Octave down pitch shift on lowest 3 strings feature?

  • apologies if this has been requested before, but I would love to see a bass accompaniment feature similar to the split mode on the EHX Bass 9, whereby an octave down pitch shift signal can be added to the bottom 3 strings of the guitar signal only. Great for duo or solo gigs to fill out the sound. Keep up the great work Kemper!

  • This is possible without a special pickup or MIDI using the method EHX does it and I believe the Boss OC-3. The Bass9 only adds the octave down to notes below F#3. The note one half-step below an open G string.


    Don't see why it couldn't be doe with a KPA.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

  • Yes but that is pitch based. The ability to do this based on the bottom 3 strings would require the KPA to be able to know whether a note C for example was plated on the 3rd fret 5th string or 8th fret 6th string. I am not aware of any that can do that without a hex pickup.

    It's the same pitch, so what difference would the string it's played on matter? Unless I'm missing something, it doesn't.

    "If the pitch played is F#3 or below.....add a lower octave." The string generating the pitch is irrelevant.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

  • The original post specifically asked about separating the bottom 3 strings so I answered that.


    There could be reasons why someone might want to have access to the octave note on the 6th string even when the not is higher than the pitch being played on another higher sting. Jazz style voice leading springs to mind. Someone like Charlie Hunter how uses an extended range guitar with one pickup covering the low strings and going to one amp while another pickup covers the other stings and goes to a totally different sound with Rotary Speaker simulation etc might be an example of the kind of thing a string specific effect could achieve which a simple pitch recognition couldn't.

  • Understood, his reference to the EHX Bass9 is what I keyed on. With that using pitch recognition, the Kemper could certainly do this.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

  • thanks for the replies guys.. :) I shouldve been more clear in the original post, I did really mean just any note below a certain threshold, not specifically the bottom three strings.. just to add the low octave in the same way the ehx bass9 does..presumably that's achieved with some selective filtering or similar.. seems like the KPA should be able to handle that easily :)

  • Just tried parallel path with a Studio EQ low passed down to around 200hz. Tried both before and after the Transpose function. Low Passing definitely makes the bass notes darker but doesn't kill them completely above the Hi Cut frequency.


    Looks like it is going to need a dedicated effect or a cut off note in an existing harmoniser/transpose effect.


    There is no doubt the technology is there in the Kemper already but someone is going to have to program it from what I can see.

  • It seems that not many people are interested in this OC3 style fx :(

    It would be great instead! For me especially on acoustic guitars solo accompaniments, now I need to carry and connect always a Boss OC3 ?

  • I like the idea. This kind of programming could also provide the opposite, especially if adding a mix control - Octave up below F#, providing Nashville tuning, and a 12-string kind of sound.

    Great idea, I might finally play Pat Metheny's Phase Dance with the proper tone :S.

  • Hi,

    I‘d also like to have this feature, octaver limited by pitch

    Right now I‘m using a boss pedal, but I would like to do it internally in the Kemper - should be possible...

    So please give us this feature

    Best regards

    Wolfgang

  • The KPA won’t get alternate tuning feature anytime soon. But a Roland or Boss GK device can do the trick.


    A Roland VG-99 will do this easily and accurately. And much, much more. You can dial up any alternate tuning you want.


    I suggest the VG-99 because a used one is a relatively inexpensive choice compared to a Boss SY-1000. But VG-99 still has great sound quality and even some features not on the SY-1000. The Boss does work in a limited way with a mono input from a standard magnetic pickup. I’m not sure if the pitch shifting feature works with the mono input though.

    Yes, the VG-99 requires a hex pickup. I have a Brian Moore i213 which has a built in RMC hex piezo. I also have an external GK-3 on my Hamer Duotone. It will soon be replaced with a Cycfi Nu2.


    I feed my unpowered KPA with a mono signal from my VG-99 for alt tunings all the time. The GR-300 built in is a really accurate model. Wanna sound just like Pat Matheney? Here you go…


    There is no noticeable latency, And there are all kinds of HRM sounds that add synth like tones to your guitar. It is really easy to create instant 12 string guitars, too.


    I plan on adding a Stage soon to my Kemper rig. The VG-99 can output a stereo signal. So I can feed each KPA its own signal. That will be really cool.

  • The Digitech Mosaic sort of does this by doubling sounds one octave down specifically on the lower 4 strings to get a more accurate 12-string guitar sound. Using that tech there is no reason why they couldn't expand it to isolate the "wet" signal for the lower three strings.