Symphonix Evolution 1.90 Available Today

Version 1.90 of Symphonix Evolution is finally here, and will hit the App Store today!

Here's the list of changes:

• It is now possible to enter instrument finger positions 
• New settings for background playback and virtual MIDI 
• New settings for beginners to assist with note recognition and playback 
• Added an Arpeggiator function 
• Mute function is now available from the main screen 
• Easier scrolling when dragging the main scrollbar 
• Added a new Pad mode for full piano keyboard visibility 
• The current Pad mode is saved between sessions 
• Added the ability to select MIDI devices 
• Added staccato note accent 
• Support for transposing instruments separate to concert pitch 
• Added function to transpose by octave 
• Support for MIDI clock

The following bugs were also fixed: 

• Piano Roll rendering of measures was incorrect 
• Tied notes were not treated as a single long note by Piano Roll 
• Fixed incorrect rendering of rests in percussion symbol mode 
• Fixed position of chord builder relative to selection 
• Program change events were not handled in MIDI files 
• Fixed note position when printing with key signature other than C

 

We'll further explore some of the new features in this blog over the next few days.

An Arpeggiator for Symphonix Evolution

We're nearly done with our testing of Symphonix Evolution version 1.90, but there's one more feature to talk about - Introducing the Arpeggiator function!

The Arpeggiator has over 16 operating modes (patterns) including random sequence, with variable note lengths and a configurable octave span.  External MIDI devices can be used as an input in addition to the virtual synth keyboard built into Symphonix Evolution.  It's also possible to use an external virtual MIDI connection, and the output of the Arpeggiator can of course be routed to MIDI devices.

This feature can be used on its own as a MIDI/performance tool, or recorded and combined with the Rhythm Generator to create many new interesting patterns and variations.  Version 1.90 will be submitted to the App Store very soon now, so there's not long to wait!

Virtual MIDI Support is Coming

Recently there has been a lot of buzz about Virtual MIDI, which provides a way for different apps to connect to each other as if they were real MIDI devices.  Using Virtual MIDI it is possible for one app to generate MIDI while another app generates the sound, or to play music in one app and record it in another.

We're pleased to announce that Virtual MIDI is coming in the next update to Symphonix Evolution!

Virtual MIDI also brings other notable improvements including the ability to:

• Select which MIDI devices are connected to (currently Symphonix Evolution connects to all discovered devices)
• Continue playing music when running in the background
• Generate MIDI clock signals (master clock)
• Slave to MIDI clock signals generated by external MIDI devices or apps

Of course it's still very much a work in progress - When the next version is complete you will also have the ability to receive specific MIDI channels from specific devices.

These changes allow Symphonix Evolution to be an integral part of your virtual studio!

More Features for Beginners

In my last post I mentioned that we're busy adding new features to Symphonix Evolution to make it more useful as a learning tool.  One of the new functions is the ability to enter the finger positions for each note:

This screen capture shows the new feature in action - In this mode, an instructor first selects a note from the music in the top part of the screen and tells Symphonix Evolution the finger that should be used to play that note.  Later, when the student loads the song into the app, the finger positions will appear on the piano keyboard while the music is playing.  Even if the music is not playing, it's possible to select any position in the score to see the notes and finger positions for the highlighted notes.

The new tools make it easy to create and save finger exercises, or to prepare tutorials for learning new pieces of music.

Keep watching this blog and we'll reveal more information about the next version of Symphonix Evolution over the coming weeks!

Upcoming Symphonix Evolution Features for Beginners

One of the aims in designing Symphonix Evolution was for it to be a tool that beginners could use to understand the relationship between music notation, the piano keyboard, and the pitch of the sound.  We're pleased to announce that the next update will focus on ways to make the app even better for those who are learning about music, or for teachers who want to extend the use of the app into their classrooms.

Here's a screenshot of what it looks like when you turn on the new "Beginner" modes:

A number of new features are visible here:

• Highlighting middle "C" in yellow, so it's easy to know which part of the keyboard is visible
• Notes are labelled
• Notes that are playing are shown in red

Each of these functions can be activated separately, so even advanced users may find them useful.

We'll log more posts over the coming weeks as we add new features and work towards version 1.9!

Symphonix Evolution - 3 Day Sale

To celebrate the launch of the New iPad we're setting the price of our flagship Symphonix Evolution app to US $0.99 for 3 days only, from 16th March 2012 to the end of 18th March.  Grab it while it's on sale!

Retina Display Support coming to Symphonix Evolution

We couldn't go past the retina display on the new iPad!  Here's a view of Symphonix Evolution running in the original iPad and iPad 2 and zoomed to double the size so you can directly compare - click on the image to show it at full size:

And here's the same portion of the screen running on the Retina display:

We're still tweaking the graphics and redrawing various gadgets and fonts (if you look closely you'll see some lines aren't yet lining up at the high resolution), and at this stage we'll be releasing an update within a week of the iPad's launch that takes full advantage of the new display.