AudioTheory Piano Keys News

Update #2 for AudioTheory Piano Keys is here and this one makes some pretty big 'under the hood' changes. Following on from a similar update for AudioTheory Guitars last week, version 1.2.0 of AudioTheory Piano Keys adds support for the ASIO4ALL audio driver, designed to give lightning fast response times and improve the latency of the application.

[h3]AudioTheory Piano Keys and the ASIO4ALL driver[/h3]

ASIO4ALL is a freeware audio driver designed for low latency playback. Most DAWs require the use of an ASIO driver, and whilst it is optional for AudioTheory Piano Keys, it's highly recommended. It's very easy to install and you are guaranteed to get better performance than the built-in Windows driver.

Oh and yes, to confirm this is a Windows specific feature. Mac and Linux come with audio drivers that can handle very low latencies out-of-the-box. More on how the settings have changed on these platforms in a bit.



[h3]Changes to the Windows version of AudioTheory Piano Keys[/h3]

There are a few things now in place designed to help swap you over to the ASIO driver. If you load up the application without this installed you will see a one-time notification directing you to the ASIO4ALL website.

Once installed, the application will automatically swap to use the ASIO driver when its next loaded. You can see which driver is currently in use from the settings popup. Here can also swap driver using the dropdown, meaning you can revert back to the built-in driver if required. Please note that any driver changes here require the application to be restarted before they take effect. Oh, and if you swap to ASIO here but the driver isn't installed then it's not going to work. In this scenario the application will prompt you to install it on your machine.



If the ASIO driver is in use, you will also see a 'config.' button that lets you open up the ASIO4ALL settings. Here is where you configure your output device as well as the DSP buffer size. If you are not receiving any audio, the likely cause is that the correct output has not been selected here.



[h3]Changes to the Mac and Linux versions of AudioTheory Piano Keys[/h3]

These still use the DSP latency settings that were previously in place. As above, the built-in drivers are able to support low latency without the need for an external driver. However I have swapped over the selector to a new dropdown which makes it a bit quicker and easier to select the value you're after.



[h3]Velocity playback[/h3]

Oh, another change along the same lines. MIDI input playback now registered the note press velocity, meaning the playback volume is controlled by how hard you are pressing the notes. This helps better simulate the effect of a real instrument.



That's all for today. The same update will be arriving soon for AudioTheory Grids, there are a few extra changes I need to make it work here first however.

That's all for today. Thanks for reading.

AudioTheory Piano Keys has been out for just over one week, and today our first update arrives. This sorts out a few bugs and includes a series of 'under the hood' changes that optimise how the application handles input and audio playback.



[h3]A large change[/h3]

This update is bigger in filesize than a typical update from me. A typical patch normally comes in under 10mb in file size, but sadly that's not the case today. I've reviewed how the application stores and accesses audio data and the size of this update reflects the changes made here.

This new version of AudioTheory Piano Keys includes uncompressed files that were previously compressed (hence the overall app size previously being smaller). This data had to be decompressed as required, meaning there was a performance trade off. So the application file size is now bigger, but I am confident that the new balance is much better, and based on my plans for updating the app further in the future, this is a required foundation.

I have also replaced the input system, although the end result is fairly similar the method by which the application now handles MIDI input has been completely reworked. Again, this is predominantly me ensuring that the app has a solid foundation for the road ahead.



[h3]And the bug fixes...[/h3]

The following bug fixes and tweaks have also made their way into this update:

• The scale wheel now plays using the selected instrument preset
  
• A loaded preset name hides on the wheel-only view
  
• Fixed a scenario where note names would not update on application load
  
• Fix for Real-time Scale Highlighting 'auto' mode not correctly refreshing when chords were not being automatically loaded with a scale preset
  
• Adjusted the scale highlighting process to resolve a slight flicker if rapid note changes were made
  
• Fixed a couple of issues with the diminished scales
  
• Scale library now correctly refreshes for all tab combinations
  
• Link to User Guide added to application settings
  
• Quit button added to application settings
  
• Engine upgrade
  
• Fix for text overlap when the options cog was open during certain points in the Ear Training exercises
  

And that's all for today. Please look forward to more AudioTheory Piano Keys updates in the future.

Fraser

AudioTheroy Piano Keys launches on Steam today. I'm super excited to finally share this software with you. There is also a new trailer, which showcases the additional features, ear training exercises, and user interface changes that have made their way into the release since the initial reveal announcement:

https://youtu.be/Nkbd5x7dRkE

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

In other news, working on AudioTheory Piano Keys has meant rethinking and reworking elements of the existing AudioTheory software library released to date. As such, new updates are also launching today for both AudioTheory Guitars and AudioTheory Grids. In particular all three pieces of software use the new and improved highlighting options initially developed for AudioTheory Piano Keys.

Thanks for reading, and please do check out AudioTheory Piano Keys. It's helped with my own practicing, I hope it will help with yours too.

Fraser

AudioTheory Piano Keys is launching in one week's time. I can't wait to share it with you, and ahead of this I'm excited to announce a set of piano exercises that will be included.

So yes, just to clarify, AudioTheory Piano Keys is still first and foremost a tool designed to help with your learning, rather than a set of instructional lessons. But it will also include the ear training exercises detailed below, which are new additions on top of the features already announced.

[h3]Higher or Lower[/h3]

It sounds so simple, but understanding music starts with understanding how sounds change in pitch relative to each other. Which one is higher (or lower)?



This is the most straight forward ear training exercise, but it's an essential skill worth mastering. You will be presented with two notes at random and must identify the relative difference between them.

[h3]Note Match[/h3]

Okay, so 'Higher or Lower' was an easy one for you. The next step towards musical mastery is to be able to identity specific notes from sound alone. The AudioTheory tools are perfect for honing this skill as you can use the main keyboard for reference, and work within a scale or custom range of notes.



You can make things (relatively) easy to start out with, say just the notes in the C major scale across one octave. Or you can extend this and try to identify any note across three octaves, if you're feeling brave.

[h3]Chord Match[/h3]

Hard mode. Although exactly how much of a challenge this will be is up to you, as the exercise can be played with any subsection of the piano chords library and any subsection of root notes. You can start with a basic combination such as major and minor chords and then extend this to include more chord types. Or set a fixed root note and focus on only differentiating between types.



This mode works best when you also plug in a MIDI device – this way you can try playing on device and attempting to match the mystery chord.

I hope these lessons will be of benefit for those wanting to train their ears and intuitively understand music from sound alone. Thanks for reading, and please look forward to the release of AudioTheory Piano Keys next week.

Fraser

I'm very excited to announce that AudioTheory Piano Keys will be arriving on the September 24th 2021. That makes right now the perfect time to add it to your Wishlist, as this way Steam will send you an email next month when it's available to purchase:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1513510/AudioTheory_Piano_Keys

Following on from AudioTheory Guitars, this new piece of software is designed to help you learn or improve at the piano with a set of interactive tools. These make it easy and intuitive to understand chords, scales, and how the music you're playing works.




[h3]AudioTheory Piano Keys features:[/h3]

• Real-time note highlighting. Connect any MIDI device (such as an electric keyboard or synth) and see the notes you're playing highlighted across a set of customisable diagrams.
  
  
• Built in sound effects mean you will also receive audio feedback if using a MIDI device that doesn't have a speaker (or using your computer's keyboard and mouse for input).
  
  
• Scale presets. Choose from an extensive library of scale presets and load this selection of notes onto the main piano view. Note highlighting is relative to the loaded scale, which makes it easy to see how sharps and flats work in their current context.
  
  
• An extensive library of chords. Load these into the main view to keep track of different chord positions and reference against your current input.
  
  
• The scale wheel. This is a circular diagram that visually shows how notes fit into scales. The root note is locked to the 12 o'clock position, allowing the focus to be on the relationship between the notes.
  
  
• Real-time scale highlighting. This is the second row of notes above the main piano. This lets you see how a note that's being played fits into two scales at the same time (e.g. both the main scale preset as well as its own major scale).
  

Thanks for reading and please look forward to the upcoming release of AudioTheory Piano Keys. See you then.