MIDI Tapper beta 52

October 10, 2015

This beta release of MIDI Tapper rounds out the intended feature set, approaching readiness for the commercial release. All known bugs have been fixed, user interaction has been improved in a few subtle but important ways, MIDI functions have been expanded, a Preferences window has been added, and partial features like the write mode have been brought to a reasonable level of completion.

The wider variety of note coloring options introduced in beta 51 are now all user assignable, with the addition of Color Sets. These come in six flavors:

  1. Tracks & Channels — 16 colors, cycled per track
  2. Tracks Only — 16 colors, 1 color per track
  3. Channels Only — 16 colors, 1 for each channel, the same on every track
  4. Velocities — 5 color gradient with 3 movable hotspots (128 values total)
  5. Notes (chromatic) — 12 colors, 1 for each note of the 12 tone MIDI octave
  6. Notes (5ths) — 12 colors, 1 for each note on the 12 tone circle of fifths

Perhaps the most interesting of these options is the velocity set, which allows the user to select 3 hotspots for three colors in a 5-color gradient. What this means is that the visual feedback can show how close the data has met target velocities.

Each track can have its color scheme set to a different type of display, so for example an upper part could show velocities while a lower part shows chromatic notes. Note colors can now also be easily edited directly in the view by right-clicking on the note and choosing the menu option Edit Color.

Each track now also has a note height parameter, so that parts can be more easily distinguished at a glance. This also helps when voices overlap with the same note and duration. A voice with a taller height will be drawn behind a note with a shorter height, as shown in the example below with yellow and green notes.

Write mode was newly developed for the previous update, which included a couple of crashing issues that have now been fixed. A few cosmetic changes were also made. The pencil tool now points in the same direction as the standard arrow, and the cursor also now changes to the pencil tool when the user switches to write mode. MIDI Tapper is intended to be a performance tool rather than a writing tool. The intended purpose of write mode is to allow quick editing of imported files. Nevertheless, the previously required MIDI file import prior to engaging write mode has been dropped, so that write mode can now be engaged immediately on startup to begin writing on blank staves if desired. If you try this, you might notice that a couple of things seem to be missing, like the ability to change or insert meters. Such things are non-essential to the core function of MIDI Tapper (performance of already existing MIDI files), but they may be added in the future. It is recommended to use music notation software or other composition software to create MIDI files for use with MIDI Tapper.

The full list of update details is as follows.

If you already have a beta license, this new version is a free download from the MIDI Tapper software page. If you would like to join the beta testing team, just purchase a 30-day license (it's only $2.99).

Regards,
Aaron

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