Maccer

It has been a while, but now there's a 8.4 version to download from synthesiagame.com. The leading zero has been dropped from the version number (0.8.4 -> 8.4) so don't get confused over the huge leap in version numbering. There are all kinds of new stuff, like reorganized screens, better keyboard graphics and theming support, but the most important news is the Ipad version (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/synthesia/id579518445?ls=1&mt=8) The Ipad version is the reason for the UI revamp in the desktop version and for dropping the zero from the version number as Apple doesn't allow anything that looks like a beta version into the app store. Synthesia certainly hasn't been a beta quality product for many years now. The iPad download itself is free as with the desktop version, but in order to be able to play all the included songs and import your own MIDI files you have to buy a $5.99 or $6.99 in-app purchase; I'm not sure about the price since I see it in another currency in the Swedish app store. I bought it for my new 4:th-gen Ipad - actually, knowing that Synthesia was coming for the Ipad was the most important reason for me to buy one - and it works very well with my digital piano using the lightning-to-USB adapter. Having an Ipad in the sheet music stand of a digital piano is much easier than somehow trying to fit a laptop computer in front of the piano.

I can't sight read sheet music either. Learning songs using the learning pack / melody practice mode where the game waits for you to play the correct notes is the whole point of Synthesia in my opinion. So I would certainly recommend it. Synthesia 0.8.3 was released a few days ago by the way. It has a new song achievment system, a redesigned song/mode selection screen, cleaner game screen and all kinds of other fixes and improvements.

Synthesia 0.8.2 is was released the 7:th of November. It's a quite large release. These most important features in my opinion, but there are many more that may be important for you, so check it out! NEW: Key binding screen (off the Options screen) that will let you bind keys, mouse clicks, or MIDI input (including notes, controller events, program changes, and pitch-bend wheel) to any game function. Combine any of those with the Ctrl key to do even more. NEW: Many dramatic improvements to the sheet music display. This came at the expense of the scrolling display mode (page flip is the only display style now) and the "Space out all sheet music notes uniformly" option, but this paves the way for the upcoming multi-line sheet display. NEW: Windowed mode is now available on the Mac. NEW: Preferred input and output devices will be remembered between sessions. If a device isn't available one run, it won't be completely forgotten the next time Synthesia is started and it's available. Boundaries and lighted key mode are also saved per-device instead of having a single global setting. CHG: Song library can now handle huge numbers of songs with no slow-down and no longer has to re-populate when returning from a different screen. CHG: The "No Input Device" selection has been removed. In the absence of other devices, the software keyboard is always selected by default.

Nope, but I agree that that's a reasonable guess when reading my posts in this thread I was looking for a Mac-compatible Guitar Hero but for piano. I didn't think such an app existed, but then I found Synthesia and was so excited that I had to share the news! It originally featured some video game music tracks, so I thought OCR would be a good place to start. And then I've continued posting in this thread for each update to bump it and hopefully make more people find out about Synthesia!

Out of curiosity, what features do you think Synthesia would need to teach someone to play more properly than it currently does? Fingering was quite an important one.

Synthesia 0.8.1 was released 6:th of June 2011. The major new feature is the fingering support - as any piano player knows, learning the correct fingering for a song makes learning the song much easier! - Add finger number hints to your songs in a single click. - Finger hints included for all 100+ built-in songs. - Simplified track settings let you jump in fast. - Improved library searching to find your favorite songs quicker. - Many improvements in MIDI, device, and computer compatibility. - Tons of tweaks and fixes.

Synthesia is selling for $20 instead of $25 this weekend (26-28 november 2010), so if you haven't bought a learning pack key yet, now is a good time!

Yeeay! Synthesia 0.8.0 is here! - Online song recital. Scores posted for all to see. - Named profiles. See your name next to your scores after playing locally or online. Compete against friends. - Many settings can now be changed during gameplay. There was also a 0.7.5 release a while ago, but it was quite boring for us "mere mortals" so I didn't bother to make a separate post about it: - Revamped track settings saves time with copy and paste settings. - Better song library performance, especially with big collections. - Several tweaks and improvements to all play modes.

Synthesia has had sheet music for a while, but it's far from perfect yet so I don't know if Zircon would approve it quite yet. If Nicholas follows the voting list (https://www.synthesiagame.com/features.aspx) Synthesia will get full-screen sheet music display in the next version, but he has said he will focus on the more game-like features in the next few versions to have something that appeals to all future Rockband 3 users. Also, there are still many "improved sheet music" tasks on the feature list that have almost no votes, but he'll try to pick some of them from time to time anyway.

I'm glad you liked it! In my opinion Synthesia is all about the practice mode that you get in the learning pack - be sure to check it out! Unfortunately the price for the learning pack just increased from $20 to $25 but the good news is that it won't change again for a while. However, it will eventually increase to something like $30-$40 so you don't have anything to lose if you buy it now as all future upgrades will be included in the price. I still think it's totally worth it - other similar packages cost $100 or more.

Two months, two new Synthesia versions! What's new in 0.7.3: - Metronome. Control the speed, volume, and style. Works with simple, compound, and even changing time signatures. - Have fun with instruments. Click a track's instrument icon to change. - Find songs faster. Search with the new song library filter box. - Create quick loops between bookmarks using the < and > keys. - Speed improvements. Gameplay now runs smoother than ever. What's new in 0.7.4: - Lighted keyboard support: the next note will light up while stopped in practice mode. Turn it on via the Keyboard Setup screen. - Improved note labels: new mode, more accurate, and easier to read. - New configuration tool with windowed mode and resolution picker. - Improved looping: easier to use, easier to find, better feedback. - A number of stability and other bug fixes. My favourites are: - the metronome makes it much easier to play a song with all tracks set to "you play" - earlier it was much harder to keep the right tempo if everything was quiet. - the song library filter search box. If you have a large MIDI library, it really helps! Now I just wish that my digital piano would have lighted keys so I could try that feature out. It's a shame that nothing but some very cheap beginner models have that. @BardicKnowledge: exactly. All songs are now playable on 61-key keyboards.

The accelerated development pace is already beaing fruit! Nicholas will try to release a new version of Synthesia at the end of each month. This is what's new in version 0.7.2: - (LP) Song looping: Learning Pack users can create loops with one click to keep practicing those tough parts. Statistics are shown in real time detailing how you are improving. - Synthesia is now aware of smaller keyboards. Set your size on the keyboard screen and Synthesia will play notes outside your reach or move them closer so you can play them yourself. - Scoring revamp: hold notes for their full duration for maximum points! - Lots of other improvements and fixes. The second feature is very helpful if you have small keyboard and try to use it in practice mode with songs that are made for a 88-key keyboard.

Synthesia development is hastening its pace! Version 0.7.1 has been released! This time it took only 8 months (compared to 1 year last time)! Jokes aside, Nicholas (the developer) is going to try to put down some more time into the project in the coming months to prepare the game for the opportunity/threat coming from Rock Band 3 that will according to rumors will include a keyboard-like instrument. --- What's new in 0.7.1 --- - Song Bookmarks: place markers that let you jump right to those tough sections. - New play screen navigation: click the timeline to jump, the buttons to navigate, or the mouse-wheel while paused to scroll the song. - Your keyboard's sustain pedal will now hold the duration of notes. - Sheet music improvement: notes are much smarter about which staff to appear on. - Improved song library searching: type a song name to jump right there. - Better error reporting: crash report files help me jump right to the problem. - Tons of other improvements and bug fixes. I'll mention one of the "other improvements" that I like: Let's say that you play in practice mode with two tracks - 1 (for right hand) and 2 (for left hand). You are practicing only track 1 (right hand) and have set track 2 to "play automatically". Now, track 1 and 2 have notes that should be played simultaneously. In this new version, when the game pauses and waits for you to play the correct notes on track 1, the notes on track 2 that should be played simultaneously also "waits for you" and are not played until you find and play the correct notes on track 1. Earlier the track 2 notes played as soon as the game went into pause mode, and the song would sound out of sync.

A new version of Synthesia has been released - it only took a year :-/ Many of the new features have been available for quite some time in the development version that can be downloaded from the forum. (LP = Learning Pack feature. The learning pack costs $16 for a while but the price will increase to $18 soon) - New Song Library with audio previews and sorting by difficulty and rating. - More than 20 new songs and over 100 songs updated to split the left/right hand parts. - (LP) Scoring for practice mode -- now you can follow your progress. - (LP) Sheet music display improvements including rests and a fixed-width option. - (LP) An option to require all notes in a chord be pressed at the same time in practice mode. - Keyboard setup screen to help diagnose connection problems. - Lots of menus re-worked to make navigation easier and more intuitive. - New "View in Synthesia" right-click shortcut: a quick MIDI viewer. - Tons of other improvements, fixes, and optimizations!

The point is not to be good at reading falling notes and thus immediately be able to play songs that you have never seen/heard before. The point is to use sheet music or falling notes - whichever suits you best - as an aid and learn the song by heart so that you ultimately don't need any falling notes / sheet music.