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"Concertina" - Anglo Concertina for the iPhone/iPod Touch

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:09 am
by eskin
Here's my follow on to 3QuarterSet...

"Concertina" is a very high quality Anglo Concertina for the iPhone and iPod Touch (2nd Generation).

http://www.tradlessons.com/ConcertinaApp.html

To play, simply tip to the left for a bellows push note, or to the right for a bellows pull note, and press a button. The PUSH/PULL display shows which direction the bellows is going.

You may reverse the bellows while pushing a button simply by tipping in the opposite direction.

Multiple buttons may be pressed at the same time to play chords.

Learning mode (touch the '?' icon) shows the note names for each button when pushed or pulled.

Adjust the tilt sensitivity and volume on the settings page.

The button layout is based on a 16-key modified Jeffries style for playing traditional Irish dance tunes in the most common keys.

Uses extremely high-quality audio samples recorded from a high-end Anglo C/G concertina.

Just submitted to the iTunes App Store for review, when available it will be $0.99.

After a while practicing with the app, it really starts to feel like playing the real thing. This will be a great way to expose people to the instrument and will create, I hope, a whole generation of people able to play Anglo and looking to buy real instruments.

Main Screen
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Learning Mode
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Holding Down Two Buttons
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Settings Page
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How to Hold the iPhone/iPod Touch
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Re: "Concertina" - Anglo Concertina for the iPhone/iPod Touch

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:34 am
by Ciarameddaru
Very cool!

Re: "Concertina" - Anglo Concertina for the iPhone/iPod Touch

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 1:22 pm
by fearfaoin
Great idea! I had no idea the concertina
layout was so all over the place. It's not
linear like a harmonica...

Here's something I've wondered since using
a touchscreen phone: does muscle memory
catch up to the lack of tactile feedback?
i.e., Have you ever been able to play
without looking?

Re: "Concertina" - Anglo Concertina for the iPhone/iPod Touch

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 3:40 pm
by scheky
fearfaoin wrote:Great idea! I had no idea the concertina
layout was so all over the place. It's not
linear like a harmonica...

Here's something I've wondered since using
a touchscreen phone: does muscle memory
catch up to the lack of tactile feedback?
i.e., Have you ever been able to play
without looking?
It is linear. Look top-down on the left side, and bottom-up on the right.

On the Left Side, the far left row is the G row. The right one is C.

On the Right Side, the right row is the continuation of the G row, the middle row is the continuation of the C row and the left row is the accidentals.

That should clear it up a bit.

Brilliant btw, I'll be buying it.

Re: "Concertina" - Anglo Concertina for the iPhone/iPod Touch

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:10 pm
by eskin
Take a G harmonica. Stack a C harmonica on top of it.

Slice the stacked harmonicas in half and put the low half on the left, the high half on the right. That's essentially the layout of an anglo concertina.

Take a look again at the layout and imagine the half harmonicas stacked vertically with the high end of the harmonicas on the bottom left, and the low end of the harmonicas on the bottom right.

Don't worry about those two extra buttons on the right, those are for the C# and D# that aren't on the C or G harmonica, but are required for tunes in D, Em, and Amix.

Michael

Re: "Concertina" - Anglo Concertina for the iPhone/iPod Touch

Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 9:31 am
by avanutria
I may look into getting an Ipod Touch just to use this application.

Re: "Concertina" - Anglo Concertina for the iPhone/iPod Touch

Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 9:45 am
by fearfaoin
eskin wrote:Take a G harmonica. Stack a C harmonica on top of it.
Ok, I was thinking of chromatic instead of
diatonic harmonicas. Duh. Now I sees it.

Re: "Concertina" - Anglo Concertina for the iPhone/iPod Touch

Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 11:21 am
by eskin
I just updated the website with the final user interface images and a tune demo:

http://www.tradlessons.com/ConcertinaApp.html

you can also download the demo video at:

http://drop.io/ConcertinaApp/asset/concertinapolka-mpg

Cheers!

Michael

Re: "Concertina" - Anglo Concertina for the iPhone/iPod Touch

Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 12:07 pm
by scheky
Now if Apple would only get around to approving it...yeesh.

Re: "Concertina" - Anglo Concertina for the iPhone/iPod Touch

Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 6:33 pm
by eskin
It may be a week or two based on what I hear, so hopefully by Christmas, assume I don't have to change something to get approval, then the clock would start over.

Re: "Concertina" - Anglo Concertina for the iPhone/iPod Touch

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 3:03 am
by eskin
By completely rewriting the multi-touch code, I figured out how to make the app at least 5-10 times faster to respond and also added G#s in both octaves as a 17th button! Waiting for Apple to approve the new version, probably around Christmas. It's really come together nicely.

Here's the new layout with 17 buttons:
Image

Button notes can be displayed by pressing the '?' icon, there's now G#s in both octaves:
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New highlighting, easier to see when playing:
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Settings page:
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Re: "Concertina" - Anglo Concertina for the iPhone/iPod Touch

Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 2:40 am
by eskin
Did I mention that there will actually be four versions of Concertina:

Concertina (in C/G)
Concertina Bb/F
Concertina A/E
and
Concertina G/D

Each one will be $0.99 when available on the iTunes App Store... Collect them all! :-)

Here's the latest info:
http://www.tradlessons.com/ConcertinaApp.html

Re: "Concertina" - Anglo Concertina for the iPhone/iPod Touch

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 6:50 am
by sippriver
That is really nice, Can you make a c#/D Button accordian?

Re: "Concertina" - Anglo Concertina for the iPhone/iPod Touch

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 5:27 pm
by eskin
Yes, if I had recordings of every button...

Re: "Concertina" - Anglo Concertina for the iPhone/iPod Touch

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 5:58 pm
by MTGuru
eskin wrote:Yes, if I had recordings of every button...
You do, if you still have them. :-)