TC Electronic Viral Video Revealed As TonePrint App

Now we know what the video was all about!   08-Nov-11

You'll probably remember a few weeks back, we posted a story on a viral video made by TC Electronic, showing a motorised arm beaming frequencies from an iPhone into a guitar pickup.

This led to many people, including ourselves, to speculate that TC Electronic were designing some sort of pickup modelling app.

Well we were WRONG! Instead, TC have revealed the new product to be an application for iPhone (Android version in development). The software allows you to beam TonePrint settings from your phone, into your pickup, and into a TonePrint pedal. Here's the low-down from TC Electronic:

The new iPhone app compiles all TonePrints for TC Electronic’s TonePrint enabled guitar pedals in one place and allows users to ‘beam’ new TonePrints to their pedals in a matter of seconds. The idea behind the technology is as simple as it is ingenious: Each TonePrint has been converted to a unique-sounding magnetic impulse that can be beamed via an iPhone’s internal speaker, through the pickup of a guitar and directly to a TonePrint pedal! The sound does not carry any data so it doesn’t matter if users are in a raucous arena or a library – no other sounds will interfere with the data being sent from the iPhone.

The app contains all TonePrints as mp3 files, which means that no Internet connection is required for beaming TonePrints. The iPhone’s speaker simply needs to be placed close to a magnetic guitar pickup when beaming, and it literally only takes seconds for the app to perform its magic. Best of all, the TonePrint app is completely free of charge. The app is currently available for iPhone, but a version for Android phones is under development and will be available in December 2011.

“When we launched the TonePrint concept, we knew that we eventually had to come up with a solution that made swapping TonePrints easier,” says Guitar Product Manager at TC Electronic, Tore Lynggaard Mogensen. “Most guitarists have their pedal board in a rehearsal space and their computer at home. Some may have brought a laptop, but the process still needed to be made faster and more intuitive to really take advantage of the great potential that this artist-driven concept has to offer. We are extremely proud to present a super-flexible solution that allows all guitarists with TonePrint pedals and an iPhone to truly explore the ever-expanding list of great and unique TonePrints created by some of the best guitar players in the world. Now great tones and tons of musical inspiration can be beamed and enjoyed on-the-spot as well as on-the-fly.”

For decades, TC Electronic has provided innovative tools for guitarists. Its team of engineers have created world-class effects of all types and developed the world’s first polyphonic tuner. In January 2011, TC Electronic introduced a series of five new guitar pedals that were TonePrint enabled: Flashback Delay, Hall of Fame Reverb, Corona Chorus, Vortex Flanger and Shaker Vibrato. All of these pedals are great-sounding in their own right, but they also offer the possibility of uploading custom settings created by guitar greats like John Petrucci, Steve Morse, Paul Gilbert, Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal and countless others.

These TonePrint artists were given access to tweak any effect parameter imaginable – not just the ones represented by physical knobs on the actual pedals. As a consequence, whole new tones could be created and therefore, TonePrints are highly personal and unique sounding – just the way each artist wanted the pedal of his or her dream to sound.

TonePrint App Main Features

• Beam any TonePrint in Seconds

• Fast. Flexible. Intuitive.

• Completely Free of Charge – Not Based on inApp Purchases

• Cached files – No Internet Access Required

• Browse TonePrints by Pedal, Artist, Featured or Date

• Collect Favorite TonePrints for Super-fast Access

• Constantly Updated with New, Amazing TonePrints

• Artist Bonus Content – Videos, Images, Interviews, etc.

• Available fot iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch)

• Soon available for Android devices

Available: Now (on the Apple App Store)

Download TonePrint App here

Price: Free

Requirements: iOS Device

Rich Beech
@sonicamped

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