Long story short, didn't think I would be playing live for a while, so I sold my HRD. Went for quite a while with no amp (not really playing guitar), but then decided to take the plunge and bought a Kemper - brilliant for home use, and is way beyond what I need. Good so far. Now it transpires that I have an audition for a soul band next week, and I'm going to need to take the Kemper. Because I have a tiny brain, i've completely ignored how to use the Kemper in a live environment.
It's going to be it's first "live" outing, and i've got no clue how to get it set up and sounding good. Is anyone able to offer me any advice? I promise i'll listen first time and won't need things repeating.
Thanks!
This week's procrastination forum might be moved to sometime next week.
Comments
1.) Get the manuals
2.) Watch the Kemper tutorial videos on YT
And a few of us on here will help out
https://www.kemper-amps.com/video
I'm mainly wondering, as it's just a rehearsal room, if I should go directly through the PA as it's not about backline/monitoring.....
View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
I guess there will be monitors there as part of the PA set up - it’s going to be a quiet ish audition, so as long as I get the amp profile I like, go into PA, tinker as required, job done...?
View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
I'd say choose a couple of profiles you really like and sprinkle FX to taste.
Straight into the PA with mixing desk set flat (maybe a slight mid boost to cut through) I found the kemper output was really hot so set that appropriately.
The most useful control using full profiles of amp and cab with a PA was a careful tweak of the High Cut filter - taking out some of the harsh high end (had my high cut around 10K Hz when I used kemper direct and do now with an AXE FX)
Smile and play your arse off - good luck
Buy an HRD.
Good luck!
Thanks @David5150 and @PVO_Dave !! Input greatly appreciated!
I tried to do it at home with a zoom recorder reading the db output and tweaking appropriately - wasn't perfect but a good start!
1. Can you work with each other?
2. Does your playing style fit?
Equipment doesn’t feature on the list.
Take the Kemper. Tell them you’ve done so because it’s easy to carry, if they are happy with it then the stage volume can be kept down, and if not then you can easily get a traditional combo.
There's a horn section in the full band, so a PA will be used at every gig - I reckon the Kemper and some decent monitoring will actually benefit me more than an amp in this case.
keep it simple, use a single profile and don't spend the whole audition tinkering
you're showing off your guitar ability and how your personality will fit with the band dynamic, not how well you can pick out nuances in your tone.
The Kemper is doubtless perfect for the band long term, but translating a couple of perfectly ok home-tweaked patches to gig volume through an unknown PA can be very risky in a stress situation, when the player needs to be on top of their game in terms of watching and listening to everyone else in the room.
I mean good luck and everything, it might just work perfectly, but don't be at all surprised if it sounds and feels very alien to start with.