My Outboard Synth And Guitar Pedal Setup

I love my guitars, synthesizers and pedals, but I'm less likely to use them in my productions unless they're wired up and ready to go. This week I walkthrough how I utilize my Kemper Profiling Amp, Ashly Line Mixer and Patchbay to take advantage of my favorite guitar pedals.

Pedals In The Mix by RecordingMag

0:00 Intro
0:15 The Gear
5:04 Guitar
9:01 Synthesizers
12:22 Mixing/Reamp

#timeline #bigsky #deco #enzo #kemper

[declanguckian]

Awesome! Having gear set up all the time and ready to go is the dream

[aniruddh_d]

Not that I've seen many setups, but yours really looks great. Keeping everything accessible is an effort.

[dougoverly]

Jon I love it! What you're doing in this clip has been exactly my nights for some time now. I'm certainly behind you as far as my equipment collection goes, but there are new cables and gadgets added weekly. Here's my cable geek question:
I'm getting back into the playing the clavinet, sold my real one long ago 😒 so I'm using a plugin with with a midi keyboard via Ableton. I need to run the software Clavinet through a wah of course... But need to be able to play/wah/monitor/record it simultaneously.

I' have a Focusrite 2i2 which only has the USB, 2 COMBO inputs & 2 line outs to my monitors.

I also use a Valeton FX/Modelar with the wah/fx I want on my VST Clav. It also Doubles as a usb interface(6x4}. It has: input for guitar, fx loop, L/R Balanced out(or mono to amp) midi in/out... And of course in/out via USB.


Is there any strategy to get what I want or does a reamp box need to be in that equation?

[ZetaCarinae]

Very helpful thanks for sharing that! I use of mix of synths, guitar, and pedals and its very hard to optimize my setup (I'd like to be able to use it live too, which is a tough constraint).

[andysix]

This is beautiful, man! I've been looking for this exact signal flow for a long time. Finally found it here in this video. Cheers!

[vandellarmusic]

Saving up for a kemper right now. Absolute game changer with awesome guitar tones! Good to see you're using it too. 💪

[emodro]

I have a lot of similar stuff, like those LEDs, the Kemper, a bunch of those pedals etc. But you're really doing yourself a disservice by going into pedals post your kemper. that would be like putting a mic up to an amp, and then running that signal into a delay. What you should do is use the kempers built in effects loop. It seems like with a simple stereo a/b box you could still preserve the synth signal chain, and then also have the pedals go to the effects loop.

[leesparey]

Both a neat and a clever solution :-) Really nice use of a patch bay.

[hobonickel]

thanks for the content..
I'm going through a similar experience trying to get around audio interfaces.. started with Akai Force because I liked the idea of standalone DAW... then added sound monitors, Keystep and Deepmind12d only buying stuff I want when it's a deal to hard to pass on ... but now I am faced with the challenge of routing or the stuff that makes audio technical engineers seem like aliens. I'm having to learn (looping, line through, DI, etc etc..) was daunting initially but I'm slowing starting comprehend after having no experience with any of it. My goal is to make the Force the central heart of it all. I have a large collection of guitar effects pedals because primarily Ive always been a guitar guy. I want to now incorporate the desktop synth and effects pedals and it seems hard to to figure it out outside of a good mixer with line looping and special splitter cables so I found an older model Behringer that has the line inputs I needed. I haven't worked up the mana to try it yet. Still keeping an eye out for gear that will make everything flow... I am very curious about the patch routing devices. It's, no doubt, a fun journey. Are there devices out there in 2024 that convert line signals to midi? Turning all synths into effects pedals.. might be to disruptive to the industry. I thought about it when I learned a mod to do this with Deepmind and it's strange because has dirty dog Behringer had made this simple line in synth bypass to effects they'd have sold even more synths so it makes me wonder .. then in looking for this feature on other synths I've only found one and I believe it's was a diy mini moog. Does this only seem peculiar to me .. now I have to divert my time to learn how to electronic engineering so I can solder smd's

[TheFrenchWeddingTrumpeter]

great vid Jon, the piece you said at the end there sums it up for me. It's all about enabling the creative flow. If things are too hard to use, or need cabling every time, they'll never get used. Nice work :)

[DexWilliamsMusic]

Out of all the wiring videos I've seen I think this makes the most sense... I'll just watch one more time to be sure!... Thanks Jon :)

[AdelaTodoranOficial]

Thanks for the video and explanations! Now, I have a patchbay, a stereo synthesizer, a reamp pedal and a mono reverb. How am I gonna use those together in order to have at the end of the chain stereo L & R into the audio interface? Stereo outs from the synth, one reamp pedal, on mono reverb pedal, one patchbay. Thanks in advance for your help

[SonnyGreenwichJr]

I always like your videos man! You've got a great way about you and informative too! I'm trying to keep everything in the box for my setup but that's only because I'm old and grumpy. Don't want things to change cuz I forget something and I'm always working on multiple songs. Salute from dark and freezing Kinsale! ☘️☮️🤘🏽🤠👍🏽☮️☘️

[astrarivm]

Awesome, thank you. But didn't get your point about Strymon Big sky and Timeline. Please give some comment to it

[tomworrallmusic]

Lovely video Jon. Always enjoy your videos. In the process of setting up a similar rig in my new studio and this came in very handy (and the one you listed in the description). Thank you.

[Mic_Locker_Talk]

This setup is so smart! I will copy the general idea. The setup work is what often stops me from starting in the first place. #keepthecopycatsout

[spadogs]

I also ditched the pedalboard for a similar setup. Thanks for sharing. Now, what to do with the used pedalboard...

[apeman]

This device by.. the company that shall not be named lmao

[DavidJohnAshman]

Nice video Jon. A good comparison video would be using using software synths vs hardware synths through the Fx chain. I bet both would sound good. Then compare the soft synths going through the pedals vs Soft synths ITB. I Know all avenues would be productive but sometimes people working ITB don't realise the sonic adventures they can go on OTB. Thanks for sharing some of the possibilities.

[ElisandroDeLeon]

Why the hesitancy in mentioning Berhinger?