Performance Best Practices

  • it also work this way but sometimes you really need to have some dedicated profiles to songs.
    you can’t just play some u2 with basic delays for example.


    Some songs require specific settings.


    But for the majority of songs ( and I cover a lot of different styles) 5 rigs with common switchable effect make the trick.

  • I agree with all what has been said here and I am actually in both camps myself as well. Sometimes a performance fits a lot of songs, sometimes if the material is more complex or has a very specific demand I use a performance per one song (very rare though but I get the points mentioned above easily).


    Just to complete one end of the spectrum in the discussion here. Sometimes for extended jamming and rehearsing with a few friends I create a little challenge for myself: Just one rig per evening, i.e. a few hours of music. Basically I treat the Kemper as a phantastic sounding one-channel boutique amp then. Want the sound cleaner? Roll back the volume on the guitar. Want more gain? Put booster in stomp slot. And so on. One basic sound, max 8 effects plus morph. Focus on the guitar. That works well for a lot of rock and blues styles. And let me tell you: The folks around me love it :)

  • Sometimes for extended jamming and rehearsing with a few friends I create a little challenge for myself: Just one rig per evening, i.e. a few hours of music. Basically I treat the Kemper as a phantastic sounding one-channel boutique amp then. Want the sound cleaner? Roll back the volume on the guitar. Want more gain? Put booster in stomp slot. And so on. One basic sound, max 8 effects plus morph. Focus on the guitar. That works well for a lot of rock and blues styles. And let me tell you: The folks around me love it :)

    I often do the same. There are so many great rigs available it is so tempting to use a gazillion per song just because you can. Often playing a single amp all night makes perfect sense. However, with so many to choose from it almost feels like sacrilege not to make use of them. So, I often just pick a Rig almost at random (something with enough gain to cover most situations and that cleans up well when the guitar volume is rolled back) and use it all night. It’s like having he thrill of getting to know a new boutique valve amp every night. Who wouldn’t love that? But who can afford it? The KPA makes it possible.


    Obviously, this doesn’t work for everyone r every situation but it definitely can put a smile on your face and let you get creative with the guitar instead of worrying about what footswitch to press and when to press it.

  • So I've been having a play today....

    I built a Rig that contained the sounds I needed for a song. With stomps I could build it up as I needed manually if I wanted.


    I copied the same rig across the 5 Performance slots and the Edited each slot to suit the part of the song. Saves having 5 separate Rigs for 1 song. Especially as a performance is separate to the rig pool.


    Thanks everyone.

  • I just got my Kemper Stage 12 days ago so this discussion is just what I needed. I just loaded my 1st profile 2 days ago and organization was not at all clear as far as what I wanted to do. I still haven't figured out how to re-arrange the rigs in the Rig slots.


    I'm looking at this from a couple of angles. I have about 20 guitars, including mandolin, banjo, Pedal steel, Baritone, and Dobro. So I want the best rig for each, of course. I could set up 20 performances, 1 per instrument. Then, I have found that in my later years that I can make more money and do less work recording than I can playing , so I invested in my recording studio about 15 years ago. So from the studio angle I want to save the exact settings used to record. That's where the per song performance use works for me. If I want to punch-in/out I want the same exact tone. I can also keep profiles sorted by artist.


    I am thinking that the backup/restore function will allow me to eat my cake and have it too. All that and I don't have to clutter up the Kemper . To that end I have a 128G USB drive dedicated to the Kemper Stage.


    8)

    "Faith don't need no second opinion"

  • Dude, this is what we are here for so always feel free to ask questions, especially easy ones so I can answer them :).


    You can just move the rigs in the slots, it gives you the option to move left or right or you can move easily in rig manager.


    Performances are mainly used for live and hence that's why I there is less reason to have a performance per song ( as in your case you are unlikely to change instrument 5 times during a song live). For organizing at home, sort of makes sense, but then navigating isn't as time precious as live.

  • Dude, this is what we are here for so always feel free to ask questions, especially easy ones so I can answer them :).


    You can just move the rigs in the slots, it gives you the option to move left or right or you can move easily in rig manager.


    Performances are mainly used for live and hence that's why I there is less reason to have a performance per song ( as in your case you are unlikely to change instrument 5 times during a song live). For organizing at home, sort of makes sense, but then navigating isn't as time precious as live.

    I was referring to moving rigs in the browse mode, I can move the performance slots just fine.


    RE: "live"

    I am 72 and don't get around very well anymore and every second is precious. I understand what you're saying though, I wasn't always old (or ugly) and on-stage is the place nobody wants to be holding up the show. But thinking about it, I always play live, never played dead, but I might; who knows?

    "Faith don't need no second opinion"

  • I presume you mean slots 1 an2? You don't change performances mid song surely?

    No, i mean ALL my rhythm sounds on performance 1. 5 different sounds to chose from. ALL my lead sounds on performance 2. 5 different lead sounds to choose from.


    All rhythm sounds on the bottom row. All lead sounds on the too row. Nice and easy. Wireless midi, no pedal jogging. Just one push and i am on the right patch. Been using rack gear for 30 years, and my sounds have always been arranged that way. No need to change it now. Works fine on the Kemper too. I have more expression pedals connected than what is in the picture. For morph, slots on/off, wah. So all in all i have every sound i need at my feet instantly.


    And to answer your question: Ofcourse i do. Why wouldn’t i?

  • No, i mean ALL my rhythm sounds on performance 1. 5 different sounds to chose from. ALL my lead sounds on performance 2. 5 different lead sounds to choose from.


    …..


    And to answer your question: Ofcourse i do. Why wouldn’t i?

    Switching between Performances causes a lag, because the whole Performance must be load into memory. Switching the slots in one Performance is without lags.


    I store the rigs and/or performances in my project folder.

  • Switching between Performances causes a lag, because the whole Performance must be load into memory. Switching the slots in one Performance is without lags.


    I store the rigs and/or performances in my project folder.

    Not as much lag as guitarists that have to switch off three pedals, then switch two others on and fiddle with their volume pedals. ;)


    Really the lag is negligeble. Perhaps 0,3 seconds. The big lag is in the display, and i never look at that while playing. It’s never been an issue for me.

    And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

  • I haven't seen a project folder yet. Where would I find it?

    You can create your own folders in Rig Manager.


    one option might be to have Master folder for all projects (project folder). Then a sub folder for each individual project. Possibly even a further level for each track within a project. The choice is yours.


    Another option is to use the project folder in your DAW and simply copy the rig file into there. Then you can reload it into the Kemper manually if required.

  • Not as much lag as guitarists that have to switch off three pedals, then switch two others on and fiddle with their volume pedals. ;)


    Really the lag is negligeble. Perhaps 0,3 seconds. The big lag is in the display, and i never look at that while playing. It’s never been an issue for me.

    I think you miss the point. You don't need them in a performance, you can just select from midi and saves loading. I suspect ( not that its an issue) that you are not using performances in the way they were designed/intended, hence why I asked the question of putting all your rhythm sound sin one performance.


    Anyway, as you use midi yes I can see you can switch between performances without scrolling, makes sense now.


    I certainly don't have to switch off 3 pedals or mess around with volume pedals but then I don't use/need external pedals. I also moved to the remote as other switchers were imprecise - particularly if I accidentally clipped 2 pedals, it would freeze, but hey whatever works for you.


    I also came from rack gear ( well back in the 80's) but a trimmed down.

  • You can create your own folders in Rig Manager.


    one option might be to have Master folder for all projects (project folder). Then a sub folder for each individual project. Possibly even a further level for each track within a project. The choice is yours.


    Another option is to use the project folder in your DAW and simply copy the rig file into there. Then you can reload it into the Kemper manually if required.

    That!