Operations Manual
You asked for it, and here it is. Over the years we at Catalinbread have listened to customer comments on
our original Semaphore, and have combined everything into the ultimate tremolo pedal, the Semaphore
Tap Tempo Tremolo. This pedal combines a fantastic audio path, with a diverse tremolo that has a
bottomless feature set including 8 dierent waveforms, tap tempo and divide, and expression pedal capabilities. The Semaphore suits both foot tappers and knob twiddlers in its control, making it the last
tremolo you’ll ever need.
At the heart of the Semaphore is a lush audio path that incorporates optically controlled JFET gain stages
to sculpt a gorgeous clean boost sound, that is present and alive without being peaky or harsh. We've
quadrupled the number of waveforms, everything is in there from classic square, triangle, and sine waves
to ramping sounds, and a mind-bending random shape. And in conjunction with the Shape contour,
which morphs the waveshape, numerous waveforms are waiting to be unlocked. The Semaphore sounds
fantastic, and the Tap Tempo section is engaging and easy to use. We've even included a control voltage
input to slave the Semaphore to another tap tempo device.
With the original Semaphore we realized that features without benets are irrelevant, and benets without features lack credibility. The Semaphore Tap tremolo oers up everything you need in a tremolo, and
nothing you don't.
Layout Overview
Top Panel
RATE
The rate control, controls the speed of the tremolo. On the Semaphore this knob’s characteristics are aected by
the position of the Tap Divide control. If the Tap divide is set at a higher rate, you will notice that the Rate knobs
sweep will change as well. The expression pedal nullies the rate control when plugged in.
TAP DIVIDE
The Tap Divide works as the engine for the Tap function of the Semaphore. Since a tremolo can obviously operate at a much faster rate than one could tap out, this control takes your tap tempo and multiplies it by the corresponding note beats. The quarter note represents the same tempo that you tap out. Once a tempo has been
tapped in, the Tap Divide can function as an in-time rate control.
SHAPE
The Shape control is used to morph the selected waveshape. At noon your waveshape will represent the shape
on the Waveshape control, but to either side this shape will slant providing numerous sounds and endless
possibilities. The Shape, however, has no eect on the Random waveshape setting, because it is random.
WAVESHAPE
The Waveshape control provides eight dierent waveshapes, which won’t leave anybody wanting for more.
RANDOM LUMPS SINE TRIANGLE SQUARE
HYPER
TRIANGLE
RAMP
DOWN
RAMP
UP
DEPTH
The Depth control dials in how much tremolo is in your signal. Dialed all the way down, the Semaphore can be
used as a boost, and you can bring up the depth enough for slight shimmers in your signal, or all out depth, for
maximum eect.
VOLUME
The Volume control, obviously, controls the volume of the pedal. Unity on the pedal is around 10 o’clock,
depending on the voltage running, and provides plenty of boost or attenuation.
Back Panel
IN
This is the input jack of the Semaphore.
OUT
This is the output jack of the Semaphore.
TAP IN
This jack is for control voltage to be fed into the Semaphore. This allows you to control the Tap Tempo of the
Semaphore with another device.
EXP.
This jack can be used with an expression pedal, to control a knob parameter with your foot. A small switch inside
the Semaphore determines whether you control the depth or the rate with your expression pedal.
9V-18V DC
Like many of Catalinbread pedals, the Tap Semaphore can be run at either 9 or 18 volts, using a standard DC
power supply with negative tip. Running the unit at 18 volts will increase the volume and headroom of the unit.
Foot switches.
BYPASS FOOTSWITCH
This footswitch is on the lower right of the Semaphore, and controls whether or not the pedal is engaged. The
LED light next to this footswitch, shows whether the Semaphore is engaged or not.
TAP TEMPO FOOTSWITCH
This footswitch is on the lower left of the pedal, and is a momentary switch used to count out a tempo. The
LED light next to this footswitch, shows the rate of the LFO in the Semaphore.
The Rate/Tap Section
Rate/Tap
The Tap Semaphore oers 4 options for controlling the rate
of tremolo, each oered to provide the best t for the individual musicians' needs.
The Rate control, provides traditional control for the speed
of the tremolo. On the Semaphore this knob’s characteristics
is aected by the position of the Tap Divide knob which
behaves as a rate range control.Set the Tap Divide knob to a
whole note then the Rateknob range goes from 0.05Hz to
13Hz, set the Tap Divide knob to 1/16 note the Rate knob
range is now 0.11Hz to 50Hz.
Tap Tempo footswitch over-rides the Rate knob setting.
The expression pedal nullies the rate knob when plugged
in, providing a uid sweep of rates. The Roland EV-5 is an
example that works great for this purpose.
The Tap In input over-rides the Rate knob settings. This jack allows the Semaphore to be controlled via another
Tap Tempo device .
TAP TEMPO &TAP DIVIDE
As explained before, the Tap Divide works in conjunction with the Tap Tempo function of the Semaphore. Below
is a graph showing how the various positions on the tap divide interact with a 4/4 timed tap. For example,
120 BPM in WHOLE note means your modulation is at 60BPM, in 1/8 note 240BPM.
1 2 3 4
h
q
q
3
e
e
3
x
As you can see, once a tap tempo has been tapped out, the tap divide can work as an in-time rate control,
allowing the player to speed up or slow down the tremolo, while still staying in the original time signature. This
function, along with the other three methods of controlling the rate, make the Semaphore an invaluable tool,
no matter how you use it.
The Shape/Waveshape Section
The Waveshape and Shape knobs are paired together to
determine the form of the tremolo. While the last section
explored the rate and tempo of the Semaphore, this
section will illustrate the waveshapes that the tremolo is
based on, and how you can skew these shapes to create
interesting and original waveshapes.
The Semaphore comes equipped with the eight waveforms listed below, to experience these 8 shapes unaltered, the Shape knob should be at noon. With the exception of the random waveshape, all the others can be
manipulated using the Shape knob.
RANDOM LUMPS SINE TRIANGLE SQUARE
HYPER
TRIANGLE
RAMP
DOWN
RAMP
UP
SHAPING THE WAVE
As stated before, the Shape knob is used to skew the waveform. This allows the user to make the tremolo more
asymetrical in its waveform. Below is a graph highlighting how the Shape knob does this morphing in various
positions. The graph uses the sine, ramp down, and triangle waveforms as examples.
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