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Simon H

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Posts posted by Simon H

    Tunepal app

    in Tunes /Songs

    Posted

    It's actually simpler. You press 'record' when you are listening to a tune in a session or a recording. A few seconds later after comparing the notes with a couple of databases, ( the session and Henrik Norbeck, and Nigel Gatherer , Michael) it returns the ABC files that most closely match the note sequence it heard from the snippet you recorded, it displays it as dots, and it will play the tune back for you in a choice of instruments. You can save the tunes you find onto your phone or iPad to play back and learn at your leisure, plus you can slow them down for slow learning while following the dots or ABC. I'd like Tunepal to have access to a few more tune lists, but what it does is quite amazing. Also allows you to find tunes by name or even by inputting a few notes in ABC.

     

    It's hard to describe if you don't have a concept of what an app is, but think of Tunepal as a programme like ABC explorer on your phone, made in such a way as to be hugely user friendly and with features that makes it rather amazing to use.

     

    I know a lot of people pooh pooh this sort of thing, but loads and loads of people use Tunepal to gather and learn tunes. I use it as a practice tool on my iPad regularly.

     

    Simon

    Ipad issue

    in Forum Questions, Suggestions, Help

    Posted

    If you mean putting things into this forum with the ipad, try changing the posting settings in your profile (top of page). I couldn't post at all in this forum from my ipad until I changed the settings, unticking the boxes.

     

    If the problem is everywhere you use your ipad, (email other forums etc), then your problem is with the ipad itself.

    Simon

    a little more PDF help

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    Have you considered using the Tunebook app. It handles ABC files on the ipad. You can load all the Paul Hardy tunes directly into it, plus thousands of others, sort them, make your own songbooks, display as dots, playback etc etc. All without going near a pc, a folder, or a PDF, I put a video on youtube a while ago showing how the iphone version works, the ipad version is rhe same, but designed for the ipad. Just search on youtube for tunebook.

    What you are trying to do, file management, is not a task easily done with the ipad, and the concept of folders is not really used in the same way on the ipad. Its deliberately designed that way. If you use the apps designed for ABC like tunebook or Tunepal, you'll do all you want plus a lot more.

    Feel free to pm me if you need help getting set up and getting tune collections into tunebook. Apologies if i've misinterpreted your needs, i was trying to see the wood for the trees.

     

    Simon

    carrying music scores on your "device"

    in Teaching and Learning

    Posted

    Display the gif as you want it on the ipad screen in your browser of choice. Then press your home button and on off switch simultaneously. The screen will blink and you will have delivered a perfect screenshot onto the picture roll. If you are saying you have gifs on your PC then you need to convert to jpg's in a graphics prog before sending to your ipad. You can just email them and save down from your email to picture roll.

    Simon

    ConcertinaXL and EnglitinaXL updates for iPad 3

    in Teaching and Learning

    Posted · Edited by Simon H

    I have downloaded your app, and I was wondering if you could answer the following question. Will the IPad act as a midi sound generator? I was thinking of buying a midi concertina and wondering if the sound you supplied for the app could be accessed. Thanks, JGGUNN

    The iPad makes a fantastic midi source. There are a couple of ways to this. Firstly, (i havn't used this) you can use the camera connection kit available from apple stores. This can then somehow be connected to your midi concertina.

     

    The method I use with great succes is the iRig midi interface. It is a small device that plugs into the bottom of your ipad or iphone, and has interface cable with standard midi plug to go in your concertina.

     

    Once connected you have a wealth of apps to use that will see the midi input from your concertina. The app requirement is that they use something called Coremidi to see the interface and midi concertina. If the app supports coremidi it will work with your concertina.

     

    There are literally dozens of apps that work with a mdiconcertina set up this way. Some like thumbjam work in background mode so you can play along in apps like tunebook with ABC tunes.

     

    Garage band, Thumbjam, Animoog, Sample tank, 50 In one piano, and a wealth of other synths and keyboards will work. You can sample sounds in garageband and play them back on your concertina, layer them, lay down beats you name it.

     

    Thumbjam is superb with a midi concertina as the sound samples are such high quality.

     

    I use the S- wave midi concertina, getting the irigmidi device has added a whole new lease on life to it.

     

    Instead of using the ipad, sometimes i use my iphone and clip it on top of the concertina and bluetooth to my amplifier. Totally cable free midi concertina! Same apps.

     

    Lastly there is zero latency with this setup.

     

    Simon

    Coffee table book on concertinas

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    Just a few thoughts based on some experience I have.

     

    another area of interest I have is aerial photography from kites, known as KAP (kite aerial photography) Like the world of concertinas, there is a very active and friendly forum full of enthusiasts willing to help and share experience. As part of our activities we set aside a week each year to take aerial photographs specifically to be published in a book. These books have been collated each year by a different volunteer member of the forum. After the "flying week" members have a month or so up to a deadline to submit 2 or 3 pictures and a couple of paragraphs of text to the collator, who then puts the whole lot together to make a hardback colour book of glorious photos taken by forum members around the world. currently the books are running at around a hundred pages and everyone who puts in submissions gets their page in the book. However due to the difficulties of "herding cats" editorial control is absolute, and members have to content themselves with layouts etc as set out in the pre-submission guidelines that are posted at the forum. Certain minimum requirements regarding picture quality resolutions etc have to be met to achieve a quality result.

     

    The final product, when it is received, is specatcular . To see a whole double page spread of your own photographs and a few words, and the same from other people you know and correspond with is great, and the books make a great coffee table book and talking point.

     

    So how do we do this? In a word: Blurb Blurb is a website that allows users to compile and self publish books online which are then available for others, even the public, to buy. To use it, one has to download the template software and then it is a matter of putting the pictures and text in place and publishing.

     

    If we were to do this for Concertinas I think it could be fantastic as properly photographed, concertinas look superb, and I for one would happily pay for a coffee table book of photos of concertinas, particularly if I knew that on opening a page, mine were in there too.

     

    All this is perfectly possible and do-able. however, a couple of serious points. The aerial photographers that I work with are photographers and techie types and are good at understanding the requirements to achieve a good result. things like resolution file types compression, etc are second nature to them. I'm not so sure that the same goes for concertina players. however some of this can be overcome by having a guide sheet on how to get and submit decent photos.

     

    As this is a new venture it might be worth putting a poll together or some such to see what interest can be generated. No point someone saying they will compile and edit the book if only 10 people actually submit photographs.

     

    Lastly the task of collation is much greater than you might imagine a quick read of this editing blog will give a feel for the challenges involved, however, this forum may not have quite such scrupulous and exacting requirements as the aerial photographers group so the burdon on editing might not be so great..

     

    Would I consider doing this job for the Concertina forum? I guess having recently retired, the answer would be a guarded "yes" but only if the interest were there and there could be swift and clear agreement around purpose (coffee table, reference, artistic etc) for example it might be lovely to include for each contributor a scan of their favourite tune as well as a concertina picture or two.

     

    At this point i'll step back into the wings and let others thrash through this. Come back to me if you want to take it further.

     

    Simon

    Cowon iAudio D2

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    A friend had one of these almost matchbox sized devices at a session the other day with a touch screen etc. Has anyone used one and any commenst?

     

    A bit superceded by modern smartphones etc these days. Its a 5 year old Mp3 storage device good in its day for its touch screen. Still perfectly good if all your music is on it. certainly got good reviews in its day.

     

    Simon

    A Bone To Pick

    in Instrument Construction & Repair

    Posted

    On a recent restoration I was needing to replace a couple of missing "bone" buttons. I sourced identical material by buying a few old knives from an antiques fair. Every junk shop has bone handled knives by the score for little more than pennies.

     

    Interestingly when I started cutting them up I found a couple were plastic material one smelt like celluloid, the other seem more like a casein. The other couple were bone or ivory. I ended up getting the best colour match with the celluloid material. Whatever, I can strongly recommend old knife handles. Watch the fumes if you are cutting with power tools and be aware cellulose nitrate (celluloid) is fiercely flammable, being closely related to guncotton.

     

    Simon

    Bellow size vs playing power

    in Instrument Construction & Repair

    Posted

    The other consideration that havn't been mentioned yet are weight of both the bellows and the whole concertine, ( increased inertia to overcome everytime you change direction) and construction of the bellows, adding to the resistance. A lighter concertina with supple bellows that compress easily and convert effort to air delivered efficiently, is a very different instrument to play than a heavier one with stiff bellows. These factors in my humble opinion are more important (or at least equally important) to volume and cross sectional area.

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