Hi Esther, Just curious, what does one do with this app? Best, Donna On Jun 15, 2012, at 2:00 PM, Esther wrote:
> Hi Brent, > > On the touch screen of ThumbJam the notes are arranged from lowest note at > the bottom to highest note at the top. Running your finger in a vertical > line up the screen is like sitting down at a piano keyboard and running your > finger across the keyboard from left to right. If you want to change the > spacing of the individual "keys" you can use the buttons along the left side > to increase or decrease the octave span. This maps your available octave > range into more or fewer keys, effectively changing the vertical interval for > each note. You can also use the "split screen toggle" button so that the > left half of the screen spans the lower range of notes and the right half of > the screen continues on to span the higher range of notes. > > I usually use the iPad version, but with the iPhone or the iPod Touch I hold > the device in my left hand and move the fingers of my right hand (mostly > vertically), on the screen, so I can judge where I'm touching according to > the notes that come out and the position of my fingers relative to my > stationary hand, and the iPhone. You can get vibrato and tremolo effects by > pressing against the screen and "wavering" your finger. > > I don't usually use the "Electric Guitar" setting, by the way. You would > also naturally get different spacings for percussion instruments. I recall > reading in their forum that an alternative way of playing chords is by > setting the "Scales" under your "Change Scale" button in the "Sound" button > menu to one of the selections under the "Chord" heading. I'm far from expert > with this, and there are a lot of users who have professional music interests > who could probably give you better answers. All I can say is that with the > direct touch muscle memory about note positions and intervals does kick in. > > HTH. Cheers, > > Esther > > On Jun 15, 2012, at 9:04 AM, Brent Harding wrote: > >> I know there was an easier one that I heard isn't so accessible called >> voiceband, but how would one even think about playing this touch guitar >> without site? >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Esther" <mori...@mac.com> >> To: "9577AAC0-42E6-47A8-BF18-EC3BEC9823B7:ABMailRecent" >> <viph...@googlegroups.com>; <macvisionaries@googlegroups.com> >> Sent: Friday, June 15, 2012 10:02 AM >> Subject: ThumbJam music app on sale for $0.99 through Monday >> >> >> Hi All, >> >> ThumbJam, an iOS music performance app, is on sale at 86% off its regular >> $6.99 price for four days (today, Friday June 15, 2012 through Monday June >> 18). Anyone who has or has considered Garageband on the iPhone, iPod >> Touch, or iPad, and any educators who are exploring iPad apps for music >> education purposes should be interested in this app. The developer has done >> a fantastic job with the latest version of Thumbjam in implementing the >> direct touch feature that allows you to use this app to play and record >> music with VoiceOver turned on. >> >> You have an extensive choice of instrument sounds that you can select from >> the "Sound" button in the top left corner. The app starts up with a default >> instrument preset of "Electric Guitar", but you can browse through an >> alphabetical list of all available sounds, or change the tab setting after >> double tapping "Change Instrument" to "Category", for example, to browse >> through instrument options by heading (e.g. "Acoustic", "Bass", "Brass", >> "Guitar", "Keyboard", "Percussion", "Strings", "Synth", or "Woodwind"). You >> can also download new sound/instrument samples that you can add to your app, >> and select from a huge range of scale types. >> >> Apart from the instrument and scale selection from the "Sound" button in the >> top left corner of the screen, you set your main options with buttons along >> the left side of the screen, starting with "Key controls" just below the >> "Sound" button. You can hide the sidebar buttons after you configure the >> app. The "Prefs" button in the bottom right corner has a switch button to >> turn the "Show Sidebar" to "off". On the iPad, with its large playing area >> that I prefer for using this app, I generally leave the sidebar buttons up, >> for easy access to recording button options and toggling on/off a metronome, >> as an alternative to using the "Loop" button in the top right corner. To >> hide the main corner buttons for "Sound" (top left), "Loop" (top right), >> "Edit (bottom left), and "Prefs" (bottom right), you can double tap the >> "Edit" button in the bottom left corner and then double tap "Hide Menus". >> The three other buttons in the top left, top right, and bottom right corners >> will disappear, and the "Edit" button in the bottom left will now be >> announced as "Menu". To bring back the corner control buttons, do a double >> split tap on the "Menu" button in the bottom left corner. (Touch the "Menu" >> button with one finger, and double tap on the screen with another finger.) >> >> This application has a staggering number of features and configurable >> options, but can also be used immediately in a very simple way. There's >> also extensive help and support information both at the developer's web site >> and the associated user forums, and in the help information built into the >> app. Access this from the "Prefs" button at the bottom right corner, double >> tap the "Help" entry to bring up the "ThumbJam User Guide. >> >> ThumbJam was recommended by a few users on the macvisionaries list two years >> ago and was subsequently discussed a few times on the viphone list. At that >> time, while the controls were announced, they weren't labeled as buttons, >> and you had to turn VoiceOver off to play music. Even then, users found the >> variety of sound effects that could be generated (tremolo, vibrato, pitch >> blends, etc.) simply by finger action, sliding touch along horizontal or >> vertical directions, or tilting the device, was quite impressive. Version 2 >> brought correct labeling of controls, but left out a few headings and labels >> that were previously announced (like the selected instrument and the scale >> and key -- these are now correctly announced since version 2.1; either do a >> two finger flick down or flick right from the "Loop" button in the top right >> corner, and you'll hear the instrument announced. For the scale and key, >> either do a two finger flick down or flick right twice from the "Prefs" >> button in the bottom right corner, and you'll hear scale and key announced.) >> >> Version 2.1 introduced direct touch. When VoiceOver announces "Play area" >> (when you touch the center of the screen, or the right edge of the screen >> between the "Loop" and "Prefs" button), you can just start "playing" your >> instrument by directly touching the device without any need to disable >> VoiceOver. >> >> There's a review of ThumbJam up at the AppleVis site. I believe that Victor >> Tsaran has been working with the developer, and may be able to comment on >> the detailed use of some of the other features, like recording. >> >> I highly recommend this app, especially at the limited time, discounted >> price of $0.99. >> >> HTH. Cheers, >> >> Esther >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
