Rig manager, TLC, makeover, and general ideas to possibly improve

    Hi everyone :)

    I know there has been a lot of talk about RM (editor, possibly integrated), features and such, and anyone could easily say the last thing needed is yet another thread. I am on the fence about this, but thought I would throw this out there in case it has value.

    Not that there is anything particularly wrong with RM for what it does, it does the job--imagine scrolling thru pages of almost 8k rigs-- before Rm existed. The question would be, is it time to upgrade, and if so how? I think this question alone justifies a dedicated thread like this, with a view to organization and efficiency of ideas, in one place. This can have an even better effect when random KPA user, expert or day one (a fresh set of eyes also has a value that can never be underestimated) reads many ideas, and adds another one.

    Some initial ideas that come to mind (have been mentioned) would be:

    1 A built in Cab manager, with a separate folder structure..
    2 Wah pedal settings incorporated, since this is growing...
    3 A system to track, categorize, upload, and share presets. The issue with this was flooding the RE with only small adjustments to existing rigs. Adding a separate folder, section would address this problem as well. It would not matter how many presets came up, since they would be sorted, and have their own area, not really interfering with anything else. The easiest way I see this working out would be something like orig creator tagged, a new tag added for the person who did the preset, and perhaps a field for description/comments. They could be loaded as any normal rig. I think the value of being able to quickly and easily do such things could lead to some useful things.
    4 Voice control for RM. Much discussion has also lead to a software editor. Creating and testing a simple voice control system for RM would allow for hands free use. Something like this could start out small, with a few basic commands such as next rig, volume x gain y, or load rig 1, 2 ,3 etc if someone wanted to organize them this way. It is a safe bet that everyone here has access to some sort of computer and mic.
    5 Auto rig changing, random, or from a preset list, or even a search, x amp crunch, etc.user can set time between rig changes, more hands free time and easier to audition rigs while practicing/noodling.
    6 Skins and workflow. There already are many ideas on what paramter should appear where. I am not sure if there is a definitive answer for this since everyone is different. The best solution could possibly be allowing more advanced users to customize the menu/gui to their particular habits.
    7 Auto backup. Backup early, backup often. 'nuff said.
    8 Morphing. This could be in the preset section, but probably also deserves a section of its own. Same idea as tweaks an preset sharing, but it is also possible to save a certain point in between a created morph. This opens up many possibilities for sharing also.


    With proper management I do not think this would negatively impact any commercial vendors; in fact it could be another way for vendors to use their more advanced skills, create things that will help those not as advanced, and also create an entirely new revenue stream for them with their existing skills and equipment. Win-win imho.


    Quote from mdeeRocks

    I must guess that nobody does return their Kemper ever, more so, about 87% people buy a second one, I can also read CK mind, even now ;)

    This is an interesting statement :) I would love to be a fly on the wall at K-Team HQ to see what they have cooking.

    If that many people have more than one, it solves dual amp issues, and could do it better by having RM able to identify and interact with 2 different KPA's via usb at once. While a software editor is not the focus of this, both are related, and it would be very probable that the ability to control multiple units would be requested, but that is for another thread...

    I think it's a very good idea to have a structured and organized thread with improvement suggestions. I hope we can reach some kind of consensus about priority and how best to implement. In light of this, I hope you can update the first post of the thread as the discussion comes along, and common ground is found. Maybe utopia, but let's try! :)

    No guarantee that the mothership will incorporate this stuff, and there should be no expectation for them to do so (we do not know RMs inner workings, or the priorities of the company) - but in the best case, we can present a clear and concise "voice of customer", for them to take or leave.

    And hopefully the discussion won't get sidetracked by how forum goers think stuff can/can't be implemented (behind the GUI) - not our expertise (I almost made this mistake myself, in the following section, but caught myself :-))

    Lastly, I think it's important to keep this discussion seperate from any discussions about the editor of the rig parameters. I think that would be detrimental to the thread. It could be an idea to open a separate thread for that, though, along the same lines as this one. I think the discussion would get way too confused/flooded if both these things were to be part of the same thread (point number 4 and 6, I'm looking at you guys!).

    Hope to hear your thoughts on my thoughts.

    1) Agreed!
    2) This could be a good idea also - although this would be fairly far down on my personal list of priorities. Wahs are one type of presets, and it could be argued that presets for other stomps/fx could be as important as the wah. Especially delays and reverbs come to mind for me. The question would be where to draw the line.
    3) I think this is a wonderful idea. Since there is a way to determine if two rigs were originally identical (though I have no idea about how difficult this is to implement), I could imagine an interface where only "original" rigs were shown, and with a disclosure triangle which would then show all the underlying tweaks. This would give a much better overview (spoken without knowing how many rigs are tweaks, and how many are "originals").
    4) Voice control not important to me, personally, but might have some merit for some users. Question: would bluetooth control of the RM via a smartphone be sufficient? (no comments for the editor stuff, as explained above)
    5) I thought about this just the other day.
    6) Skins and workflow - I don't understand what you mean here, unless it's related to an Editor (for which I've already commented :-)). If not, could you elaborate?
    7) Could be a good idea - wouldn't use it myself, I think
    8) I'm not sure I see the value, or understand what you mean


    My #1 request: better ability to search :) ability to search for "marshall mesa" and show all rigs including marshall in any tag and/or mesa in any tag. Right now, this search will only yield results where the exact phrase is included in at least one of the tags. Also searches such as amp:(marshall), to show only rigs where "marshall" is part of the amp tags.