Transpose - tightening it up?

  • Hi all,


    A band I'm in play No One Knows, by QOTSA - and it's meant to be tuned to C. The guitars I use are in E standard tuning, so was planning to use the transpose function to get around this.... but it sounds flubby and loose. Is there a trick to tightening it up a bit?


    Thanks!

  • I found that using a stomp and placing it in 1st position helps to reduce latency.

    Try to use a profile not overloaded with effects


    It will help for latency and flubby-ness... play with the smooth chords box also

  • i think transposing down that far it will not sound the same as tuning the guitar down properly, with heavier strings etc


    i generally only transpose down a semi tone which seems to work ok most of the time

  • I found that from E to D it sounds good but the more you transpose it will degrade. I've heard it's the same with Digitechs transpose pedal. Why not then play that song in D standard? I mean there are cover songs e.g. in C and the original song was in E standard so....

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau

  • Generally I stick to 1 or 3 semitones transpose, but do have one section shifted down 3. This is just some straight chords and it seems alright.


    Smooth chords improves the shifted sound, but seems to add a little more latency. I love the all in one solution of the Kemper and I use this now, but the Digi pedal just shades it in terms of feel for me. Would great if there was a further improvement for this in the future.

    Karl


    Kemper Rack OS 9.0.5 - Mac OS X 12.6.7

  • Generally I stick to 1 or 3 semitones transpose, but do have one section shifted down 3. This is just some straight chords and it seems alright.


    Smooth chords improves the shifted sound, but seems to add a little more latency. I love the all in one solution of the Kemper and I use this now, but the Digi pedal just shades it in terms of feel for me. Would great if there was a further improvement for this in the future.

    I was thinking of the Digitech pedal, but I find it great how I can have a slot in performance mode for each song that has the transpose set automatically, and I don't have to change an external pedal to do this.


    Wondering if it's worth tuning to Eb, and then using the transpose up a semi-tone for standard. I'm new to the band, so guess it depends on how many songs are in standard vs. how many are in Eb...!


    EDIT: Seems the Whammy DT has midi as well.... am I right in thinking I can automatically set the transpose level on the Whammy DT based on the performance slot I select..??

    Edited once, last by FarleyUK ().

  • The Whammy DT doesn’t use standard midi. I had a real pig of a time trying to control mine with a dedicated RJM Mastermind midi controller and eventually gave up. I contacted RJM (who were keen to help) and Digitech ( who basically said “tough that’s how we made it”). I wouldn’t fancy my chances of setting it up to change transpose intervals via midi with the Kemper.

  • I was thinking of the Digitech pedal, but I find it great how I can have a slot in performance mode for each song that has the transpose set automatically, and I don't have to change an external pedal to do this.


    Wondering if it's worth tuning to Eb, and then using the transpose up a semi-tone for standard. I'm new to the band, so guess it depends on how many songs are in standard vs. how many are in Eb...!


    EDIT: Seems the Whammy DT has midi as well.... am I right in thinking I can automatically set the transpose level on the Whammy DT based on the performance slot I select..??

    I would choose the guitar tuning that you use most and just transpose when necessary. Having everything in the Kemper patch is why I use the the internal transpose and it sounds fine.


    The only problem is getting used to playing with a little latency. Of course, clean parts are where you will notice the delay is more pronounced. Let us know how the Whammy compares.

    Karl


    Kemper Rack OS 9.0.5 - Mac OS X 12.6.7

  • Had the Whammy DT delivered, and got it setup and running with MIDI changes in 10 mins - works a treat! I *think* it's slightly better than the transpose feature; have it in front of the Kemper instead of in the loop, in true bypass mode.

  • Really?


    How are you sending the midi changes? It’s a long while since I tried it but unless they have changed the midi implementation it uses a non standard midi PC system which kade it impossible to achieve what Wanted at the time.


    Here is a thread where I sought advice from RJM on how to configure it.


    https://www.rjmmusic.com/forum…hammy-dt.2479/#post-11372


    Eventually I gave up went old skool - disconnect the midi cable and ben down to turn the knobs to change the presets : a bit like using a Stage without an editor ?

  • I did have to look at the Kemper video on where to find the bloody midi settings per slot... but basically:


    1. Set Kemper to use OMNI channel, set Whammy to use OMNI channel

    2. Set Kemper Midi Out to Midi In on Whammy, set the Midi Device A as the Whammy via Midi Out

    3. In a performance slot, pressed the button for edit -> Slot Settings -> Midi (I think!) and then selected the Midi device as Whammy, Program change to be whatever it needed to be form the Whammy manual (think it was PC 78 to enable the droptune 1 semitone)

    4. For EVERY other non-Whammy patch, set it so that the midi command was the one that bypassed the droptune on the whammy (something like PC60 I think)


    That enabled the whammy to change based on the performance slot :)


    I'm assuming having the whammy in front of the amp is the best place...?

  • Glad to hear you have it working as you need. I was trying to have full midi control so that I could select various drop tunings via the midi controller but the problem was that the Whammy side and the DT side conflict with each other because of Digitech’s non standard midi format.


    Yes, I would put it in front of the amp.

  • I wonder if it would be possible to write an ADSR into the Transpose effect? Then you could allow the first few ms (transient) of the unaffected guitar pass through before the pitched signal. The user wouldn’t feel the latency.

    Karl


    Kemper Rack OS 9.0.5 - Mac OS X 12.6.7

  • Quick update - the Whammy DT is going back. I noticed today there's a LOT more latency when playing with it when compared to the Transpose function in the Kemper.

    The answer to your question is Digitech The Drop.

    I use it for my dropped songs (drop B and drop C) as 1st position stomp (before distorsion and overdrive) and it sounds awesome: 0 latency and very natural tone.

    It is probably the best pedal of the market for this purpose.

  • The answer to your question is Digitech The Drop.

    I use it for my dropped songs (drop B and drop C) as 1st position stomp (before distorsion and overdrive) and it sounds awesome: 0 latency and very natural tone.

    It is probably the best pedal of the market for this purpose.

    Isn't it the same as the Wahmmy DT? The DT is a Wahmmy with a built in The Drop. Same company, same technology.


    Some time ago I tested the Drop pedal against the Transpose in the Kemper and didn't find an improvement with the Digitech pedal, so it went back.


    Any of them work ok with distortion and are unusable with clean tones.

  • Isn't it the same as the Wahmmy DT? The DT is a Wahmmy with a built in The Drop. Same company, same technology.


    Some time ago I tested the Drop pedal against the Transpose in the Kemper and didn't find an improvement with the Digitech pedal, so it went back.


    Any of them work ok with distortion and are unusable with clean tones.

    I know very well the Digitech Whammy pedal, but never had it.


    All I know is that the Digitech Drop works fine as 1st stomp into an analog FX chain. I'm not sure if it goes crazy in the Kemper's input for whatever reason: additional AD/DA conversion, impedance mismatch, other...

    I'll try when I'll put my hands on the toaster :)

  • for what its worth i used to use the transpose and thought it was gash.

    I use it now in the rig button settings, and it seems to sound better in there.

    U just save the transpose as a full rig rather than in a stomp.

    Try it, see what u think !