Posts by KD

    Great effort Kris, I wish I had both the chops and the stamina.


    I wish you a great guitar year !


    Thanks man! Since I started consciously thinking about relaxing my arms and body much more, my stamina has increased.


    Fantastic playing style. All inside, used always musically. The backing track could be al little more diversified maybe :rolleyes:
    Maybe this should have a Kemper tag in Youtube? Since this might be very interesting for users and such to become!?


    Good thinking, I added both tag and text info about the kemper profile used. There are so many amazing Rig Exchange profiles!


    Thanks a million for the great words. And yes that backing track is just a short one looped a million times, but I guess it was part of the challenge..!

    You have the chops. :thumbup:


    I'm off to check out the profile.


    Do it! They released it just after the Pure Cab feature - and those two together felt like the ultimate testimonial of how in-the-roomish the KPA had become. Since then I feel it became really easy to turn any profile into a great lead profile. Thanks! :D

    ...playing?


    Of course it can!


    But can I? <X


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    What do you think?


    Also if you haven't already, check out the amazing profile "Manu lead" from the Kemper team on RE [used in this vid].


    Thanks for watching! :thumbup:

    I remember back when Kris was teaching how to play Metallica tracks on the wee-ol-intranets back in the early 2000's. He was an inspiration and a mentor to me back then and 10 year's on I've progressed greatly and I still thank Kris for adding humour to the monotonous task of learning.


    Cheers man you rock! :D Thanks for the support!


    Being from Texas and listening to the Revered Mr. Gibbons for a few decades now, I still remember what he said many years ago and it hold true even today. He said "You don't have to be the best one..., just be a good un"... Spank the plank... :D


    Very true, because in music there is no such thing as 'best'. So whoever is trying to be best is not competing with you, because he/she is not even in the same business! :D

    The simple solution was that all the things I learned about technique,theory and most of all "feeling" must be in a certain relation,in a context to THE song..or at least to a theme/melody.And this song/melody must be so strong that the "lust for playing" awakens every time you play this song..because you love the song and not the guitar you play at this song (hope I made myself clear here..ugh..).I guess this is the common thing we guitar players have with singers btw..


    For me personally this is the key.And the "new things" we can learn about "other kinds of music" strange grooves (alá 11/8,9/8 etc) and more variations in music theory/scales MUST be also help you to make better music.By this I mean songs/melodoes that really (and I mean really!) express myself and are not "in service of my ego"...


    I couldn't agree more! Simply put: Don't play anything just "because" - play it because you think sounds good over whatever song / backing track you're working on.

    I think this masterclass can totally change the way you play music, and you don't have to be a jazz pianist to understand it, as it relates to everyone.
    https://youtube.com/watch?v=Un3p614XExc


    I have been watching this one in increments, and i am probably half way through. It contains amazing advice!


    There is one part where I feel I would be a bit careful - and it's about dividing your time between practicing (left brain half) and playing (right brain half).


    I don't do any of the the strict practicing anymore - I make sure anything I do is musical. So if I want to practice changes i try to find a musical/enjoyable way to do it. Same goes if I want to improve my timing or picking technique etc.


    In the beginning it is probably necessary to do a little bit of the boring practicing though - but my recommendation would be to move away from that asap.


    Things might be a little different if your into jazz and want to be able to instantaneously read and improvise of sheet music though (I don't do any of that).

    Exploring this rig pack now. "TJ - Mars SLead Max-1+Bst" is an amazing profile for high gain lead - it has a great balance between low midrange mojo (which helps me play the fast stuff more fluidly ) and still enough top end to cut through. For busy mixes the other two Super lead profiles might come in handy as they seem to have less low end. I am also getting lots of touch sensitivity in spite of all the gain - love it!


    Also, after a first test the fenders and vox seem really nice as well.


    Thanks Kemper and Jimi! :D

    Very funny how different we are and this makes the world colorful. ;)


    A clear vision, a clear starting point, waiting for a certain mood or any pressure to deliver would kill my creativity totally, especially when I'm composing. Very often I start to play guitar and it will end up in composing a new song. For me making music is more like an exciting journey with an undefined end. But there's is not THE one and only method, everybody has to find his way. I'm also not into analyzing too much about my playing and music, probably this is important if you're a teacher.


    For sure! And my methods change as well - it all depends on the result/end product I am going for. If I had the opportunity to focus completely on recording a solo album - then I would probably gravitate towards a different method (perhaps like yours). I think being flexible and adaptive is extremely important in any business - it is much easier to bend your own mind than the rest of the world.

    This is a great thread guys. From a guy that's just started guitar about a year ago and plays like shit, I really enjoy reading these thoughts and experiences from seasoned guitar players. Thanks!!


    We have all been there. Please also bare in mind that dealing with the "I sound like shit" feeling is part of being a professional. You have turn it into positive energy to fuel new creative force, and don't let it put you down (at least not for long periods).



    This has "killed me" in the past and I got a "new life" when I start to hear all kinds of ethno-music.New grooves,new ways of handling scales,melodies,phrasing and improvisation.I like the fact that with many kinds of music (india,balkans,afrika etc) these guys play for example 9/8 or 11/8 all the time but if they notice that you are counting while you play these beats they will wonder...they just have learned it from their childhood.They have it in their blood and they never get tired to play.Meanwhile most of us here in europe,US etc are so used to so few scales in the 4/4 beat that we just got "tired" and lost things (new expiriences) we had in our youth "by nature".Many musicians I know had their own way to get this "new life".Many discovered jazz,classical music etc.I know a lot of guys who got their "new life" discovering Frank Zappa.. ;)


    I dont know about you my friend but maybe...maybe it is time for you to discover "new paths";I dont know.Just an idea.Let me know.


    greetings


    Yes this is absolutely essential to me - very good stuff! I achieve progress by brutally throwing myself into new styles. One day I will do this kind of backing, next day a fast neoclassical shred backing, and then next day a Russian polka. You have to accept that you will never be satisfied with what you're doing, I don't think it's possible to tackle completely new styles every day and sound good - but for progress it is immensely beneficial. It is simply incomparable to tweaking that 16th note metronome exercise once per week.



    I also agree with Guenter's observation of classical players in general. My mum was a prodigy in her youth, and has taught classical piano for over 50 years. She is completely lost if one removes her sheets, unless of course she plays a piece from memory. I've tried over the years to encourage her to use her awesome talent to at least attempt composition, but it's as if the word itself scares her; she won't go near it to the extent that she's not, to my knowledge at least, even attempted to strike that first "undocumented" note.


    It reminds me of much of the "brainwashing" I've seen in higher-education - many fields discourage the questioning of foundational assumptions and beliefs, as if they're sacred somehow, a practice that appears (well, it does!) to result in a steady stream of "lackey" graduates who're good for not much other than the regurgitation of what they've been fed... over, and over again.


    Yes this can be seen everywhere, but it should be treated as absolute blasphemy in art! Unfortunately it is very much present there as well, as with the case with your mum.


    Kris, thanks so much for your spot on video! Your playing, your advice are all exceptional and you're just a natural at teaching and speaking. Your YouTube vid is a scream, too - funny and wise guy you are. I'm sure many of us will be reminded why all the great points you tackle are so important to being a good, expressive guitarist. Very well done!


    Thanks so much everybody for your encouraging words, this will inspire me to do more of this stuff! Also I am still really curious if the rig has been useful to anybody else.


    Merry Christmas - and happy holidays! :D

    The killer sound you've dialed in yesterday will suddenly sound like WTF and playing guitar will likely lead to frustration than to satisfaction. Therefore nowadays the hardest part for me is to get in the right mood, to dive in, to achieve some kind of flow. This is why I say: First tone has to be in your head, in your heart, in your soul (or whatever you like to call it). If it's there it will find it's way in your fingers.


    This is def me! Because of time constraints and pressure to deliver - I need a very clear vision of what I want to go for sound-, playing- and production wise. This does not mean i can not be creative and think outside the box (hopefully), but I need a clear starting point. It is very rare that I grab the guitar and just play - though I certainly can get lost in my playing after I have defined the 'goal-of-the-day'.


    So in other words I am not a part of this club, though it does remind if of when I started out on the instrument:


    Kempermaniac: a very complex subject, indeed.


    For me playing guitar and producing/composing music is something similar to meditation, my current mood actually doesn't matter much. As soon as I start to make music, I'm "travelling to another planet", there's something spiritual behind it. My brain stops thinking all the time and I'm diving into something different, really hard to describe. Anyway, for me making music/playing guitar is an essential part of my life and it's always very refreshing. The rest (becoming a professional musician with studio-sessions, tours ect.) just happened, the basics always are the pureness of making music. I hope this doesn't sound too esoteric.... :saint:

    Anybody tried the rig yet?


    I want to add that I only added a little bit of low cut as post effect. Other than that it's just reverb and delay!




    We sometimes forget what we've learned over the years, and it's useful to be reminded from time to time ...


    Yes indeed - and sometimes it good just to describe the things we already know with words.


    Excellent, I am very proud to be on the Rig Exchange! :D :D


    Please let me know how the rig works out for you guys & girls (though I heard there are none of the later here?!), I will be happy to help in any way I can. Sometimes just a minor tweak is needed to optimise a rig for your guitar.


    I tweaked the profile on my Ibanez RG with DiMarzio Air Norton and Tone Zone pickups.

    Hats off to you guys that contributed to this thread. Very good feeling embedded in the words from some great musicians. Very inspirinig!!


    Thanks, music is all about being inspired - and giving and taking :)



    In deed, all that matters is the joy we get from playing our instrument. And it seems to be never ending!


    Very helpful video but @2.29 you got spit on the right side of my monitor.
    4K resolution is fantastic but it has its downsides. :)


    hehe that must have been something else because the video is in 1080p50 ;) And by the way heavy plosives help vocal phrasing as well. I am just practicing what I am preaching! :D