enChord v1 - a new concept for electronic music performance and composition

[Felipekvr]

Does someone tested it on iPadian on Windows? Maybe there is solution to use this software emulated?

[VitaminD]

This keeps annoyingly popping up in my ebay searches even though digital means of delivering goods is a no-no on ebay.

You must have paid to have it in the results of every known popular synth out there..

[ntom]

I want this. I will buy an iPad or whatever strictly so I can have this.

[gnosis123]

Just bought it this morning and have been lost in it for hours. I'm using it with Live and an IOdock, controlling plugins like Kontakt and Wallander with it - too much fun. And I've noticed no bugs so far - for a 1.0, that is Very Well Done. Bravo!

A couple things I think would improve usability a little: in the 'Chord Bank' please put the name of the stored chord as well as (or, better, instead of) 'Stored'. Also, it would be great to have a velocity slider for the ChordBank as well as the PadBoard - would make for better jamming when using the two together.

Again, great job.

- John

[Avantgarde Sound]

Just bought it this morning and have been lost in it for hours. I'm using it with Live and an IOdock, controlling plugins like Kontakt and Wallander with it - too much fun. And I've noticed no bugs so far - for a 1.0, that is Very Well Done. Bravo!

A couple things I think would improve usability a little: in the 'Chord Bank' please put the name of the stored chord as well as (or, better, instead of) 'Stored'. Also, it would be great to have a velocity slider for the ChordBank as well as the PadBoard - would make for better jamming when using the two together.

Again, great job.

- John

Many thanks for your comments John.
I was precisely testing enChord with Kontakt's pianos the other day. I [tip]concurrently used a sustain pedal from my "normal" kb controller[/tip], designed some chords and then just got pleasantly lost for a while trying variations directly on TileBoard. It was fun!

Appreciate the props. I did my very best effort, but there is always room for improvement, no doubt, no matter how hard you tried. Will keep perfecting it, especially thanks to the invaluable input of the talented users I am getting.

About your idea number 1, sure, something similar is planned for a future version. I considered saving the actual names of the chords automatically as you suggest, but then I remembered that enChord's ChordBank slots can also save users' custom chord creations, which, most of the time, trying to "define" them automatedly via sw in one "name" could be perhaps counterproductive or even misleading, particularly in terms of creative freedom. On the other hand, we have plenty of chord names in the ChordLibrary. I like to think of the ChordLibrary as starting points for you to create your own huge custom chords and, why not, I encourage you to even 'break the rules of harmonic engagement'. Nonetheless, the core of your point is well taken, and I agree. I will unveil the improvement/new feature in this regard later on.

About velocity, ChordBank does have a velocity slider. It is the "global" velocity slider at the top left. PadBoard's own velocity slider appears at the bottom left. I was in the dilemma of calling it "Global" or "ChordBank", but since it also controls the velocity of the Selection Tester and the ChordLibrary Audition, I went for "Global". Thanks again for becoming a user, and for all your comments.

Avantgarde Sound
http://www.avantgardesound.com/




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[pinki]

I am very interested but I must tell you that the video you have made is putting me off a lot.

You should make another video as a matter of urgency if you can, because you will loose many sales I think- the attention to detail in your video feels like a statement of the attention to detail in your software! I'm sure this is not true but with no demo how are we to know?

[gnosis123]

I considered saving the actual names of the chords automatically as you suggest, but then I remembered that enChord's ChordBank slots can also save users' custom chord creations, which, most of the time, trying to "define" them automatedly via sw in one "name" could be perhaps counterproductive or even misleading, particularly in terms of creative freedom.
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Yes, and with enharmonic spellings it could be problematic. I was just thinking you could call them 'Custom1', 'Custom2'.

I like to think of the ChordLibrary as starting points for you to create your own huge custom chords

That is a big selling-point for me - plus the workflow is much smoother than with other chord-generators I've tried, like Harmony Improvisator [sic].

One day, I hope to see a similar scratchpad facility for melodic material. Not something that will generate a melody, but that would store material I create (motifs, melodies, 12-tone rows, whatever) in little cells (the way you've done with chords) and make it easy to transform it and try it out using retrograde, inversion, etc. Surprisingly, there seems to be nothing out there that does that - it's such a natural task for a computer. Cubase has the Logical Editor, which makes it easy to transpose material up and down, but doesn't easily handle inversions, etc.

[Avantgarde Sound]

I am very interested but I must tell you that the video you have made is putting me off a lot.

You should make another video as a matter of urgency if you can, because you will loose many sales I think- the attention to detail in your video feels like a statement of the attention to detail in your software! I'm sure this is not true but with no demo how are we to know?

Yeah, I think you had mentioned that before in this thread. I see what you are saying.
The video could be deemed disgustingly ugly by many, even fugly.

That is, I think it is reasonably acceptable to state that the enChord video below is far from being: flashy, full of effects, with paid actors or artists and commercial endorsements, using nice cameras and lightning, with hundreds of editing hours, planning, etc., ie, thousands of dollars invested... Yeah, I think you can safely say that. In fact, I think the enChord video is really quite a disastrous and an incredibly awful video. Again, even fugly. There are parts where the iPhone that was used for the video loses focus, or others where it takes a long time to recover focus; add to that a condition I have in my left hand (the one holding the iPhone for the video!!)... it was a disaster, really.

Culprit video here:




One good thing about the video though is that it sort of filters out unwanted users.


It is also safe to say that the video does showcase the core aspects and features of enChord as an application, even if you just follow the subtitles. There's already a considerable bunch of enChord users around the world already. Not sure what happened, but either none of them gave a f**k about the fugly video and were able to envision how enChord could fit in their workflows, or they usually get hypnotized by fugly videos. Who knows! In any case, I am happy with less users if they are like the users I have gotten so far. I am very proud of my enChord users.


But sure, I still owe you all a better video, more videos. To kill two birds in one shot, I am hoping the next video will include the iPad standalone version instead. Even already working 18 hours a day, there is always tons of stuff pending and being worked on, appreciate your patience all!

Cheers!

Avantgarde Sound
http://www.avantgardesound.com/



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[Avantgarde Sound]

I want this. I will buy an iPad or whatever strictly so I can have this.

Whoa, that's really flattering NTom. Thank you. Glad you envisioned how enChord could fit your workflow. Any questions, please don't hesitate. Cheers!


Avantgarde Sound
http://www.avantgardesound.com/


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[pinki]

One good thing about the video though is that it sort of filters out unwanted users.

I don't understand what you mean by this- do you mean me because I questioned the video?

[m127]

I think the video is what it is, and the guy has explained numerous times about his limited resources financially and time wise. Could we move on please?


Avantgarde, I have a question: do you have a manual explaining the modulation features of the program?
I understand progression, but I don't quite get modulation or how your program helps in this department...

The program is indeed interesting and does look unique, no doubt.

Cheers.

[Avantgarde Sound]

I think the video is what it is, and the guy has explained numerous times about his limited resources financially and time wise. Could we move on please?


Avantgarde, I have a question: do you have a manual explaining the modulation features of the program?
I understand progression, but I don't quite get modulation or how your program helps in this department...

The program is indeed interesting and does look unique, no doubt.

Cheers.

Yes, the manual was recently updated and includes a full tutorial. There is a chapter on what is modulation and how enChord helps you in this department to make your overall harmony design richer and more organic than the typical I, IV, V progression, all within a few taps on the touch screen.

For a quick explanation, simply by playing any chord, you are technically already working within a certain scale. This scale is your base or primary scale. When you have two or more chords in that scale, ie., a basic chord progression in place, you can have enChord's analytics suggest other related scales (vs your base scale) for you to modulate to. When the new scale becomes the active one, enChord will suggest new chords for your to further progress your composition to new, typically unexplored or more difficult-to-explore routes. Thanks to the Greeks, the relationships are unequivocally mathematical, and our brains perceive enChord's suggestions for harmonic movements as pleasant.

The amount of harmonic movements within a piece is basically infinite.

With enChord you decide how far you want to go. You can have from a basic 4 chord piece, all the way to an over 20 thousand chord piece. It's that simple but it can be that deep.

The relationships, the scales and the thousands of chords are easy to understand but not easy to memorize. enChord does all the dirty work for you thanks to its analysis features and its databases of scales and chords. When using enChord, your personal taste is boss, and the message of the piece is still yours. enChord only facilitates the chore-like part of the process.

Of course, enChord not only facilitates your overall harmony design, but it also lets you play it in realtime with its MIDI controllers: PadBoard and TileBoard, which will control any hw or sw synth.


Cheers,
Avantgarde Sound
http://www.avantgardesound.com/

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[Avantgarde Sound]

One good thing about the video though is that it sort of filters out unwanted users.

I don't understand what you mean by this- do you mean me because I questioned the video?

Nah, not personally you! That's in general.

Judging from the video this seems like the most intuitive chord generating software in development. You got a customer just release it yesterday please, iPad or VST both fine with me just get the thing out.

Luftrum, thanks a lot. enChord is certainly already released for sale so that we can fund porting to other platforms as well.

You can acquire enChord directly from us ---securely using PayPal--- here:
http://www.avantgardesound.com/

Or you can get it from eBay here:
http://search.ebay.com/?sass=avantgardeaudio&ht=


Cheers,
Avantgarde Sound
http://www.avantgardesound.com/



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[Kalamata Kid]

Hello,

The enChord seems like a great controller. Sorry for the ton of questions but since I do not have an iPad I need to know more to help me decide. I believe I have read most of this thread but may have missed if this was already covered.

BTW my interest here is because enChord is the only such chord program that can be used in a real-time performance.

Now for he questions:

1. Is there a iPad version/generation that is preferable?

2. How many fingers at one time can one use on the iPad?

3. Is the iPad velocity sensitive?

4. Is iPad response time adequate for real-time music performance?

5. Can one use enChord to improvise a complete song in real-time?

6. In a real-time recording can one use the enChord in the iPad and a midi master keyboard controller simultaneously and take advantage of the enChord features?

7. Will having two iPads both with enChord be helpful?

8. Will the stand-alone enChord have the same features as the enChord/Lemur version?

9. Best to wait for Windows 8 and get a 24" or larger touch monitor. The added real-estate will make work-flow easier?

[Avantgarde Sound]

Hello,

The enChord seems like a great controller. Sorry for the ton of questions but since I do not have an iPad I need to know more to help me decide. I believe I have read most of this thread but may have missed if this was already covered.

BTW my interest here is because enChord is the only such chord program that can be used in a real-time performance.

Now for he questions:

Sure. Thank you.

1. Is there a iPad version/generation that is preferable?

enChord was tested in iPad 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (latest) generation. There are also iPad Mini users. I personally use iPad 2nd gen. So yes, enChord on Lemur will perform great in any iPad, but the greater processor power in the latest iPad iterations will be translated in better performance. This would be slightly noticeable though because enChord code is optimized for the best performance possible in any iPad.

2. How many fingers at one time can one use on the iPad?

AFAIK, iPad can handle 11 simultaneous touches, so you can use both hands and all fingers.

3. Is the iPad velocity sensitive?

You can code velocity sensibility in different ways. One of enChord's built-in MIDI controllers, TileBoard, features detection of your touch which is used to control velocity. Further, TileBoard includes a range controller for you to modify minimum and maximum velocity. Other MIDI controllers in enChord do have a velocity fader controller for your adjustment.

4. Is iPad response time adequate for real-time music performance?

enChord does perform as well as any other hw controller in the market in terms of real-time control. Of course, this depends on the MIDI connectivity you are using. For best performance, using iRig MIDI or iDock will give you the best results and feel.

When you use enChord to control hw synths, the latency is negligible. If you are going to control sw synths, you need to consult your DAW/sw/audio interface documentation to achieve the lowest possible latency in your system.

5. Can one use enChord to improvise a complete song in real-time?

Besides a MIDI controller, enChord is a modular harmony design tool. It helps you create your chord progression and modulation in the fastest way possible. You can certainly create a full song with enChord. It can be as simple or as complex as you want.

6. In a real-time recording can one use the enChord in the iPad and a midi master keyboard controller simultaneously and take advantage of the enChord features?

Definitely.

7. Will having two iPads both with enChord be helpful?

It could. It depends on what you want to do. For one example, enChord features two MIDI controllers. You could play PadBoard or ChordBank with one, and TileBoard with the other.

8. Will the stand-alone enChord have the same features as the enChord/Lemur version?

Yup, only better. enChord for iPad standalone will be released as version 2, and will include new features.

Nonetheless, early supporters of this project will have a juicy discount to get v2, plus, of course, they get to enjoy enChord before anybody else.

9. Best to wait for Windows 8 and get a 24" or larger touch monitor. The added real-estate will make work-flow easier?

enChord for iPad standalone will be first, W8 version will be next. We are already working on the W8 version planning. Definitely, a W8 version will be more "playable", and problably will include new features thanks to the larger screen state.

However, it will be a little while before we can start discussing the W8 version (summer/autumn --only maybe). This is why we created a very user/supporter-friendly pricing. This way the users pockets won't get too impacted when crossgrading (if so desired).

All of the above said, we have many users enjoying enChord already. The feedback has been great. Two free maintenance updates have been released in less than a month too. We want you to grow as enChord users with us. enChord is on v1 now, and I can only imagine, with your support, what enChord v5 could be.


Cheers,
Avantgarde Sound
http://www.avantgardesound.com/



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