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.

Symphonix Evolution: We've got Rhythm!

Symphonix Evolution continues to evolve.  We're currently working on an integrated Rhythm Maker (drum sequencer) so that you can create and add your own percussion sequences!

You can save your rhythms and drag them into any song you create, and even use percussion sets for external MIDI devices.  Symphonix Evolution allows the resulting patterns to be repeated throughout the track, or looped for a set number of times.  It is even possible to add "stop", "pause" and "resume" events into your song so that you have fine control over pattern playback.

The next update is not far away and the Rhythm Maker will be available soon!

Symphonix Evolution 1.87 has been submitted to the App Store

The next version of Symphonix Evolution has been submitted to the App Store for review.  As mentioned previously, this version adds support for Dropbox file sharing.  The rest of the update focuses on bug fixes and general improvements to usability and stability.

Here's a "heads up" on the enhancements:

• Files can now be opened or saved from Dropbox
• It is now easier to locate files by filtering between All Files, Symphonix files and MIDI files
• Double tap in the Selection bar to select a measure, triple tap to select the whole song
• Touch the Measure button on the main toolbar to Go To a Measure
• Added Go to Measure button to the Sheet Music View screen

These bugs have been fixed:

• After saving in MIDI format with lyrics, the file was not able to be loaded
• The song file could be corrupted if duplicating or splitting tracks containing beamed or tied notes
• Cut and paste operations could cause incorrect display of beamed notes
• The client could crash when attempting to go to a measure
• The Clear button on the Track Management screen did not operate correctly

The ability to quickly select a Measure or the whole Song makes it much easier to hear playback of a single Measure and addresses one of the functions that have been most requested by our users:  Simply double-tap above the measure and then tap the Play button.

We're now busy updating the Player app to bring it up to the same feature level as the main Symphonix Evolution app - More about this soon!