Piano Time

This app is a Grand Prize Winner in the Apptivate.MS developer contest!

Piano Time is a free multitouch piano comprised of 36 visible keys and 4 selectable octaves. With a configurable metronome, users can learn to play the piano or practice their skills, as well as record and playback unlimited songs. Piano Time supports multitouch, keyboard, and mouse input.

Features

Multitouch, mouse, and keyboard support
Live tile keeps track of total notes played over time
Recording and playback of songs
Free
4 Selectable octaves
Configurable Metronome
36 visible keys that scale to whatever screen resolution you're on
Multiple background color options can be selected

Development

The app uses SharpDX's XAudio2 to playback stereo wave samples of piano notes. The wav files can have their frequency shifted to different octaves. I created a SoundVoice pool to play sounds simultaneously while not taxing the system. Sound recordings are serialized and stored in LocalStorage for playback later. I will be adding a export and sharing feature in the near future.

Planned Features

Export and share recordings
Pre-installed songs
Learning mode

Videos

Screenshots

Comments

gyurisc Dec 20 '12 at 15:50

Congratulations! Grat App!

Robert Gawdzik Dec 20 '12 at 18:44

Congrats! I really like the customizability!

AnkMannen Dec 20 '12 at 14:50

Congrats to you!

Software Developer Dec 20 '12 at 15:01

Congratulations on the win! Great job!!!

Nick Dec 20 '12 at 15:39

Thanks! Its been a fun contest.

Sandra Walters Dec 20 '12 at 16:56

Excellent app and congrats on the win!

Zhaph - Ben Duguid Dec 18 '12 at 23:14

Great app - really good sound, and quite playable - I now need more surfaces to make a full keyboard ;) Good luck!

A. Alejo Dec 10 '12 at 15:28

Really liked it. Looking forward to getting the share option. Got you in my top 3 ;)

Nick Dec 10 '12 at 16:08

Thanks! Hope to have the sharing features in soon.

AnkMannen Dec 10 '12 at 10:51

You got my top three vote! Good job and good luck!

Nick Dec 10 '12 at 15:16

Thanks for the vote!

hunter Dec 8 '12 at 9:47

thanks! i was looking for this in windows 8 . If you can provide tutorial inside the app,it would be great .

Mexond Dec 6 '12 at 16:32

Looks fun! Got to try it with my nephew sometime. :)

0utsmart Dec 6 '12 at 12:03

like this app. music apps on touch screens are a must have..mainly for those who always have been postponing the idea of learning music., like me

esskar Dec 6 '12 at 8:54

this looks very good. would like to use it on a surface. good luck in the contest.

RichardTheKiwi Dec 5 '12 at 22:39

One of few apps to make me get a Surface

Ankit Dec 5 '12 at 19:46

A polished app. Custom background option would be great.

Harshit Dec 3 '12 at 11:54

Nice looking app. This can be used for kids to learn piano, without buying one. also learning feature would a big feature as suggested by D.K.

user1606266 Dec 3 '12 at 11:45

Plays really nice music !! Need to bring more sound variations .Make it like a real piano

MBZ Nov 26 '12 at 17:46

Loved it :) Thanks :)

d.k. Nov 26 '12 at 15:22

I like this app. Consider adding 2 things. First is a service to exchange and download prerecorded samples. Second is learning mode. When prerecorded sample is played, notes and keys are highlighted. This could be useful for learning, e.g. key highlight could go a bit earlier than required (1 metronome tick), i.e. "play it yourself mode".

Nick Nov 26 '12 at 15:53

Thanks for the suggestions! The two you suggested are definitely on the road map. I'm working on exporting wav/mp3 files of recordings and multiple keyboard mappings for the next release.

White Dragon Nov 23 '12 at 0:44

Looks like it could be a bit of creative fun!

mvark Nov 19 '12 at 12:51

Nifty! If the app is free, you can highlight that.

Rahat Khanna Nov 18 '12 at 14:18

Would love to play Piano on this App on a touch device...

simsam7 Nov 17 '12 at 22:23

Like the app, looks good. Any way your could place the bottom banner a bit lower or something as it really dominates your interface and in the second example with the 'About' screen it overlaps. Small things like that might not appear important, but it really affects how people view your app.

Nick Nov 18 '12 at 21:50

I'll look into different banner placements and see what works. The next release should also fix the z-index issue with the ad control.

SAN3 Nov 16 '12 at 10:50

Nice and cool app.Looks great buddy.

Abid Rahman K Nov 11 '12 at 13:52

Nice app mate.. Would like to have a tutorial section if it doesn't have it already.

Nick Nov 14 '12 at 16:33

Thanks, I'll try and work in a help section in the next update to tell people what each setting does.

TrekStir Oct 29 '12 at 22:19

I like the recording function in this. Can you send recordings to others?

Nick Nov 1 '12 at 22:57

Saving sound files and sharing is being implemented in the next version.

Gerardo Melendrez Oct 25 '12 at 7:26

That looks like a cool app.

Dinesh Oct 20 '12 at 12:57

Nice,Good app...!

Hitesh Oct 20 '12 at 10:37

Waiting for this kinda app for my piano hobby , eager to grab this , please put the download link to grab it.

Nick Oct 25 '12 at 19:45

It's in the store now!

RobCurr Oct 18 '12 at 23:43

I agree with the background suggestion. Either change it or provide additional background colors. Also have you thought of using the pressure component of the touch gestures to modify the sound?

Nick Oct 20 '12 at 2:47

I'm adding some alternate backgrounds that should be in the next release. I haven't messed with the pressure part of the touch gestures yet. I'm hoping to get a touch device to test on at build in a couple weeks.

Sandra Walters Oct 18 '12 at 15:31

Wow, this looks like a really cool app. Can't wait to try it.

vignesh4303 Oct 18 '12 at 14:31

nice app mate waiting for download link and if you change background it would be fine mate

Nick Oct 18 '12 at 15:05

Thanks for the suggestion, It's in certification now. Hopefully it won't take too long.

ashraf Dec 7 '12 at 3:04

Hope my baby will like it