RoGame News

Sound Libraries Released for the iPhone/iPod touch

2009-11-16T10:33:00.001-08:00

In response to many requests seven Sound Libraries have been released for the applications ChordLab, EarMan , Mozart and ScaleMaster . These libraries are available as In App purchases and add 3 sound modules per library to the respective application. The Keyboard Pack for example includes the modules: Rhodes, Wurlitzer and Clavinet. All installed instruments are available via toolbar icon in the new instrument picker:

In order to take advantage of these new libraries, devices must run OS 3.0 or higher and the latest version of the respective applications. Note: Sound Libraries are not available via iTunes. Ordering takes place on the device itself by tapping the "+..." button in the instrument picker.

BandMaster 1.0 Released

2009-09-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

BandMaster is a first for handheld devices and a very unique application for the iPhone and iPod touch. In essence it provides a fully configurable virtual band consisting of bass, drums and piano. This makes it an extremely valuable tool for music students, professionals and hobbyists alike, in short anybody that needs a rhythm section, harmonic backing or just wants to practice playing over changes. It instills a great sense of form and can serve as a sounding board for composers and songwriters alike. Best of all - using BandMaster couldn’t be any easier.

New songs are typically created in two steps. To reduce the amount of data that needs to be entered BandMaster comes with many templates that include several Blues forms, standard Jazz forms, exercises and more. After having selected a template like “Simple Blues” for example one can then modify this song form further in BandMaster’s composition view. The composition view has tools to add and remove measures, transpose the entire form and change the meter. Chords can be edited on a beat or measure basis with the chord picker – no typing required. A Blues template could now become “Blues in Ab” after applying the transposition tool and renaming the template. It will then appear as such in the song list. But additional changes can be made at any time.

BandMaster uses a huge number of individual high-quality samples to construct a song’s playback and applies separate algorithms for each instrument based on harmony, speed and style choices. It automatically highlights B parts or bridges during 1st and last chorusses and allows for any combination of its three instruments in case no piano is needed for example. Under the hood several millisecond timers run in parallel to provide steady and exact timing that rivals that of any metronome. What really counts in the end however is the sound and that is where BandMaster truly shines. Whether you are listening with earphones or have your iPhone/iPod touch connected to a speaker system, you can expect clean and crisp, stereo imaged playback that sounds very realistic and convincing.

We believe that BandMaster is going to be a very valuable tool for many musicians in all matters that concern improvisation, composition and practice. There is nothing that beats the experience of practicing with a rhythm section or band, but BandMaster comes very close. Furthermore it provides the means to much better prepare for a live situation than is possible with just a metronome. Having this kind of application on a portable device presents new and exciting possibilities for any musician.

Features List:
• bass, drums and piano instruments
• high quality samples
• intuitive interface
• super fast song creation
• over 20 song templates
• supports all common chords
• different style selections
• up to 96 measures per form
• transposition tool
• adjustable time signature
• adjustable speed and number of chorusses
• Localized into English, French, Italian, Japanese, German and Spanish

TomatoRoll 1.0 Released

2009-07-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

TomatoRoll is an old-fashioned flat-surface roller game with a very unique twist. The goal is to sink all your tomatoes, red and green, but the red tomato has to be the last or you lose the round. Add to that 26 levels, 3 initial lives, a time limit of 20 seconds, a couple of walls, cages, cog-wheels, punchers and a whole set of gems to be retrieved while underway. The game is controlled using the iPhone's accelerometer, so the way you hold your phone determines where your game objects roll. Couldn't be any easier - unless of course you want to get to level 2.

Give it a try. TomatoRoll is very immersive with sound effects and a nice backbeat. But caution is in order. Due to the extreme addictiveness of TomatoRoll we had such a hard time wrapping up in-house testing of the game, that it is now being released 3 months behind schedule with one tester still unaccounted for. Don't say we didn't warn you.

TomatoRoll is available from the App Store for your iPhone or iPod touch.

ChordLab 1.0 iPhone Edition Released

2009-05-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

Harmony is a difficult and complex part of music theory with chord spelling and construction at its very basis. What is a chord? Is it C - E - G# or C - E - Ab? You like the sound of those four notes on your guitar, but is it a chord? And if so, what is it called? These are typical issues facing the creative musician when trying to bring a new song to paper. Music theory is often complex and correctly spelling a chord that may have sharps and flats, double flats or double sharps is not always easy. This is where the traditional chord books and apps become useless and ChordLab steps in.

ChordLab differs in its top to bottom approach that begins with a basic chord form which can then be put through permutations like inversions and different voicings. It features all the standard voicings commonly used in Jazz, Rock, Pop, and elsewhere. In that sense it serves as a color palette or sounding board that automatically generates valid fingerings for the piano and guitar in addition to the correct music notiation. The result is a much deeper and better understanding of the underlying principles of harmony.

The chord finder feature in ChordLab allows you to input 3 or 4 notes to determine their harmomic quality. ChordLab will always find the enharmonically simplest solution and does not require you do know whether a note is called G# or an Ab. C-Gb-Bb-D for example will resolve to a D aug7 chord with a correct spelling of C-F#-A#-D. This is especially useful for guitarists that seldomly encounter chords in root position due to the tuning of the instrument.

Another essential tool found in ChordLab is the Circle of Fifths which is implemented interactively. It not only allows to look up key signatures for major and minor, but all major modes like dorian, phrygian, etc. Additionally ChordLab displays degree structures for a key in standard Roman numerals. This is extremely useful when putting together chord progressions.

Putting music theory into words often makes it sound overly complex. Chords are color and nobody would say that red or blue are complicated. ChordLab is not an application that shows you 1000 different colors. It is an application that lets you work with colors, identify them, make them brighter, darker, less complex, more complex and then shows you how to play them. It is very a unique tool for musicians, song-writers, professionals and music students and one that you will find yourself coming back to again and again.

Features:

- chord spelling for all common chords found in fake books (i.e. Real Book)
- chord finder finds correct chord descriptions for triads and seventh chords
- music notation and textual representation of chord tones
- fingering display for piano and guitar
- alternate fingerings for guitar where avaiable
- alto, bass, tenor, treble clefs and grand staff
- all possible inversions
- all standard voicings
- automatic reduction to 3 or 4 voices
- automatic root and fifth substitution
- key signatures for all major modes (circle of fifths)
- degree structure in Roman numerals for all major modes (circle of fifths)
- high quality piano samples
- arpeggiated playback

ChordLab is available from the App Store for your iPhone or iPod touch.

ScaleMaster 1.5 for iPhone and iPod Touch Released

2009-04-07T18:13:00.000-07:00

Scales are elementary to all musicianship. They provide flavor and harmonic structure, but are at the same time fairly complex. ScaleMaster is designed to help in several key areas concerning scales. It lists over 100 scale types in all keys and shows them in music notation. There are four different clefs available (treble, bass, alto and tenor). Additionally scale degrees are shown qualified by the interval to the root. To help visualization there are four virtual instruments (bass, guitar, mandolin and piano). These virtual instruments feature overlays that can show scale degrees or position of a note in the current scale and can be shifted to all available positions.

Scale and root selection in version 1.5 have been joined into a half-screen dialog that updates the notation display live and allows to play scales immediately before dismissing the window. Version 1.5 also introduces a new streamlined interface with larger controls for the 4 virtual instruments. An added lock function allows to lock the interface with only the current instrument interface remaining active. Playback has been optimized and and extra option to add an octave to the end of each scale has been added.

Designed for the beginning musician as well as the professional, ScaleMaster is an excellent tool towards advancement in theory and scales in particular, making it easy to look up a scale in seconds, getting a taste of the flavor of a particular scale by listening to it, or finding out how to play it on one’s instrument.

EarTester 1.0 Released

2009-04-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

EarTester is a free companion application to EarMan. It tests your ear training skills at a proficiency level achieved when completing the EarMan curriculum. Intervals are automatically replayed when a wrong guess is made and are sounded together with a maximum range of 6 octaves. In addition the replay button in the toolbar can be used. EarMan considers 80% as a passing grade, but you might want to aim higher. EarTester uses the same high quality samples that are used in EarMan and also displays intervals in music notation.

EarTester is available from the App Store for your iPhone or iPod touch.

EarMan 1.0 iPhone Edition Released

2009-03-25T08:05:00.000-07:00

A good ear is the key to all musicianship. One of the most basic skills for any musician is the ability to correctly identify intervals, something that is practiced in class or with a private tutor. EarMan is a program that helps you practice ear training on the go. This is an affordable, no-nonsense application that can help you improve your skills with a structured curriculum and fully customizable practice sessions. Completing a training session in EarMan takes about 1-2 minutes, only a fraction of a typical tutored lesson. All sessions are graded immediately and results are made available in the results section of the EarMan.

Main Features:

Structured Training Program with 105 Sessions

Fully Configurable Quick Sessions

High Quality Samples

Music Notation

Silent Mode (for Practicing Intervals Visually)

Interval Songs as Mnemonic Aid

Calm Interface

Incorporation of Complementary Intervals

Selectable Playback Range and Direction

Automatic Grading of Sessions

Detailed Reports

Localized into English, French, Italian, Japanese, German and Spanish

Much thought went into the design of this application. There are high resolution playback samples, a "calm interface" designed to keep you focussed on the sound, interval songs to help memorize the base intervals, but above all EarMan is meant to be a constant companion. Like many things ear training needs to be done on a regular basis to truly yield results and that makes EarMan an ideal application for the iPhone.

EarMan is available from the App Store for your iPhone or iPod touch.

Destaller 3.5 Released

2009-01-30T10:54:00.000-08:00

Destaller Pro 3.5 has been released. This is a maintenance upgrade providing better compatibility and fixing several small issues. This upgrade is available immediately and recommended to all users. ProPack has also been updated and is now at version 2.6.

Almond 1.0 iPhone Edition Released

2008-11-15T05:30:00.000-08:00

Almond is a dictionary for musical terminology. It includes over 1400 listings, 200 illustrations and is designed to deliver short and concise definitions. In addition to most common phrases in music today also standard Italian and German terminology is included. Musical terminology is often confusing to beginning as well as advanced students and even teachers often prefer to have a reference handy. This is mostly due to the melange of languages used where one score will have remarks in German while the next piece is annotated in Italian. Almond also covers the entire field of music and is not limited to a style or to only classical music.

In Almond's unique three-step access, most often the main description plus inline illustration is available directly from the main screen. Tapping an entry displays the details view that often contains additional information regarding a specific term. To widen a definition Almond additionally features convenient links to Google and Wikipedia which can be accessed through the buttons in the toolbar. These buttons are "pre-loaded" with the current search term and will launch Safari with the results for the search term in either Google Defines or Wikipedia. This three-step access allows quick access to data even if not connected to the internet or when data transfer needs to be kept to a minimum and only takes one additional tap to access the full resources of the internet to do a deep search for a specific musical term.

Anybody involved in music, student or professional, has at some time or another used dictionaries, tables and other ways to look up musical terminology. Even the experienced performer will occasionally have had a score with just one or two completely unknown annotations. With Almond this is now a problem of the past. Almond is available here and from the App Store on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Mozart 1.0 Released for iPhone/iPod touch

2008-10-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

We are happy to announce that after many months of hard work Mozart has been released for the iPhone. You can view some videos and screenshots on Mozart's homepage.
Mozart is a program designed to aid in the process of learning how to read music. It does that in form of a game. Once the game is started via the toolbar or menu a stream of whole notes comes streaming from the right side of the screen. These notes have to be named in the order of their appearance with the current input instrument (i.e. piano). Once a note gets too close to the clef on the left side of the screen it disappears in a cloud of vapor and the player loses one life. For each note named in time the player gets one point or more depending on level. The further the game progresses the more notes will appear in this steady stream and their range will widen to potentially include many ledger lines above and below the staff. Once a player has depleted all his lives the game is over and he might receive a high score.

Designed for the beginning musician as well as the professional, Mozart is an excellent tool towards better reading in 12 minor and major keys, practicing, Solfege or unfamiliar keys or just to have fun while learning. You can get Mozart here and also from the AppStore on your iPhone.

ScaleMaster 1.0 Released for iPhone/iPod touch

2008-09-15T15:26:00.000-07:00

Scales are elementary to all musicianship. They provide flavor and harmonic structure, but are at the same time fairly complex. ScaleMaster is designed to help in several key areas concerning scales. It lists over 100 scale types in all keys and shows them in music notation. There are four different clefs available (treble, bass, alto and tenor). Additionally scale degrees are shown qualified by the interval to the root. To help visualization there are four virtual instruments (bass, guitar, mandolin and piano). These virtual instruments feature overlays that can show scale degrees or position of a note in the current scale and can be shifted to all available positions.

Designed for the beginning musician as well as the professional, ScaleMaster is an excellent tool towards advancement in theory and scales in particular, making it easy to look up a scale in seconds, getting a taste of the flavor of a particular scale by listening to it, or finding out how to play it on one’s instrument. You can get ScaleMaster here and also from the AppStore on your iPhone.

Destaller 3.4 Released

2008-09-10T12:47:00.000-07:00

Destaller Pro adds support for the Treo Pro as well as improved file navigation. On devices with 5-way buttons the left/right buttons can now be used to page scroll the applicaiton's table in the left hand column of the main screen. The up/down arrows now employ line scrolling.
All bundle containing this title have been updated as well.

ScaleMaster 1.5 for Palm OS Released

2008-09-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

ScaleMaster 1.5 includes a variety of minor fixes. In addition it supports the Treo Pro and adds graphic indicators for notes located on open strings for the bass, guitar and mandolin instruments. This update is available immediately and recommended to all current users.

AbaCruX 1.0 Released for iPhone/iPod touch

2008-09-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

AbaCruX 1.0 has been released for the iPhone/iPod touch and is available from your iPhone or Apple's App Store. The application has been redesigned from ground up to better fit the iPhones capabilities and features exquisite animation in 3D, but see for yourself. Stay tuned for more ports to this exiting new platform.

Senet Deluxe 1.0 Released for iPhone/iPod Touch

2008-08-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

Senet Deluxe 1.0 has been released for the iPhone and is available at your iPhone or Apple's App Store. The applicaion has been redesigned from ground up to better fit the iPhones capabilities and features exquisite animation in 3D and new soundtrack. We are looking to port more of our current titles to the iPhone in the coming months.

Destaller Pro 3.3 Released

2008-07-23T07:54:00.000-07:00

Destaller Pro fixes 2 cosmetic issues on older devices like the m505 and m515. Also the background engine has been updated to better support SD/MMC cards bigger than 1 gig where device configuration allows it. All bundle containing this title have been updated as well.

ScaleMaster 1.2 Released

2008-04-10T07:12:00.000-07:00

ScaleMaster 1.2 includes a variety of minor fixes and full support for expanded Sound Library playback. The latter offers the application-specific settings that were introduced with the last Sound Library updates. This upgrade is available immediately and recommended to all user.

Destaller 3.2.2 and BackUp 1.8.2 Released

2008-04-03T08:14:00.000-07:00

BackUp Pro 1.8.2 and Destaller Pro 3.2.2 have been released.The upgrade adds fixes for some minor issues with the Centro.This upgrade is available immediately and recommended to all users. ProPack has also been updated and is now at version 2.3.

Destaller 3.2 Released

2008-03-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

Destaller Pro 3.2 has been released.This upgrade provides improved compatibillity as it has been compiled with Palm's recently released new SDK. This upgrade is available immediately and recommended to all users. ProPack has also been updated and is now at version 2.2.

New Sound Library Functionality for Music Apps

2008-03-06T08:19:00.000-08:00

When originally developing the Sound Library concept for Mozart the popularity of this feature was not anticipated. Since then four other applications have been enabled to use Sound Libraries. Until now a selected library was globally active for all these applications. These new releases change that and all applications using Sound Libraries (ChordLab 2.5, EarMan 2.1, DaCapo 5.1, Mozart 3.7, ScaleMaster 1.1) have been updated with a new feature that allows individual Sound Library settings on a per application basis. Upgrading is recommended for all current users. Music Bundle 6.9 and Music Bundle Gold 2.4 have also been released and reflect the new updates.

ScaleMaster 1.1 Released

2008-02-15T11:03:00.000-08:00

ScaleMaster 1.1 fixes several smaller cosmetic issues. Additionally it features improved Sound Library handling which should speed up the loading of files. This upgrade is recommended to all users.

Destaller 3.1 Released

2008-02-11T11:54:00.000-08:00

Destaller Pro 3.1 has been released.This upgrade improves file operations overall. Additionally the main interface was simplified and the Preferences dialog streamlined. A cosmetic issue affecting the Treo 680 has been resolved and Hexview now features customizable display colors.

This upgrade is available immediately and recommended to all users. ProPack has also been updated and is now at version 2.1.

EarMan 2.0 Released

2008-02-07T10:50:00.000-08:00

Ear Training on the GO!

One of the most important skills for musicians of any kind is the ability to correctly identify intervals by ear. Ear training is therefore a substantial building block in music education. Practicing this skill happens mostly during class or with a private tutor and takes quite some time. With EarMan students are now able to take these lessons when and where they like. The program can be used as a full curriculum by itself or in addition to the lesson plan. The application fully supports RoGame sound libraries and comes with the outstanding grand piano library. EarMan grades ear training sessions and keeps track of progress made. It is the most patient teacher and allows to squeeze in a brief session while waiting for the bus or the tea water to boil.

New in Version 2.0:
• choice of clefs and grand staff
• improved feedback
• new configuration options (i.e. auto playback)
• example songs for intervals
• new display options (i.e. Show Interval)
• updated interface
• Centro compatible
• improved Sound Libraries support

This upgrade is recommended to all current users. It is also reflected in the current distribution of Music Bundle Gold.

BackUp Pro 1.8 Released

2008-01-21T12:03:00.000-08:00

BackUp Pro 1.8 adds support for Palm's new Treo 680 patch and some speed enhancements. The update is available immediately and recommended to all current users. Pro Pack has been updated as well to version 2.0.2.

ChordLab, DaCapo and Mozart Updated

2008-01-14T07:41:00.000-08:00

Music Bundle 6.7.2 and Music Bundle Gold 2.2.2 have been released with updates to ChordLab, DaCapo and Mozart. These new releases reflect a minor change in the Sound Library module for these applications. Additionally there was a small fix in Mozart improving performance on the Centro.