Piano Widget 2.0
July 4, 2005
Thanks for downloading this widget! I hope you enjoy your new piano.
If you like this widget...
Feel free to send me email at jrwhite02@comcast.net to say hello. If you really, really love it, please consider saying thanks by making a
payment of $5
via PayPal. Thank you very much!
New Features
- MIDI Integration: Gliss with style — you're plugged directly into the CoreAudio system, triggering note-ons as quickly as you can wiggle your mouse.
- Voices: Try your hand at violin and oboe too. All voices available within the QuickTime synthesizer are at your disposal.
- SoundFont Support: The QuickTime sound set is nice, but there are many sound libraries available that sound much better. A great place to start is HammerSound, where you'll find hundreds of SoundFont files available for free download. Simply place the .sf2 files in ~/Library/Audio/Sounds/Banks and reload the widget. (Please note: I am not affiliated with HammerSound.)
- QWERTY Keyboard input: Play melodies and chords using your keyboard. The home row (ASDF) represents the white keys, and sharps and flats are in the row above. See below for a key map.
- Voice Preview: While configuring the widget, you can still use your QWERTY keyboard to preview sounds and test your transposition setup.
- Transposition: Adjust the transposition of the piano for both mouse and keyboard input.
- Key Shift: Change the key for keyboard input only. Since the QWERTY keyboard is clunky when playing in keys other than C, you can shift the keyboard input to any key you like. Mouse clicks will respect the existing transposition. It's a bit hard to describe, but give it a try and you'll get the hang of it.
- Velocity Control: Don't wake the neighbors.
- Reverb Control: If you have an older system and the widget feels sluggish, try disabling reverb — you'll save a few processor cycles.
- Silence Button: Although you shouldn't have any problems with stuck notes under normal circumstances, they might happen if you are adjusting the transposition while typing input on your QWERTY keyboard. If this occurs, click "Silence" to send an All Notes Off command.
- Zero CPU When Hidden: This was really important to me. When you minimize your Dashboard, the synthesizer engine shuts itself down so it doesn't needlessly take up processor time.
Bug Reports
I haven't identified any issues in my testing, but if you should experience anything unusual, please let me know by sending a bug report.
Key Map
W E T Y U O P
A S D F G H J K L ; '
Special Thanks
- DukeMeiser, RBlitz, ModCaveMan, Echidnae, and UburoiBob for their thoughts and suggestions. This version's for you, fellas.
- Adam Mullinax, beta tester extraordinaire
- Mary Chen, Phil Chiu, Nora Sullivan, Noelle Noyes, Peter Kupfer, Emily Kalway, and Corky and Lauren Troy for moral support with my upcoming move to Boston
- Mom, Dad, and Lonny for a lifetime of music (...cue the violins, now that the widget supports them...)
Jared R. White
Chicago, IL
July 4, 2005