As a guitar player I added stomp boxes and my nova system but in the end all sounds that I needed can be created with the KPA+remote, so no additional hardware anymore when playing live. For recording I use reverb, delays etc from the DAW or the ones I bought.Like the reverb classics from Native instruments a lot.
What FX are covered by your KPA.......
- Bilbosmeggins
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Thanks for the help but I don't think this will fix my problem. For example, let's say on one song I want a small reverb on one part with a light slap delay, then later on maybe a big heavy reverb with a big tape delay for some ambient thing. But I might also want one of those settings on a different song combined with a different reverb or different delay. So basically I need to be able to access all delay, reverb, drive, and modulation settings at all times without having to program "for this song I need these settings, for this song I need some different settings". With the timeline (or my old timefactor) for example I just have a light and heavy dotted eighth, heavy tape, slapback, etc, programmed in there so I can call them up at any time in any song, and the tempo I tapped in for that song persists across presets (it's called "global tempo"). Same thing with the BigSky: I have a small plate, medium plate, large hall, spring, etc presets that I can call up at any time during any song depending on the part of the song I'm in. Hopefully all that makes sense.
This is a common problem with multieffects. Kemper is kind of like a multieffect in that sense. With Kemper, I use three, or max four different amp sounds and the rest is made with effects etc. It is much more cumbersome to have each sound with different variations versus to just click the needed effects for three different amp sounds.
Presets and multieffects are useful when you are playing the same set in the same way and in same tempos each night. But when you have to make sounds on the fly, for example when substituting in a band, multieffects are not so useful. Especially when some distictive sound effects are needed.
The ultimate multieffect would be something that you could choose an amp sound and then choose from a number of different delays, reverbs, modulations and drives etc, with a global tempo and also an ignore tempo setting for lets say a slapback delay etc. All this in addition to the traditional preset approach. -
I get what you guys are driving at. I think a few things implemented in the kpa could get us there:
- footswitch/MIDI control over locking (so you could toggle between locking effects and locking the amp
- footswitch/MIDI control to load presets/amp profiles, rather than whole rigs
- save rigs with "carry-over" blocks. This would let you load some things but carry over others from the prior rig. So its like quasi-locking. The block only carries over if the destination rig specifies to do so.
- save and replace presets rather than allowing saving with a duplicate name
- temporary or performance presets similar to how the performance rigs are decoupled from the browse libarary rigs. This would allow you to tweak on the fly per gig without fear of losing the "master" settings.I think some combination would acheive everything desired, yes?
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If I wanted to do the multiple reverb/delay thing, I would put my Line 6 M9 in the Kemper's loop. You can have multiple delays and reverbs running at the same time if you want. The delay/reverbs in the M9 are probably it's strongest feature....they are really good. It's one of the things Line 6 got right.
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@dougc84 yeah you nailed it. Can't beat the flexibility of a traditional board.
I am considering a midi switching system for the strymons and possibly my overdrives. I'd put the strymons in an always-on stereo FX loop on the kemper and choose the presets via midi. The nice thing about this is that then I could have some effects presets on the kemper that rarely change (clean boost, trem, phaser, flanger, etc) that I could also switch on and off via midi, right?
All of this seems like it might just be a waste of time and money though, since I'd still have to lug around all the pedals, they would just be in the same rack my kemper is, instead of a traditional pedal board. Plus I'd have to bring a midi controller also.
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@dougc84 yeah you nailed it. Can't beat the flexibility of a traditional board.
I am considering a midi switching system for the strymons and possibly my overdrives. I'd put the strymons in an always-on stereo FX loop on the kemper and choose the presets via midi. The nice thing about this is that then I could have some effects presets on the kemper that rarely change (clean boost, trem, phaser, flanger, etc) that I could also switch on and off via midi, right?
All of this seems like it might just be a waste of time and money though, since I'd still have to lug around all the pedals, they would just be in the same rack my kemper is, instead of a traditional pedal board. Plus I'd have to bring a midi controller also.
Some keyboard players are happy for a synth where everything is controlled via a screen and sub-menus, others want a load of knobs where each has a dedicated role. We're no different and sometimes nothing beats a bunch of stomp boxes with knobs.
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<a href="http://www.kemper-amps.com/forum/index.php/User/38924-dougc84/">@dougc84</a> yeah you nailed it. Can't beat the flexibility of a traditional board.
I am considering a midi switching system for the strymons and possibly my overdrives. I'd put the strymons in an always-on stereo FX loop on the kemper and choose the…
I'd been doing that and loving the sounds (especially in stereo), but I've decided that I like the effects in the Kemper enough that the remote and an expression pedal are all I really need in front of me while playing. No more tap dancing for me. I highly recommend the Disaster Area stuff if you want to go into midi-switching though.
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@dougc84 yeah you nailed it. Can't beat the flexibility of a traditional board.
I am considering a midi switching system for the strymons and possibly my overdrives. I'd put the strymons in an always-on stereo FX loop on the kemper and choose the presets via midi. The nice thing about this is that then I could have some effects presets on the kemper that rarely change (clean boost, trem, phaser, flanger, etc) that I could also switch on and off via midi, right?
All of this seems like it might just be a waste of time and money though, since I'd still have to lug around all the pedals, they would just be in the same rack my kemper is, instead of a traditional pedal board. Plus I'd have to bring a midi controller also.
Yes, you can do that with MIDI. I basically have about a dozen performance mode presets that I keep the stereo FX loop enabled on, and, using my controller, call up, say, my AC-30 edge of breakup sound with whatever presets I want on my Timeline and BigSky. I also have a MIDI switcher/true bypass loop that I run my overdrives through, so I turn them all on or off according to my needs, all based on the preset on my controller, and regardless of what slot I pull up on the Kemper.
Also, with some MIDI controllers, either via mods or built-in, you can run a single 7-PIN MIDI cable to your controller which will supply phantom power and bidirectional communication to the floorboard from the Kemper. You just install a box in your rack that interfaces with the Kemper and provides power. If you do this, and you keep your Timeline and BigSky in your rack, you literally only need your MIDI controller on the floor, connected by a single MIDI cable.
I don't feel like, for my personal needs, that's it's a waste of time or money. Sure, I have a huge pedalboard. It's bigger than anyone else's that I know. The MIDI controller, the Morley Bad Horsie, and the two Mission pedals (one volume, one expression for my controller) probably consume 75% of the space on the board. But, because of it, I'm giving myself the ability to have a unique, tailored sound that Kemper owners don't get out of the box. I have the benefit of analog overdrives that are all unique, the flexibility to stack them when needed, and 4 remaining stomp slots on the Kemper not consumed all by overdrive presets. I have some of the best delays and reverbs you can get. And, with my normal gigs needing me to fill up space and create ambience, it's not abnormal for me to run a large pattern delay into a 20 second cloud reverb. That's just things the Kemper can't do. And I'm OK with that. Plus, if I'm somewhere that I don't have access to a Kemper for whatever reason, I can still utilize the majority of my effects (most of my sounds are based around a Pete's Vox AC-30 that's set at about the "edge of breakup") using nearly any amp with a relatively clean sound, and still have all my delays, reverbs, and drives.
But it really depends on your needs. What works for me may not work for you. What I play is not what you play. And that's OK - find what works for you and build accordingly.
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I use a bunch of Earthquaker pedals that are make some pretty unique noise. So I do need to use those in front of the KPA. I tried profiling my amp using the EQD sounds and it just didn't sound as good as using the pedals.
