TestFlight beta of pianoscope 2.6

Frank Illenberger

Over the past months, I've been hard at work, implementing many of your requests and the feedback I received during discussions at the PTG convention. The result is a preview of the new version 2.6 of pianoscope, packed with many exciting new features. Let's dive in!

New Features:

[PRO] Toolbar Customization:
- For iPads on iOS 16+:
  - Document title is now positioned on the left.
  - Add and arrange custom buttons directly in the toolbar.
- For iPhones and older iPads:
  - Customize toolbar buttons via a separate list.
- Initiate the customization by selecting Customize Toolbar from the main menu.
- The number of buttons you can add depends on your device's size and orientation. Overflowing buttons will be auto-hidden.
- New buttons come with extended options accessible via a tap-and-hold action.
- Available Toolbar Buttons
  - Toggle tone generation.
  - Toggle strobe.
  - Toggle pitch indicator.
  - Toggle indicator freezing.
  - Display/hide partials.
  - Display/hide on-screen keyboard.
  - Access general, instrument, audio settings.
  - View inharmonicity.
  - Manage and configure pitch raise.
  - Examine tuning curve.
Indicator Scale Enhancements:
- Access settings through main menu: Pitch > Indicator > Scale or via a tap-and-hold on the tuning scale.
- Expanded indicator range options: +/-100 Cents, +/-50 Cents, +/-20 Cents, and +/-10 Cents. Adjust via Pitch > Indicator > Scale > Range or pinch gesture on the scale.
- [PRO] Resolution Options:
  - In previous versions, the scale had a variable resolution (fine in the middle, coarse on the outside) for plain tuning and a linear resolution for pitch raising with over-pulling. The new version allows you to freely choose between linear and variable resolutions.
- [PRO] You can now chose between two Pitch-Raising Modes:
  1. Existing mode: Overpull Target Above Zero. The overpull target pitch is marked in orange right of the zero line; the original target pitch without overpull remains at zero.
  2. New mode: Overpull Target At Zero. The overpull target pitch is at zero; the original target pitch is a gray marker on the left. This new mode now enables the variable scale with its higher resolution around the zero, facilitating precise tunings during pitch-raise. And you still get a good intuition of how much you are over- or under-pulling.
- [PRO] Option to always keep an orange target marker at the zero position outside pitch-raise mode.
- Customize label text size in the scale.
- Enable minor tick marks in the scale.
Pitch Raise Enhancements:
- The panel for setting up a new pitch-raise has a new flag item in its toolbar. You can tap it to skip all following parameters and directly start to measure the tuning.
- The pre-measurement panel toolbar contains a new item for choosing between different note patterns:
  1. All As
  2. A minor triad
  3. Minor thirds
  4. Major seconds
  5. All black keys
  6. All white keys.
File Integration:
- [PRO] Import TuneLab files as static tunings.

Improvements:

The settings panel now recalls your last accessed page.
Enhanced noise handling capabilities, accommodating broadband background noises, such as from vacuums or hair dryers.
[PRO] Modify extra stretch in tuning styles using a wheel picker for superior resolution, replacing the previous slider.
The false beat tolerance setting has a new option none.
The inharmonicity panel now displays the date of the last measurement when not measuring.

Fixes:

[PRO] Apple Watches incorrectly displayed the remote for the tone generator when it was deactivated.
On iOS, inharmonicity and tuning style views sometimes exhibited layout issues.
Invisible trailing spaces in instrument setup panel textfields have been addressed.

As usual you can join the beta test for free via TestFlight using this link: https://testflight.apple.com/join/XynJwNCb

In the beta app you need to do a purchase of the pro version. But this will only be a test transaction and will not incur any payments or costs.

I look forward to receiving feedback!

Rick

Frank Illenberger What is the reason for all these choices
“The pre-measurement panel toolbar contains a new item for choosing between different note patterns:
A minor triad
Minor thirds
Major seconds
All black keys
All white keys.”?

MilanDka

On small devices, the key in the main menu item Customize toolbar is not visible. iP SE 1st gen.

Frank Illenberger

MilanDka In landscape orientation, I think you might have to scroll upwards by swiping inside the menu to see the new menu item.

Rick

Scrolling up works for me. Was not instantly found.

MilanDka

I see the submenu, but not "KEY" (Tool wrench)

Frank Illenberger

MilanDka Thanks for the bug report. It is because your device is running iOS 15. I will fix this with the next beta build.

MilanDka

It looks great.
I have a suggestion to improve the display.

if they use a variable display during pre-tuning, it is not possible to tell which mode I am in. Suggestion: use a different color for the tone name and pointer, for example blue.
change the color of the marker to inverse in the toolbar.
only when fine-tuning, simply cross out the pull-pretune mark

Bug: on a small device in the toolbar, the freeze function is not crossed out, but only the text information "Freeze" appears - maybe the same problem as above - iOS 15?

Edit2:
During the day I noticed that the shape of the arrow (fine and coarse tuning) changes, but I don't think the change is very noticeable. There are other differences, but very small, in the Variable scale display.
I would really like better fine and coarse tuning markings.
The changes described above work great.

Frank Illenberger

MilanDka The problem with the slashed freeze icon should be fixed in the latest build

When you use a variable scale for pitch-raising you can see whether you are in pitch-raise mode if there is a gray marker showing the original pitch. Isn't this enough?

MilanDka

Burkhard

MilanDka only when fine-tuning, simply cross out the pull-pretune mark

For me, it would be best this way. The display would be the same as the Freeze function

MilanDka

After using it all day, I'd say it's borderline. You can't see it clearly. Yes, the triangles are grey and the up arrow icon is a bit bold.
You'll see, Frank, what other Beta testers have to say. I guess it's a matter of opinion. Some people are fine with it, some (me) can't see much without glasses anymore.
Yes, I have a small device because it is very compact and if it falls inside the grand, nothing will happen to it and neither to the piano.

Frank Illenberger

MilanDka In the last build, I increased the size of the gray marker for the original tuning target. Please check it out if it improves things for you. If it is not enough, I could implement a size option, so that you could increase its size even further.

MilanDka

Hi Frank, it's better. Rather, it is related to the fact that one already knows what to look for and focus on. I know you're trying to stick to some concept of appearance and I don't want to disturb it.
Thanks for your work and support.
Milan

MilanDka

Hello, Frank,
I wrote the question as feedback directly from the beta app.
Can you add information on the Inharmonicity screen about when it was last measured? This is due to the fact that in production the bass cover calculation is sometimes changed, different tests are done, the effect of humidity and temperature on the tone.
The way I use Pianoscope is that I measure the inharmonicity once, for example on a P206 model, and use this for other pianos of the same model. In production this is sufficient, but sometimes I feel the need to measure the inharmonicity again.
Have a nice evening
Milan

Frank Illenberger

MilanDka As a matter of fact, pianoscope already records the date at which every measurement point was made. It should be possible to find a way to display this to the user.

MilanDka

I think it would be ideal to display this information directly on the Inharmonicity screen. Something like: Last Measurement: 26 Oct 2023

navindra

I lose my settings (Freeze, Textual Display, Header, etc) going to the Beta. It would be nice to persist that somewhere.

It would be really awesome if I could measure the average Concert Pitch over a specific set of notes (as opposed to a single note or the set of notes pianoscope wants me to play).

I'm so happy Settings is 1-touch away now. I always used to choose Instrument by accident when Settings was what I really wanted. 😃

Frank Illenberger

navindra I am sorry you lost the settings when switching to TestFlightThis should not happen. This seems to be a bug in the iOS operating system. I had that happen once before. I currently don't know what to do against this. I will keep looking into it.

Frank Illenberger

navindra

It would be really awesome if I could measure the average Concert Pitch over a specific set of notes (as opposed to a single note or the set of notes pianoscope wants me to play).

pianoscope already has this feature: https://www.pianoscope.app/manual/en/pianoscope.html#_optimize_pro

navindra

Frank Illenberger I would be happy with the ability to export and import my settings. Then I could just save them in iCloud.

navindra

Here's my official wishlist.

I think this will be killer features for beginner tuners:

The ability to do tunings over multiple days. For me, the only thing needed for this is to be able to detect the A440 drift of the notes that have already been tuned.
On a piano that has been already been tuned, the ability to identify the notes that have drifted the most and need to be touched up in order of priority. A user-friendly option.

Lastly:

More control over pitch detection? In my case I'm using a contact tuner and so pianoscope should disable the noise filtering algorithms and trust that what is coming in is a piano sound. At the moment it has difficulty recognizing low and high notes, although they seem to be coming in at a decent level.

Frank Illenberger

navindra

The ability to do tunings over multiple days. For me, the only thing needed for this is to be able to detect the A440 drift of the notes that have already been tuned.

If you want to measure the drift for multiple notes, you can simply use the Optimize Concert Pitch function for correction. If you only want to check a single note, there is a very handy way to do this if you have the freeze indicator activated: In the regular tuning view, play the last note on the piano at which you stopped tuning the day before. When pianoscope shows the gray freeze indicator, tap and hold it. An alert will come up which asks you if you want to adjust the concert pitch so that the frozen pitch is shifted to zero.

Frank Illenberger

navindra

On a piano that has been already been tuned, the ability to identify the notes that have drifted the most and need to be touched up in order of priority. A user-friendly option.

Thanks for this suggestion. This feature is already on my to-do list.

Frank Illenberger

navindra

More control over pitch detection? In my case I'm using a contact tuner and so pianoscope should disable the noise filtering algorithms and trust that what is coming in is a piano sound. At the moment it has difficulty recognizing low and high notes, although they seem to be coming in at a decent level.

I doubt pianoscope's noise resilience has anything to do with it. But you could make a recording of the notes which are not reacting with the contact mic and send it to me. The easiest way for recording is to use the pre-installed app Voice Memos. Then I can take a look at what pianoscope recognises in the signal.

MilanDka

Hi Frank,
the beta version of the app ends tomorrow. Are you going to extend the Beta or release it in a live version? I would like to keep my settings of all icons and I don't really want to go back to the last sharp version.
Did you please look at the option to display the date when the inharmonicity was last measured? Thank you for your work.
Milan

Frank Illenberger

MilanDka I will release a new beta build today. It will run for another two weeks. The upcoming build will show the last IH measurement date, but only for newly done measurements, not for existing ones.