ReefIt! Apps

Snare Line Composer

2012-06-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, here is another glimpse at what I've been working on. It's starting to come together. Just a few more tweaks and it'll be live.

Let me know what you think!

2012-05-26T11:56:00.003-07:00

It's an evolution, but here is an early early look at what the new app is. The design as progressed from this, but the concept remains the same.

Sound Samples

2012-05-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

So I am branching out to more than just drum samples. Wowzers is there a whole subculture there that I didn't take notice of. Fortunately, there are a ton of free samples out there to use. Freesound.org is amazing. Love all the raw stuff people are sharing there. Not much marching percussion stuff, but a fair number of drum set recordings and special effects stuff.

Another free set of Drum Machine Samples: http://www.wavealchemy.co.uk/606_drums/pid65/fr
Michael Kingston has offerred up ruff rider drum samples
Real Music Media has a bunch of samples too: http://realmusicmedia.net/samples.html
And then there is Sounds Outside the Lines: http://soundsoutsidethelines.com/

I am certain there are a thousand more. Have any favorites?

Coming soon...

2012-05-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

Been working on a new app. Got some really cool drum line sounds off the inter webs, but I know I can't use 'em...

I need some better marching drum samples that I can use. Those basses for ReefIt bass sound ok at best - probably the biggest complaint I have on the app store. Would love to get a whole slew of different sounds to import and use - like 80s style sounds to indoor drums. I'm a bit surprised that more people haven't jumped on that and created samples to use. I should bite the bullet and ask some local band directors.

Version 1.3

2011-04-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

Happy to announce that version 1.3 of ReefIt Bass just landed in the iTunes store.

You can now record your beats!! I also spent a good while adjusting the tap response. I ended up using OpenGL for the UI. OpenGL provided a nice way to make hits. I had previously used a CSLayer that worked but never in the responsive way I wanted. I played around with a particle generator but ended up with just a few "sound" rings when you hit/touch. I also removed the explicit split functionality - where 2 sixteenths would play on one drum and force you to another to play the other half of the split. That prevented a whole bunch of other combos.

Wow what a response!

2009-08-11T21:06:00.001-07:00

So one day of being free on the store (it was actually a bit less than 24 hours), we had over 700 downloads. We've only had a little over 800 downloads total. Ah the power of the internet.

Finals Free

2009-08-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

For Finals night, I've decided to give the app away for free for today only. I made the changes and submitted them to Apple. Hopefully it will show on the store that way soon.

Drum Corps International 2009 Finals

2009-08-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

Best of luck to all the corps tomorrow night. I hope that you have your best show yet. Leave it all on the field.

Thursday Night Dallas

2009-07-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

The Lake Highlands Drum Corps show is always a good time. Last night we scored some great tickets from friends who got "upgraded" to the press box. We were just off the 50 about half way up the stands. It's the first time I've only gone to the stands and didn't hang out in the lot. There were some really great shows. Pioneer had a great opening segment that featured the drumline - go basses! Academy was quite good. I really enjoyed their show. I missed the Troopers, unfortunately. I've read that they are doing really well this year, but my 3 year old had other plans. The Colts were great. The visuals for being on the sea were really well thought out and easy to digest. Madison just always has a crowd pleaser, and this year is no exception. The mysterious color guard outfits at the beginning of the show looked more strange religion than super hero. Blue Knights were solid as usual. I liked SCVs music - Appalachian Springs is just beautiful. I am always surprised when two corps end up with similar themes, but really it's pretty common. Cavaliers do a great job and have interesting visual program. The climber across the corps is really cool.

Blue Devils - WOW. great show! visually, musically - just great. I am sure the members are sick of the chairs, but they do an amazing job with them. They still have room to clean, but the time to do so.

I didn't attend the Friday show; so, I missed Cadets, Phantom, Crown, et al. but my pick to win is B.D.

1.1 is in the App Store

2009-07-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

Get Version 1.1

Got approved for version 1.1. Now need to concentrate on getting the tenor app out.

Version 1.1 Submitted

2009-07-01T15:26:00.001-07:00

So I blew it. I'll admit. 3.0 came out and the app failed. bad bad bad. So sorry to anyone that updated to 3.0 and had the app crash. But last night, I submitted version 1.1 of ReefIt Bass. It includes two new features and is 3.0 compatible.

We now have splits. In the preferences you can select 8s - 32nds and a tempo, as well as divide on the 8th note. Hopefully that makes sense. I should throw a video together....

To go along with this, I added a metronome to play along with.

First full week

2009-05-02T06:41:00.000-07:00

Today will mark the end of the first full week on the store. About 18 sales (5 of which are international) so far. One positive review. Pretty good I would say considering I only pasted a link on Facebook and told some friends.

I've been working on the rolls this week. I am split between just having a full roll for each drum or more like a triplet for split sixes. Most likely I'll make it a configuration. In my testing, it's a little difficult with full out rolls to get the exact # of notes for a two or three or four (or more) run down the line.

-cc

We're on the App Store!

2009-04-28T19:19:00.000-07:00

Check it out!

Well that took a bit longer than I anticipated. I did do one recall on it to change the binary. Still, I thought their turn around was seven days, but it took more like ten.

Published

2009-04-14T19:31:00.001-07:00

Last night around 12:40am I published to Apple. Now the waiting begins...

When I tried to revert back to a development branch I kept getting build errors. Hopefully, the submitted app didn't have any issues or publishing could take a bit longer.

Shirts!!!

2009-03-11T21:58:00.000-07:00

Dave put this up and I personally think they are jammin. Buy a Shirt.

Actually buy some for the whole line. The onesies are especially cute.

Moved to OpenAL

2009-03-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

I recently moved the audio portion to use OpenAL - thanks especially to the http://www.gehacktes.net/ briefing on playing multiple sounds with OpenAL. I am much happier with the response now. I have also been tweaking the sound file themselves. But now I am thinking we may need to add a new feature to select drum preferences. It should be fairly easy to setup, but getting the sounds right takes some doing.

Samples

2009-02-15T19:42:00.000-08:00

Making a drum app isn't particularly difficult: get a picture; attach a sound to certain areas of it; capture tap; play sound; done. However, getting it right does take some doing. For drummers it's not enough to just hit something and make a sound. We like to hit slow and fast, loud and soft. Does the iPhone have a sensitivity to it's touch screen? Not that I can tell so far.

Beginning Stages

2009-02-14T22:51:00.000-08:00

Just starting to develop an app for the iphone for marching percussion instruments. Goal is to have each of the battery represented: snares, tenors, basses (no plates for now). My good friend Dwight has already hooked me up with some sweets samples of the line. I am trying to figure out the actual software. I have sounds playing when you tap but would like a sensitivity setting that just isn't there; so, I am still trying to figure out how to get taps and accents.