Looking for a clear metal sound for live

    Hello!

    Since I got my Kemper, I’ve noticed that my profiles sound extremely different when played in a home studio environment compared to in the rehearsal room or on concerts. A fat and crisp tone in the studio through an Audio Interface transforms into a MetalZone-ish sound with ALOT of hiss live through FOH, and you need to tweak it a lot to even sound mediocre. And the same goes the other way around. A profile that sounds ok in the rehearsal room, becomes almost lifeless in the studio. This may be obvious for some, but for me this makes it really hard to prepare a good set of sounds at home and bring to rehearsals/concerts. What is actually causing this difference, technically?


    Can anyone recommend some good profiles for live use? I like the sound of the Powerball and 5150 among others. My band plays extreme metal but with a lot of open melodic chord progressions. Like 16th notes over an entire chord or 3-4-5 strings, so the tone needs to be clear and not have too much gain. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!


    Clean and solo tones usually works like a charm in both scenarios so I have no problem there.

    Quote from Slimfive

    What is actually causing this difference, technically?

    Hi, welcome and have fun here in the forum and with your Kemper. How loud do you actually listen in the Studio and how loud at rehearsal and gig? Big difference? Then there you go. Google "Fletcher/Munson" for an explanation. The "loudness" effect does the same on hifi equipment. Basic advice is to listen to profiles in gig volume if you really want to finetune what worls on stage (and as well on recordings). Bedroom volume kills your ability to judge the right amount of treble, bass and cut-through frequencies.


    For your style you might to look at Michael Britt's Crank'n Go pack. Great 5153s in there. I love them and they do not have too much gain but cut through really great. On the RigExchange you can get mdan's Driftwood merged profile. That's a great one for heavy tones as well. You can easily tweak it by exchanging the cab. Makes big differences. I associated it with the Bogus cab from Guido Bungenstock's Xtasy profile from the Kemper stock plugins.

    Thanks for clearing things up and coming with some good profile suggestions. I will check them all out in the rehearsal room and not in my studio. That way, hopefully, Ill be able to shape a better sound for live use.


    And I totally understand the volume thing now after reading posts and links. When I owned an Engl Savage and fired it up in my apartment at low volumes it didn’t really shine as it did on stage. I guess what is happening with the Kemper is the same thing, just the opposite way. I guess the profiles I have been using are just meant for studio/low volume and are good at that, but nothing more.

    Slimfive,


    It also might help to understand what bands or artists most closely sound like what you are trying to achieve, live. For instance, there might be some great sounding Uberschall model that we could recommend, but if you are looking for more of a Boogie sound, then a recommendation for a JP-2C or something might be more helpful to you. Just my 2 pesos.


    Jeffro


    PS - Slim 5 (add vito) is my favorite Jimmy John's sandwich. :P

    Shred 'til yer dead,

    Jeff in Houston

    Like 1

    SliderJeff


    I don't really know any bands that has the same live sound, not that I've noticed at least. I know a lot of metal guitar tones are shaped for the usual chug and thrash riffs on 2 strings, but we all know what happens when you play a full chord with too much gain and punch. It's gets muddy real fast. Maybe a guitar sound like on Keep of Kalessin's track "Epistemology" would fit. Lots of chords and they all sound very clear to me. I know their guitarist uses Axe FX but not sure if that's used on the album, and my ear is not trained enough to hear what amp that is I'm afraid.


    Or maybe something like this:

    youtube.com/watch?v=GI9cwS_5nHE


    My own band is called Sworn, we have an album called Dark Stars and Eternity out on digital platforms. Now this wasn't meant as self promotion, but if you want to listen to it and know of something that can fit our sound live, I'd be very grateful.


    And I can't believe that after 5 years of using this nick, someone finally got the reference. Awesome! ^^