Disappointing
Response from developer
Thank you for taking the time to review ChordMaps2. Here's our design perspective. 1 - The maps in ChordMaps2 (based on the maps found at Chordmaps.com) were originally designed to make it easier for beginning songwriters to explore basic chord progressions. The I, ii, iii, IV, V, and vi chords are very common, and have been used to write thousands of songs. The vii dim chord is seen much less often, especially when teaching beginners. 2 - In harmonic minor, the iii chord is augmented, containing the notes b3, 5, and 7. When the bass note is on b3, composers sometimes use the minor i chord in first inversion rather than the iii aug chord. (This option is available on one of the maps.) 3 - It's true that the maps cannot contain every chord possibility, but, from an educational perspective, enough options are included to give the beginning songwriter, or first-year music theory student, a strong place to begin.
If it only.....
This Is Great!
Indispensable songwriting tool
With great power comes... um... a really crowded interface! 😜
The documentation is there, it just verbose and not really set up for musical neophytes to be able to understand. Which is unfortunate and a bit weird as this has serious potential to be an amazing learning and teaching tool for music theory. Even more odd since that’s precisely why the dev built it...
Anyway, if you can trudge though figuring it out, it’s ability to control up to like 7 different synth voices playing everything from chords, bass counter melody, melody, lead, solo, etc. all from one interface, all in a “musically coherent” manner is pretty amazing.
It’s probably better served pairing with hardware though because it’s full screen (and even that’s not enough) and a lot of app switching would be needed to really go nuts with the thing.
Buy it, learn it, love it!
Response from developer
Thank you for taking the time to write. I should probably give a little explanation. The crowded interface is the result of a significant design decision. As a songwriting musician, there are many moments at the keyboard where I need to quickly move from one musical idea to another. For example, I might be thinking... "Let's try this chord progression in the key of F... no, maybe in Eb... or how about Ab... here's a melodic idea... how about this for a bass line... maybe the bass should be played in octaves rather than single notes... back to the chord progression... let's try the right hand chord notes up an octave." These kinds of thoughts can come quickly when exploring or improvising. So, when the app was being developed, I decided to make these musical thoughts correspond, wherever possible, to just one tap on the screen. It was important to me to be able to switch from one idea to the next without hesitation, and without the delays that come from searching through menus or submenus. So I intentionally placed all the musical options I could on the one screen. Did I want to switch to a different key, perhaps in the middle of a phrase? One tap gets me there. Did I want the bass note to play in octaves instead of single notes? One tap accomplishes that. Did I want to improvise bass lines and melodic lines spontaneously without having to reposition a keyboard? That would require two keyboards--one for bass lines and one for melodic lines. It takes up a fair amount of the screen, but both keyboards are always there. When finished, everything was all packed in tightly. The disadvantage is that it looks crowded and confusing. But the good thing is you can move like lightning from one thought to the next, exploring chords, melody lines, and bass lines very freely, changing keys at any time, going from major to minor and back, changing which synths apps are playing... all in real time. So, yes, it was a tradeoff, and I chose the path that would give me the musical freedom and spontaneity I experience when I'm playing a real keyboard. My hope is that as musicians explore the crowded interface, the various options will start to make sense, and the person playing will experience the musical freedom that I was searching for when making these decisions.
DOES NOT Get along well with GarageBand
Other than that... it seems quite useful... and I hope it continues to develop... how about some dynamics based on tilt...
Response from developer
Yes, ChordMaps2 can be used with GarageBand, but it takes an extra step. Because GarageBand doesn't "advertise" that it's available, an app is required that acts as a bridge, connecting the virtual midi output from ChordMaps2 to the virtual midi input of GarageBand. Here are three "bridges" you can use to connect to GarageBand. 1 - The simplest and easiest way is a free app called FreEWI. After opening GarageBand, open FreEWI. Then open ChordMaps2 and connect to FreEWI on the ChordMaps2 info page. (Touch the name "FreEWI" and a checkmark will appear to the right. Also, you don't have to set anything in FreEWI. Just open it and let it run in the background.) 2. You can use an app called MidiFire. (ChordMaps2 can see MidiFire as a midi destination. In MidiFire, connect MidiFire's output to MidiFire's input. This creates a path for midi information that GarageBand can read.) 3 - You can use an app called MidiFlow. (In MidiFlow, under Select Source you can create a virtual midi input. Under Select Destination, you can create a virtual midi output. ChordMaps2 can send information to the virtual midi input, and GarageBand will then respond to the midi information coming from the output.) Re: Other Midi Apps ChordMaps2 acts as a midi controller. Any app that accepts midi information will respond if there is a path for the midi information to get through. In general, this is the usual setup. 1 - Make sure the midi app is running and you can hear sound when playing it. 2 - Make sure the midi app has "Background Audio" on. Some apps don't have this automatically enabled. It's usually an option that can be selected. 3 - See if the app is listed in the Destinations on the ChordMaps2 info page. If it is, touch the name of the app and a checkmark will appear to the right, indicating that midi information will be sent to that app. 4 - If the app doesn't appear in the list of Destinations, use one of the "midi bridge" options listed at the top of this discussion. We hope you will enjoy exploring chord progressions with ChordMaps2.
No midi
several keyboards and synths, all of which show up, but checked or not, there is no sound. Junk!
Response from developer
Usually when there isn't any sound, the receiving app needs "Background Audio" to be turned on. That way the receiving app is still active even though it isn't visible on screen. If "Background Audio" is on, and if the app is set to receive midi signals on the same channels as ChordMaps2, you should be all set.
A Superb Tool for Songwriters
This tool is a midi driving app and once you understand that you will be very happy with it!! I obviously fell into that hole - but once I got that sorted out I discovered an exceptional gem that has been crafted by people who genuinely care about music. To clear up any doubts you may have, you can visit their web site where you can find a lot more useful material.
The major selling point for me is learning how music is structured my tinkering around with music maps that can be applied to any key. In addition there are a large number of variations that can also be explored right on the same screen. This abstract view of music is a revelation and worth having to explore that feature alone.
I would have liked to be able to buy ChordMaps 2 with a default string sound on board, and I’ve suggested this. It would save the need to buy a second app and make accessible to a larger audience, which in my opinion they totally deserve.
I also bought their convenient PDF file encapsulating some basic music theory although you can read it for free on their website. I thought it was extremely well written foundational information that I needed to keep in my own library.
I can’t paradise it enough, it’s a perfect learning tool and great for song writing.
Access to Harmony & Melody
All of the chords in the app can be accessed from one page. You can select various chords, set the octaves for bass, chords, melody, and accompaniment parts plus set their MIDI destinations in the app.
Even though you may have limited knowledge of music theory, you can still connect the app to whatever MIDI compatible apps or hardware you have and try any number of combinations out and record what is of interest to you as a MIDI track and/or audio track in the DAW of your choice. From there you can do further editing and always return to the app for further exploration at anytime in the process.
