Release Synthesia - Piano for everyone!

[QazzaQY2K]

Synthesia is a game that teaches you to play the piano using falling notes.
No sheet music reading is required. With it, you can:

• Learn to play songs using a musical keyboard connected to your computer.
• Keep track of your progress in every song with per-song scoreboards.
• Slow, fast-forward, and rewind songs while learning new parts.
• Practice left and right hand parts together or separately.
• Try out any MIDI file you can find on the Internet.
• Use it on either your PC or Mac.

It's not done yet, but I'm working hard to finish it. Don't let that stop you though.
You can always download the latest version and try it out.

http://www.synthesiagame.com/

[youtube]p2mPdXJsLcc[/youtube]

Hey! How about porting this?

>>> FAQ<<<

 

[bakawhite]

Carrying a MIDI keyboard around does not strike me as very fun. Also, if you wanted to actually play piano you'd pretty much have to learn sheet music anyway? but, whatever. I don't think it'd be very feasible(what with the small screen and all) but you can do it, I guess.

 

[fischju]

There are other ways to have a piano on the go, for instance: http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/04/virt ... on-the-go/ (if you can find one outside of Japan) or: http://www.amazon.com/Jobar-Internation ... _sv_edpp_i


But this software is not open source, and there is not a version for linux. Unless they port it, it isn't going to happen.

 

[torpor]

I've been using Synthesia for years, and hell yeah .. its a great program, and it would be wonderful to have it on the Pandora.

As for the Keyboard issue - I'll be hooking my Pandora up to MIDI as soon as its out of the box. Assuming the distro is not brain-dead, it should just work, plain and simple - plug in the USB-MIDI interface, use my Yamaha piano controller and so on..

As for those moaning about portability, just get one of the new Korg Piano controllers - they fit right along with the Pandora in terms of style and size, and have USB-MIDI built-in to boot. Instant portable studio!

 

[TaG]

Nah, they're at least twice the size of Pandora. :wink:

(unless you seen smaller ones?)

 

[Hitnrun]

I did a similar program but using standard graphic controls (Gtk/win32 - wxWidgets). If Pandora have gtk, it could be ported easily, as the library I use supports timidity.

http://midilearn.sourceforge.net/

 

[bakawhite]

Come to think of it, MIDI on Pandora... using Pandora as a pedal board? Pandora touch screen=KAOSS pad?
Ohhh! what's that!? Out there on the horizon! It's. . . Potential!

 

[PoisonedV]

How does he call this 'educational'? Yeah, it will teach you how to play piano, in the same way that playing rock band will teach you drums. knowing how to use an instrument doesn't mean knowing how to play it, and if you cant read sheet music OR understand music theory, well, playing compositions and freestyling are both out the window

 

[biner]

its obvious you never learned piano or any instrument for that matter
would have made practicing easier and a lot more enjoyable
and anyone who is good at anything knows that practice is the key along with a good teacher to becoming good

 

[PoisonedV]

its obvious you never learned piano or any instrument for that matter
would have made practicing easier and a lot more enjoyable
and anyone who is good at anything knows that practice is the key along with a good teacher to becoming good

excuse me-
i play guitar, synthesizers/piano/keyboard etc, and the violin, so please stop your idiotic assumptions that have no ground.
hitting notes with speed isn't practice, it's hitting notes.

 

[sold]

If you play piano or keyboard, you should be able to see the value in a practice aid like synthesia. It isn't going to teach people the fundamentals of music theory or technique, but it looks like a good way to practice rhythm and coordination.

And anyone can hit a note. But good technique, speed and efficiency come with time and practice. Synthesia looks like a good way to gauge improvements.

 

[PoisonedV]

If you play piano or keyboard, you should be able to see the value in a practice aid like synthesia. It isn't going to teach people the fundamentals of music theory or technique, but it looks like a good way to practice rhythm and coordination.

And anyone can hit a note. But good technique, speed and efficiency come with time and practice. Synthesia looks like a good way to gauge improvements.

bands like dragon force do fast, varying sweeps on guitar, similar to those on synthesia, and look at their tremendous amounts of skill

 

[Falcon Delta]

So... this isn't a good way to learn piano? (I've been wanting to.)

 

[QazzaQY2K]

That Youtube video is an old version and should only inspire, the new 0.65 is actually great with allot of new features.

• Practice mode: The game waits for you to press the correct keys before moving on. Invaluable for learning a new piece or practicing correct fingering.
• Sheet music display: Add a classic notation view to the game in addition to the arcade-style falling note display.
• Choose between "page flip" or "scrolling" display styles. Resize it during gameplay.
• Note and key labels: Show note names on either the falling notes or keyboard keys in the English system, Fixed-Doh, or by scale number.
• Falling measure lines: Enhance the falling note display with lines that correspond to the beginning of each measure. Aids rhythm.

[youtube]rRgAzzf-eL8[/youtube]

 

[PoisonedV]

That Youtube video is an old version and should only inspire, the new 0.65 is actually great with allot of new features.

• Practice mode: The game waits for you to press the correct keys before moving on. Invaluable for learning a new piece or practicing correct fingering.
• Sheet music display: Add a classic notation view to the game in addition to the arcade-style falling note display.
• Choose between "page flip" or "scrolling" display styles. Resize it during gameplay.
• Note and key labels: Show note names on either the falling notes or keyboard keys in the English system, Fixed-Doh, or by scale number.
• Falling measure lines: Enhance the falling note display with lines that correspond to the beginning of each measure. Aids rhythm.

now THAT is a learning tool. i need to try that out with my Keystation 88...

 

[torpor]

Its a fine way to learn piano .. if you're just getting started and need some help, Synthesia is just great, period. Anyone who thinks otherwise, musician or not, is just being a jerk - anything that helps a newbie get over the hump of not having *any* competence with a piano whatsoever, is a good thing.

That said, and bringing it back to Pandora-specific, I've done a lot of work with the MIDI side of things in the days of GP2X and so on (before my 3 GP2X's all died because of faulty power-regulation hardware) and I can say that the Pandora is probably going to become a MIDI *daemon* soon enough .. I'd expect apps like Synthesia to be rapidly deployed for Pandora once there is some sort of certainty on the environment/libs/distro issue surrounding the Operating System. Its not easy to deploy a MIDI app if you don't have the kernel configured properly for it (latency issues), or the drivers aren't onboard (not just usbmidi.ko, but all the others too), or if its too hard to get such things as the fxload firmware loader, needed for some MIDI interfaces, onboard as well.

 

[bakawhite]

Okay, NOW I'm on board for this.

 

[fischju]

The newest version isn't open source, and you have to pay $16 for the practive modes. The older versions are open source and still available.

 

[PoisonedV]

The newest version isn't open source, and you have to pay $16 for the practive modes. The older versions are open source and still available.

wat

then who cares? (rhetorical question, i know several do)

 

[kin]

Lol I can't read notes, I usually play on feeling and a little aid of overdub. ^_^