Feature Requests [Old Thread]

Support

These are features that we are personally considering. We're open to other suggestions, just post them here. The more requests for a particular feature, the more likely we will implement it.<br><br><ul style="font-style: normal; "><li>More advanced options for navigation piano, similar to GarageBand (3.0)</li><li>Tablature editing (3.0)</li><li>Set the Treble/Bass clef split point for recording</li><li>Multiple Repeats</li><li>Coda and single measure repeat symbols</li><li>New project templates (e.g SATB) (3.0)</li><li>Audiocopy</li><li>iCloud and/or Dropbox integration</li><li>Twitter integration </li><li>Export to SoundCloud and YouTube</li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">Multi-measure rests</span></li><li>More advanced measure formatting (3.0)</li><li>Merging tracks</li><li>Better file management (3.0)</li><li>Integrated sharing and collaboration</li></ul><div><br></div><div><i>Last edited October 15, 2012 by Phil</i></div>

MayorQuimby

The 'erase' tool is tremendous. How about a copy tool that would work in the same way - ie. One swipes over and highlights an entire section which is then moveable. would something like this be feasible?

rmigneron

Hi, while you are thinking about DropBox and MobileMe, what about WebDav (personal clouds), SugarSync & CloudMe (ex iCloud) support !

dng88

Supporting core midi library (for using ipad camera kit and any midi keyboard with usb) or even line 6 mobilizer probably is a bit too far scratch, but please do consider in one stage.

Also, I have a song which has irregular measures (i.e. one measure has signature of 9/8 rather than like all other measures 4/4). When import as musicxml (from musescores), it cannot be import. Any chance to consider that as well?

Plankton

Tab for guitar please :-)

cartesio

Please add a merge tracks command, useful when importing midi files with multiple tracks.

tikimon21

Hello there,
First of all I want you to know that symphony pro is the best notation software for the ipad thus far. The use of an onscreen keyboard is brilliant and really caught my attention. Now on with my feature request tirade.

Unfortunately symphonies, while awesome, don't amount to a very large percentage of the commercial music industry. Personally a large portion of my work as a composer and transcriber is creating charts; pop/rock band charts, jazz tune leadsheets, and the occasional big band arrangement. I'm sure there are many out there doing the kinds of work I'm doing. For the pop/rock band charts, chords and lyrics are more important than written melodies and the implementation of these features in your software is a must! Have you considered working with the developers of the popular iRealb app for help in this area? It would be similar to the partnership between Finale and Band-In-A-Box. Personally I like the way they present chords although on iPad, rows of buttons would probably be a faster input method than the selector wheels they currently use.

Speaking of, does Finale have a patent on the way they implement speedy entry? I'm very used to pressing the keys then the note value so I can hear that I'm entering the right notes before I commit them to the staff. I find myself using Symphony Pro's handy undo button very often. If your app had a "quick entry" mode you could save some interface display by having the note values graphically turn into rest values when no keys are being pressed. This would leave some extra space for a few more useful articulations and graphic shapes to be readily available.

I'm currently lucky to be working with a band that has an iPad for every member! All of the band's charts are stored in the iPads as PDFs, ready to go. If I could transcribe a pop chart, with chords, lyrics, bass line, guitar parts, horn parts and then export that chart as a PDF directly to a program such as Unrealbook or Forscore, I could leave my laptop and midi controller in my luggage and just work off my iPad.

I also second other notation based features such as control over measure arrangement, better copy tool, exploding and imploding parts. However please remember that Symphony Pro is the one and only NOTATION program for iPad. There are a slew of other sequencers out there for people who want to work on how things sound.

Thanks again for listening and creating great software. I know it's impossible to please everybody, but I support all of the work you do and am really excited to see how far this project can go!

Sincerely,
Dave

danzbassman

Auto-save would be nice. I just purchased yesterday and I've lost work a couple of times already due to Symphony Pro crashing. Auto-Save might be able to limit how much is lost due to a crash.

Also, better instrument sounds would be nice.

But really so far I really like the program despite a couple of crashes last night. It's well thought out, pretty intuitive, and feature rich.

Well done.

Mando

Gotta have a better way to add chords. Who's ever seen popular sheet music without the chords written above the staff?

nimaranjbar

Drum roll notation (via tremolo effect?)

woodsdenis

Mando wrote:

Gotta have a better way to add chords. Who's ever seen popular sheet music without the chords written above the staff?

Definitely. The only way I can do it is to use the Text tool to do it below the stave, Unfortunately if it all looks fine in Landscape when you change to
Portrait its all over the place, text doesn't retain its relative bar no position between the 2 modes.

Ross

I've been working on a chord tool and a lyric tool. They're almost done, so they should both be ready in time for the next version.

choirguy

It is FANTASTIC to hear that the chord & lyric tool will be available on 2.0. Related questions:

1) Will Symphony Pro be able to import lyrics from MusicXML?
2) Will Symphony Pro be able to export lyrics to MusicXML?

Keep up the great work!

Ross

Yes, I've already added MusicXML import and export support for lyrics (in the development version). The next step is the do to same for chords.

We have plans for a better copy tool. However, there are several other features that will speed up note entry time and will come sooner. Specifically, real-time note entry and support for midi keyboards.

We're going to add an autosave on a timer. Better instrument samples are coming in the next version too.

Hsmteacher

I'm a high school music teacher and have recently become an iPad owner. Symphony pro is the final app that has allowed me to break free from the desktop computer and work soley on the iPad at school.

While others may use this app for composition, I find it most useful in creating musical examples for theory worksheets and tests. That being said I would like to see the ability to control how many measures are used in each line and Dropbox integration.

Keep up the great work!

Preston

Different note heads for percussion.

Stevesmith88

Is there a program update coming anytime soon ( hope hope ). Love this program.

Dthpham

Stevesmith88 wrote:

Is there a program update coming anytime soon ( hope hope ). Love this program.

Yep. You can learn more about it here http://forums.symphonypro.net/viewtopic.php?id=87

Romeog

Any info when the SP 2.0 will be released ?

didymus

I mostly compose for Catholic liturgical use. Sometimes it is advantageous to use Gregorian chant (4-line staff, square notes). As far as I know there is nothing on the iPad that allows that to be done.

If that's not difficult enough, I would also like to be able to have the vocals in chant notation and organ accompaniment in the same score.

oboeman

Hi all, I just joined this site. I've been looking for an ipad app for music composition. I mainly work in Finale on a pc laptop. I'm not crazy about the mouse-keyboard method of input. But I like the output from Finale. Question about Symphony: Can I compose in Symphony and then export to Finale (or Sibelious)? Has anybody done this?
I'd like to capture tunes as they occur (often in the middle of the night) when I don't have a computer, and then use Finale to flesh out the score. I don't think I could do the finished product with multiple staves in Symphony. But maybe I'm underestimating this app.
Advice anyone?
Thanks,
Dave

Support

Hi Dave,

Symphony Pro supports multi-staff and multi-voice editing and playback. There is support for 12 parts and 4 voices. Take a look at symphonypro.net to see the full list of features.
And here is a preview of what's coming in 2.0 shortly: http://forums.symphonypro.net/viewtopic.php?id=87

You can also export to Sibelius, Finale, or Musescore using MusicXML.

Best,
phil

Ross

Version 2.0 is being pushed back, although it will definitely still be released in July.

At this point 2.0 beta is more stable than 1.3.3 and also has several big improvements. If you'd like to play with and give your feedback on the latest beta, check here.

Jacob

This may sound weird, but is there some way to make your composition a video directly from the app that can be uploaded to YouTube? This would be an amazing feature that I would use a lot and if you would do it I would be very grateful! [ins] [/ins]

WillHouses

Hello:

My name is Guillermo and I am a composer from Mexico City. I cannot tell you how excited I am with your Symphony Pro app since having a composition tool for a tablet device is literally the Holy Grail for all composers (at least for me though).

I read in the Sibelius forum that you where accepting feedback from users so that you could implement sugestions in the upcoming update (2.0 i think?). Well, here is my feedback and since the post is from a little more than a month I hope I´m not too late, so I was hoping that if there´s no time to implement these sugestions for the recent update, maybe we´ll see them in the future. (Note.- I spent a lot of time with your app thinking that when I made the sugestions they were really non-existent functions in your app, but maybe I missed something, if so please let me know and I apologize in advance.)

Please let me add a final thought: I have had your app (the Pro one for iPad) almost since day 1, and I have to admit that I hadn´t use it a lot thinking it was sort of difficult to write in it, but when I began spending more time with it I found out that NOT AT ALL! You guys have made a really intuitive and easy to use app, also what you have made with the layout (the way space in the score is saved when you´re not using it and the way the notes are well spaced) is wonderful. I just wanted to say: Hats off to your hard work, because it has payed off!

Ok NOW here´s the feedback:

-8va for better reading.- I don´t know if this function exists and I didn´t find it, but it would be nice to be able to select something and take off all the extra staff lines with this.

-Converting voice 1 into voice 2 and vice versa.- Let´s say you wrote something long and you forgot that voice 2 was selected. For this and for other readability issues this option would be handy.

-Being able to flip direction of slurs. For counterpoint reasons, there are times the slur reads better near the flag than near the note. Also it would be useful to change the form of the slur, since there would be time that when you flip the slur, it would get on the score´s way, so then you could adapt the form so it could be readable.

-Ability to move dynamics so that they don't get in the score´s way.

-Being able to change a crescendo's lenght.

-Being able to put tempo markings in Bold and Italic (allegro, adagio, presto, etc...) in the score, as well as mälzel metronome (quarter=180, etc...).

-Change tempo and measure in the middle of the score.

-Led indications.- Indications for sustain pedal.

-Flip stems.

-Being able to indicate where a rallentando or an accelerando end with a dotted line.

-Formatting stuff: Moving a complete measure to another system for separating in phrases or even motifs, copying sets of dynamics (so that in an orchestral score when you have to put a set of dynamics to a lot of instruments it doesn't take a lot of time).
Selecting and moving or copying all instruments in a system, not just measure by measure.

-(Now a personal one) Support for more staves.- I know that this is because of the device´s limitations, but I was wondering if the iPad 2 would be able to support more staves and you could make a distinction between iPad 1 and iPad 2. For me the more staves the better, since I am currently composing for very big orchestral ensembles. Your app has served me well on writing down the ideas on piano, but for orchestration purposes I have had to go to the good ol´ pencil and paper for the lack of support for more staves. Anyway, just a thought.

I hope this feedback is useful to you and I hope you can address some if not all of the sugestions in the near future.

Thanks for all your time and keep on the hard work!

PS.- Thanks for creating Symphony Pro!

Ross

Stems can already be flipped by adding a second voice to that staff. Then tap on gear icon, tap the 'Voices' button, and you'll be able to change stem directions. That menu is a little clearer in 2.0, but basically just flip the On/Off switches to change stem directions. If you don't see those, then tap the 'Add voice' button at the top.

Thanks for all the other suggestions. Check the sticky if you want to know going to be coming in 2.0.

pmcapf

Hello, i'm a professional music teacher in Portugal. Sorry for my poor english and I hope you understanding me. I like to see improvement symphony pro in two or three aspects, one of them is the choice to have a left bar in first measure of each staff (track), if the project have just one staff (track). This is very important for teachers in elementary school. The second wish is have a "save as" choice for project and the title project can be hide from score if We want. Important if we want to have many versions for the same music and better control of files in ipad. Must have a print option too with choice of letter and A4 format page. Other thing very important is import/export for finale and encore programs. Please addition the possibility to have how many times repeat any part of score and have more symbols of repetition. Must have 1/16 notes and rests. Like to have improvements in text option other fonts and sizes. If possible of different colours for voices and tracks notes. Important for teachers like encore have. Finally have a choice to have staff just with one line for rhythm. Thanks a lot and I hope my contribution help you to have a better music program. Bye!

blower

It would be good if a standard iPad Bluetooth keyboard could be used to compose/edit music - using arrow keys to move forward and back, up and down and keyboard shortcuts to enter notes, etc.

Pantau

Good evening,

I have a question referring version 2.0 of Symphony Pro.

Man must give ALL midi files on a local server so that it can then play the iPad?

That's not possible!

This is something I've never heard of or seen.

I've created with Logic Express many MIDI files including many original compositions.

So my question: This is the intellectual property, and belongs to the author!

I will not speak badly about the app, I think it's good, but I am forced to let go of my MIDI files on a server I did not know that I do not understand, or do I have it all wrong?

Please tell me about it and declares me how it works.

Thanks and greetings from Switzerland.

Pantau :-)

ps I wrote everything with the Google translator because my English very bad. Sorry :-)

Soifran

Hi all

I'm working on several special percussion projects. I'd like to submit a couple of improvements, some might be really simple to implement.

- I would need to give special names to tracks, not only the pre defined names.
- I would also need to be able to re-arrange tracks after I've started writing down some notes.
- Also, as included samples would barely never fit my needs, I'd like to be able to upload my own samples
- Sometimes you just need an app to write music, so I'd also like to be able to turn off the player to be able to listen to the iPod of the iPad if necessary.

Btw the app is pretty cool, hope it'll help me to make some good support scores for my bands. Just discovering that a huge sale will come with V2... NP, I'll try to use all the features available for now,if possible.

Soifran

Hi all

I've been encountering a lot of trouble. No way to export as PDF via email, app is crashing every time. No way to set a custom length for short pieces. (percussion I'm writing might result in two bars tunes!)

Seriously hoping the update will solve these problems.