David Barnert Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Great stuff! Multiple buttons may be pressed at the same time to play chords. It would be nice if there were an example of this in the video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azalin Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Eskin what would be interesting in version two is to be able to use different layouts. Right now the concertina is too mind blowing for me to even consider trying a different, adapter layout... but... If you could have a layout with two rows, first row is the first four buttons of the LH C row, and second row is the first four buttons of the RH C row... it would actually be possible to play a few G/C tunes using the exact same fingering as you'd do on a C/G 20/30 buttons. Well, withouth the F# or the first 2 important buttons of the RH G row, but still very doable to get instant gratification on a couple of tunes :-) You could also switch the layout and have the G rows instead of the C rows... Just food for thought anyway, good work. You should have Carroll sponsoring you and call the App "Carroll Concertina" :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Barnert Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 While were "making demands," would this work for a Hayden layout? I think I've jettisoned all the buttons I could live without. Unfortunately that still leaves 4 rows on the right and 5 buttons wide. It plays in D, G, A, and Em. No push-pull mechanism needed, but perhaps a transposer in place of the tilt sensitivity slider. Note, left hand notes are an octave below right hand, and each row is 1/2 an octave higher in pitch than the one below. I know it won't fit. Just dreaming. | LEFT HAND || RIGHT HAND | || | || G |(C) D E F# || C D E F# | G A B C# || G A B C# | C D E F# G# ||(C) D E F# G# | |(C) = middle C (both hands). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_boveri Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 (edited) Eskin what would be interesting in version two is to be able to use different layouts. Right now the concertina is too mind blowing for me to even consider trying a different, adapter layout... but... If you could have a layout with two rows, first row is the first four buttons of the LH C row, and second row is the first four buttons of the RH C row... it would actually be possible to play a few G/C tunes using the exact same fingering as you'd do on a C/G 20/30 buttons. Well, withouth the F# or the first 2 important buttons of the RH G row, but still very doable to get instant gratification on a couple of tunes :-) You could also switch the layout and have the G rows instead of the C rows... Just food for thought anyway, good work. You should have Carroll sponsoring you and call the App "Carroll Concertina" :-) actually, it is not a different layout at all. there are buttons missing, for sure. but every button that is there is in the right place. i didnt get it first either. it helps if you have an iPhone/iPod touch to hold and look at the video. Edited December 4, 2009 by david_boveri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Eskin Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share Posted December 4, 2009 Another thing to try if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch is download the screen shots to the device and look at them with the photo viewer... That way you can get a sense for the button positions before the app is officially released by Apple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azalin Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Eskin what would be interesting in version two is to be able to use different layouts. Right now the concertina is too mind blowing for me to even consider trying a different, adapter layout... but... If you could have a layout with two rows, first row is the first four buttons of the LH C row, and second row is the first four buttons of the RH C row... it would actually be possible to play a few G/C tunes using the exact same fingering as you'd do on a C/G 20/30 buttons. Well, withouth the F# or the first 2 important buttons of the RH G row, but still very doable to get instant gratification on a couple of tunes :-) You could also switch the layout and have the G rows instead of the C rows... Just food for thought anyway, good work. You should have Carroll sponsoring you and call the App "Carroll Concertina" :-) actually, it is not a different layout at all. there are buttons missing, for sure. but every button that is there is in the right place. i didnt get it first either. it helps if you have an iPhone/iPod touch to hold and look at the video. Ah, yes! I was wrong, it is in fact a very similar layout AND has the required buttons to play in D and other keys. Hmmm now I'd be very curious to try. But I don't own a cellphone and I'm against them, so maybe if I ever get a iPod... but I don't like Apple much hehe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3838 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 (edited) I think the major difference between this and a real instrument will be speed.... Does it have an air button? It's a fun toy and the best (well, the only) Anglo concertina you can get for $0.99... :-) I wonder if this meets Misha's requirements for an inexpensive entry-level "concertina". I think the price is within his parameters, IF you already own an iPod. Not so sure if you have to include the price of the iPod itself. I'm waiting for an iDoneon. But I don't have most required parameters to check the application: I need an iPhone or iPod, and I need a pair of better eyes to see the darn thing (esp. tunebook thing). Computers are becoming smaller, phones larger till they get to the size of computers and the computers will shrink to the size of phones. Then we'll be carrying computers around to make calls and have desktop phones to watch movies. What about mappable layout for computer keyboard? Duet, English, CBA, Piano? I wonder where I can buy second hand iPhone as the new one is out of my psychological reach. Edited December 4, 2009 by m3838 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Barnert Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 There's an article in this morning's New York Times about iPhones as musical instruments. It mentions the Ocarina app (in fact, the music professor at the center of the story is its creator and the guy in the ) but not the Concertina app. From Pocket to Stage, Music in the Key of iPhone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Eskin Posted December 5, 2009 Author Share Posted December 5, 2009 There's an article in this morning's New York Times about iPhones as musical instruments. It mentions the Ocarina app (in fact, the music professor at the center of the story is its creator and the guy in the ) but not the Concertina app. From Pocket to Stage, Music in the Key of iPhone Well, that's not surprising since my app is still going through Apple's approval process, which can take several weeks... I hope to have some news this week, I hear its about a two week turnaround. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Cayford Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 Well, that's not surprising since my app is still going through Apple's approval process, which can take several weeks... I hope to have some news this week, I hear its about a two week turnaround. Two weeks seems common though it often takes a few rounds of reject,correct cycles (we're on our 3rd ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddlehead Fern Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 That's awesome! Unfortunately I haven't got either an iPhone not an iPod touch, though I have friends who do....But I play English system, alas. This looks like a lot of fun though. Though it's possible to play some tunes on a regular phone too, with the button tones and keypad. Trust me, boredom and a strong desire to procrastinate leads one to do things bordering on either insanity or brilliance, though most likely the former. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Barnert Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 Bear with me... This may be long and apparently off-topic, but by the time it's done, it will find its way back on topic (but, alas, not get any shorter). I've spent the last two days out on the sidewalks of public winter fairs with my morris dancers, performing our "winter traditions" (Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, several Border Morris dances, sword dances, etc.). Some 15 or so dancers and two musicians, myself on concertina and pipe & tabor, and Marnen Laibow-Kozer on fiddle, accordion, and recorder. On Saturday, we were at the Sinterklaas festival in Rhinebeck, NY. It started snowing about the time we started dancing. Big wet sloppy flakes. By the end of the day there was an inch and a half of snow on my car. Somewhere along the line I told Marnen about the "Concertina" iPhone app. He has an iPhone and is a bit of a computer geek, and although he doesn't play concertina, he thought it was pretty cool. Today (Sunday) we spent in Troy, NY at the "Victorian Stroll." No snow. We performed three 1/2 hour gigs: 1:00 in front of the post office, 2:00 in front of the music hall, and 3:00 at Monument Square. Walking from my parked car to the meeting place, I was handed a leaflet for the event printed on newsprint paper. I folded it up and stuffed it in my back pocket. As soon as I started playing the 1:00 set (by myself—Marnen was dancing), I realized that my high G was fluffing on the push, but not on the pull. I was able to get through what I was playing by rethinking my bellowsing to minimize having to push the G. Next up was the longsword dance, and I asked Marnen to play it by himself so I could open my concertina and press the reed more firmly into its dovetailed wooden slot. I did so, and it seemed to be fixed. Next up was the horn dance, which I usually play by myself, the G-minor (Robinson) tune that has a lot of high G's in it and has awkward enough phrasing to make avoiding the push G difficult. I started playing and of course the G went out again. Marnen heard I was having trouble and joined in on the recorder. After the horn dance I played the rest of the set on the pipe & tabor. At the end of the set, I opened the instrument again and decided I needed to make a shim to hold the reed carrier in place. I took the leaflet out of my pocket and with my Swiss Army Knife cut a sliver of paper about 1 cm long and 1 mm wide from the newsprint. I slid it into the dovetail joint and replaced the reed carrier. It did the trick, and I had no trouble for the rest of the day. When I told Marnen that I had fixed the problem by cutting a shim from the event leaflet, he said that he had read the leaflet online in its PDF form. He guessed that it wouldn't have helped me solve my problem. Then he added: (ready for it?) "Unless maybe if you were playing the "Concertina" iPhone app." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Eskin Posted December 11, 2009 Author Share Posted December 11, 2009 (edited) 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. I can't wait for y'all to get your hands on it. Here's the new layout with 17 buttons: Button notes can be displayed by pressing the '?' icon, there's now G#s in both octaves: New highlighting, easier to see when playing: Settings page: Edited December 11, 2009 by eskin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Eskin Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 (edited) Did I mention that there will actually be four versions of Concertina available: 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 Edited December 13, 2009 by eskin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Levine Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 I don't have either an iPhone or an Itouch- but I'd consider buying the iTouch (keeping my ancient Nokia) to be able to play the concertina in an airport (with airphones) or in a train, or when waiting for the other to come back to the car. So... how handy is it for playing in situations like these? Can you get up to a reasonably fast tempo? As fast, say, as Dympna O'Sullivan's or Mary Mac's reel tempo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Eskin Posted December 15, 2009 Author Share Posted December 15, 2009 (edited) Here's a diagram showing a comparison of my real 30-button modified Jeffries layout (dual C# on right) with the 17-button app version: Edited December 15, 2009 by eskin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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