Can you assign looper footswitches elsewhere?

    I'm using the remote and would like to start using the looper live.


    I was wondering if there was any way to record and control the loop without having to enter "looper Mode". Basically, can you assign and lock the Record, Start, Stop/Erase buttons to other footswitches?


    In performance mode I never use the top row of footswitches and would love to be able to use them as an always accessable quick and easy looper control when playing live.


    My guitar is wireless back to my rack with no pedals out front (just the KPA remote via the ethernet). If i had a input signal at my feet I'd just buy a standalone dedicated looper pedal, but to get that I'd have to run 60ft of cable, invest in a looper pedal, have a power supply and find power at the front of the stage. As the KPA already has the looper function, I would just use that if there was an easier way to access it.


    Currently to make a loop as I would need would take 10 foot presses (all while still playing). Talk about tap dancing!


    Press to enter looper mode,
    press to start loop record,
    press to stop loop record,
    press to exit looper mode,
    press to change patch (to play over loop with different sound),
    press again to re-enter looper mode,
    press stop loop,
    press and hold to clear loop,
    press to exit looper mode
    press to return to original sound


    Thats ALOT of room for mistakes! Any way of making it simpler?

    I don't think it can be made simpler yet, alas.
    I think a cool feature would be
    1. When you press stop record to begin loop play back, that that press also preselects a choosen rig to play over
    2. When you press stop loop to ende loop play back, that that press also preselects a choosen rig to continue with
    3. When you clear the loop, that press also preselects a choosen rig to carry on.
    It would certainly give a lot more flexibility and fluiditity to the looper.

    You can hook up an extra dual footswitch to the Remote to access looper start and stop at all times. This would drastically reduce the foot presses required.


    1) Hit loop record start
    2) Hit record stop/play
    3) Hit Kemper profile change
    4) Hit loop stop
    5) Hit Kemper profile change



    I don't think it can be made simpler yet, alas.

    Quote from roadrunner

    I think a cool feature would be
    1. When you press stop record to begin loop play back, that that press also preselects a choosen rig to play over
    2. When you press stop loop to ende loop play back, that that press also preselects a choosen rig to continue with
    3. When you clear the loop, that press also preselects a choosen rig to carry on.
    It would certainly give a lot more flexibility and fluiditity to the looper.


    This can be done with foot controllers other than the Remote.

    Quote from roadrunner

    Wouldn't it be nicer if the Remote were capable of these steps?

    Ah yes, verily! What I meant was that this can be done with other foot controllers, so it would be great if the Remote also gets some more advanced programmability. :)


    I love my Kemper, but I didn't buy the Remote because it didn't seem like it was as great an advance versus other technologies like the Profiler is compared to any other digital guitar device out there.

    Dear Greenblob,
    I would love to have the looper accessible all the time via the remote without having to switch in and out of looper mode and without having to buy yet more foot switches.
    Like you I want to play live without hundreds of feet of cable and extra foot pedals to stomp on.
    I have previously raised this issue but got very little response.
    Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this is an area for development.
    Still love the Kemper, best gear I've ever bought. Looper development would just be the icing on the cake.
    Cheers
    Pre-Amp

    Quote from Pre-Amp

    I would love to have the looper accessible all the time via the remote without having to switch in and out of looper mode and without having to buy yet more foot switches.
    Like you I want to play live without hundreds of feet of cable and extra foot pedals to stomp on.
    I have previously raised this issue but got very little response.
    Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this is an area for development.


    Yeah, IMO the KPA Looper is really only usable as practice and writing tool. The foot switch layout makes it basically useless for live and spontaneous/creative use. Yes, there are videos of people doing amazing things with it, but as a dedicated looper in a live setting, it's just not up to the task - not even close.


    The looping works fine and sounds like a looper should, but the excessive user input required and lack of button assignabilty renders the overall function basically useless for live use (again, just from my opinion and particular needs).


    Basically: Great for practicing, crap for live. :)

    Quote from greenblob

    Yeah, IMO the KPA Looper is really only usable as practice and writing tool. The foot switch layout makes it basically useless for live and spontaneous/creative use. Yes, there are videos of people doing amazing things with it, but as a dedicated looper in a live setting, it's just not up to the task - not even close.


    The looping works fine and sounds like a looper should, but the excessive user input required and lack of button assignabilty renders the overall function basically useless for live use (again, just from my opinion and particular needs).


    Basically: Great for practicing, crap for live. :)

    Unfortunately, this is how Kemper has billed the looper, i.e. as a practice tool. Been trying to get them to give us more usable features, but it is definitely not a priority.


    As mentioned earlier, the inability to access the looper from the front page of a floorboard appears to be a Remote only restriction. It's quite daft imo. The Remote has some very interesting integration and protocol going on to communicate with the Profiler, but my midi floorboard kills it dead.

    Quote from nightlight


    "Unfortunately, this is how Kemper has billed the looper, i.e. as a practice tool. Been trying to get them to give us more usable features, but it is definitely not a priority.
    As mentioned earlier, the inability to access the looper from the front page of a floorboard appears to be a Remote only restriction. It's quite daft imo."


    Yep. Totally agree.


    I wonder what their justification is to shy away from designing it to be user friendly in live use? It's looping has always been stable and has never caused any clicks or pops etc, so I'm a little confused as to what their concern is?


    IMO the looper would graduate to a useful creative/performance tool with some simple additional button mapping options. After all, isn't that the point of the KPA?

    Quote from greenblob

    Yep. Totally agree.


    I wonder what their justification is to shy away from designing it to be user friendly in live use? It's looping has always been stable and has never caused any clicks or pops etc, so I'm a little confused as to what their concern is?


    IMO the looper would graduate to a useful creative/performance tool with some simple additional button mapping options. After all, isn't that the point of the KPA?


    I think they feel the looper feature detracts from the Kemper's primary role as an amplifier. We've also seen requests for metronomes and I think some people would want a drum machine in the Kemper.


    In that sense, I think Kemper Amps wants to underline that this is not an all-in-one box. It is, however, a serious tool.


    In that respect, the Remote needs to match up to the Kemper's capabilities, but I was personally underwhelmed, as much as some of the features were path-breaking.


    At the same time, so many users are happy, so my criticism may be unwarranted.


    Easy programmability? Great to have, but I've never been afraid of diving under the hood with midi. Plus, remember that you can access so many features through NRPN. I'm still unsure how you would achieve that level of fine control with the Remote.


    New communication protocol? I'm not too sure how much better the Kemper protocol for Remote control is better than midi. I haven't seen any improvement in switching speed, based on what Remote users have told me and videos I have seen. I do live in fear that something will be nerfed, like the undo command, to make the Remote the only plausible option for control of the Kemper.


    Tiny form factor? This is a plus and a minus, for obvious reasons. Less buttons, more compact.


    No midi control? Honestly, this was my biggest disappointment. Midi message transmission linked to performance changes? No ability to send more than two messages at a time? I control a fair bit of gear using midi and therefore the Remote wasn't for me.


    Keep in mind, I know that Kemper is working to improve the midi capabilities of the Profiler (which would mean the Remote will get some new tricks too). I just don't think it has revolutionised things as much as the Kemper has. And believe me, there was a lot of scope to revolutionise things. Just look at the monster thread we had about features we'd like in the Remote, such as FX loops, some kind of additional memory for the looper which worked using the proprietary communication... We had a lot of ideas, and a lot of them were probably crazy.


    But the Remote is just too ordinary, there is pretty much nothing it can do that I can't do with another board. Oh, that is other than "undo" with the looper and the "push button" to programme logic.

    Quote from nightlight

    I think they feel the looper feature detracts from the Kemper's primary role as an amplifier. We've also seen requests for metronomes and I think some people would want a drum machine in the Kemper.


    In that sense, I think Kemper Amps wants to underline that this is not an all-in-one box. It is, however, a serious tool.


    Not sure I agree with that. Why nerf a function that appears work, has licensed hardware that can be software configured, and helps users be more spontaneous and creative?


    Initially I thought it may be pushing the limits of the available processing power which could occasionally result less than perfectly reliable operation (not good for live performace) - but that doesn't add up as i would assume the loop you play over (once you change patches) is just a recorded sample and played back as an audio file, and not processed in real time. Either way, imo the looper has proven itself reliable as I've bnever experienced any kind of glitch or weirdness.


    Maybe I'm over thinking it, but I'm really not understanding why my $2800 KPA and Remotes looper function is being totally schooled by my 14 year old, dirt cheap, Boss RC1 (which has only just one footswitch btw).


    I don't know, it just doesn't seem right :)


    Same here. It records loops pretty seamlessly. But I really felt unhappy when the undo function was taken away from us.