
Touch Pianist – Tap in Rhythm and Perform Your Favourite Music - faramarz
http://touchpianist.com/
======
idank
This made me shed a tear.

I played the piano for years but due to a physical disability I can no longer
play like I used to. Pressing the keys, maintaining rhythm and hearing the
music come out is the closest feeling I got to what is now a forgotten memory.

Thank you Mr. Batuhan Bozkurt, for taking me back a few years to all those fun
hours I spent on the piano. Please add more pieces (Liszt!) and keep up the
good work (incorporating the pedal into this somehow would be really nice)!

~~~
earslapped
Thank you too, I'll be adding a bunch of Liszt soon.

~~~
osxrand
For feature requests, I'd love to be able just to watch them being played
automagically one after the other on my iOS device (on the website or app), or
computer via the website.

Sometimes I just want to lay there with headphones on and listens to good
piano music.

Really enjoyed playing with this, actually still enjoying :)

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arondeparon
Very cool, well done! I just showed it to my wife and 3 year old and both
spent 45 minutes playing with it.

Some suggestions:

\- the ads on iPad are really obtrusive. Please remove them. I'd gladly pay
for the app or the individual packages. ( I deleted the app within 5 minutes)

\- a "buy everything" option would be nice

\- I think a two handed mode would be really great: perhaps you could consider
generating two timelines with separate even handlers so that you can play
multiple rhythms at the same time. Would be a nice "advanced mode".

\- eventually , an option to include scoring would be nice. You could compare
the actual rhythm offset with the"ideal" rhythm to train user rhythm. The
current "sandbox" mode really should stay, though, since I really enjoyed
watching my kid playing with it :-)

Other than that, great work!

~~~
yodsanklai
Yes, a two handed mode + scoring would be great. That would make it a fun
program to practice rhythm. There are similar music training software such as
Earmaster but they're not really engaging.

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eps
Why is the iOS app free? After playing with the in-browser demo for just a
minute that would've been an extremely easy $2 to part with!

EDIT - oh, it's got ads in it. Removed. Sorry, if you ship your software
stuffed with some 3rd party crap that most certainly nobody wants and then
offer to disable that part for money, then it's an instant No. Please make a
proper paid version with none of this nonsense and I will gladly pay for it.

~~~
janekm
You can wish for a perfect world all you want, but any developer who wants to
earn money with an iOS app knows that the basic version has to be free. If you
like the app, pay the in-app purchase and be happy... It's pretty unfair to
punish the developer for the realities of mobile app markets.
[http://www.marco.org/2013/09/28/underscore-price-
dynamics](http://www.marco.org/2013/09/28/underscore-price-dynamics)

~~~
eps
I don't demand that he abandons his ways. I'm asking for another version that
is paid and cruft-free.

~~~
curiousphil
You do realize that Apple discourages multiple versions of the same app since
releasing in-app purchases, right? It clutters up the App Store having paid
and free versions of apps. I wish they would just release a proper app demoing
system...

~~~
eps
Any specifics on how they discourage this? Geniune question. There's plenty of
high-ranking apps with both paid and free-ad-supported versions, e.g. Cut The
Rope.

~~~
curiousphil
Here is a discussion on the topic between a few developers with Apple's reason
for rejection, from a few years ago. [http://iphonedevsdk.com/forum/business-
legal-app-store/93228...](http://iphonedevsdk.com/forum/business-legal-app-
store/93228-paid-version-on-app-store-free-version-rejected-for-duplicate-
content.html)

I believe Cut The Rope pre-dated the push for keeping apps singular with IAP
to unlock additional content.

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opinali
Mandatory link if you don't know this:
[https://www.youtube.com/user/smalin/](https://www.youtube.com/user/smalin/)

~~~
ctchocula
Seconded. The videos in that channel are a great help in seeing polyphony and
how complex music can be behind-the-scene.

~~~
sebkomianos
_Seeing_ polyphony is an oxymoron; yet a so true one. It's a pity that our
sense of hearing is not as strong.

 _(same goes with pretty much all of them though)_

~~~
frogpelt
I don't mean to nitpick but your hearing has strengths and your eyesight has
strengths.

For instance, your eyesight is terrible at telling you a furniture truck is
coming around the corner.

If you were good at separating the individual elements of music without much
effort, perhaps music wouldn't be nearly as appealing. Who knows?

~~~
sebkomianos
Your example is wrong, I think: My eyesight can't tell me about the truck
around the corner and I only know it when I hear it but that doesn't mean that
I can see it next time. In comparison, when you "see" the polyphony you are
one step closer to "hearing" it the next time.

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beefsack
Was telling someone else about it and realised it's a slightly unfortunate
name when saying it aloud.

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rgrannell1
This is a really terrific app. In many ways is nicer than siting back and
listening to music, as it makes you think more about the flow and melody of a
piece. I enjoyed this very much.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
It would be good paired with a movement sensor, like kinect, so you could do
mock conducting.

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joshschreuder
There is a similar game on iOS called Magic Piano [1] - it seems to have
licensed many popular and older songs and you can play them on iPad with an
almost identical UI, for a freemium cost.

[1] [https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/magic-piano-by-
smule/id42125...](https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/magic-piano-by-
smule/id421254504?mt=8)

~~~
stevenh
How much would the melody of any given song played on piano need to be
modified before it would no longer be legally considered a cover?

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rectang
I couldn't believe that the Waldstein Sonata (first movement) was an option!
I've listened to that piece I don't know how many times by so many different
pianists (favorites are Wilhelm Kempff and John O'Conor) but I'm not a pianist
and could never dream of climbing that mountain. And I tried it and of course
made a dire mess of it but it was still SO MUCH FUN!

------
eddieroger
At the risk of being the naysayer, I'm not sure it teaches you how to play the
piano so much as it teaches you about musical rhythm and timing and note
relativity and would help develop the ability to play by ear. It doesn't
really distinguish between clefs or hand placement, and did the relative
placement thing worked better when things were closer together anyway.

~~~
newsvatore
Agreed. Not to mention the name is a little unfortunate. Say the name too
quickly, and you'll probably end up in a database somewhere... :\

~~~
arbitel
LOL at that last part.

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Grue3
"Chrome highly recommended"

Brings me back to the 90s. "This page is optimized for Internet Explorer 5.5".

~~~
gulbrandr
_Chrome highly recommended_

No thank you, I prefer Firefox.

~~~
DEinspanjer
I started by trying it out on Firefox (nightly), but after a few minutes, my
laptop's fan started ramping up as the CPU usage climbed and then the sound
became all distorted until it was unplayable. :/ I was playing the first
Rachmaninov piece when it happened.

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bitwize
I love things like this that convey some sense of what it feels like to be a
musician. A game like _Space Channel 5_ is another example; the gameplay is
extremely simplistic and would be boringly repetitive if the game didn't make
you feel like the star of a musical.

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musanim
A fun, easy-to-use implementation of the conductor program (see
[http://www.musanim.com/tapper/](http://www.musanim.com/tapper/) for an
historical overview of this idea). Not a professional-grade tool, but a good
introduction. I played through all the fugues in the first book of Bach's
Well-Tempered Clavier --- I ALMOST know them well enough to do this perfectly
(except, of course, for the ornaments; I almost never guessed those right).
The one thing that surprised me: after playing for a while, my fingertips felt
really bruised (this is on an iPad); I've played the piano for 54 years, and
I've never had this sensation playing a real keyboard instrument.

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pointernil
.) Love it.

.) I can imagine teaching playing piano changed to use something like this
simply because it provides such a pleasant and so rewarding experience of
accomplishment in contrast to what the "usual" way of learning the instrument
tends to be. Who would drop lessons if this was the experience?

.) I see it as a very strong, supportive set of crutches. Currently only
guiding the tempo of play but which could easily be extended to support other
parts of play: reading notation, mapping to keys on the instrument, left/right
hand coordination etc. etc.

.) Over time "the crutches" could become less and less supportive and in the
end I could play my beloved "Chopin Nocturne Op.9 No.2" without them and later
start even interpreting it...

~~~
roryokane
That teaching aid you describe already exists:
[https://www.synthesiagame.com/](https://www.synthesiagame.com/). It’s like
Guitar Hero for piano. You can give it any MIDI file to play.

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JonnieCache
To the naysayers: playing notes at the right time is way harder and more
important than playing the _right_ notes. Rhythmic confidence is key.

~~~
amelius
Indeed, on a piano, the notes are fixed (you cannot play any note between two
notes), so the only "interpretation" a performer can add to an existing piece
of music is a change in the timing of the notes, and the loudness (attack) of
the notes.

Of course, on other types of instrument, this may not hold.

~~~
maroonblazer
There's also duration (legato vs staccato) and "smearing" notes to achieve
that 'in between' sound. Very common in jazz, rock and blues, but not unheard
of in classical.

~~~
amelius
Duration is part of the timing, I guess. What do you mean by "smearing"
exactly?

~~~
louthy
I think the GP means 'sluring'

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slur_%28music%29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slur_%28music%29)

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ookblah
this is wonderful! would there be a way to save the output? would be
interesting to see how others interpret a piece. really also wishing that we
could track keyboard velocity as well:p

~~~
camperman
I have Audio Hijack Pro on my Mac and set it to save the system audio while I
was playing. I guess any hijacking app on your OS should do the same.

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adrianh
Excellent work! I'd love to integrate this into my product Soundslice
(soundslice.com), which is web-based notation/music education software.

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fibbery
Great idea. As an occasional pianist, this would be fantastic right at the
start of trying to learn a new piece, where I don't have a feel for the sound
of it yet. I could have the sheet music up and "play" the correct rhythm while
hearing the notes.

Once I mastered the piece I would never play it on here again though, for fear
that it would interfere with muscle memory of the actual keys.

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anotheryou
Does anyone know this for ableton?

I'm searching for that for quite some time to humanize metric beats / midi
tracks.

maybe I need to fiddle something together....

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jarboot
As interesting as it is, I don't really see a educational use for this. It's
fun and all to tap along, but in the end it's nothing better than something
like DDR or Rock Band. Nothing wrong with a fun app, but I doubt it's
educational uses. (this coming from a lifelong pianist)

~~~
charlesdobson
If looking to turn this into something more educational, there could be a view
of the proper piano score. You would have to follow the rhythm as written, and
for each rhythmic value you got wrong, there would be some form of
repercussion. It would still be very similar to Rock Band, but I think there
would be more merit to reading the rhythm of written notes rather than just
dots on a screen.

That being said, it is still an enjoyable app!

~~~
chronolitus
You could also associate a key (as in, letters, or even symbols for the
programmer crowd) with each note,

would be a nice touch-type learning software

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pawtech
Very cool Idea! I was playing around with this. If you want autoplay (at least
on desktop) c/p content of
[http://pastebin.com/0n14HS11](http://pastebin.com/0n14HS11) in console.
(tested on chrome)

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PsychopompPoet
Objectively flawless experience

Thanks for making the world a better place, all the way

Without anything wrong with it

And it being perfect

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crazoter
At the end of each piece there was this "Applause!" at the end - it would be
cool if it were to be converted into a button which actually plays an applause
when clicked (I thought it was a button when I first saw it).

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AustinG08
I think this could be an excellent tool to learn some piano pieces with the
addition of a step-backwards button, so you could practice small chunks or
certain chords over and over and really analyze them.

~~~
roryokane
Synthesia lets you step backwards to play a part again, with the left and
right arrow keys:
[https://www.synthesiagame.com/](https://www.synthesiagame.com/). You can also
use the up and down arrow keys to change the speed at which you play them.

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unklefolk
Select Eric Satie's Gymnopedies and just hit the keys as fast as possible at a
regular tempo. It sounds like a free-wheeling jazz version (think John
Coltrane)! :-)

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agumonkey
I need this computer now [http://imgur.com/sLF40FF](http://imgur.com/sLF40FF)

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eridal
beautifuuuul

I'd love to get more insights on how to properly play, some sort of music
notation tips or best figured bass, I understand the spacing means tempo, but
adding such info could help those of us who can read music

Also, I'd like to play with many fingers multiple notes! It feels natural to
press all once you know there a chord coming.

Finally, thanks for such great piece of art!!

~~~
roryokane
I agree that you should be able to play a chord by pressing multiple keys at
once. I tried that, and was confused when suddenly the music jumped ahead by a
few notes, because the page interpreted each key in the chord as another
press.

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canjobear
I'd love to be able to upload my own MIDIs.

~~~
musanim
Touch Pianist is one of the latest implementations of an idea that's been
around for a long time: technologically-assisted musical performance; here's
an historical overview on the subject: The Conductor Program — computer-
mediated musical performance
([http://www.musanim.com/tapper/](http://www.musanim.com/tapper/)). Aaron
Andrew Hunt is about to release a professional-grade version of this which
will let you use your own MIDI files.

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mikemajzoub
This is absolutely stunning. I bet elementary school music teachers would love
this as a teaching tool.

Another thought for you - I wonder if you could plug into a music website like
noteflight.com? If you could, then people could search among many thousands of
pieces to play. Just a thought! Keep it up - it's a beautiful project. Thank
you for sharing.

In peace, Mike

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Yhippa
This is awesome. Super easy to get started. I would love to see the ability to
see the notation somewhere as I'm playing and the ability to rewind a bit. I
could definitely see me using this to scout out a piece.

This really made my day. What a great way to blow off some steam.

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ant6n
Never made it to the third movement of the Moonlight Sonata this quickly ...
albeit a bit unevenly.

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avodonosov
Cool, I like it.

BTW, cool music visualization:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipzR9bhei_o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipzR9bhei_o)
(you can't play there, but it helps o perceive music better)

------
est
When I read the title, I thought it could learn your random tap rhythm and
search through a piano db and find the best match, or even better, slow &
smooth morph into another rhythm according to your tap

It turned out to be different, still cool though.

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kidproquo
Very cool. On a somewhat related note (pun not intended):

I have created an app to learn the music staff notation. Web version:
[http://www.adhyet.com/flamingnotes](http://www.adhyet.com/flamingnotes)

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sramsay
Pretty impressive app. But mainly, this is demonstrating to me how hard it is
to sound like Vladimir Horowitz while using a mouse.

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pixelperfect
Very cool.

Does anyone else experience an optical illusion where it appears their screen
is moving when they finish a song/leave the page?

~~~
kev6168
same here. very dizzy after staring at it for 30 minutes (it's super fun).

Drive-by suggestions -- 1. make the background image fixed so only the notes
are moving, 2. make the notes circles smaller, and the notes bursting
animation a bit slower, might help reduce the dizziness.

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sbose78
This is educational from the perspective that it really teaches you 'rhythm'.
This is beautiful piece of web app :)

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desireco42
This is insanely fun :) Wow. I totally can see how this can help us learn to
play. Can't wait to show this to my kids.

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hurin
Hey it's one button guitar hero!

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empressplay
Doesn't work on Chrome 43, MacOS X 10.6 iMac8,1 -- graphics are completely
corrupted.

~~~
empressplay
turning off WebGL fixed it...

~~~
zobzu
Funny since it "highly recommends chrome only" on the page

(seems to work perfectly fine in firefox tho..)

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KevanM
Would be amazing to have the note to indicate timing length appear along with
the dots.

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Sapsap
Even for a rhythm trainer it is disappointing because you're forced to tap at
a set interval, not what the notes are actually saying. And forget double-
tapping when there are two notes on a single interval -- that just plays two
intervals!

Thumbs down from a lifelong DDRer and casual pianist.

Though idank's comment is nice to see!

~~~
kaoD
> Even for a rhythm trainer it is disappointing because you're forced to tap
> at a set interval, not what the notes are actually saying.

As far as I can tell, you're wrong. You're supposed to tap at the same rhythm
as the distance between the notes conveys.

Mozart's _Piano Sonata No. 16 - Allegro_ makes it very obvious. Satie's
_Gymnopédie No. 1_ makes it obvious too since you have to hold the key.

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fpolis
I can't find a way to share it... Is that only my dumb me?

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kidsil
What's the name of the piece (played on touch device)?

~~~
bandwevil
There's a bunch of pieces. The tutorial is Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

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smarterchild
Where did you get the piano score for the Tocatta?

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ljk
is it happening to anyone else that mouse click makes the music louder?

