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Replace "tap" with "click" in your post. How is the iPad better than doing the same things with the mouse? I don't dispute that a very nice app could be creat

by mullr 16y ago

Replace "tap" with "click" in your post. How is the iPad better than doing the same things with the mouse? I don't dispute that a very nice app could be created, but I question whether the iPad itself enables any of those things. Further, a finger is a very imprecise input device. For music, precision is very important. Even a mouse is not precise enough for lots of things I do when I use DAW software. Music notation is one place where I think pen-based input would be useful. It's precise and the input language is tightly scoped enough that the recognition problem is solvable. There's also no existing system that lets you input musical notes in any faster way. Recording-based apps (midi or otherwise) are always at the mercy of the performer. And unless you're superhuman (I'm not), you have to spend a long time quantizing and correcting the transcribed rhythm. It's real bummer. I would much rather scrawl the notes and know that they'll be nicely typeset out the other end.

moe 16y ago
There's also no existing system that lets you input musical notes in any faster way. One word: Keyboard. This is one thing that I really love about soundtrackers (e.g. renoise[1]). You just type in your notes while seamlessly tabbing between different tracks/instruments. This makes experimentation faster and more pleasant than any other method I've come across. It is sad that clumsy point-and-click interfaces are still the norm in most music software. Dragging around little rectangles on a grid is horrible. [1] http://www.renoise.com/uploads/images/screenshots/rns25matrix.jpg http://www.renoise.com/uploads/images/screenshots/rns25matri...
- spiralganglion 16y ago
  Sibelius is almost there. Almost. They're still expecting you to use a mouse for some tasks, but you can get a lot done with just the keyboard.
dgurney 16y ago
You make a good point about replacing "tap" with "click," but while the two seem similar conceptually (ie. either way you get "input --> reaction"), I think the actual experience is completely different. With clicking, you make an input and see a reaction elsewhere (on the screen). But with tapping, the input and reaction occur in the same place. And I think that direct connection is key. Playing music is by nature a tactile experience, so composing in a tactile manner brings you that much closer to the end product. Granted, I'm a musician myself, so I could be biased. But I think pretty much anyone can enjoy the idea of adding notes to a staff and seeing music come out the other end. The more direct that process is, the better. In terms of precision, I find the iPad to be plenty accurate, for these purposes anyway. The staff would have to be blown up a bit, but after that I don't see note accuracy being a problem. Plus, this would probably be a more limited program and wouldn't be as applicable to professionals who need that pixel-by-pixel level of accuracy (think finger painting vs. photoshop...).

by mullr 16y ago

moe 16y ago

There's also no existing system that lets you input musical notes in any faster way. One word: Keyboard. This is one thing that I really love about soundtrackers (e.g. renoise[1]). You just type in your notes while seamlessly tabbing between different tracks/instruments. This makes experimentation faster and more pleasant than any other method I've come across. It is sad that clumsy point-and-click interfaces are still the norm in most music software. Dragging around little rectangles on a grid is horrible. [1] http://www.renoise.com/uploads/images/screenshots/rns25matrix.jpg http://www.renoise.com/uploads/images/screenshots/rns25matri...

spiralganglion 16y ago
Sibelius is almost there. Almost. They're still expecting you to use a mouse for some tasks, but you can get a lot done with just the keyboard.

dgurney 16y ago

You make a good point about replacing "tap" with "click," but while the two seem similar conceptually (ie. either way you get "input --> reaction"), I think the actual experience is completely different. With clicking, you make an input and see a reaction elsewhere (on the screen). But with tapping, the input and reaction occur in the same place. And I think that direct connection is key. Playing music is by nature a tactile experience, so composing in a tactile manner brings you that much closer to the end product. Granted, I'm a musician myself, so I could be biased. But I think pretty much anyone can enjoy the idea of adding notes to a staff and seeing music come out the other end. The more direct that process is, the better. In terms of precision, I find the iPad to be plenty accurate, for these purposes anyway. The staff would have to be blown up a bit, but after that I don't see note accuracy being a problem. Plus, this would probably be a more limited program and wouldn't be as applicable to professionals who need that pixel-by-pixel level of accuracy (think finger painting vs. photoshop...).