When asked for his choice of product of 2021, William Wittman responded with a choice which was identical to his choice of 2020. Our initial response was that this wasn’t OK. But actually he’s underlining the quality and usefulness of the product. It is still his product of the year - it’s that important to him.

Over to William to explain why.

For a variety of reasons, my probably most used, and most important, tool in the last year is my Kemper Profiling Amplifier. First off, for those who might not know anything about the Kemper, it’s basically a convolution “profiling” guitar amplifier. This means that one can use it to record (or play live) guitar or bass guitar with it and recall the sound of essentially any amplifier that’s been profiled. 

There are massive libraries of Kemper profiles available for sharing or for sale on the internets so, for example, if one is after the sound a Vox AC30 in its brilliant channel with the volume set at about half way up, there is likely to be a choice between dozens (at least) of these profiles made by various people. For people without access to great amps, or the ability to record them, this can naturally be a boon, and can be a good way to get started with the KPA, which also comes loaded with some 200 profiles of popular amps.

But to me the real beauty of the Kemper is the ability to make one’s own profiles.

Modeled Amp Tones Which Are Unique To You

Instead of the typical modeling amp or software that offers me someone else’s idea of that ideal AC30, I can actually set up my AC30, mic it with the mic(s) I like placed the way I like it, through my mic preamps, and dialed in to my own ears, and then profile that into the Kemper.

And then, any time I want that AC30 sound it’s there, instantly recallable for me just as though I’d had an assistant to perfectly set up the amp and identically mic it again, etc. Every time. And, of course, that also means that for live use I can tour with multiple amps in the Kemper box and actually use different amps for different songs if so desired; something I’d be unlikely to do with ‘real’ amplifiers.

And in fact, I have done tours like that: using an Ampeg B15 for softer songs, a cranked up B15 for some grittier ones, an AC100 for McCartney thump, and a screaming Hiwatt for those growling Entwistle rockers – all in my rack mounted Kemper. And all exactly the same, being sent to Front Of House every night. Add to this that the KPA also includes a fairly comprehensive selection of built in effects, from boost, fuzz,  and distortion pedal effects to delays and reverbs and chorus and phasing and Leslie speaker, and even pitch shifting and transpose features, it really can be an all in one guitar/bass solution.

But to come back to my choice of the Kemper as the thing that made my year, I think it’s obvious that the last year or so has been different for all of us, to say the least! The pandemic has drastically reduced my touring (down to nearly nothing), but it’s also greatly changed the way most of us make records. While things have certainly opened up some, and I am back to doing some live in-studio sessions, an awful lot of us are now recording remotely more than ever. And this means that quite a lot of the time I'm working with a guitar player with minimal access on his/her end to amps and mics. And of course there’s also the issue of whether said guitarist is really capable, or, being kind, let’s say the ideal person to be making those choices with only remote input from a producer or engineer.

Perfect For Remote Recording Workflows

What the Kemper has allowed is for me to get a direct inject track from those remote sessions (possibly along with a processed track that the player used for sonic inspiration) and for me to ‘reamp’ those DI sounds through the KPA, making the choices that fit the record well, after the fact and with sterling quality. 

Naturally I’m also using the Kemper myself to record guitar or bass into sessions and making those choices on the spot. But it’s mostly in that ability to rework tracks from multiple outside, often questionable, sources and have them all end up sounding as good as if I’d been there, with great gear and able to make good choices, that’s made the Kemper a lifesaver this past year.

And one last thing that might be worth mentioning, if it isn’t already obvious, is that if one needs to go back and add or replace something anytime later in the process, I write the Kemper profile choice into the Pro Tools Comments field and then it’s just a one minute matter of dialing up the same profile again and your uncle is a Bobby!; it’s exactly the same sound again no matter how much later. That ability alone has made transitioning to the Kemper for guitar recording well worth the price of admission.

And for you skeptics, all I can say is I’ve not once thought ‘if only I could set up a real amp instead’. The thing sounds brilliant.