Recording - July 2014 - 42

The TriplePlay application
The TriplePlay application works both
in standalone mode and as a plug-in in
your host DAW. For me, it worked just
fine as a virtual instrument insert in Pro
Tools 11. The user interface has four different sections: Patch management, Level
/ Tuner, Mixer, and a fretboard display
on the bottom. Take a look at the screenshots and follow along.
With the TriplePlay application open
and the hardware paired, I was happy to
see the six level meters in the middle of
the interface responding to my every note
on the guitar. Each meter represents one
of the six guitar strings. A great feature is
that at the right of each meter there is a
numeric value representing the sensitivity
with which the software receives signal
from each individual string. I found this

To the left we find the patch management
section, where one can select the Factory
patches and save User patches and scroll
through Songs (a group of chained patches
that one might use in a single song). To the
right is a basic mixer with six tracks-
Guitar (the guitar's sound, fed from an
audio interface through the bundled effects
plug-ins if desired), up to four Synths, and
Pedal for instruments that require foot control like a sustain pedal-that include Mute
& Solo buttons, Pan knob, line fader, and
patch select button. There is also a master
fader with a Mute button. And on the bottom we find the virtual fretboard that shows
the notes being played in real time and lets
you set up splits between the four Synth
sounds based on strings or neck positions;
you can even change the look of the fretboard from Rosewood to Maple.

I've tried yet, allowing me to trigger my various virtual instruments with DAW integration
and music notation programs.
Note that the audio of the guitar is not
routed through TriplePlay. You'll still have
to connect the guitar via a 1/4" guitar cable
to your amp or DAW to access the sound
from your guitar's pickups. However, for
the MIDI controller features, you don't
need a heavy custom cable as is common
on many hex-pickup guitar controllers-in
fact, you don't need a cable at all.
I used the TriplePlay-equipped Strat as
a trigger for virtual instruments and to
enter notes for music notation, and it functioned surprisingly well. One must play
with a good level of precision for optimal
MIDI tracking. Each virtual instrument
offers different capabilities (and suggests
different ways of playing); for example,
you might have a lead sound that will follow string bends, as opposed to a grand
piano sound that would normally only be
played in chromatic half steps.
There are other nuances common to guitar players that tend to get lost in translation, mostly due to the inherent limitations
of whichever virtual instrument is being

very useful as, even after lowering the
bass end of the hexaphonic pickup with
the mini-screwdriver as far as it would go
and raising the treble side closer to the
strings, the A and low E strings' signals
were still peaking. So it came in quite
handy to quickly adjust the levels in the
software.
The switch labeled Levels/Tuner, just
below the meters, allows you to view the
needle tuner that shows precise reading
with numeric values for each note. When
in tuner mode, you can opt to hear the
signal play back by having the switch
selector either in Mix or Synth positions,
or to tune silently you can simply switch it
to Guitar. If you want silent tuning all the
time, no matter what position the switch is
in, you can go to the Options menu, click
on Preferences, and check the box that
says "Mute output when tuner active". I
found it very useful to have this feature
readily available.

In use
I found playing a TriplePlay-equipped
guitar to be a quite a revealing experience. This thing is the key to the Stargate
portal; it lets you travel to another world
of sonic possibilities!
There was a slight learning curve for
me to feel comfortable with all the routing
and features, which I expect will be the
case for any guitarist who hasn't
embraced MIDI as keyboard players
have. But MIDI has become exponentially
easier to manage, and it seems like the
TriplePlay system has gone out of its way
to contribute to this demystification.
Even if you happen to be at the level
where you may need a professional tech to
help set up your guitars, ultimately the main
question one must ask is, "Will this MIDI system track quickly and precisely enough for
my performances to come across unaltered
and musically?" I say Yes!-and an enthusiastic Yes-this is the best guitar MIDI system

triggered. Your guitar will still respond to
palm muting, ghost notes, trills, hammerons, legato, bends, and slides... but the
TriplePlay may not. Consider the limitations
of the instrument being triggered, as well
as what the MIDI tracking is capable of, in
order to obtain the best results. (Oh, and if
you have hardware synths, the TriplePlay
can send MIDI to them over a standard
MIDI interface from your computer.)
The wireless system covers distances up
to 80 feet (120 feet under optimal conditions), and can be affected by RF interference on the 2.4 GHz band. I tested it by
distancing myself and playing in a different room, and it performed flawlessly.
If I was being really picky, I might suggest
adding a visual reference-perhaps on the
TriplePlay fretboard display-of the permissible range of any given virtual instrument.
There are sometimes notes that are not in the
range of the loaded virtual instrument. But
that's not always going to be practical, as

Fishman TriplePlay Guitar MIDI Controller

42

RECORDING July 2014



Recording - July 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - July 2014

Contents
Recording - July 2014 - Cover1
Recording - July 2014 - Cover2
Recording - July 2014 - 1
Recording - July 2014 - 2
Recording - July 2014 - 3
Recording - July 2014 - 4
Recording - July 2014 - 5
Recording - July 2014 - Contents
Recording - July 2014 - 7
Recording - July 2014 - 8
Recording - July 2014 - 9
Recording - July 2014 - 10
Recording - July 2014 - 11
Recording - July 2014 - 12
Recording - July 2014 - 13
Recording - July 2014 - 14
Recording - July 2014 - 15
Recording - July 2014 - 16
Recording - July 2014 - 17
Recording - July 2014 - 18
Recording - July 2014 - 19
Recording - July 2014 - 20
Recording - July 2014 - 21
Recording - July 2014 - 22
Recording - July 2014 - 23
Recording - July 2014 - 24
Recording - July 2014 - 25
Recording - July 2014 - 26
Recording - July 2014 - 27
Recording - July 2014 - 28
Recording - July 2014 - 29
Recording - July 2014 - 30
Recording - July 2014 - 31
Recording - July 2014 - 32
Recording - July 2014 - 33
Recording - July 2014 - 34
Recording - July 2014 - 35
Recording - July 2014 - 36
Recording - July 2014 - 37
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Recording - July 2014 - 41
Recording - July 2014 - 42
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Recording - July 2014 - Cover3
Recording - July 2014 - Cover4
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