DigiTech Trio Band Creator

The DigiTech TRIO Band Creator is a stompbox that automatically generates bass and drum parts, dependent on what you play into it. Made by DigiTech, it works from a simple routine: plug your guitar into Trio, press the footswitch to teach it your chords and rhythm, then press the footswitch again to start playing with your own personal band.¹ As one reviewer's overall verdict put it, "Tell the TRIO what to play and it will almost always get it right."²

The idea is simple in practice: you plug your guitar into the Trio, press the footswitch to teach it your chords and rhythm, then press the footswitch again to start playing with what Guitar World called "your own personal band."³ MusicRadar's reviewer noted that the pedal draws on real company know-how: "DigiTech's direct expertise in looping and pitch detection technology has paid dividends with the TRIO."²

How the Trio learns what you play

The Trio is a listening pedal rather than a programmable drum machine. Instead of entering a beat by hand, you play your part and the pedal derives the accompaniment from it. The press release describes the process: "The TRIO Band Creator Pedal listens to what is played and automatically generates bass and drum parts that match chord progressions and rhythmic feel."¹

Once the parts are generated, they are not frozen. You can speed the tempo up or slow it down, and set the relative levels of bass and drums against your guitar, so the backing can be balanced to sit under your playing rather than on top of it.² The pedal also offers a rhythm or lead option for its built-in guitar tone, which MusicRadar's reviewer found "work just fine in context."²

The Trio can learn structure, not just a single loop. It has the capacity to learn three different song parts that can be recalled on the fly, so a song can move between sections while you play.²

The controls

The control panel is built around five knobs, with a footswitch doing the teaching and playback work⁴³.

The Genre and Style selector knobs choose the virtual band's performance, while the Bass and Drums controls provide volume adjustment for both instruments.¹

Genres and song styles

The Trio provides seven musical genres to choose from: Rock, Pop, Country, Alternative Rock, Blues, R&B and Jazz.¹ MusicRadar lists the same set as Blues, Pop, Alternative, Country, R&B and Jazz, and the two sources disagree only on how the rock options are named.²

Within each genre, up to 12 song styles are available, with options for 4/4 and 3/4 time signatures.¹² The styles change both the drum feel and the bass approach: on the later TRIO+, reviewer Barry Rudolph describes styles as "variations of the drum playing and kit sound and the bass groove and instrument used," noting that "for Jazz, an upright bass sound is used."⁵

Connections and outputs

The Trio can be connected to a guitar amp or directly into a mixer for use with a PA system.¹ MusicRadar adds flexibility: "The TRIO can be used with your guitar amp, connected to a mixer, or both. There's also a headphone output."² The headphone output makes it a practical practice tool as well as a live or recording one.

Where it came from

The TRIO Band Creator reached UK players from March, with the UK recommended retail price still to be confirmed at the time of the announcement.⁴

The Trio was followed by the DigiTech TRIOPLUS, a Band Creator Plus Looper Pedal built from a "wish list" of features submitted by musicians using the first generation.⁵ The TRIO+ expands the genre count to twelve, adding Folk, Metal, Hip Hop and Latin among others, and adds a looper with separate fader knobs to mix the level of your guitar loop, bass, and drum kit.⁵ DigiTech also later released the DigiTech SDRUM, a drum-focused pedal in the same family of ideas.

What reviewers said

MusicRadar's review verdict was positive about the core function: "Tell the TRIO what to play and it will almost always get it right."² Pedal of the Day's reviewer, given a demo, wrote "I got the chance to get a demo of the pedal and was hooked," praising its ease of use, sturdy build and the generated bass and drum backing tracks.⁶

Reviewing the TRIO+ successor, Barry Rudolph found the concept "makes an excellent tool for songwriting, practice or casual gigs."⁵

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