Easily entering/editing chart music
Colin Taylor
I see how you can easily create music, but what if someone gives you a piece of chart music and says "learn that", you would have to figure out the music to program it into the app. But, if you could edit the "Notation" section, you could make that look like the piece of chart music and have it show you the result in the app in Notation and app format. There is an app named "Flat" which does this really well, but does not do composition very well, so would elevate your beat note app, way above this. Basically, here is how to write/compose/play music, whether you can read drum notation, or not.
R
Ross Farley
I could see how you could chart a song in Beat Note using the technique demoed in this drumeo video. You’d need to annotate it elsewhere though https://youtu.be/TVLcZfo7HFQ?si=r7zRHmbZWOR3gM1U
Derek Lee
Hi Colin Taylor and thanks for your contribution to the roadmap!
I'm really sorry, but after reading your request several times, I still don't understand what you're asking for.
The concept of the beat editor which combines the "sequencer grid" with the actual music notation in real-time is being used by students who are unfamiliar with drum notation to learn how to read drum notation. This is part of the reason for the design of this screen as the music notes align perfectly with the grid. (Reference the attached screenshot for an example.)
I tested out the app "Flat" previously but all I can see is that it does notation (and I found composition to be quite cumbersome). Could you please describe in more detail what you're looking for, or include some screenshots or mockups of what you'd like to see in Beat Note so I can better understand? Thank you! Best, Derek
Derek Lee
Colin Taylor So I was giving this a think overnight and I believe I might be following what you're going for here.
So you're talking about the scenario when you, as a drummer for a band or a gig, are given a piece of sheet music, but you can't read the music, so it's difficult to program it into the app. If you can't read the music, I'd say programming it into the app would actually be a great way to learn how to read the music, and there are already many drumming students who are using BN in this way to help them learn to read.
That said, if you're looking for a way to "shortcut" the process, I don't think having a way to input music notation as music into Beat Note is a practical feature to add. The whole point of using the sequencer grid to allow Beat Note to render the music for you is because music notation software that gives you full control over how to render the music is overly complicated and unusable by people who can't read music. This is the whole point of why BN uses the system it uses: to simplify music notation for both those who are comfortable reading it as well as those who aren't, making music notation accessible to everyone. What you describe in your request as "Basically, here is how to write/compose/play music, whether you can read drum notation, or not." is already what I believe BN is doing.
Derek Lee
Colin Taylor Several other music input enhancement requests exist besides using the current sequencer grid:
Music XML Import: https://roadmap.beat-note.app/feature-requests/p/create-beats-by-importing-musicxml
Audio File Import: https://roadmap.beat-note.app/feature-requests/p/download-drum-tracks-into-beat-note
Input Music by Tapping Triggers: https://roadmap.beat-note.app/feature-requests/p/real-time-input-via-tapping-triggers
Record input from an electronic kit: https://roadmap.beat-note.app/feature-requests/p/produce-music-notation-by-recording-what-i-play-on-an-electronic-drumset
Record input from an acoustic kit: https://roadmap.beat-note.app/feature-requests/p/produce-music-notation-by-recording-what-i-play-on-an-acoustic-drumset
Based on your description, it sounds like you want a quick way to take an actual piece of sheet music and import that into BN. Is that correct?
If that's the case, what pops into my head as the fastest way to accomplish this would be snapping a photo of each page of the chart, and having BN transcribe it into music for you. I've thought about this before and it definitely seems like it would be a considerable challenge to do. You're welcome to create this enhancement request (or I can!) and we can see how many other people would be interested. Does this sound like an appropriate solution to what you're describing? 🤔
One thing I still don't understand from your original request is "showing the result in both notation and app format" - what is "app format"?