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

The manual seems to be based on the notion that we're so organized we can
always plan ahead which track to associate with what preset, and that we'd
remember this on the fly.

Well, for me, the common thing is to record something on a track using one
preset and then to listen to it and think "This might sound even better
with a different sound."  So I switch presets for the track.

I wind up with vastly different preset layouts for each pattern I do, and
I've always wanted some sort of master display to remind me which presets
were where.

And now, I've figured out how to implement it.

The LCD display defaults to two rows of 24 characters each.  How about a
screen that's accessed via the "Mix" button that uses 3 characters per
track to ID the track's preset?  It would default to the 3-character preset
category -- y'know, "Kb2" or "Brs" or "Bow".  Even this most basic
implementation would be incredibly helpful.  An even spiffier feature would
allow the user to change the 3 characters to something else, which would
help when you have four "Kb1" tracks right next to each other.  (I realize
the spiffier version would be much more challenging to do, since it would
mean additional data for a pattern to keep track of.)

Once you have the preset display, perhaps an underline could indicate
tracks that are enabled.  Of course, this would duplicate the function of
the lights above the button rows, but hang on, I have a good use for this.

With a screen that displays preset categories by track and which tracks are
enabled, you can then implement something I asked for a while back -- a
track setup "look ahead" function.  Starting from the Next Pattern screen,
some button combo would take you to this screen, which would have the data
for the pattern to play after this one, so you'd have some notion what was
coming up.  The spiffy version of this would allow you to enable and
disable tracks ahead of time -- another function people have been asking
for.
---
* just-john@...  http://just-john.com/cn/rfe.shtml *