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Show HN: I finally released that sheet music app I keep yammering about

etudeapp.com

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Re: Show HN: I finally released that sheet music app I keep yammering about

#41

Post by yan »

dangrover wrote: post #37
tom_ilsinszki wrote: post #28

Were you the only one developing it? How long did it take? Love the app and the video on the webpage, by the way.

Luckily, I have a precise answer to this because I have this weird habit of tracking every minute of my time on my own projects. Here's the breakdown on Etude in hh:mm Actual iPhone app: 210:11 Song converter: 72:52 Store (UI + server side): 82:23 Building site and designing marketing materials: 44:52 I did most of the work, but I did contract some of the graphics I had trouble with to a designer, and I've taken some…

Hm this adds up to roughly 11 work weeks of straight-through work. Do you have some kind of real-time estimate and break down about which parts you developed first or in conjunction with what other features?

My mind usually races a million miles an hour when starting new projects and I end up doing a little bit of everything.

Re: Show HN: I finally released that sheet music app I keep yammering about

#42

Post by noonespecial »

vaporstun wrote: post #7

I'm really excited about the iPad app. Imagine sitting down at a piano, putting a iPad where you would normally put sheet music, and playing away with your app auto-scrolling so the musician never has to deal with a page turn. Anyone who has ever played piano knows how amazing it would be to have that eliminated. What a great learning device that would be! Kudos and I eagerly await the iPad version!

That's one of the first thing I though of when I heard about the ipad. I had figured an app for the iphone that used its mic to follow a piano piece along and "turn" the pages would have been cool but for the tiny screen. Then ipad came along.

How hard would it be to use the mic input to estimate progress through a piece and turn the pages? Of course just using timing to scroll at the right speed would be ok, but having it listen would be much cooler.

Re: Show HN: I finally released that sheet music app I keep yammering about

#43

Post by [deleted] »

vaporstun wrote: post #7

I'm really excited about the iPad app. Imagine sitting down at a piano, putting a iPad where you would normally put sheet music, and playing away with your app auto-scrolling so the musician never has to deal with a page turn. Anyone who has ever played piano knows how amazing it would be to have that eliminated. What a great learning device that would be! Kudos and I eagerly await the iPad version!

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: I finally released that sheet music app I keep yammering about

#45

Post by illumin8 »

vaporstun wrote: post #7

I'm really excited about the iPad app. Imagine sitting down at a piano, putting a iPad where you would normally put sheet music, and playing away with your app auto-scrolling so the musician never has to deal with a page turn. Anyone who has ever played piano knows how amazing it would be to have that eliminated. What a great learning device that would be! Kudos and I eagerly await the iPad version!

Sheet music is truly one killer app for the iPad. I had never thought of it before seeing this app, but even if it's something as simple as scanned .PDFs of your sheet music, imagine not having to carry around backpacks full of books.

I have a lot of jazz fake books that are literally monstrous to carry around.

Re: Show HN: I finally released that sheet music app I keep yammering about

#48

Post by squidbot »

I like the app, and if there is indeed an iPad version, that would be fantastic. I played with it a bit this morning and posted a review. Here's the gist of what I said:

Pros:

- The music font looks really good, very clean and readable.

- The store navigation is fast and easy to use

- The music scrolling/speed controls are very handy and easy to use.

- Good initial selection of music.

Cons

- On my 3G the update after a page turn is too slow, no matter if it's continuous or turn mode. Often half the score isn't displayed yet, and it's impossible to look ahead. This made it difficult to actually play to the score at full speed. Would it be possible to do more aggressive caching/pre-rendering to make it smoother?

- You went to all the work to make a great store navigation UI, but the "My Music" UI is cover flow only. Even after downloading just a few pieces, it was clunky and slow to find anything. My Music desperately needs better navigation.

- The modal dialog that pops up in the store when done downloading is really annoying, especially because navigation is locked as its preparing to display. The download icon already has a badge to show the download status, why do I need the modal reminder? It just disrupts the flow.

Suggestions

- A very handy feature for students would be to show different colors for the different hands in the keyboard view, and show what finger should be playing the note.

- A difficulty sort in the store could be handy. Or at least a "beginner" category in the styles.

- I realize I can use the volume switch, but a mute button in the app would be nice. Especially in the iPad version where I may not be able to reach the switch.

Kudos on shipping, I look forward to what's to come. With some improvements and an iPad I could see this replacing a lot of sheet music, especially on the go. Break a leg!

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