Tonality - Music Reference by Bryce Hostetler - Updated with Midi and Auv3 support

StudioES

@TonalityApp said:

That's a first

Strange how Apple supposedly checks reviews before posting them, yet published a rude one containing no relevant info.

Btw, I wrote a 5-⭐️ review over a week ago, explaining how the app has helped me, a 30+ year musician, and Apple never published it.

TonalityApp

@ocelot said:
Strange how Apple supposedly checks reviews before posting them, yet published a rude one containing no relevant info.

Obnoxious isn't it? I often get a notification about a five-star review but when I click on it I find they've instantaneously removed the review. That never happens for 1 star reviews....

Btw, I wrote a 5-⭐️ review over a week ago, explaining how the app has helped me, a 30+ year musician, and Apple never published it.

Thanks for the thought anyway. Does it still show if you go into your review history? I wonder how transparent they are about the removal process

StudioES

@TonalityApp said:

@ocelot said:
Strange how Apple supposedly checks reviews before posting them, yet published a rude one containing no relevant info.

Obnoxious isn't it? I often get a notification about a five-star review but when I click on it I find they've instantaneously removed the review. That never happens for 1 star reviews....

I'm curious as to why Apple would remove 5-star reviews, yet leave 1-star reviews. You'd think they'd want more 5-star reviews, for more of their cut of the sales.

Btw, I wrote a 5-⭐️ review over a week ago, explaining how the app has helped me, a 30+ year musician, and Apple never published it.

Thanks for the thought anyway. Does it still show if you go into your review history? I wonder how transparent they are about the removal process

Yes, it's in there. I don't think they ever published it. Hmm, I'll try writing it again tonight, if it'll let me.

TonalityApp

@ocelot said:
I'm curious as to why Apple would remove 5-star reviews, yet leave 1-star reviews. You'd think they'd want more 5-star reviews, for more of their cut of the sales.

So you might think. I imagine it's to combat fake/paid reviews, but infuriatingly it generally catches real ones.

I think the only way to combat 1-start reviews is to hold down on the review and mark it as "not helpful", but hey I can't do that because I'm not in the UK (even though I can see it).

I think the best one I've ever gotten is that I need to "do better" because my app "isn't cheap".

Yes, it's in there. I don't think they ever published it. Hmm, I'll try writing it again tonight, if it'll let me.

Even weirder. No need, but a premature thank you if you do.

cokomairena

Just sent my 5 star review to balance things xD

Poppadocrock

@cokomairena said:
Just sent my 5 star review to balance things xD

Good on ya.

Poppadocrock

@TonalityApp said:

@Poppadocrock said:
I get mad when I see low reviews of a great app because the user doesn’t understand how to use the app, I can’t imagine how the developer feels. There should be a way to mark them with user error or something. I’ve seen some developers make a polite response explaining why their review incorrect and offer to help. That’s probably the best bet for a developer, to respond to these type of reviews in a polite and helpful manner.

Yeah, it's not the most fun. That's always what I do, though I rarely get a response. People just like to complain – it takes more effort to email me with specific details than it does to write a quick snarky 1-star review. Makes me wonder if they actually want things to be improved.

In this case I responded:
Thank you for the feedback. I agree to some extent that the app may appear overwhelming to beginners or first-time users, which is why I am working on updating the manual included on the settings page. I am also considering a series of tutorial videos. I have limited time to film and edit, but I will get to it.

If you email me your specific complaints (Settings -> Help/Contact) I can actually try to fix them, otherwise it is pure guesswork for me to find what you believe to be unintuitive or needlessly complex. Things that have been praised as intuitive by some may be completely unintuitive to others. As any developer will tell you, opening a dialogue through email is much more helpful for both parties than leaving a semi-vague 1 star review. I do have one specific question: when did you first start using Tonality? Was it intuitive at one point and then a certain update brought it "over the edge" or did you download it for the first time recently and see that there have been a lot of updates?

As an aside, I don't think "ocd" is the term you're looking for, and I should point out that all the needless complexity has been requested by users.

@Poppadocrock said:
Could it be a competitor…?

That was one of my (very cynical) thoughts but nah, probably not.

@Samu said:
That should be 5 stars considering the attention to detail that is present in Tonality

Treat this as a reminder to rate/review apps you enjoy! (And at least first send emails to developers of those you don't)

Perfect response.

Yea I didn’t think so either but it crossed my mind.

krassmann

@TonalityApp said:
Thank you for the feedback. I agree to some extent that the app may appear overwhelming to beginners or first-time users, which is why I am working on updating the manual included on the settings page. I am also considering a series of tutorial videos. I have limited time to film and edit, but I will get to it.

That would be awesome. I also wouldn‘t mind an IAP or patreon for the tutorials if that is possible. I’m using Tonality for every single track I did in the last year. Usually it is my starting point together with Navichord to come up with a chord progression. But I must also say that I lost track of all the new stuff you added. ATM I stick to the standalone app and I know that I just scratch the surface. The tutorials would definitely boost my Tonality-fu.

TonalityApp

@cokomairena said:
Just sent my 5 star review to balance things xD

Many thanks!

@Poppadocrock said:
Yea I didn’t think so either but it crossed my mind.

The same user has put reviews on a lot of other apps, too.

@krassmann said:
That would be awesome. I also wouldn‘t mind an IAP or patreon for the tutorials if that is possible. I’m using Tonality for every single track I did in the last year. Usually it is my starting point together with Navichord to come up with a chord progression. But I must also say that I lost track of all the new stuff you added. ATM I stick to the standalone app and I know that I just scratch the surface. The tutorials would definitely boost my Tonality-fu.

I don't want to put tutorials behind a paywall, so I'll probably just leave it at the optional tip jar within the app.

If you're using it in conjunction with Navichord you may enjoy the new Tonnetz view (which is what Navichord's layout is based on)! This might help learn chord/scale shapes in that kind of grid, though I think we may have used opposite conventions (i.e. the shape in Tonality will be a flipped version of that in Navichord).

cokomairena

How can I record Chords to tonality if it doesn't appear as a midi destination? Or I can only do it on AUv3

The problem is that sound prism is always full screen so I need to use the slide over function of tonality as an app not an auv3 🤔

TonalityApp

@cokomairena said:

How can I record Chords to tonality if it doesn't appear as a midi destination? Or I can only do it on AUv3

The problem is that sound prism is always full screen so I need to use the slide over function of tonality as an app not an auv3 🤔

Go into settings and select sound prism as an input source. I believe this is the standard (select inputs in receivers rather than destinations in the sources)

cokomairena

@TonalityApp said:
Go into settings and select sound prism as an input source. I believe this is the standard (select inputs in receivers rather than destinations in the sources)

bruh, you rock!

edit: I recorded 4 chords, nice

TonalityApp

@cokomairena Awesome, glad I could help!

TonalityApp

Anyone else getting this random other app showing up as the first result instead? It’s not an ad and has no relevant keywords as far as I can tell…

Samu

@TonalityApp said:

Anyone else getting this random other app showing up as the first result instead? It’s not an ad and has no relevant keywords as far as I can tell…

Not that one but another (most likely paid) 'add' thing...

Well, back to Tonality...
...what about a feature that can tell what key/scale is being used based on a few selected chords?

https://musictheorysite.com/namethatkey/

TonalityApp

@Samu Strange – maybe it’s just in the US.

That’s on my list!

Atlesbe

Heyy. I need to reorder some pads in the chord pads section but I want to be able to fill the space with other chord, disabling somehow the magnetic thing. Is this possible?

Sometimes I notice some chords variations in between when I finish a song and have to erase and rewrite them again. Thanks!

Samu

@Atlesbe said:
Heyy. I need to reorder some pads in the chord pads section but I want to be able to fill the space with other chord, disabling somehow the magnetic thing. Is this possible?

Sometimes I notice some chords variations in between when I finish a song and have to erase and rewrite them again. Thanks!

There’s a move pad option (not the same as arrange pads) in the blue toolbar at the bottom of the screen when you edit pads. Ie. hold down the move buttom tap a sorce pad then a destination pad. This way you can add gaps between pads.

Atlesbe

@Samu said:

@Atlesbe said:
Heyy. I need to reorder some pads in the chord pads section but I want to be able to fill the space with other chord, disabling somehow the magnetic thing. Is this possible?

Sometimes I notice some chords variations in between when I finish a song and have to erase and rewrite them again. Thanks!

There’s a move pad option (not the same as arrange pads) in the blue toolbar at the bottom of the screen when you edit pads. Ie. hold down the move buttom tap a sorce pad then a destination pad. This way you can add gaps between pads.

Thank you Samu for those tips, didn’t know it.

This way I can move pads here and there, is very nice and clever but a bit tedious if you want just to add some chords in between. I mean like in Final Cut for example, when you want to insert a clip in the timeline in between and you need to disable the magnetic thing. I don’t know if I’m explaining rightly, my English sometimes is not good.

TonalityApp

@Atlesbe I’m not quite sure what you mean by the magnetic thing, but you can also use the reorder mode circled in the screenshot above. This allows you to hold and drag any pad to any position.

Samu

@TonalityApp said:

@Atlesbe I’m not quite sure what you mean by the magnetic thing, but you can also use the reorder mode circled in the screenshot above. This allows you to hold and drag any pad to any position.

It could be he’s moving the pads in lock mode and that is like ‘magnetic’ behaviour without gaps between pads!?

I’ll check…

I ‘get’ the problem, if you move a pads the pads are ‘shuffled’ so there’s no empty slot when moving a pad (ie. On a 3x3 grid, if you move pad 2 then pad 3 will take place of pad 2 instead of leaving the slot empty).

Atlesbe

@TonalityApp said:

@Atlesbe I’m not quite sure what you mean by the magnetic thing, but you can also use the reorder mode circled in the screenshot above. This allows you to hold and drag any pad to any position.

Thanks @TonalityApp, yes , I know that but then the chord ahead of the one I want to move tend to stick with the chord behind (the magnetic thing I meant before), don’t leave the space to fill with another chord.

My idea is to be able to drag, move or even delete one chord pad and that the rest of the chord pads ahead of this one can keep their order, with the empty space.

TonalityApp

@Atlesbe Ahh I see what you mean. In that case I agree with @Samu that the move tool is the best for the job. I might consider an alternate drag mode which preserves empty space, but I can think of a few issues. For example, what should happen if all the pads are full and you drag one on top of a non-empty spot? Should it just replace the other, or swap them?

Atlesbe

@TonalityApp said:
@Atlesbe Ahh I see what you mean. In that case I agree with @Samu that the move tool is the best for the job. I might consider an alternate drag mode which preserves empty space, but I can think of a few issues. For example, what should happen if all the pads are full and you drag one on top of a non-empty spot? Should it just replace the other, or swap them?

Cool!
Could you add a pop up with the two options when that happens? I don’t know if this is doable, just an idea.

TonalityApp

@Atlesbe Yeah, that's a potential option

At a few users' requests I made a discord for feature suggestions/discussions/questions etc. Here's the link in case anyone's interested: https://discord.gg/vYe6cwJRyW

TonalityApp

Hopefully more apps will support this soon!

horsetrainer

@TonalityApp said:

Hopefully more apps will support this soon!

That is very cool.

I really like the idea of being able to drag midi chords and song parts to a project library, then be able to choose from those parts, and drag them onto midi tracks as a way of composing songs. That would allow for composing more progressive and evolving styles of music.

TonalityApp

@horsetrainer said:

That is very cool.

I really like the idea of being able to drag midi chords and song parts to a project library, then be able to choose from those parts, and drag them onto midi tracks as a way of composing songs. That would allow for composing more progressive and evolving styles of music.

I'm actually planning something like that with Pianogram!

senhorlampada

@TonalityApp said:

@horsetrainer said:

That is very cool.

I really like the idea of being able to drag midi chords and song parts to a project library, then be able to choose from those parts, and drag them onto midi tracks as a way of composing songs. That would allow for composing more progressive and evolving styles of music.

I'm actually planning something like that with Pianogram!

Uhhmm that interested me quite a bit. Maybe I lost some messages, but is there a release date planned already?

TonalityApp

@senhorlampada said:
Uhhmm that interested me quite a bit. Maybe I lost some messages, but is there a release date planned already?

Unfortunately not yet and I can’t really guarantee and time frame. Happy to add you to the beta though!