a good one, though has a few flaws, so changing the roms is the easy bit.  oh, and the paint job!  i just wish they'd left off the synth sounds and added more noises on the px7.


> I have all four ROM slots filled in my XL7 and one of the ROMs is
> the PX7 ROM.  I'm more likely to use the PX7 sounds in conjuction
> with sounds from other ROMS than by themselves.

layering is the key.  this is why i sometimes have 4 or 5 drum tracks running at the same time, subtle differences in the timing, adding extra oomph in sections of songs etc.  its not what you've got but how you use it that counts!!

also, if i have a distorted drum loop (from say the esx-1) running in a track then the drum machine 'sounds' like a machine.  adding the 'live' drum from the td10ex sounds even more live, as the brain hears a loop & a drum machine so the top cant be another machine...


> Having played with real drummers, the last thing I want
> to do is try to beat them at their own game.

you can do things they can't...  so use the machines to add extra bite.


my live rig is rather fun

<http://www.alaskahighway.com/pictures/tkc-mbblue2.jpg>

this is a picture of me playing my 'drum kit' at the key club last year.  even drummers dont initially understand what the drumtree is, but its just a bunch of triggers.  but playing standing up, with both weird noises and 'traditional' sounds gets people's attention.  its fun too, and i come up with drum ideas that i'd not necessarily think of on the keyboard or drum brain.  i usually play the drums from the black & white keys (20+ years training in that department!) so hitting things is actually rather fun...

right, i need lunch!

}:-)
moose @ alaskahighway