50in1 PianoVersion 1.0

User Manual

50in1 Piano is available on the App Store

for all iPhone and iPod Touch models

Table of Contents

Quick Start Guide 1Playing on the keyboard 1Piano Lessons 2Recording a song 2

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) 3Introduction 4Display 4Play button 4Record button 4Delete button 5Microphone button 5Octave and key buttons 5Keyboard map 5

Piano Lessons 6Overview 6Ranking 7Play button 7Solo button 7End lesson button 7

Instruments 8Instrument list 8Volume 8Sustain 8Pitch bend 8Preview button 8OK button 8

Effects 9Reverb 9Delay 9

Timing 9Set button 9Feedback 9

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Equalizer 9Controls 10

Advanced button 10Default Button 10Preview Button 10OK button 10

Files 11File list 11New button 12Load button 12Save button 12Delete button 12OK button 12Beats 12iTunes File Sharing 13File Associations 13

Setup 14Default button 14User manual button 14OK button 14Keyboard settings 14

Keys 14Rows 14Labels 14Skin 14Allow touches between black keys 15

Metronome settings 15Mic settings 15Beat settings 15

External Hardware 16Overview 16Line 6 MIDI Mobilizer 16Akai SynthStation 25 16Core MIDI 16

Troubleshooting Guide 17

Version history 18Version 1.0 18

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Quick Start Guide

Playing on the keyboard

Select the instrument of your choice by tapping the instruments button.

Adjust the keyboard position by using the navigation buttons left and right from the navigation map or simply by tapping on

the navigation map itself.

Adjust the number of displayed keys with the pinch gesture over the keyboard navigation map or by manually setting it in the

setup screen.

Load a beat in order to play on top of a rhythm: tap the Files button, double tap the Beats folder and double tap a beat to add

it to your song.

Effects can be added by tapping the effects button in the menu. See the effects section for available options for the reverb,

delay and equalizer effect.

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Piano LessonsTap the Files button, double tap the Lessons folder and double tap a lesson to learn it. It is easier to practice a piece if you

already know how it should sound. Tap the play button to listen to the lesson, then tap it again to stop, use the scrollbar to

rewind and start practicing by pressing the highlighted keys.

Recording a songFollow these steps to create a simple song from scratch:

In the Files screen, tap the New button to create a new song.

Optional: Open the Beats folder and double tap any beat to load it. Now the song has a rhythm as a basis.

Optional: in the setup screen, set the tempo of your new song.

In the instrument screen, choose an instrument from the list.

Back in the keyboard, tap the record button, wait for the precount (which is 4 metronome ticks long), play your piece, then tap

the stop button.

If you made a mistake and want to re-record, simply tap the delete button to erase the notes you just recorded.

Select another instrument and record again. Notice that recorded instruments are marked in the instrument list with a red icon

in the corner.

Connect earphones, tap the microphone button, then tap record and sing or record a real instrument on top of your existing

song.

Note: If you dont use earphones, the speaker output will also be audible on the microphone track which will result in the

undesirable effect of everything being output twice at playback.

Tune the reverb in the effects screen, maybe set the equalizer and a delay.

To save your song, open the Files screen, tap the save button, enter a song name in the text field and tap OK.

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FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

For more support-related discussions, please refer to the Forum on the product website.

I want to install the app on my second device. Do I have to pay for it again?

No. If you still have the app on your Mac/PC, simply sync with iTunes to install it again.

In general, you can "buy" (download) an app multiple times with the same account, the iTunes Store won't debit your credit card

twice. However, the App Store will not indicate that you already bought the app, it will display a buy button and ask for your

permission, only then you will be informed that it will be a free download.

Do I lose my songs if I remove the app from my device?

Yes, if you tap and hold the app icon and tap X to remove it, all files and settings are deleted too. Even if you sync the app back

from iTunes onto your device, it will be a fresh install and your files wont be restored. In order to save your songs, transfer them

to your Mac/PC with iTunes file sharing.

If you restore your iDevice by pressing the restore button in iTunes, your songs will be restored automatically (along with a

reinstallation of iOS and all other apps).

Why are the drum kits arranged in such a strange way on the keyboard?

This "strange way" is called the "General MIDI Level 1 Percussion Key Map". It is commonly used on nearly every hardware

keyboard/synthesizer to retain full MIDI compatibility.

Why is the default instrument volume 80% and not 100%?

This way you don't have to change all the other track's volumes if you want one track to be a bit louder.

Why doesn't the preview button play a nice melody?

Because it would be distracting for a musician who has a melody in mind while composing music.

Why is the app size so large?

Studio-sampled instruments require a lot of space. We decided not to trade quality for app size.

Which features will be included in future updates?

Please refer to the Forum on the product website for more feature-related discussions.

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KeyboardIntroduction50in1 Piano features a 85-key clavier capable of handling up to 5 simultaneous touches. Not every instrument has the full tonal

range, hence the number of playable octaves varies from instrument to instrument. If you are uneasy with the way the keys react

to your fingers, the setup screen offers some handy keyboard preferences.

DisplayTo change the song position (the playhead), tap and slide your finger left/right on the display. The display contains the following

elements:

Gain bars

The gain bars indicate the output volume of the left and right channels. The color red means that overdrive is occurring

because the total gain of all mixed instruments is too high. It is advised to fix this by lowering all instruments volumes.

If the microphone button is active, the gain bars indicate the input gain. Red bars mean that you are too close to the

microphone. Try to set up the distance so that green bars are always visible.

Song position and song length in seconds

For example, 0:05 / 0:32 means that the playhead is 5 seconds into the song and the total song duration song is 32 seconds.

Instrument name

Play buttonThe play button toggles the playback of the song. Stop rewinds to the left marker.

Record buttonThe record button starts or stops a new recording. If the microphone button is active, the microphone input is recorded too.

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Delete button

Tapping the delete button brings up a popup with the following choices:

Undo the last recording

Delete all notes which were recorded with the current instrument

Delete the whole song

Delete the microphone recording (if existing)

Delete the beat (if existing)

Microphone buttonThe microphone button toggles the mic mode. To record the microphone input, tap the record button while the mic mode is

enabled. In mic mode, the gain bars indicate the input instead of the output volume.

Octave and key buttonsThe left and right octave buttons (2 arrows) quickly scroll the keyboard one octave (12 semitones) left or right, while the key

buttons (1 arrow) scroll the keyboard 1 white key left or right.

Keyboard mapThe map illustrates which part of the keyboard is currently visible. Slide or tap it to quickly scroll the keyboard. Perform a pinch

gesture on the keyboard map to set the key width (the zoom level).

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Piano Lessons

Overview

When you loaded a lesson in the Files screen, you are presented with the lesson view. The area above the keys displays the

songs notes as blocks. As you play by pressing the highlighted keys in the correct order, the note blocks move down. In other

words, the songs end is located far above (out of) the screen and moves downwards as you play. The height of a block

indicates the note length. Try to hold each piano key as long as the block is visible.

The scrollbar on the right indicates the current position (of the playhead) within the song. Slide your finger vertically inside the

note area to scroll the playhead (i.e. to change the song position).

Since most songs require more than 1 octave in range and only a maximum of 10 white keys are displayed, the keyboard

automatically scrolls left/right to display the upcoming notes (keys) at all times.

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RankingWhen you finish a lesson, a popup displays your accuracy and how many notes you mastered. A golden, silver or bronze trophy,

which will also be displayed in the file list, indicates your achievement.

Play buttonTap the play button to toggle automatic playback of the lesson. It is recommended to listen to the entire song at least once

before you start practicing. To rewind the song after stopping the playback, use the scrollbar on the right.

Solo buttonThe solo button (S) toggles the accompaniment, which is the other hand (the one that you didnt choose to practice) for most

lessons. Some pieces contain additional accompanying instruments or drums.

If you are not satisfied with the speed of the accompaniment, adjust the tempo in the settings screen.

End lesson buttonTap the (X) button to exit the lesson. The previous song will be loaded again.

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Instruments

Instrument list

Select an instrument from the scrollable list to play or record it. Instruments which were recorded already are marked with an red

icon in the corner.

VolumeTap or slide the volume fader to set the gain of the selected instrument.

SustainThe sustain fader controls the release time, i.e. how long a played note fades out after a key is released. Use longer sustain

times to simulate legato or one-shot for drum kits and percussive instruments. The realism of blown instruments can be

increased with shorter sustain times.

Pitch bendEnable pitch bend and tilt your device forward/backward while playing on the keyboard to control the notes pitch in real-time.

For best results, hold the device parallel to the ground (or anything but vertically) before playing and pitch-bending a note.

Preview buttonThe preview button plays one or more notes (alternating) with the current instrument.

OK buttonTap the OK button to return to the keyboard screen.

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Effects

ReverbReverb simulates a room of a certain type (Hall/Canyon/Room) and size. The Mix fader controls the ratio of the dry sound (the

original sound before the reverb is applied) to the wet sound (only the reverb). In other words, decreasing the mix makes the

reverb disappear, and increasing the mix makes everything sound washy and distant.

DelayA delay repeats the original sound in a certain time interval which is determined by the selected timing and the song tempo. The

result is then fed back into the delay, resulting in many repetitions.

TimingThe selected note length will define the time interval of the delay, together with the song tempo.

Set buttonTap the Set button to switch between the three timing modes: Normal timing (the selected note length), Dotted timing (50%

longer), triplet timing (33% shorter).

FeedbackThe feedback fader controls the gain of the delay feedback. Low values will limit the effect to just one audible repetition, high

values will make the total delay duration very long.

Equalizer

The 3-band equalizer has fixed frequencies at 800Hz and 5kHz. Tap or move anywhere in the 3 areas to set the gain of bass,

middle and treble tones. The range is -10dB to +10dB, the volume is automatically adapted to avoid clipping.

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Controls

Advanced button

The Advanced button brings up the Effect Routing popup, where you can configure which effects should act on the audio track

(the microphone recording) and the beat:

All effects

Reverb, delay and equalizer are all applied.

No delay

Only reverb and equalizer are applied. This is useful if you want the delay to act on your instruments, but not on your voice

track and/or the beat.

No effects

With this setting, the mic recording or the beat sound dry, without any effects applied.

Default ButtonTap the default button to reset all effects (and the effect routing) to the default settings.

Preview ButtonThe preview button plays one or more notes (alternating) with the current instrument.

OK buttonTap the OK button to return to the keyboard screen.

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Files

File list

The file list displays the type, name and length of each song, beat and lesson. Demo songs, beats and lessons are organized in

separate folders. User songs cannot be saved into a folder, they need to be located in the root directory.

Tap a beat or a lesson to listen to a short preview, tap it again to stop the preview. Double tap a file or a folder to open it.

A golden, silver or bronze trophy is displayed beside every lesson that you completed.

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New buttonThe new button creates a new song. All effect settings and recordings are cleared.

Load buttonThe load button has the same effect as double tapping a file, it loads a song, beat or a lesson.

Save buttonTap the save button to bring up the save popup. Enter the desired file name into the text field and tap OK to save your song. If

the file already exists, the OK button will read Overwrite to remind you of that. The X (clear) button on the right of the text field

clears the text.

Delete buttonUse the delete button to remove songs that you saved. Demos, beats and lessons cannot be deleted.

Warning: deleted songs cannot be restored again!

OK buttonTap the OK button to return to the keyboard screen.

Beats

Beats are loop-able drum patterns. Tapping a beat immediately plays a preview, which simplifies the process of finding the beat

you are looking for. Loading a beat always replaces the beat of the current song, if one exists already. In practice, beats are great

to start a song with, and are also handy for trying out different rhythms for an existing song.

The beat volume can be set in the settings screen and the applied effects can be configured with the Advanced button in the

effects screen.

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iTunes File Sharing

50in1 Pianos song list can be accessed via iTunes to transfer files between your iDevice and your Mac/PC.

Connect your device with the USB cable and launch iTunes on your Mac/PC.

In the devices section of the left list, click on your device and select the Apps section in the menu on the top.

A list of apps which support file sharing is displayed under the Sync Apps list.

Select 50in1 Piano to display its files in the Documents list.

Drag and drop a .song file into this list to copy it into 50in1 Piano, or from this list onto your desktop to transfer it onto your

Mac/PC. Keep in mind that 50in1 Piano can only open files with the .song extension.

Folders cannot be accessed individually, but they can be copied to your desktop as a whole.

Note: iTunes file sharing is available on all iPhone, iPod touch and iPad models with iOS 3.2, iOS 4.0 or higher.

File AssociationsAny .song file you find on the web or receive per email can be opened directly with 50in1 Piano. Tap any .song file in an app like

Safari or Mail and select Open with 50in1 Piano to load it. Prior to loading, the file is copied into 50in1 Pianos Inbox folder for

later use. Saving files manually into the Inbox folder is not possible.

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Setup

Default buttonTap the default button to reset all settings to their default values.

User manual buttonDisplays this manual within the app.

OK buttonTap the OK button to return to the keyboard screen.

Keyboard settings

KeysSet the number of white keys visible in the keyboard.

RowsToggle between 1 and 2 keyboard rows. Keyboard rows can be individually positioned and zoomed, but they always play the

same instrument

LabelsSet the key labels to be on the C keys only, on all keys, colored on all keys, or off.

SkinChoose the user interface skin color for the keyboard.

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Allow touches between black keysIf enabled, white keys can be touched in the area between the black keys. Otherwise, white keys can only be touched in the

area below the black keys.

Metronome settingsIf the metronome is enabled, a metronome tick will be audible on each beat during recording.

Use the tempo +/- buttons to adjust the song tempo from 40 to 240 bpm (beats per minute). Tap and slide your finger left/right

on the tempo display to adjust it more quickly.

Mic settingsThe microphone (audio) track settings only apply if a microphone recording is present. The volume can be set from 0% up to

400%, where heavy distortion will occur in most cases.

The mic offset controls the position of the microphone track in the song. This is useful if your mic recording sounds slightly off-

beat, which can happen due to the latency differences in audio output and input which vary from device to device.

Beat settingsThe beat volume only applies if a beat is present.

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External Hardware

OverviewCertain external MIDI hardware can be connected to the iPhone/iPod Touch to allow you to input notes with a physical instead

of the on-screen keyboard. Connected hardware is automatically detected and you can start playing on the keyboard

immediately. The app only receives MIDI signals (on all MIDI channels), it does not support MIDI output.

Line 6 MIDI MobilizerThe Line 6 MIDI Mobilizer adds MIDI in/out ports to the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Connect the MIDI cable coming from the

MIDI Mobilizers MIDI IN port to any keyboards MIDI OUT port. Every key that you press on the hardware keyboard will be

received. In addition to note on/off events, the app responds to the following MIDI events:

Note velocity

Sustain pedal (also called hold switch) on/off

Pitch wheel: the pitch bend effect will be enabled automatically

Mod wheel: applies a low-pass resonant filter effect (MIDI CC01)

Volume: the selected instruments volume can be set with a hardware controller (MIDI CC07)

Akai SynthStation 25

Your iPhone or iPod Touch can be inserted into the SynthStation to input notes with its 2-octave velocity sensitive keyboard. The

audio output is routed through the SynthStation where you can connect headphones or use RCA jacks. Here is how the app

responds to the SynthStations controls:

Pitch bend wheel: controls the pitch bend

Mod wheel: applies a low-pass resonant filter effect

Drums button:

When pressed while piano keys are pressed, this button acts as a sustain button.

Otherwise (when no piano keys are down) it selects a drum kit.

Synth buttons: select various synth instruments

Program prev/next: change the instrument to the previous/next one in the instrument list

Octave down/up: change the keyboards position on the apps full 7 octave keyboard. Note: the on-screen keyboard is

independent of these buttons.

Core MIDI

For devices with iOS 4.2 (or later), connected Core MIDI devices are supported in the same way as the MIDI Mobilizer. Certain

USB keyboards can be connected to the iPad via the Camera Connection Kit, if they match the CoreMIDI standard and have

very low USB power requirements or an external power supply.

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Troubleshooting Guide

For more support-related discussions, please refer to the Forum on the product website.

Rebooting properly

Rebooting your device will resolve most issues. Press and hold the Home and the Sleep/Wake button for about 10 seconds until

the Apple logo appears (don't slide to power off, hold longer).

Key presses have a very high latency / I cannot press more than 2 keys at once

Deactivate the Zoom feature in the Accessibility section of the iPhone's Settings. Launch the Settings app, tap General,

Accessibility, Zoom and turn it off.

If you still experience latency problems, please properly reboot your device.

The audio output sounds noisy

Use earphones or external speakers because the device's internal speaker cannot cope with the broad frequency spectrum of

the instruments.

After microphone recording, every note is played back twice

The internal microphone should not be used for recording, unless earphones are plugged in. Due to its proximity to the internal

speaker, the internal microphone also records the rest of the song onto the audio track, that is why everything is audible twice.

Use external earphones and record with the internal microphones, or use external earphones that include a microphone.

The microphone recording sounds noisy

The main limiting factor which is the quality of the microphone. Apart from that, make sure that the gain bars are green and not

red while you are recording.

Why is the microphone recording slightly off beat?

Use the offset slider in the setup to correct any unintentional offset of the microphone track. This offset occurs because of the

latency differences in audio input and output, which vary from device to device. In technical terms, the offset equals the time it

takes for the audio output signal to be processed by the device, plus the duration the device requires to process the microphone

input signal.

I want to install the app on my second device. Do I have to pay for it again?

No. If you still have the app on your Mac/PC, simply sync with iTunes to install it again.

In general, you can "buy" (download) an app multiple times with the same account, the iTunes Store won't debit your credit card

twice. However, the App Store will not indicate that you already bought the app, it will display a buy button and ask for your

permission, only then you will be informed that it will be a free download.

Do I lose my songs if I remove the app from my device?

Yes, if you tap and hold the app icon and tap X to remove the app, all files and settings are deleted too. Even if you sync the app

back from iTunes onto your device, it will be a fresh install and your files wont be restored. In order to save your songs, transfer

them to your Mac/PC with iTunes file sharing. If you restore your iDevice by pressing the restore button in iTunes, your songs will

be restored automatically (along with a reinstallation of iOS and all other apps).

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Version history

Version 1.0Initial version. Released in December 2010.

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