The Kemper Foot Controller: Evolution

    I'm not so concerned about up/down or down/up. I am ecstatic about the five buttons on the bottom row for patch changes, and the 'tap' being on the bottom row is awesome.


    I've owned several different midi boards, and the one thing they all have in common is that the bottom row is always patch changes, you only get to send your fx off/on or tap tempo info to the second or third row. Well, to tap tempo you have to enter it more than once - which means you're off balance a bit while you're tapping. Not a big deal if you're sitting at home but if you're playing a live gig and *cough* have had an adult beverage or three, it's a little hard sometimes to balance on one foot and reach up and over with another foot.


    One thing that might be nice to consider (and I know I'm mentioning this late to the party) would be a 'four patch bank' setup, and allow assignment of that fifth patch change button to anything you use often, just to keep it on the lower row. One could assign that as a boost, or whatever - something used often. I hate reaching up to the second row to switch anything.


    Pete

    Yes, Tap should be on a bottom row corner so you can easily reach it with your toe and pivot your foot on the heel. Tapping a rhythm should feel as natural as possible.


    This all sounds good really. I would say go with your instincts, mr.CK, and the users will follow. The KPA does a lot of things differently from other devices but once you catch on it makes so much more sense.

    Mr. CK, Nice of you to ask for our thoughts. You have done a great job of designing and building the KPA, and I trust what ever layout you decide on the floor controller will be fine. I'm ready to buy... bring it on. WHEN? Thanks

    See? The KFC is not out yet - hell, its design is not even final yet - and people are already trying to change it. So what do they do in the end? They buy a Gordius :D

    Hi, here is my opinion
    Best for me would be :


    I II II IV Down Up
    1 2 3 4 5 Tap
    When playing live, I personnaly use only one performance for all my songs so D U don't need to be the most accessible buttons
    With 5 slots + the ability to switch effects on or off, one performance is more than enough to cover a lot of grounds


    If this is not possible then:
    Down Up I II II IV
    1 2 3 4 5 Tap
    (anyways I guess there will be arrows on the buttons so D U or U D is not a big deal to me)


    I don't use the tap button, so like someone said it would be great to have another use for it
    Finally my performances are not ordered by song, but by amp (different versions of the same amp, clean crunch lead, etc...), so again if I were to switch performance (and amp) during a set , I would not necessarily go straight to the first slot (cf Up button above slot 1)


    Finally the most awesomest thing would be to have colored leds to see the type of effects in each performance


    Anyways I'm glad to see things are moving


    Thanks Kemper team :)


    Ok I'd still vote for Down/Up :)

    Quote from ckemper

    Question to other posters: Why would you prefer the D U buttons to be on the right side?

    I prefer that because it places those buttons above the Tap, which I rarely use (and don't really care if it makes it in the final layout). That way I would not have as much chance of miss-firing and changing performances by accident.


    I also agree with Paults that having Up/Down default to slot 1 should be a menu option, not hard-wired. Like Paul, I arrange my performances in groups of favorite patches in some cases, songs in others. I also for this reason don't favor auto-engaging performances with Up or Down. That would be a noisy nightmare onstage!


    But I greatly appreciate that you're taking the time and feedback from users seriously, that's such an admirable practice.

    Gary ô¿ô

    Having the D U buttons on the right side reduces cognitive overhead while playing. It lets slots 1-5 line up exactly with stomps I-IIII. Otherwise stomp I is above slot 3, which is harder to remember than "stomp I is above slot 1". (And harder to step on without lookng)


    I'd also argue that bank buttons are less used during a single song than stomps and slots - so optimizing for a quick bank-slot interaction is less important than left-aligning the frequently used items 1-5 and I-IIII


    Thanks ckemper!

    Quote from okstrat

    I'm not so concerned about up/down or down/up. I am ecstatic about the five buttons on the bottom row for patch changes, and the 'tap' being on the bottom row is awesome.


    I've owned several different midi boards, and the one thing they all have in common is that the bottom row is always patch changes, you only get to send your fx off/on or tap tempo info to the second or third row. Well, to tap tempo you have to enter it more than once - which means you're off balance a bit while you're tapping. Not a big deal if you're sitting at home but if you're playing a live gig and *cough* have had an adult beverage or three, it's a little hard sometimes to balance on one foot and reach up and over with another foot.


    Thank you'
    This iis why we always question old paradigms before taking them over.
    Having the Tap on the bottom row is a result of talking to users. The Beat Scanner is also on this button (when you hold it), thus it was mandatory in the end, to put it on the bottom row to hold it for a longer time.


    We will have a Tuner button on the third row.


    Having the effect buttons right aligned is great for the right foot. They will have an informative "lightshow", so it will be hard to miss those.

    My vote is for:


    Up Down I II III IIII
    1 2 3 4 5 Tap


    It makes more logical sense--I've had every controller imaginable and I like this layout much better.


    I also like having the effects switches right-aligned instead of left. Mainly because I'm right-footed and find it harder to reach my foot all the way up and to the right to hit the effect switches on my FCB1010. The bottom row doesn't matter as much since you don't have to raise your foot in the air as much to get to them. Although some people are griping about it, it actually would be MORE user/foot friendly to me!


    The Up/Down or Down/Up order is less important but since I use Performance Mode extensively (one per song so I have 64 performances), I only use the Up button during a gig. Having it all the way to the left makes it easier to hit for me. My brain is pretty flexible compared to some of the "caveman" guitarists I've known though!!! :P:P:P


    No matter what I'm a million percent excited for this controller!
    J

    What pedal board will be without an expression pedal? We've bought KPA because we need a compact and portable solution/amp. We've left amp,cabinets and pedal effects back and now will have to get extra cables and expression/volume pedals and connect them and..and...
    I'm suggesting as many many users did,to rethink about it.Thanks

    Quote from allegretto

    What pedal board will be without an expression pedal? We've bought KPA because we need a compact and portable solution/amp. We've left amp,cabinets and pedal effects back and now will have to get extra cables and expression/volume pedals and connect them and..and...
    I'm suggesting as many many users did,to rethink about it.Thanks


    This has been discussed a lot.
    Users' expectations of how a pedal should be differ so much that Kemper decided to leave this option to the user.
    This is the right decision IMO.

    +1 to the board without expression pedals. The User can choose no pedal, one, two , three or four pedals. Pedals can be placed on the left side, the right side, or both sides. Each pedal can be a different type, if that is what the User wants.


    ******


    BTW - the only choices we are being asked to vote on at this point are Option 1 or Option 2. My guess is everything else about the Foot Controller has already been designed and decided.