Struggling with dynamic and punchy cleans

I've just loaded the TAF - 69 Amps Clean profile and honestly I don't like it at all so I won't tonematch it. But I've tonematched other TAF profiles in the past and I have the biggest respect for Andy in the KPA world, along with Michael Britt

However I did this short video, displaying the sound of the "TAF - 69 Amps Clean" profile, some of my own profiles - after recording it I realized that I should in fact have displayed my Axe clean presets instead (they have more.. yes, mojo ! :p) , but didn't want to redo it. The video ends with a short demonstration of parallel compression. Download it quick, I don't want to upload it on Youtube or whatever and will put it down in a few days

http://pages.intnet.mu/fremen/Movies/TAF_69_paracomp.wmv

0:00 : the TAF profile the OP likes, played with various pickup positions
0:16 : one of my own clean profiles. I by pass the compressor and the reverb/delay just after selecting it. Compressor back on at 0:29
0:36 : another of my clean profiles. Again I bypass the pre-amp compressor pedal, which role is to keep things clean. I play with various volume pot levels/pickpu positions. Effects back on at 1:17
1:36 : again, the TAF profile
1:51 : nothing to see/hear, I'm pluging my guitar back in the Axe
2:09 - Axe-Fx II this time, displaying some post-amp compression, on my lead sound
2:48 : I bypass the direct sound so you can hear only the post-amp parallel compression thing. The filter block is selecting medium frequencies only on purpose
3:28 : I raise the level of the parallel compression beyond what I would normally use
03:47 : hear how without the compression, the sound loses some roundness/juiciness

That preset is available in my 18.12 banks on my blog, however it was just a test, I use the non-parallel compression version

Holy...! Clip downloaded. Watched three times. So much useful data there that it'll take me at least the weekend to study up & to come to terms with it!
The complexity of those block layouts are way beyond what I was expecting. Multiple post-amp filters, etc, already I can hear some vibe & freq's that appeal to me!
Thank you for all of this effort! Not much point in me personally asking for more help at this point guys to be honest. I need to do some homework with all of this :)
 
Also try the Console 3 Band GEQ type after the CAB for boosts. Goose the mid up to 6db (check for clipping though).

The Console EQ type doesn't get much discussion here but it makes a clean tone come alive. Rides over a mix with ease.

Will def look at this for sure. Thanks.
 
the top one is just here to quickly mute the direct signal when I'm tweaking ;)

Cool, one less thing to figure out so!
I just took a peek at your blog, I'm going to have to spend some time over there soon, great resource.
 
the top one is just here to quickly mute the direct signal when I'm tweaking ;)

I'm not going to be able to check video until tomorrow, anyway to leave it up that long?
Really appreciate your contributions to the forum, great job as usual!


Sent from my iPhone
 
No problem, as long as it doesn't end up on Youtube I'm fine. Many of my uploaded videos are already too spontaneous, not well-planned demos, but this one is even worse than that... And I hate my playing, not reaching for excuses but I barely play these days, I've been sick for almost two months now :/
 
Sorry to hear you've been sick so long. I have Chron's Disease, had 10 surgeries on gut, hip replaced and spinal fusion. 13 surgeries in last 15 yrs.
it's a drag being sick so long and it can really take a toll mentally too. Hang in there, wish you best of luck and hope feel better!


Sent from my iPhone
Thanks ! My problems are nothing compared to yours, I'm just coughing like crazy, it's exhausting but it will go. Courage my friend

And apologies for the thread derail...

Question to the OP, what guitar do you use with the KPA profile ? I bet it's very different than mine...
 
Wow, Fremen! Thanks for the video. It's telling just how much compression is actually on the TAF/Kemper sound! It's quite obvious to me. I am really impressed with your ability to dial in a great sound on the Axe. Amazing and insightful! Thanks for taking the time.
 
Wow, Fremen! Thanks for the video. It's telling just how much compression is actually on the TAF/Kemper sound! It's quite obvious to me. I am really impressed with your ability to dial in a great sound on the Axe. Amazing and insightful! Thanks for taking the time.
Thanks ! Actually, I don't think this video is showcasing the post-amp compression on the TAF profile, due to how it's captured/tweaked. It's much more obvious in fuller sounding profiles (this one is *imho* anemic sounding), and specially those with more gain.
 
I've just loaded the TAF - 69 Amps Clean profile and honestly I don't like it at all so I won't tonematch it. But I've tonematched other TAF profiles in the past and I have the biggest respect for Andy in the KPA world, along with Michael Britt

However I did this short video, displaying the sound of the "TAF - 69 Amps Clean" profile, some of my own profiles - after recording it I realized that I should in fact have displayed my Axe clean presets instead (they have more.. yes, mojo ! :p) , but didn't want to redo it. The video ends with a short demonstration of parallel compression. Download it quick, I don't want to upload it on Youtube or whatever and will put it down in a few days

http://pages.intnet.mu/fremen/Movies/TAF_69_paracomp.wmv

0:00 : the TAF profile the OP likes, played with various pickup positions
0:16 : one of my own clean profiles. I by pass the compressor and the reverb/delay just after selecting it. Compressor back on at 0:29
0:36 : another of my clean profiles. Again I bypass the pre-amp compressor pedal, which role is to keep things clean. I play with various volume pot levels/pickpu positions. Effects back on at 1:17
1:36 : again, the TAF profile
I don't like this kind of clean. Is like a guitar direct to desk with some added compression. I can't stand compression (do I tell you before?) ;). I like guitar clean tone where I can play with saturation. Even for funk I prefer a little crunchy tone. I like trainwrek (real one) because the attack is... snappy. You can play clean funk up to saturated metal only by rolling guitar volume up. TAF is faking, FAS is the real deal, still not perfect. IMHO.
 
I'm not at all a pro recording engineer. But I spent about 2 years where my band and I would get together on Wednesday nights and go for at least 3 hours, sometimes close to all night, making minor tweaks on mixes of our recordings, playing around with levels and reverbs and compression etc. In all that time I developed a very strong sense that the final stage of compression after everything was mixed- that ALWAYS made the sound dramatically better when doing A/B comparison. The only question was how much of a boost to do within that compression. I used a tool called "JAMin" as part of a free linux-based recording and mastering setup. Everyone in the group thought the same about the final compression done with JAMin. Maybe it's not universal for all music types (e.g. classical or acoustic jazz or stuff with large dynamic range in the recording source), but certainly for any rock variant. We are not theoreticians, just musicians being guided by our ears and listening to the results via car stereos, home stereos, headphones, and ok monitors.

That's why I always stick Multi-Band Compression as the last effect in my chain, to emulate that result for live playing. I haven't tried the compressor built into the amp model yet. Maybe that will be equivalent and save some CPU.
 
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