MouthPedal - mouth controlled sustain pedal. Looking for feedback --- FREE app

Developeter

Hi, this is my student project - app called MouthPedal. This app is designed to empower people with disabilities. App uses mouth openness to control piano sustain pedal. Connect to DAW using Mac MIDI network or using MIDI over BLE. Or connect your keyboard to device and load AUv3 instrument.

I'm particularly interested in hearing feedback from pianists who could benefit from using this app and of course from others interested in as MouthPedal can serve as an alternative to standard pedals for musicians while they're traveling.

The app is available for free on the App Store worldwide. I would greatly appreciate any feedback you may have.

Thank you!

https://apps.apple.com/app/mouthpedal/id6448126913

Methods:

Edward_Alexander

Hey, this is cool! I haven’t tried it yet, but would this be able to be used for other things, like say controlling a knob on a synth with mouth open-ness? (I’m thinking a filter cutoff knob here.. you know; Wah Wah?)

cuscolima

Just tested it with AUM. Works well. Cool concept. Do you plan to make it evolve ? I would like to have intermediate values to have more expressiveness

Developeter

@Edward_Alexander said:
Hey, this is cool! I haven’t tried it yet, but would this be able to be used for other things, like say controlling a knob on a synth with mouth open-ness? (I’m thinking a filter cutoff knob here.. you know; Wah Wah?)

Thank you! There are already apps like MIDI Mouth Controller and MusiKraken that do that. MouthPedal is just for sustain pedal control.

Developeter

@cuscolima said:
Just tested it with AUM. Works well. Cool concept. Do you plan to make it evolve ? I would like to have intermediate values to have more expressiveness

Thank you very much! I need to study how it works in MIDI world with sustain pedal for other values then turned on/off (you probably mean half-pedal).

I want to ask you about AUM usage with app. How is this working? I made support for AUv3 instruments but I think that you are describing loading MouthPedal in AUM app. Can you please explain this for me? Thank you.

Edward_Alexander

@Developeter said:

@Edward_Alexander said:
Hey, this is cool! I haven’t tried it yet, but would this be able to be used for other things, like say controlling a knob on a synth with mouth open-ness? (I’m thinking a filter cutoff knob here.. you know; Wah Wah?)

Thank you! There are already apps like MIDI Mouth Controller and MusiKraken that do that. MouthPedal is just for sustain pedal control.

Thanks for reminding me of MIDI mouth controller, which I’ve downloaded a while back. For some reason, I think I was confusing your app with it.

cuscolima

@Developeter said:

@cuscolima said:
Just tested it with AUM. Works well. Cool concept. Do you plan to make it evolve ? I would like to have intermediate values to have more expressiveness

Thank you very much! I need to study how it works in MIDI world with sustain pedal for other values then turned on/off (you probably mean half-pedal).

I want to ask you about AUM usage with app. How is this working? I made support for AUv3 instruments but I think that you are describing loading MouthPedal in AUM app. Can you please explain this for me? Thank you.

I started MouthPedal on my IPhone then connected it to my ipad via bluetooth then it is just a matter of selecting MouthPedal in AUM as a standard controller. It’s fun like this but a bit limited. I have also loaded the « MIDI mouth controller » app and it works very well (free to try for a few minutes if other people are interested). Sorry to promote a competitor on your topic ;o)

Developeter

Yes MIDI mouth controller has the same approach you are describing and it's also in GarageBand for some instruments. I was not able to get it working for sustain pedal there, so I decided to develop MouthPedal for this purpose. > @Edward_Alexander said:

@Developeter said:

@Edward_Alexander said:
Hey, this is cool! I haven’t tried it yet, but would this be able to be used for other things, like say controlling a knob on a synth with mouth open-ness? (I’m thinking a filter cutoff knob here.. you know; Wah Wah?)

Thank you! There are already apps like MIDI Mouth Controller and MusiKraken that do that. MouthPedal is just for sustain pedal control.

Thanks for reminding me of MIDI mouth controller, which I’ve downloaded a while back. For some reason, I think I was confusing your app with it.

Developeter

@cuscolima said:

@Developeter said:

@cuscolima said:
Just tested it with AUM. Works well. Cool concept. Do you plan to make it evolve ? I would like to have intermediate values to have more expressiveness

Thank you very much! I need to study how it works in MIDI world with sustain pedal for other values then turned on/off (you probably mean half-pedal).

I want to ask you about AUM usage with app. How is this working? I made support for AUv3 instruments but I think that you are describing loading MouthPedal in AUM app. Can you please explain this for me? Thank you.

I started MouthPedal on my IPhone then connected it to my ipad via bluetooth then it is just a matter of selecting MouthPedal in AUM as a standard controller. It’s fun like this but a bit limited. I have also loaded the « MIDI mouth controller » app and it works very well (free to try for a few minutes if other people are interested). Sorry to promote a competitor on your topic ;o)

Thank you, I see now!

Yes MouthPedal is limited just for sustain pedal. I was not able to get responsiveness to little lips movements in other apps, so I decided to make it as new app for this purpose only. I found this interaction very natural when I can activate pedal by just slightly opening my mouth (1.5 cm).

Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr

Great idea. Thanks very much. I will try it as soon as I get a new iPad.

enkaytee

I like it so far - connected to a Mac and it's working well with everything I've tested so far. At first I was confused by the 'Responsivity' setting - I thought a lower setting would reduce the sensitivity but it's the opposite. For the way I have my iphone positioned relative to the Mac I'm finding 90 to be a perfect setting.

Developeter

@Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr said:
Great idea. Thanks very much. I will try it as soon as I get a new iPad.

Thank you! Feel free to let me know how it works for you.

Developeter

@enkaytee said:
I like it so far - connected to a Mac it's and working well with everything I've tested so far. At first I was confused by the 'Responsivity' setting - I thought a lower setting would reduce the sensitivity but it's the opposite. For the way I have my iphone positioned relative to the Mac I'm finding 90 to be a perfect setting.

Thank you very much for your feedback!

I think I should rename “Responsivity” to “Trashold”.

I think that its also based on lips size so if someone wants to get higher or lower value please let me know.

enkaytee

@Developeter said:

@enkaytee said:
I like it so far - connected to a Mac it's and working well with everything I've tested so far. At first I was confused by the 'Responsivity' setting - I thought a lower setting would reduce the sensitivity but it's the opposite. For the way I have my iphone positioned relative to the Mac I'm finding 90 to be a perfect setting.

Thank you very much for your feedback!

I think I should rename “Responsivity” to “Trashold”.

I think that its also based on lips size so if someone wants to get higher or lower value please let me know.

Yes, threshold makes more sense I think.

Developeter

@enkaytee said:

@Developeter said:

@enkaytee said:
I like it so far - connected to a Mac it's and working well with everything I've tested so far. At first I was confused by the 'Responsivity' setting - I thought a lower setting would reduce the sensitivity but it's the opposite. For the way I have my iphone positioned relative to the Mac I'm finding 90 to be a perfect setting.

Thank you very much for your feedback!

I think I should rename “Responsivity” to “Trashold”.

I think that its also based on lips size so if someone wants to get higher or lower value please let me know.

Yes, threshold makes more sense I think.

Thank you. I will change it with next update.