FISHMAN TRIPLEPLAY (01) PDF MANUAL

Once an external MIDI device is connected to your computer, select its input port via the Preferences menu (Options > Preferences > Foot pedal MIDI input). The following functions can be controlled via MIDI Channel 1:

1. Hold / Loop: Send CC 66 value 127 (0 on release) for hold/loop.

2. Patch up: Send CC 68 value 127 (0 on release) for patch up.

3. Patch down: Send CC 67 value 127 (0 on release) for patch down.

4. Bank Settings: Bank (MSB/LSB) and Program Change messages on MIDI Ch 1 allow selection within patch lists.

5. Program Change: A MIDI program change will select a user patch number that is one greater than the program change number sent. This requires a bank message (MSB/LSB) to be sent first.

6. Volume Expression: Send CC 80, controlled via an expression pedal, to control TriplePlay volume post-Master fader. The “Final volume controlled by CC 80” option must be enabled in Preferences.

A. Volume knob: Controls the mixer’s Master fader, setting the overall volume.

B. Guitar/Synth Selector switch: Selects between Guitar only, Synth only, or a Mix of both.

C. D-Pad control: Four momentary buttons for navigating menus and scrolling patches.

D. Controller LED button/status light: A pushbutton and indicator light that verifies battery power and the wireless connection. Pressing it along with the receiver’s button links the devices.

E. Charge indicator LED: Glows green while charging, turns off when fully charged.

F. Power switch: Turns the controller on and off.

G. USB power jack: Micro USB B port for charging.

H. Receiver LED button/status light: A pushbutton and indicator light on the USB receiver. It flashes when searching for a controller and glows solid when connected.

These modes are initiated by holding a D-Pad control down while turning on the power switch of the TriplePlay controller.

– Basic Mode: Power on normally (without D-Pad engaged). TriplePlay will be in POLY Mode with TRIG Bends (no string bends). Pressing the ENTER D-Pad button after power-on will toggle to AUTO Bends.

– System Reinitialize: Power on while holding the D-Pad ENTER button. This will return the TriplePlay controller to factory defaults.

– Boot in Hardware Mode: Power on while holding the D-Pad UP button. This will boot the device into Hardware Mode, starting on hardware patch #1.

Hardware Mode allows the TriplePlay controller to directly control any MIDI, USB-compliant device with a type A USB port, without needing the TriplePlay software. This is useful for controlling devices that are incompatible with the software or for controlling hardware sound modules (often via a USB-to-5-pin-MIDI converter like the Fishman FC-1).

Once booted in Hardware Mode, you can use the UP and DOWN D-Pad controls on the controller to move between Hardware Mode Patches. Over 200 Hardware Mode Patches can be created and saved to the controller using the TriplePlay standalone software. The software is the only utility for setting the parameters of your individual Hardware Patches, but it does not need to be running to use them.

Hardware Patches are created and edited from the TriplePlay standalone software. Your TriplePlay controller must be paired and connected to your computer.

1. Open the Patches window (Window -> Patches).

2. The “Hardware Patches” list is on the right. If it is grayed out, your controller is not connected.

3. To create a new patch, you can edit an existing one and save it. You can create splits and assign parameters like MIDI mode, sensitivity, pitch bend behavior, and MIDI program change messages for each split.

4. When changes are made to this list, they are automatically synced to the TriplePlay controller. You can manually sync by choosing “Resend Hardware Patches to Controller” from the Options menu in the Patches window.

The Perform Window is the primary user interface and is arranged into several sections:

A. Patch Readout area: Use to audition, select, load, and save your patches.

B. Sensitivity/Tuner area: Doubles as a tuner and a calibration tool to fine-tune TriplePlay to your playing style.

C. Mixer area: A virtual mixing board for adjusting levels, panning, and solo/mute status of the guitar and synth sounds.

D. Fretboard/Edit Splits area: Displays each note you play in real time and is where you create “splits” to assign different sounds to different parts of the fretboard.

E. Pull-Down Menus: Set preferences, check for updates, and call up various views and windows.

F. FC-1 Utility: An indicator that appears if you have an FC-1 foot pedal. Clicking it opens the FC-1’s editing window.

A. Patch name: Displays the name of the current patch.

B. Save button: Opens the Save Patch dialog. The icon turns red if a patch has been edited but not saved.

C. Browse Patches button: Opens the Patches window to load factory or user patches.

D. Patch up/down buttons: Steps through adjacent patches in the current list.

E. Program change number: Displays the number of the patch in its current list.

F. Sound badge: Displays the names of the sound slots (Guitar, Synth 1-4, Pedal). Double-click to open the parameters settings.

G. Sound name: Displays the name of the current VGR or VI plug-in for each active slot.

H. Audition button: Plays a factory-programmed MIDI sequence to preview sounds. Does not work for User Patches.

I. Info text: Displays non-editable information about each factory patch.

The mixer channels share similar controls:

A. Plug-In buttons: Click and hold to open the Plug-In Select window for a channel.

B. Channel names: Identifies the channel (Guitar, Split 1-4, Pedal).

C. Channel faders: Virtual sliders for setting the volume of each channel.

D. Level meters: Real-time display of each channel’s volume.

E. Numerical meters: Real-time display of volume in decibels (dB).

F. Panning controls: Positions each channel in the stereo field from left to right.

G. Solo buttons: Mutes all other channels except the soloed one(s).

H. Mute buttons: Temporarily silences a channel.

This panel appears when editing a plug-in and has several controls:

– MIDI Mode selector: Switch between Mono and Poly. Splits only work in Mono mode.

– Touch Sensitivity control: Sets the dynamic response for each patch.

– Pick/Fingerstyle selector: Optimizes touch response for pick or fingerstyle playing.

– Sustain Pedal: An option to block new MIDI notes while a chord is sustained is available.

– Dynamics Sensitivity slider: Controls how TriplePlay interprets volume variations in your playing.

– Dynamics Offset slider: Shifts the entire dynamic scale, making everything louder or softer.

– Transpose control: Transposes the synth up or down by up to two octaves (±24 semitones).

– Pitchbend: Defines how TriplePlay interprets bent notes. Options are Auto, Trigger, Smooth, and Stepped.

This area is at the bottom of the Perform window.

– Virtual fretboard: Depicts each note you play in real time.

– Show Splits button: Opens the Edit Splits view.

– Fretboard display toggle: Toggles between rosewood, rosewood humbucker, and maple fretboard appearances.

In Edit Splits view, you can create up to four user-definable zones on the fretboard, each corresponding to one of the four synth channels. This only applies in Mono mode.

– Split Zones (1-4): Color-coded zones that trigger sounds from the corresponding Split channel (1-4).

– Neck Split Handle: Click-drag to set the upper or lower fret limit for a pair of split zones (e.g., Split 1/2 or Split 3/4).

– String Split Handle: Works like the Neck Split handle but assigns synth channels to specific strings rather than frets.

You can create complex layouts where zones overlap, triggering multiple sounds, and have different splits by fret and by string simultaneously.

The Songs window (Window -> Songs) lets you arrange your User Patches into groups called songs. This is useful for live performance, allowing you to step through the patches for a single song using the D-Pad on the controller. Patches in a song are pre-cached, meaning they load almost immediately.

– To create a song: Click “Create Song” at the bottom of the “List of Songs” column.

– To add patches to a song: Only User Patches can be added. Drag patches from the “User Patches” column into the “Current Song” column for the selected song.

– To reorder patches: Click and drag patches within the “Current Song” column or within the song’s expanded list in the “List of Songs” column.

– To manage songs: You can erase songs, add multiple copies of the same patch, and expand/collapse the patch list for each song using the plus/minus sign.

If you have an FC-1 connected, an indicator will appear in the Perform Window. Clicking it opens the FC-1 Configuration utility. Here you can adjust the footswitches and a connected expression pedal.

1. MIDI CC: Assign the desired MIDI continuous controller command for each footswitch. The button will send a value of 127 when depressed.

2. Channel: Set the desired MIDI channel for the MIDI CC message. “Internal” is the default setting for controlling the TriplePlay application itself.

3. Mode: Select Latching (sends value 127 while held, 0 on release) or Momentary (sends 127 when pressed, 0 when pressed again).

4. Tripleplay Patch Select: Check this box to set the FC-1 to its default settings for controlling the TriplePlay application.

Expression Pedal: You can select “Calibrate Pedal” and follow the instructions to calibrate a connected expression pedal.

DAW is short for “digital audio workstation.” DAWs, which can be dedicated hardware devices or software programs, allow you to record, edit, mix, and perform other music-production tasks. TriplePlay is not a DAW, since it doesn’t record music. But it can run as an Audio Unit or VST plug-in inside software DAWs.

Latency is the time lag between the instant a note is played and the moment you hear it through your speakers or headphones. Some latency is unavoidable, but in optimal conditions, latency is so minimal as to be imperceptible. Latency is largely dependent on computer speed and audio buffer settings.

Mono mode: TriplePlay’s Mono mode assigns a separate MIDI channel to each string or subsection of string (see Split). If you want an organ sound for the upper strings and a bass sound for the lower ones, you need Mono mode. Splits are only available in Mono Mode.

Poly mode: In TriplePlay’s Poly Mode, notes played anywhere on any string are assigned to a single MIDI channel. If, for example, you want an organ sound across the entire range of the guitar, you might use Poly mode. In Poly mode splits are not available, and only sounds assigned to the mixer’s Synth 1 channel are heard.

When a MIDI instrument is set up to trigger different sounds from different parts of its range, the individual zones are referred to as splits. TriplePlay’s Splits Editor can create splits according to fret position or string. For example, you might assign an organ sound to the four upper strings, and a bass sound to the two lower strings. Alternately, you might assign the organ sound to all notes played on any string at the fifth fret or higher, and a bass sound to any note played below the fifth fret.