Symphonix Evolution 1.95 now available

Symphonix Evolution 1.95 hits the App Store today!

Here's a summary of the new features:

• MIDI control input allows external devices to control App functions 
• New function for access to synth parameters 
• New rectangular selection tool 
• New tool to toggle selected note enharmonics 
• Improved Controller function for dragging MIDI events into a song 
• Added setting to change metronome volume 
• Improved user interface with slide-out panel for file functions 
• New tap tempo function 
• New tap tempo recording 
• Added option for auto note stem placement 
• Finger positions are now notated in the score if available 
• New function for adding grace notes 
• Automatic chord matching and display when playing notes 
• Added improved interface for track and song controls, including new buttons for "all notes off", "synth reset" and "controller reset". 
• New Chord Sheet function to easily detect and manage chords in a song 
• Added Play and Stop buttons to the Print Preview screen 
• Added option for inserting both chord name and notation to the Chord Builder 
• Added text filter to the file browser 
• The lyric tool now supports voice input on iPad 3rd Generation 
• Improved response time when loading and saving files

Bugs Fixed: 

• Time signature changes were not saved to SXE files 
• Fix for MIDI channel assignments when loading some files 
• Internal drum sounds were not shown in the correct instrument groups 
• Measure numbers were displayed incorrectly after loading a file 
• MIDI controller messages were not recognised in a MIDI file if no program change event was found at the beginning of a track 
• Fixed issues with playing to Bluetooth or AirPlay devices 
• Fixed note timing issue with some MIDI tracks

 

Chords in Symphonix Evolution 1.95

It's time to introduce another new feature that's coming soon to Symphonix Evolution version 1.95: Chord Sheet!

The Chord Sheet function analyzes the song and automatically calculates the best chords to accompany a track.  These chords can then be added to the track using notation or as a fret diagram.  If the track already contains chords then the Chord Sheet will display them for you in the key signature used by each measure.

Chord Sheet is especially useful for learning a song or identifying the chord progressions in a MIDI file.  It displays the chord name, fret and piano keyboard together in a single screen as well as the ability to play each measure separately in addition to the entire song.  The user can also manually select a chord to build new progressions and immediately hear the effect that chord has on the music.

We're really excited about version 1.95 and we've nearly finished our testing.  This version will be available in early September 2012!

Tap Tempo Coming in Symphonix Evolution 1.95

As we continue to work our way toward version 1.95 of Symphonix Evolution, it's time to talk about another new upcoming feature:  Tap Tempo!

Notice the new "Tap" button in the top right corner of the Tempo entry screen? Tap this button in time with the beat and the tempo will update accordingly.  This feature works even when a song is not playing, but observant readers will also see that the Tempo screen has new buttons in the lower left corner for starting and stopping playback.  This is to help with another new feature...Tempo Track!

Now if the tempo is changed while the song is playing, and the Stop button is pressed, Symphonix Evolution detects the tempo changes and asks whether or not to save them:

Choose the "Use current tempo as the initial tempo" option to keep the most recent tempo change you made and use it as the new tempo for the song  (This finally provides a way to adjust the tempo during playback).  The second option is more interesting however, as it allows the tempo changes to be added to the song using Track #1 as the "tempo track", preserving the timing of the original changes in the order that they were made.


With these new features it is now possible to enter a score from sheet music or by recording an instrument, and then use the tempo function to add subtle tempo changes into the music to make it sound more natural.

We'll keep updating this blog over the next few days as we reveal more features!

Synth Controls in Symphonix Evolution 1.95

As mentioned in the previous post, we are adding Synth controls to the next version of Symphonix Evolution.

This new panel provides access to the Modulation, Vibrato and Volume synth parameters including filters and envelope (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release as well as Hold and Delay).  Manipulating these values can dramatically alter the characteristics of an instrument, and these have also been made available as NRPN (non-registered parameter number) messages via MIDI.

To make the settngs even more useful the Controller button on the main toolbar has also been enhanced so that the Synth Parameters can be easily copied into the song:

When you find a set of Synth Parameters you like, drag from the Controller button into the song at the point where you'd like to apply the NRPN message and use the "Copy Synth Parameters" button on the NRPN tab to quickly add all of the controller messages to the song.

There are many more features coming, and we'll try to detail them here over the next few weeks.

Coming Soon: Symphonix Evolution 1.95

Since version 1.90 and 1.91 we've been busy making our app even better!

Here's just a few of the new features that are coming soon:

• Map functions to MIDI controllers so that external hardware or MIDI apps can control the software.  For example using a MIDI controller keyboard to change track presets or control the transport functions
• Significant performance improvements and improved stability
• Improved user interface for transport controls and more intuitive design of other features such as Controller input
• Access to low-level synthesizer parameters (this is one of our favorites and will be covered in this blog soon)
• More powerful selection tools for modifying notes and manipulating the song

Over the next few weeks we'll discuss some of these features in more detail here, as we work toward the final release.  August is going to be a great month!

Symphonix Evolution Version 1.91 Release

Symphonix Evolution version 1.91 hits the App Store today!

The big news for this release is the ability to export songs in MusicXML format, the addition of a guitar chord library to show fret diagrams and finger positions, and Play Lists for managing music and grouping songs into albums. 

Here's the full list of changes:

• Songs may now be exported to MusicXML format for use in other notation applications 
• It is now possible to group songs into Play Lists 
• Added Delete track button to the Track Summary view 
• Added "Move Up/Move Down" buttons to the Track Summary view for changing track order 
• Chord Builder now allows chords to be added to the score as Notation, Text (Chord Name Only) or Guitar Fret Diagram 
• When pausing song playback, the current position is now selected automatically, allowing playback to resume from that position by pressing Play again

The following bugs were also fixed:

• The track name could display as garbage in the Track Summary view if no mapping for an instrument in a song could be found 
• Saving over an existing file in Dropbox resulted in a duplicate file with (1) at the end of the name instead of replacing the old file 
• Beamed notes could display incorrectly after using the Copy/Paste function
• Fixed various issues with the Virtual MIDI implementation and background play  
• The Clear function on the main toolbar now leaves measures, key changes and time signature changes in place, and only deletes notation 

Improvements to Chord Builder

We're busy improving the Chord Builder in Symphonix Evolution so it works with guitar chords!

In the next update to Symphonix Evolution it will be possible to add the guitar fret diagrams into the score, or just the chord symbol without notation.  This will make the app even better for the creation of lead sheets.

We'll keep posting here as we continue to add more features.