Honestly, one of the best things you can do is make sure you have
downloaded the latest version of the manual (revision G) from the Emu
site, and go to Kinko's or something and have it printed out. The newer
versions of the manuals have been re-written, and are definitely laid out
better than the original manuals that may come with your XX-7 (IMO).
Anyway, once you get the manual printed out, take a quick read through the
WHOLE THING. Front to back, read it all the way through. Don't worry
about the details so much at this point, just try and get an overall feel
for how the XX-7 is organized, and maybe try to remember some of what it's
capable of. If you know what it CAN do, it's less important remember HOW
to do it, since you can always look up the details later on if need be
(truth be told, the XX-7'sa re very intuitive too, so it's pretty easy to
figure out on your own how to do something). Get a feel for how the menus
are organized, and what the different parts/functions of the XX-7 are. I
would personally break them down as follows:
- Pattern creation and editing
- Preset Editing
- Global functions (Global menu, Controller Menu, Midi menu)
- Song creation and editing (If you don't use Song mode, this may not be
important, though it's alway good to know)
The next step is to sit down with the XX-7, and explore a bit. Dive into
the menus, see what look familiar from your manual reading, see what still
looks foreign to you. This will give you a rough idea of the things you
need to pay attention to next time you read the manaul. Which leads me
to...
Read the manual again. :) Not always fun I know, but this is the
important part. Pick one of the aspects above (or however you personally
broke down the different functions) and sit down with the manual and XX-7
side by side, and work your way through that section of the manual. Preset
Editing for instance, pick a Factory preset you like, and with that
section of the manual open next to you, go through all of the Preset Edit
Menu options, getting a feel for what they all do. Do a different section
every day (or week, whatever) until you start to feel more comfortable
with things.
More tips:
- Don't worry if you still are having trouble with certain functions.
Patchcords for instance can be very confusing at first, and it can take a
lot of time and experimentation to get a good grasp of what they can do.
I've had my XX-7 for a long time now, and I'm still learning things about
this one!
- Don't rush it. Learning a musical instrument takes time, and practice.
There's no substitute for this, if you want to be good, you WILL have to
put the hours in to be confortable with the XX-7. It's no different from
learning how to play thye guitar in this regards.
- Don't hesitate to ask question here, not matter how basic you think they
may be. That's what we're here for!
- Read the manual a third time after a couple of months of playing with
the XX-7. This time you'll be able to skim the section you already know,
and just focus on the things you don't know so well. I think people
should do this at least once a year for the first few years, as there's
still things I learn each time I read it. (Yes, I do reread all my manuals
regularly).
- Have fun, and spend as much time as you can using the XX-7, no matter
how frustrating it gets. The more time you spend on it, the more familiar
you'll get with it, guaranteed!
- Be sure to read the FAQ and "Tips and Tricks" documents in the files
section of this group too, the FAQ in particular clarifies a lot of
questions newbies have.
Hope this helps,
rEalm
davidnadelman <davidnadelman@...>
04/12/2004 06:41 PM
Please respond to xl7
To: xl7@yahoogroups.com
cc: Show quoted textHide quoted text
Subject: [xl7] newby needs a lift
Hey I just got my xl-7 with the mo phatt rom installed on it. I am
struggling with the machine so far due to the fact that it is my
first piece of equipment ever. I am having a hard time making the
most basic piece of music that is listenable. If you could be a
teacher with this equipment what would you assign as homework? Are
there any suggestions to help me out. I don't have the full manual
yet but the parts I have I am hurting to read becuase I don't
understand some of the lingo. Anyhow any suggestions or help would
be nice to hear thanks.
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