Hello to everybody. I just finished a tutorial which will guide through the assignment of the All Access switches to do their job for the Kemper.
hope you find it usefull.
michael
p.s.: as far as I know the same tutorial applies for Rocktron Midi Raider, evolution of the All Access. but I need to make sure about this. now I cannot verify since I cannot find the Midi Raider manual on Rocktytron website.
Maybe some Midi Raider user can verify for me.
Here we go....................
Hello to everybody. As an owner of the Rocktron All Access and the Kemper, I will try to write a comprehensible guide for configuring this pedalboard to be the perfect companion of the Kemper Profiling Amplifier.
Of course, ‘perfect companion’ has a personal meaning for everyone, different to each user.
What I consider an indispensable tool for the Kemper means that the pedalboard should be able not only to perform the standard program change which every pedalboard does, but it should also be able to control/command single functions on the Kemper.
For example, I configure my All Access so that I’m able to change profile and to switch on and off the various effects WITHOUT changing the profile I’m actually playing with.
So, here we go: I hope I’ll be simple enough in writing the following direction.
Please note that every reference to the manual, manual pages and sections are done by using the pdf version of the manual available for free at Rocktron support page.
Every All Access (from now on AA) user knows that this pedalboard has 15 switches to do what he wants. And these 15 switches can be split in different ways in order to obtain sort of two portion of the pedalboard, each one of the two able to do different things.
In addition to the 15 switches there are 2 additional ‘things’ that can be assigned to do something. These ‘things’ are the expression pedal when they are hooked up to the AA via the two pedal jack located in the back panel of the AA.
For example, I have split my AA to have: switch 1 to 10 assigned as program/profile change while switch 11 to 15 are assigned as on/off switch for Kemper’s effects (stomps or effect). And as mentioned just above, in addition to the 5 on/off switches (11 to 15) I will have the 2 additional expression pedals available to do what I want them to do. Keep this fact (the 2 additional pedals) in mind for later use.
The AA can be split in 4 way:
1) All the 15 switches are profile change switches (so NO on/off switches)
2) 10 switches for profile change and 5 switches for on/off functions (my case)
3) 5 switches for program change and 10 for on/off functions
4) 15 switches are on/off only and the bank up and down of the AA will simply change profile in steps of 1
How to set the AA for the desired choice can be obtain looking at the manual, page 12 of the SET UP section. This page covers “page 2 of 10” of setup section. This refers to ‘BANK SIZE’.
Here is an extract from that page:
“The second page of the SETUP program allows for the selection of the Bank
Size, or the number of presets that the All Access. will bank up or down by when
the UP or DOWN switches are pressed.
When set to "5", switches 1-5 become preset switches and the unit will bank
up or down by 5 presets at a time. When set to "10", switches 1-10 become preset
switches and the unit will bank up or down by 10 presets at a time. When set to "15",
switches 1-15 become preset switches and the unit banks up or down by 15 presets
at a time. When set to "1", the unit banks up or down by one preset at a time and
all of the switches become instant access switches.
Since I’m doing the lecture, here, I will take into consideration my case: 10 profile change switches and 5 on/off switches.
First, I made the Bank size choice by choosing ‘10’.
At this point I have decided the function of the first 10 switches: profile change.
Now it’s time to configure the remaining 5 switches, 11 to 15.
VERY IMPORTANT: since the AA will need to communicate with the Kemper, and they will do their ‘talking’ via the MIDI highway, it is mandatory that the channel will be a common one.
Most of the devices can set their MIDI channels in 17 ways: 16 channels plus the Omni channel which allows the device set in Midi Omni mode to receive in each one of the 16 channels.
The AA cannot be set in Midi Omni mode for outgoing Midi signal. The Kemper, on the other hand, can. So, I have set my AA at Midi 1 while the Kemper in Midi Omni mode.
The manual section to be checked starts at page 30 and it is the MIDI section of the manual.
What you are looking for is, precisely, at page 32 which covers what is titled as
“MIDI, Page 2 of 7 - Control Number Assignment”
This page is the core of the whole tutorial because it determines the destiny of those on/off switches, i.e. what they will be doing while you play your Kemper (they will be doing the same assigned thing even if you don’t play the Kemper, of course).
When you access to the screen of the AA related to the mentioned page 2 (control number assignment) you will see 3 information:
1) Switch number
2) Midi Channel
3) Control number
These 3 information are shown having switch number to the left side, midi channel to the center and control number to the right. The screen will look like this:
SW1 CH1 CN1
Of course SW1 is the abbreviation for Switch 1, CH1 is the abbreviation for Channel 1, and CN1 is the abbreviation for Control Number1.
In my case I have destined switch 11 to 15 as assignable switches. The AA will see the switch corresponding to number 11 as Switch 1 (SW1), the number 12 as Switch 2 (SW2) and so on until the 15 which will be considered by the AA as switch 5 (SW5).
Please note that the AA allows you to rename these switches (even the midi channels can be renamed, and the pedals too). In fact I did it and renamed them according to their task. For instance, the 11 switch, which the AA names it by default as SW1, was renamed by me as DLY which stands for ‘delay’ since I assigned it to turn on/off the delay of the Kemper (if you want to rename your switches, please refer to page 18 of the AA pdf manual, in the section “Naming Midi Channels”).
So, let’s assign it in order to be able to turn on/off the same thing, the delay.
I am at the first screen as mentioned just above:
SW1 CH1 CN1
The screen suggest us that we are now handling Switch 1, that this switch will use MIDI channel 1 and that this switch is assigned, by default, to control number 1.
All I have to do, at this point is change the value shown as CN1, control number.
What is the value that I need to dial in?
Simple: all it takes is looking at the list of CC numbers provided by Kemper’s manual:
#1 Pedal 1 (Wah Pedals)*
#7 Pedal 2 (Volume Pedals)*
#16 Stomp Invert**
#17 Stomp A
#18 Stomp B
#19 Stomp C
#20 Stomp D
#23 Stomp X
#24 Stomp MOD
#26 Delay (mute trails)
#27 Delay Mix (keep trails)
#28 Reverb (mute trails)
#29 Reverb Mix (keep trails)
#30 TAP
#31 Tuner select
#33 Rotary Speaker (slow/fast)
What we need is the delay CC, which are number 26 and 27. What are the differences between the two? In a way, they do the same thing, which is turning on and off the Kemper delay. What differs is the behavior of the delay when it is turned off. Number 26 turn on/off the delay with no trail at the turning off of the delay. So, when I play and want to finish my phrasing completely dry I don’t want any delay trail. In this case number 26 is to be chosen. On the other hand, I might want to play, get rid of the delay while playing to have a dry guitar, but would like the delay trails to be kept for a natural delay fade. In this case number 27 is the choice.
Let’s choose the no trail choice, for now: on/off with no trail. All I have to do is to dial in, using the INC or DEC (Increase or Decrease) switch right under the CN1 characters, the corresponding CC number.
The default setting is 1. So I will push the INC switch until the number 26 is shown.
That’s it! Job done.
Exit from the SETUP mode by pushing the switch which has 2ND below and use the AA as wanted. Now if you press the number 11 switch of the pedalboard, the Kemper delay (not the stomp one but the one on the right side of the Kemper) will be turned on/off at each press of the switch.
Same thing applies with the other switches, from 12 to 15. Same procedure.
One last word have to said for the other 2 thing assignable in the AA. If you have the AA equipped as mine, you have plugged two expression pedals into the jacks of the AA.
So when you are in the control number assignment screen (the one that shows the 3 info – SW1, CH1, CN1), and scroll the available switches, beside switch 1 to 5 you will see also P1 and P2. This means that you have available the expression pedals which can be assignable to do something.
Of course, since they are pedal, the most obvious assignment would be volume and wah action (while we wait for the whammy/pitch shifting actions). The assignment procedure is absolutely the same as for the switches. If I want a volume action to Pedal 1 (P1) all I have to do is dial in the corresponding CC number from the Kemper manual CC list (number 7). Same applies for the Wah.
This should cover the switch assignment procedure. Hope everything was clear enough for the reader.