Notes pressed labelled on top of virtual Keys

[ChrisTitof972]

Hi,

Could we have Synthesia have a bar on top of the virtual keyboard showing the name of the notes pressed (even when playing multiple notes together, each note lit up would also display the name of the individual notes on that bar above each individual notes.
I use Synthesia (because I prefer its looks and responsiveness in terms of low latency with midi input compared to any of the other 2 software I have) to teach piano to others and this feature would make like sooo much easier.

an eample is shown on the picture 1 below (screenshot taken from a software called MidiCulous)

Spoiler:

1.png (110.81 KiB) Viewed 16626 times

or like picture 2 below: screenshot taken from another like software called ChordieApp

2.png (60.67 KiB) Viewed 16626 times

I anticipate your reply

Kind regards,

Chris

[Nicholas]

Have you already seen the label options in Synthesia? (Click the "La" icon at the top-right.)

Is the contrast you're drawing that the labels should only appear when a key is pressed instead of at all times? That would be similar to adding labels to the falling notes vs. having them on the keys at all times.

[ChrisTitof972]

Hi,

Yes I have explored the La option in the top right corner, but I actually am looking to explore if an option to have just a simple horizontal bar that the names of the notes pressed would be written upon whilst one plays, just as it is displayed in the pictures I attached on my original post.

Let me know if that is something worth considering as it really would help my students when I start recording piano video tutorials.

Kind regards,

Chris

[ChrisTitof972]

sorry I understand better your question after re-reading your response:

So yea, I am only referring of an option to have the labels shown on a fixed horizontal bar on top of the keys, but these notes labels ONLY shown when a key is pressed (just like it does on the falling notes.
On y recordings, I crop out the screen capture to only have the virtual keyboard without the falling note area.

[Nicholas]

(Sorry for the wait on this.)

I think I understand now. In that case, if both of the apps you've shown above already have exactly the feature you're looking for and your intent is to crop out the parts where Synthesia differs, are there other reasons you'd like Synthesia to have this feature too?

[ChrisTitof972]

Hi Nicholas,

Sorry for my delay in responding, it didn't notify me via email of your response.

Well, your app is way less RAM consuming and also the latency between the input device and the software are close to non existant on Synthesia, and thirdly it would encourage a LOT more people like me to use Synthesia to make video tutorials instead of the other apps, due to Synthesia's great aesthetics and visual quality and ease of use.

Would that be sufficient for your team as an argument?

Thank you again for considering.
I anticipate your reply

[jimhenry]

I think this might also be useful for piano teachers in a live teaching setting.

Plus, if the note names appear only when keys are pressed, it does serve a different purpose than the names on the falling notes because the falling notes give you the names of the notes you should be playing while the note names above the keys give you the names of the notes you are playing.

[Nicholas]

If we were going to add something like this, would it make the most sense to put it someplace like the Free Play screen, then? That's already a nice area for live classroom instruction scenarios.

That is, would it be sufficient to only add it to the Free Play screen (where whichever keys you play create note blocks that scroll upward away from the keyboard)? I am hesitant to add more complexity to the usual song playback screen, whereas the Free Play screen is much simpler by comparison and wouldn't suffer from a new option.

[ChrisTitof972]

Hi Nicholas,

Yes it will be great to add it to the FreePlay mode only,
as you said, I don't see much relevance yet to the other modes.

Please let us know when you think of releasing a new update with this new feature on.

Thanks again

Chris

[Nicholas]

What do those other apps show when you press two adjacent keys (say, C and C#)? It seems like the font they're using would make things overlap a bit.

Would it work if the names were shown on the keys (the way they are in Synthesia today) but only on the keys you're actually pressing? That would be easiest vs. adding them above the keyboard.

[ChrisTitof972]

Hi Nicholas,

I attached some images, as they would be able to image my explanations.

One software seems to be using a font size that matches thee note with it's associated b or # all within the size of a piano key of the virtual keyboard shown.
(the software with the white bar on top), and seems to play with font size when it is needed to accommodate such demand.

whilst the other software, when it comes to close notes such as your C and C# example, seems to shift to stack the notes names one after the other without regards to them being right on top of the notes.

I must say though, that both these softwares have an option to choose the scale in which we want the notes to be displayed in when keys pressed, so to have notes named C then Dd (if set for a Db scale for instance...) rather than C then C# then D D#...
which is wayyy better to have btw, specially for us giving video tutorials. But I do understand that it would add on the coding complexity. I apologise in advance. At the same time it only increases the portability and usability of your software.

To be honest, the notes on top of the bar would be way more appreciated than the current mode (for esthetics purposes) and also which the current version lacks the names of the notes for the black keys (which is really helpful for piano very beginners receiving tutorials).

Spoiler:

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[Nicholas]

Thanks for the examples. (It seems a little sloppy that they just shoved the C# label out of the way! hehe. I wonder what happens if you press three or four consecutive half-steps at the same time. Probably a mess!)

You can show labels on the black keys by going to Settings --> Gameplay --> Note Labels --> Show All. Free Play defaults to the C Major scale, so the black keys count as being "outside the key". That option will show them all, all the time.

Letting the user change the current key in Free Play would be another nice feature. Synthesia already knows about various note spellings for each key (which already works when playing a song in any Major/minor key). It's just a matter of exposing a UI control that lets you pick whatever you like in Free Play.

[ChrisTitof972]

Hehehe, so true,

So do you think you'd be able to accommodate notes on the bar like that of the first pic I sent showing the C and Db side by side, with an adequate font size to ensure the notes (with their symbol) still fit the width of the key being pressed? (and a dark bar upon which those notes are written could be more esthetic than a white bar, probably)

I will check what these two software show when pressing "three or four consecutive half-steps at the same time", and will let you know, if that's OK.

Yes I have tried the Settings --> Gameplay --> Note Labels --> Show All option, Thank you for this, I didn't know it existed,
But again just for esthetics sake and a lesser sense of being overwhelmed with letters everywhere in constant display, it'd be way better to have a bar with notes appearing only when pressed on top of the keys.

WOW the thread you linked in your last reply about the "note spellings" is a fantastic one, and shows the in depth knowledge and effort you guys are going to develop this software.
Please accept my apologies if this request of mine here adds onto your workload, instead I pray you see it as an exciting challenge and one that will bring a great potential feature to your app and potentially future customers.
As for me in return, I pledge to promote your software on the tutorial videos I release.

[ChrisTitof972]

Thanks Nicholas,

here are the pictures,
You will see that the one with the nice black bar on which the notes appear, pushes the notes to the right and it's ridiculous tbh.
However the one with the white bar, has a clever way to display them and still have them right above the keys pressed (despite it being a sharp or flat), I'll let the pictures speak of themselves.

Could you replicate that last one, maing it probably not as wide in height, and adding your own touch to it to make it synthesia fingerprinted hehehe? (but with a dark coloured bar please, hehe)

Spoiler:

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Sketch 2.png (16.56 KiB) Viewed 15408 times

[jimhenry]

If you are going to raise some labels, it would make more sense to keep the naturals on the lower line.

[Nicholas]

Yeah, both of those apps have made some pretty strange decisions. I'd agree that the first one is comically, unusably bad.

Thanks again for taking the time to generate and post those images.

Still, two rows does solve the too-cramped problem that I had been worried about. I suppose in this "labels above the keys mode", people are already less interested in Free Play's rising note display, so the lost space (to the second label row) might not be so bad.

[jimhenry]

I think note labels for pressed keys can be added in a single row above the keys if you are thoughtful about the font and size:

Synthesia Key Press Labels.png (24.15 KiB) Viewed 15365 times

I don't think Key Press labels should be limited to Free Play. I think they are as useful as many of the other labeling options that are offered. I express no opinion on how useful that is.

[ChrisTitof972]

You are welcomebro.

I suppose in this "labels above the keys mode", people are already less interested in Free Play's rising note display, so the lost space (to the second label row) might not be so bad.

Yes exactly!
Thank you so much again

[ChrisTitof972]

I think note labels for pressed keys can be added in a single row above the keys if you are thoughtful about the font and size

BUT as Nicholas says it might be a bit crowded - but a way around it would be: When two consecutive half steps notes are pressed that involve a black and white note (D and Eb for instance), could we have two shades of the displayed notes, i.e the D would be in a brighter shade and the Eb in a slightly darker shade, then the E would revert back to the same shade as the D, which would be easier to differenciate specially from your example of all notes pressed?
Or just have all black notes written with the slightly darker shade colour as a general rule?

BTW, this might not be necessary for two half steps between white keys (E and F for instance) since the physical width and distance between these two physical keys is wide enough to not have a sense of having a note written upon the other.

Also,

I don't think Key Press labels should be limited to Free Play. I think they are as useful as many of the other labeling options that are offered. I express no opinion on how useful that is.

you might have a point there -

[Nicholas]

... in a single row above the keys if you are thoughtful about the font and size

Assuming internationalization (and allowing any of the other label modes) means labels like Sol#, До#, and Соль# which will be a little trickier to fit on one line, even at tiny font sizes.