Tips for first "pro" recording with Kemper

    So much more experience on here than I can offer but a fundamental question that has been raised is how much control you want to retain vs trust the engineer.


    That would drive if you send a DI track or not. Will you be able to control the re-amping or not.


    If it was me, I'd record my parts as accurately as possible with the base sound (gain level), but no effects UNLESS they are integral to the part.

    Quote from V8guitar

    ... how much control you want to retain vs trust the engineer.

    That would drive if you send a DI track or not.

    I know very well what you mean ... and I certainly agree. But ...


    1. Don't hire an engineer you don't trust in the first place.
    2. If you need to hire a triangle soloist for a gig, you'll have to trust him/her. You'll make sure you get to know each other enough so you're confident he/she will deliver the best possible triangle solo and right where you want it to be. You know and accept that you can't "control" it once you're on stage.
    3. The triangle soloist shouldn't ever try or even consider hitting your guitar strings with his/her triangle stick .... unless you guys agreed to it being part of the performance upfront.
    4. The triangle soloist, a human being with creativity and musicality, might have an idea how he could spice up your Death Metal song. So you should welcome him to demo his idea to you. Maybe it's something you didn't even think about ... but like it once you heard it.
    5. Engineers can be pretty amazing "triangle soloists" ... and might even be considered "band members" for a limited time frame (during the production). A "pro" engineer will work for the benefit of your music and not to satisfy his ego by turning everything upside down just because he can.
    6. If you record a DI track, there's no obligation to send it to the mixing engineer. But you have it, just in case.

    Bottomline:

    It's good to "commit" to something if you're confident that it's the only possible way to go.

    It's good to have options, just in case you're ready to open up for ideas you haven't even thought of.

    One basic thing to not overlook is your output levels -- make sure that you're not pushing too hard and clipping your interface inputs.


    I like like to double-track my rhythm guitars -- one track on the left, one on the right -- and I try not to use the same profiles on each track, just to add a bit more depth to the tune. I like to find tones that compliment each other in the mix (one of the great benefits of having hundreds of tones at my disposal with the Kemper).


    I have a full digital setup, but when I record I like to treat it as if we're working all analog. (My band, and the bands that I've worked with like this approach as well.) We try to get as much captured in full band takes as we can, and we'll overdub vocals or guitars if/when we need to. With that, I like to use my Kemper like I would an amp -- I capture my dirty tones and will record any pedals -- or internal effects -- that the songs may call for. (Of course, there's always some experimentation with EQs and effects once we get to the mix - I tend to save reverbs and delays for then.)


    Thanks for your time.

    Quote from lightbox

    I know very well what you mean ... and I certainly agree. But ...


    1. Don't hire an engineer you don't trust in the first place.
    2. If you need to hire a triangle soloist for a gig, you'll have to trust him/her. You'll make sure you get to know each other enough so you're confident he/she will deliver the best possible triangle solo and right where you want it to be. You know and accept that you can't "control" it once you're on stage.
    3. The triangle soloist shouldn't ever try or even consider hitting your guitar strings with his/her triangle stick .... unless you guys agreed to it being part of the performance upfront.
    4. The triangle soloist, a human being with creativity and musicality, might have an idea how he could spice up your Death Metal song. So you should welcome him to demo his idea to you. Maybe it's something you didn't even think about ... but like it once you heard it.
    5. Engineers can be pretty amazing "triangle soloists" ... and might even be considered "band members" for a limited time frame (during the production). A "pro" engineer will work for the benefit of your music and not to satisfy his ego by turning everything upside down just because he can.
    6. If you record a DI track, there's no obligation to send it to the mixing engineer. But you have it, just in case.

    Bottomline:

    It's good to "commit" to something if you're confident that it's the only possible way to go.

    It's good to have options, just in case you're ready to open up for ideas you haven't even thought of.

    Very true :)

    You say in the original post that "Normally for an actual recording I'd go into a studio, use a Fender/Vox-style amp, and have it mic'd...."

    What you don't say is, in those situations, who makes those other decisions you're asking about, such as when to double track, how to pan the doubles, what compression to use, and so on.


    These are decisions that ideally a producer is making, along with an engineer.


    So the issue here is that you're sending in your bits without that professional input; and not the Kemper or anything to do with it really.


    Whoever is supposedly producing this, or at the very least whoever is going to be tasked with putting it all together and mixing it, should be the one consulted about these sorts of decisions before you start sending in tracks.