Scenes

gspencer26

gspencer26

Member
Hopefully I'm not alone...

Am I the only one who doesn't use scenes??
Maybe I just don't understand them. It seems more logical to have different patches to me.
Pros and Cons?

-Thanks
 
Switching between scenes is pretty much seamless. i.e. No gap in sound. This is one of the big benefits of using scenes.
 
Also if you switch in delays or modulations while using the same amp sound then using scenes keeps you from having to copy you amp setting to multiple presets. You would have scenes where these effects could be turned on or off all based around the same signal path.
 
gspencer26 said:
Hopefully I'm not alone...

Am I the only one who doesn't use scenes??
Maybe I just don't understand them. It seems more logical to have different patches to me.
Pros and Cons?

-Thanks
Click to expand...
Presets change sounds. if that's all you need, then you're set. Scenes can change multiple effects/blocks with a single button press. if you don't need that, then that's ok too.

i don't like how Scenes are described as "mini-presets." i mean, sure they can be, but i just don't like describing them that way. that's usually what hangs people up on Scenes - i already use Presets, why do i need mini-presets?

there is a lot of power in the Axe. but some don't need to use every bit of it and that's great.
 
chris said:
i don't like how Scenes are described as "mini-presets." i mean, sure they can be, but i just don't like describing them that way. that's usually what hangs people up on Scenes - i already use Presets, why do i need mini-presets?
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No doubt. "Mini-presets" is an odd nomenclature.
"Scenes" is actually very descriptive. Think of a movie that has 10 characters. 4 may be in this Scene, 7 may be in another Scene. And the characters are doing acting different ways in different Scenes. That's how I think of / use them.
I think most people use Scenes as such... I'll load up my Presets with as many blocks as I think I would use, and toggle them on and off with different Scenes. A clean chorused sound for one scene, a dirty phased delays for the next scene...

... you could also use the pedalboard analogy to wrap your head around it. Do you have all the pedals on your pedalboard turned on at the same time? Likely Not.
 
There are probably plenty of people who don't use scenes. However, I find that using scenes makes setting up sounds take a lot less work.

For example, you can store up to 8 amp models in a single patch for 8 different sounds, so then if you want to setup a delay to use with those 8 amps, you only have to configure a delay block once.
 
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I very happily used my AxFx2 without ever once setting up a scene or the X/Y state of an effect. I just treated each sound as a preset. This was something I had been doing with midi for 20 years, and I was just more-or-less hardwired to think of presets this way. I used CCs to toggle on effects as needed, but never switched the scene. I just didn't get it, and didn't try to.

But now with 8 amps tones in a preset, and all the variability you would likely ever need for effects, its more possible to think of a preset as a complete song, and the scenes as different song sections. With just the previous X/Y, that never got me to the tipping point of changing my thinking.

I've been slowly re-creating my setlist, but instead of thinking of presets mentally as "that clean sound with the compressor and chorus" i've been creating a preset per song, with all the various options. Scene 1 is always the intro. Scene2 is always the verse. Scene 4 is always the solo, etc.

now I just need to get my brain around global blocks :)
 
with Presets only, you can "take it at face value" and know exactly what is happening with each block. once you add Channels (or XY in previous gear), and then Scenes, there are now "hidden" things that you may forget about, or just can't quickly see by glancing at the existing blocks. that's a huge factor for "presets only" approaches, and there's nothing wrong with it at all. different preset = different sound. simple.
 
One thing to note about scenes is that you can use scene controller modifiers to set various block knobs in different places per scene.

For example, you can set the amp block’s gain knob to be controlled by scene controllers, then set things so that Scene 1 sets your amp’s gain to, say, 2, and then in Scene 2 you can set that control to 6. You can then set the speed which this parameter changes between scenes, so that when you’re on Scene 1 and select Scene 2, you can listen as the amp’s gain knob slowly ramps up to 6. Neat.

Of course you could also just set Amp 1A for gain = 2 and Amp 1B identically except that gain = 6, then activate Amp 1B in Scene 2... but you wouldn’t get the cool gain swell effect that way.
 
Also ....scenes allows you to retain the preset’s overall sound character while seamlessly turning off and on desired effect blocks, as well as changing parameter values with the scene controllers and control modifiers.
 
Most covered the benefits except for one thing. Scenes cuts down how many presets you need. I can have about 5 presets total while having 8 scenes, and 4 channels, and if that is not enough, switch to stomp mode for things not covered. I use two amps and change the gain structure with channels between scenes and load as many effects as I can. Every preset has 2 reverbs, delay, multidelay, chorus, phase, tremolo, leslie, univibe, and two drives. If you label your scenes properly it works well.
 
Total scene user here ... awesome power. Much like others, clean 1, edge of breakup 2, crunch 3, solo 4, and special 5.

Love scene controllers too for amp gain.
 
I love scenes! I use a preset for every song so I don’t have to remember anything. Every change in the song I just go to the next scene.
 
I use scenes on many of my presets, but not for all things. When I need to change multiple things at once, yes. When I only want to kick in a distortion for a lead, or for example a chorus effect, probably not. Usually I'll have a couple of scenes in a preset, and the other IA switches (I'm on an AX8) control individual effects or Control Switches (which can be like a mini-scene in itself). That way I have the option to use it either way.

Another way to think of scenes is like how some guitarists w/ analog rigs have a midi switcher to do their routing so they don't have to toe-dance 3 or 4 different stomp effects at once. And if you prefer to use presets, do it! There's no right or wrong.
 
jefferski said:
Another way to think of scenes is like how some guitarists w/ analog rigs have a midi switcher to do their routing so they don't have to toe-dance 3 or 4 different stomp effects at once. And if you prefer to use presets, do it! There's no right or wrong.
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^^^This!

I've said the exact same thing in other threads.

Think of an Axe Fx Preset as a "virtual rig", and then think of a Scene as a "preset" within the context of that rig.

In your real world rig, you turn things on and off. You are not (typically) changing settings on your effects mid-song, except for things you might control with an expression pedal or maybe tap tempo.

In a simplistic view, a scene allows you to build "presets" of effect states within a predefined rig. Very much like a midi loop switcher does.

One button press can change many effect states.
 
I don’t use scenes on my AX8 or II. A handful of presets and prefer to use switches like stomp boxes for individual effects.
 
Rocksalot said:
i've been creating a preset per song, with all the various options. Scene 1 is always the intro. Scene2 is always the verse. Scene 4 is always the solo, etc.
Click to expand...

Once I get my AxeIII, this is how I intend to use scenes. Coupled with the MMGT22, create a songlist and it's just one tap at a time throughout a gig.
 
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One preset, 4 scenes, IA switches and 2 CC pedals all I need to cover a gig. Basically same preset copied many times but with different amps, so I can choose whatever flavour I am in the mood for that night/day etc.

Cheers
Anthony
 
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