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Casio Releases iOS Apps That Let Users Play Musical Accompaniment to Their Favorite Songs

Chordana Tap

The piano pad screen in Chordana Tap
(as it appears on an iPhone)

Chordana Viewer

The guitar pad screen in Chordana Viewer
(as it appears on an iPhone)

TOKYO, October 31, 2013 — Casio Computer Co., Ltd., announced today that it has developed two iOS apps—Chordana Tap and Chordana Viewer—that let users play musical accompaniment to their favorite songs. The apps are available on the Apple App Store today.

In its continuous effort to bring the fun of music to a wider range of people, Casio has made the most of its electronic musical instrument technologies to develop these two new apps for iOS devices, including the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Employing Casio’s proprietary Chordana music analysis technology, the apps can detect musical chord progressions*1 by analyzing the frequency characteristics and temporal changes of an audio file. Users can then play along as an accompanist when playing back songs stored in an iPhone or other device.

*1 The apps automatically select chords that most closely match the compositional character of a piece of music.
The selected chords, however, may not exactly match the original chords, depending on the piece of music.


Chordana Tap works great for people with or without experience playing the keyboard or guitar, enabling them to enjoy accompanying their favorite songs simply by tapping the virtual instruments on the screen. Chordana Viewer helps musicians learn songs on a real-world instrument by reducing the time it takes to learn the chords by ear and making it unnecessary to write them out by hand.

 

Type of app
Name of app
Price
Easy virtual accompaniment app
Chordana Tap
Free
Chord chart production support app
Chordana Viewer
Fee-based*2
*2 Please check the price at the App Store.

Chordana Tap lets users virtually experience playing music simply by tapping

Guitar Pad
Guitar Pad
Rhythm Pad
Rhythm Pad
Play Style evaluating
Play Style evaluating
  • By tapping a virtual instrument on the screen along with a musical accompaniment guide, users can play the chord progression of a song. Four virtual instrument sounds*3 are available to choose from. A rhythm to match the song can also be selected.*3

  • The app guides the user through the song using a variety of color-coded chords. The system was designed under the supervision of Dr. Noriko Nagata of the Department of Human System Interaction, School of Science and Technology, Kwansei Gakuin University.

  • The app is equipped with a function for evaluating the results of the performed accompaniment according to five musical styles: pop, rock, Latin, dance, and jazz.

*3 Musical instrument sounds and rhythm patterns can be added for a fee. Please check prices at the App Store.

Chordana Viewer helps with creating chord charts to suit the performer

Piano keyboard
Piano keyboard
Piano Pad
Piano Pad
Chord list
Chord list
  • The app automatically detects chord progressions and displays them on the screen as a chord chart. Chord charts can also be modified and saved. If the user wishes to change the musical key, the chords also change automatically, allowing easy production of chord charts to suit the performer.

  • Places to press piano keyboards and guitar strings are shown on the screen. Users can feel the sensation of using their own musical instrument and playing along with their favorite musicians by looking at the screen and playing to the song.

  • Users can choose from four virtual instrument sounds*4 to accompany music, and even record a performance. MIDI compatible musical instruments can also be connected. The balance between vocals and accompaniment can be adjusted during playback—a useful function for learning to play by ear.

*4 Musical instrument sounds can be added for a fee. Please check prices at App Store.

Chordana Tap Main Features

Control
Transpose
Target
Audio playback, virtual musical instrument
Range
±1 octaves (pitch in semitone units)
Tempo
Target
Audio playback, accompaniment guide, rhythm
Range
50% to 200%
Volume Balance
Whole Balance
Song (audio playback) / tap operation (virtual musical instrument)
Song Balance
Backing / melody
Virtual Musical
Instrument
Accompaniment Guide
Chord type (color coding)*5, Accent of the song
Piano Pad
Pad
Chord pad (white), monophony pad (black)
Preset Tones*6
Acoustic Piano, Electric Piano
Guitar Pad
Pad
6 string (each string sounds independently)
Preset Tones*6
Steel-string Guitar, Nylon-string Guitar
Rhythm Pad
Preset Patterns*6
10 rhythm patterns
Play Style
Evaluation
 
The tendency of the accompaniment is displayed in a radar chart
Evaluation Elements
Pop, rock, Latin, dance, jazz
Audio Recording
The virtual musical instrument performance is recorded with the playback song
History List
Accompaniment, audio recording
MIDI
MIDI IN
Sounded by virtual musical instrument tone
MIDI OUT
Chord progression, tap operation (virtual musical instrument)
*5 Hiding chord name.
*6 Additional tones/patterns are subject to fees. Please check prices at the App Store.

 

Chordana Viewer Main Features

Control
Transpose
Target
Audio playback, chord score, virtual musical instrument
Range
±1 octaves (pitch in semitone units)
Tempo
Target
Audio playback, chord progression guide
Range
50% to 200%
Volume Balance
Whole Balance
Music (audio playback) / tap operation (virtual musical instrument)
Music Balance
Backing / melody
Chord Chart
Display
Chord name (full screen display correspondence), chord progression guide, chord list
Function
Save, easy edit (choose from 3 candidate chords), manual edit
Virtual Musical Instrument
Piano Keyboard
Keyboard
12 keys / 17 keys / 24 keys
Indicator
Keyboard position corresponding to the cord: Current cord, next cord
Max. Polyphony
12
Preset Tones*7
Acoustic Piano, Electric Piano
Piano Pad
Pad
Chord pad (white), monophony pad (black)
Indicator
Chord position for piano performance
Preset Tones*7
Acoustic Piano, Electric Piano
Guitar Pad
Pad
6 string (each string sounds independently)
Indicator
Chord position for guitar performance
Preset Tones*7
Steel-string Guitar, Nylon-string Guitar
Audio Recording
The virtual musical instrument performance is recorded with the playback song
MIDI
MIDI IN
Sounded by virtual musical instrument tone
MIDI OUT
Chord progression, tap operation (virtual musical instrument),
touch operation (chord score), touch operation (chord list)
*7 Additional tones are subject to fees. Please check prices at the App Store.

 

Main Specifications

Compatibility
iPhone*8
iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s
iPod touch
iPod touch (fifth generation)
iPad*8
iPad 2, iPad (third generation), iPad (fourth generation), iPad mini
Detection of Chord Progression
Target songs
Songs saved in standard iOS music apps (File length is limited to 10 minutes.)
Customizable items
Number of chords per bar, tempo (slow, standard, or upbeat),
fixed tempo (on or off), time signature (4/4, 3/4, or 5/4)
*8 iOS version 6.0 or higher is necessary.

To use the MIDI function, a commercially available MIDI interface and a MIDI connectable electronic musical instrument are required.
Apple, iPhone, iPod touch and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.
Other product names and so forth are generally trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies.

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