The joys of MIDI

  • Today I delved into controlling the Kemper from my computer / Cubase via MIDI in preparation for a potential show band thing (potential as in if I can find a freakin' rhythm section). The idea is to just leave the Kemper at FOH and let MIDI do the work for me.


    I remembered the basic math of five PCs per performance, but of course that only gets you into performance 26. Poked around the manual and sure enough, everything needed to get to them all was supported (bank / PC). Plugged some events in on a song I'm testing and not only did it perform as expected, the responsiveness to the PCs is a bit quicker than some other gear I've had over the years.


    I don't know why I'm surprised. Maybe because a computer was involved I was just naturally expecting a hassle, but everything worked perfectly. Also very happy with the selection of other CCs, e.g. the pitch one to emulate a whammy bar (which I don't have on my guitars) .


    Man, I love this thing. :)

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • Chris Duncan


    Hey- I'm doing this today. I don't use PCs at all - it's all control changes. CC#47+value of performance for the selection, and then 50-54 for the slot selection. It's much 'cleaner' -I don't need to remember what PC+Bank is for what. Much easier.


    Also- don't freak out if it *looks* like the Kemper is slow to switch. It seems to prioritize the audio over the UI changes. The switch is fast enough that I'd call it dead-perfect.


    Also, I'm doing the CC-control-the-wah thing as well. I have a couple of tracks that will also get volume swells in the same way, when I get to it.


    KPA Unpowered Rack, Kemper Remote, Headrush FRFR108s, BC Rich Mockingbird(s), and a nasty attitude.

  • Once you are using program changes, there is no need to mess around in performance mode and I simply assign a pc to each rig. It often helps me to name the rigs with a number in the name too (04 Lead for example).


    Just make the change a little ahead of where you want. Usually a 16th note is enough, depending on tempo. Control change is useful too for all sorts of things.

    Karl


    Kemper Rack OS 9.0.5 - Mac OS X 12.6.7

  • there is no need to mess around in performance mode and I simply assign a pc to each rig.

    I do not think that there is a time difference in the reaction of the profiler between the Browser and Perfomance mode.

    If you use the same Rigs also live I feel the performance more convinient.

  • I hope the 625 available Performance Slots will be enough for you ;)

    ^^ You wouldn't be the first person to suggest I have focus issues.

    Hey- I'm doing this today. I don't use PCs at all - it's all control changes. CC#47+value of performance for the selection, and then 50-54 for the slot selection. It's much 'cleaner' -I don't need to remember what PC+Bank is for what. Much easier.

    Thanks, man. That would be my preference. I must have misread the manual in that section as there's a pair of CCs that are "bank up / bank down." I skipped past those and so must have missed 47. That will save me having to break out the abacus to calculate each change.

    Also- don't freak out if it *looks* like the Kemper is slow to switch. It seems to prioritize the audio over the UI changes. The switch is fast enough that I'd call it dead-perfect.

    Just make the change a little ahead of where you want. Usually a 16th note is enough, depending on tempo.

    I noticed the slow UI as well, which doesn't bother me since the audio is all that matters. And yeah, I always set the event to where I want it and then back it up a bit so it's already there before my pick starts scraping across the strings.

    Also, if you are using CCs, then the 50-54 numbers will activate morphing on a second press. 8)

    Cool! I hadn't even thought about the morphing and would have been going back to the manual to look for that. Thanks!

    Once you are using program changes, there is no need to mess around in performance mode and I simply assign a pc to each rig. It often helps me to name the rigs with a number in the name too (04 Lead for example).

    I'm not sure I follow. As best I understand, the only place PCs are supported is for the slots in the performances, i.e. there's no way to directly assign a PC to a profile you'd see in Browse mode. Am I missing something? Still pretty new at this.

    If you use the same Rigs also live I feel the performance more convinient.

    While it's an extra step to set up performances for each song, I agree that it's nice to have things organized and labeled that way.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • Also, if you are using CCs, then the 50-54 numbers will activate morphing on a second press. 8)

    That was my problem when I had 2 songs with the same profile in the setlist.

    When calling the same rig with CC one after the other, morph is switched on or off.

    It's like pressing the rig button at the remote several times. It works like a troggle for morph on/off.

    So I decided for a real program change command.

    Calculating the value to send is trivial and well described in the documentation.

  • When calling the same rig with CC one after the other, morph is switched on or off.

    I'm not in the studio at the moment so I have a question about this. Assuming I'm staying on the same performance, if I call:


    CC 50

    CC 51

    CC 50


    Does the second call to CC 50 invoke Morph even though the previous CC was 51?


    Or does it only invoke Morph if you do it like this:


    CC 51

    CC 50

    CC 50


    i.e. two in a row with the same value?

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • Does the second call to CC 50 invoke Morph even though the previous CC was 51?

    No, only when the previous rig is represented by CC 50. If you switch from another Rig no morph is activated.

    If you make a setlist you normally cannot take care that 2 songs should not have the same sound.

    With PG change messages you have no problem at all. These I know only for performance mode.

  • I'm not sure I follow. As best I understand, the only place PCs are supported is for the slots in the performances, i.e. there's no way to directly assign a PC to a profile you'd see in Browse mode. Am I missing something? Still pretty new at this.



    If you are in browser mode Chris, just press system and go to page 13.

    Karl


    Kemper Rack OS 9.0.5 - Mac OS X 12.6.7

  • I do not think that there is a time difference in the reaction of the profiler between the Browser and Perfomance mode.

    If you use the same Rigs also live I feel the performance more convinient.

    Some say that performance mode is quicker, but either way you need to be slightly ahead of where you want the rig change if playing to a click.

    Karl


    Kemper Rack OS 9.0.5 - Mac OS X 12.6.7

  • but either way you need to be slightly ahead of where you want the rig change if playing to a click.

    Yes, but my application is an automatic switch to a predefined rig according the setlist via IPad. So it is not time critical.


    To take a breath for the firt word needs more time:)

  • If you are in browser mode Chris, just press system and go to page 13.

    Thanks, man! Don't know how I missed that in the manual. Clearly my reading skills need some work (or perhaps I should just drink less coffee). :)


    While direct PCs for rigs are limited to 128, it's still a very handy option to have for those times when I don't want to use performances. I somehow had it in my head that performance slots were the only things that would respond to PCs, so I appreciate the info.


    Since I have the Kemper remote as well, my brain has been in performance mode, and I like how easy it is to set them up, but I also enjoy having options.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • Hey- I'm doing this today. I don't use PCs at all - it's all control changes. CC#47+value of performance for the selection, and then 50-54 for the slot selection. It's much 'cleaner' -I don't need to remember what PC+Bank is for what. Much easier.

    I'm having difficulty getting this to work.


    Sending CC 47 with (performance - 1) in the data does change to the desired performance. However, CC 50 - 54 only preloads the slot. The Load soft button and Exit button then flash, waiting for load confirmation. If I press the button, the slot loads.


    I've tried sending two CC 50s in a row, and spacing out 47 and 50 by a full measure to give it time to process 47 before sending 50. The flashing load button is the only result I get.


    The manual has this to say about CC 47:


    Values 0-124 preload Performance 1-125, if “Performance Load” is set to “Pending”. One of the CCs #50-54 then loads one of the Slots, if this Slot is enabled


    I've verified that Performance Load is in fact set to Pending in System.


    So, what am I missing to get the slot actually loaded when firing CC 50 - 54 without pressing the button?

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • Okay, I got it figured out. Many thanks to Robrecht for his highly useful thread,

    Kemper midi automation thread


    In the CC50 - 54 events, I had the LSB set to the default of 0. As he points out, you need to include a value of 1 in keeping with other things that want 1 / 0 for on / off. I set LSB to 1 and it now works as expected.


    I went back over that section of the manual and I couldn't see any mention of the need for this data. Perhaps I'm staring right at it and missing it just the same. If not, perhaps this could be an update to the manual whenever the next revision is released.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • I've tried sending two CC 50s in a row, and spacing out 47 and 50 by a full measure to give it time to process 47 before sending 50. The flashing load button is the only result I get.

    You have to set Perf.load to "Pending" in the sys-menue 3/18 - called user interface

  • You have to set Perf.load to "Pending" in the sys-menue 3/18 - called user interface

    Thanks, Harry. That was already set (it's the factory default, which I hadn't changed).


    My mistake was sending CC50-54 with 0 in the LSB instead of 1. I didn't realize the LSB value was signficant so when I first created the midi event in Cubase I didn't edit it, so it defaulted to 0. Once I changed it to 1, everything worked properly.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10