The Piano : 3D (Great Freemium App)

Christan · March 2014

Found this app yesterday and I'm really happy with it . . . it's a 3D recreation of a concert grand piano that functions like a virtual player piano that you can interact with by playing, zooming, and panning. There are even a couple of cool cameras you can choose from to watch it play the songs. It comes with a handful of modern and classical songs. For $2.99 you can unlock the ability for it to play midi files and also it will allow you to connect a midi controller and record your playing, then have it played back with virtual playing! How cool is that? Anyway, I have only tried the basic version so far so cannot vouch for the additional features. There is no Audiobus yet, but I am really impressed with the visuals and the sound. In addition to a beautiful interface, you can slow the songs down and actually learn the songs by seeing the notes as they are played. I have really enjoyed the app so far and wanted to share the info.

mgmg4871 · March 2014

Very nice find @Christian. Thanks. So nice, I took a chance and purchased the IAP. I contacted Dev about AB. Doug is gonna love this one. IAP gets you core midi, ability to read midi files, and loads of songs. Piano roll screen. Quality sound with more to come.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-piano-3d/id771068869?mt=8

thesoundtestroom · March 2014

Oh my

mgmg4871 · March 2014

The theatre cam is amazingly inspiring. Note that the piano sustains automatically until you connect sustain pedal to midi keyboard. Also, if you put app in background, it will crash if you return. Contacted Dev about this already.
Update: crash must have been a local issue on my ipad. No longer happening. Also, if you tap onscreen sustain pedal, it will stop sustain. Tapping it again will hold sustain.

TGiG · March 2014

Haha very nice indeed! Thanks!

mgmg4871 · March 2014

Wow, records video of your playing and exports to YouTube, email, twitter, and FB. Great for teachers and students. It also has voice overlay for your recordings @Doug.

fjcblanco · March 2014

Thanks!

mgmg4871 · March 2014

Not what I wanted to hear, but still a useful app.

For Audiobus and Audioshare support , we don't have ETA for these features currently, since the app was done in Unity3D engine and written in C# , integrating native iOS libraries would require to rewrite most of the functions from the scratch...
A/B looping is planned for a future update (1.3)..stay tuned

mgmg4871 · March 2014

Another email from Dev says their working on IAA now.

The Piano App Hi glad you like the app! for Audiobus support we think it will be delayed since we are already working on another implementation (Apple newly released Inter-App Audio) , as for the piano roll, several improvements are planned for a future update (1.3) including better looping mechanism , wait until the user hits the correct note, also new instruments will be added including Upright piano and harpsichord (and other cool instruments ), Stay tuned!

Ian · March 2014

it's a patient app if it's waiting for me to hit the right note. Oh well, IAA, better than nothing. 5 minute play around looks fab

funjunkie27 · March 2014

Written in C#?? Can't they just transpose it then? ;-)

mgmg4871 · March 2014

Lol.

Brain · March 2014

I gotta get me an iPad - you guys have all the fun!

F_Salka · March 2014

Hello, The Piano app developer here.
I'm really glad that you all like the app! I'm happy to announce the latest update (1.01) which adds iPhone and iPod touch support, also importing midi files from Safari , Dropbox, Audioshare etc is now possible.

For Audiobus support, because the app is powered by Unity game engine, it will be a bit difficult since it requires avoiding unity's default audio engine (Fmod) and rewriting all the synth part in Xcode (which what i'm currently experimenting with for IAA support), no ETA yet unfortunately.

Midi out and virtual midi out will be added in the next update, with the ability to disable the internal synth, so you will be able to control other apps that support BG audio like garage band, iGrand, Sunrizer synth etc...

Best.

mgmg4871 · March 2014

Awesome app @F_Salka. Unfortunate about Audiobus though. Some way of exporting recordings via Audioshare would help though, while you work on IAA. Thanks.

Yendor · March 2014

This is great! My daughter has aspired to learn "Let It Go" and this will help her immensely. Love the tap to play next note!

Midi out will be great add, too, as we have one of those Casio light up keyboards that works great with an iPad, and that would definitely add to the learning experience.

I believe a midi channel or track selection may be helpful to play some midi files, so it won't look too daunting. I'll contact the developer on this...