Smittefar
Axe-Master
Possibly the longest thread title ever. But it gets worse, it will also be a long post
Ever since, I got on the European waiting list after the AX8 announcement, I was sure, I wanted to do a one preset per song strategy. I like the fact that I have every sound I need for a song ready on a scene and nothing else. It allows me to focus on the playing. Also, whenever I try to build a 'do-it-all' preset, I run out of footswitches (most often before I run out of CPU).
But the trouble is that maintaining 40+ presets with 1-5 scenes of pre-planned and pre-leveled sounds is quite a lot of work - especially across firmware updates. It has taken me until now to get to an approach that I am really happy with.
I play in a top-40 party cover band. We run a quite pre-planned show. We almost always bring our own PA, and we usually run sound ourselves using iPads to control our Mackie DL32r. This means that, ideally all my levels should be programmed into the preset to fit the band mix - I have a volume pedal in all my presets, but I consider it an emergency solution, and I hardly ever use it. I also switch presets using the iPad.(SetListMaker and QuiccoSound Midi-over-bluetooth)
At first, I did a lot of X/Y switching within the presets, and in some (not many) presets, I had problems with quite long audio gaps when switching scenes. Then I started using pre and post amp filter/EQ blocks to boost levels and frequencies to suit the different scenes. That worked, but my presets became very complicated, and I was not able to find my way around my own presets - especially on the unit, but I had presets, where even in AX8edit, I couldn't tell how they actually worked without a little investigation first.
Then came a major firmware update. As always, the sound was improved, but all my levels were all over the place, so I spent hours going over all the presets, and I had to redo the leveling at band practice.
So now, I finally have an approach that I am very happy with.
Basically, I use only two preset templates that each contain one amp model set up as a 3-channel amp using scene controllers. I show how it works and I build a preset from scratch in this video.
This has made my life a lot easier. Here are a few points that I don't mention in the video
PS: Here is my old video on how to set up a three-channel amp block using scene controllers.
Ever since, I got on the European waiting list after the AX8 announcement, I was sure, I wanted to do a one preset per song strategy. I like the fact that I have every sound I need for a song ready on a scene and nothing else. It allows me to focus on the playing. Also, whenever I try to build a 'do-it-all' preset, I run out of footswitches (most often before I run out of CPU).
But the trouble is that maintaining 40+ presets with 1-5 scenes of pre-planned and pre-leveled sounds is quite a lot of work - especially across firmware updates. It has taken me until now to get to an approach that I am really happy with.
I play in a top-40 party cover band. We run a quite pre-planned show. We almost always bring our own PA, and we usually run sound ourselves using iPads to control our Mackie DL32r. This means that, ideally all my levels should be programmed into the preset to fit the band mix - I have a volume pedal in all my presets, but I consider it an emergency solution, and I hardly ever use it. I also switch presets using the iPad.(SetListMaker and QuiccoSound Midi-over-bluetooth)
At first, I did a lot of X/Y switching within the presets, and in some (not many) presets, I had problems with quite long audio gaps when switching scenes. Then I started using pre and post amp filter/EQ blocks to boost levels and frequencies to suit the different scenes. That worked, but my presets became very complicated, and I was not able to find my way around my own presets - especially on the unit, but I had presets, where even in AX8edit, I couldn't tell how they actually worked without a little investigation first.
Then came a major firmware update. As always, the sound was improved, but all my levels were all over the place, so I spent hours going over all the presets, and I had to redo the leveling at band practice.
So now, I finally have an approach that I am very happy with.
Basically, I use only two preset templates that each contain one amp model set up as a 3-channel amp using scene controllers. I show how it works and I build a preset from scratch in this video.
This has made my life a lot easier. Here are a few points that I don't mention in the video
- Whenever there is a firmware update, I only have to update two amp and two cab blocks, then I can drop those into all presets using the block library. Then all presets should be up and running. As you can see in the video, I am still on FW9.04, I may do a video on this process as well. I am currently recording FW9.04 sound clips, so I have a reference for the sounds in FW10
- I avoid x/y switching as much as possible. Not because of the sound gap, but because, it gives me a better overview of the preset.
- I think of this approach as playing with two three channel amps. I have six basic amp sounds that I can dress up with effects to achieve more or less any sound I need.
- I don't chase the album sounds. I use only two amp models and two IRs, but I know this sound palette so well that I can add FX and get what I need.
- I have some presets that use other amps and IRs, but it is very few. If they should fall apart after a firmware update, I can re-build them using one of my two templates.
PS: Here is my old video on how to set up a three-channel amp block using scene controllers.
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