EarToner 1.1 review
DownloadEarToner is ear training software to help you learn to identify various musical sounds such as intervals, chords, scales and whether
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EarToner is ear training software to help you learn to identify various musical sounds such as intervals, chords, scales and whether two notes are in tune with each other. EarToner is designed to be easy to use and quick to setup.
I originally wrote a rough version for myself just for identifying intervals. When I mentioned it to other musical friends they were very interested in using it also. I thought I would just formalize it a little more and release it for free on the internet to whoever wants to use it.
Here are some key features of "EarToner":
General:
number of items played - currently the scoring only indicates how many correct guesses you've made and how many guesses you've made total.
playback mode - click on the buttons and have it play the interval/chord (currently only has a testing mode, so clicking on the buttons is considered a guess at the last interval played)
documentation - info on working with the various modules and what their settings can do.
Intervals:
all intervals from a minor second up to a perfect 15th (two octaves) in half step increments.
direction of intervals (only play up or down, or both randomly)
set tonic - this helps newer ears learning to hear just a few intervals in from a single reference point.
allowable range - keeps the notes within a certain number of octaves above and below middle C so it doesn't get too ridiculous.
ability to play the intervals separately or together.
number of intervals - I found that after awhile I could start hearing intervals pretty close to 100&pct of the time, so I thought I'd add an extra twist, in the spirit of most college ear training classes' requirement for dictation. This helps to develop an intervallic memory of sorts. EarToner will play a certain number of pitches, and you must identify the interval between them in the proper order.
note duration
Chords:
chords able to be tested on Major Triad, Minor Triad, Augmented Triad, Diminished Triad, Major 7th, Dominant 7th, Minor 7th, Minor-Major 7th (1, b3, 5, 7), Half-Diminished 7th (1, b3, b5, b7), Full-Diminished 7th (1, b3, b5, bb7), Augmented-Major 7th (1, 3, #5, 7) and Augmented 7th (1, 3, #5, b7).
inversions - ability to select which inversions of chords as well as the chords you wanted to be trained on.
allowable range - keeps the notes within a certain number of octaves above and below middle C so it doesn't get too ridiculous.
set tonic - probably if someone is going to want it for intervals, they're going to want it for chords too.
arppeggiation of chord - seems handy for hearing all of the intervals in the chord when trying to learn new chords.
Scales:
scales able to be tested on Major (Ionian), Natural Minor (Aeolian), Harmonic Minor, Melodic Minor, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Locrian, Whole Tone, Chromatic, Major Pentatonic, Minor Pentatonic, Blues, Diminished Whole/Half, Diminished Half/Whole.
allowable range - keeps the notes within a certain number of octaves above and below middle C so it doesn't get too ridiculous.
set tonic - same as above.
Tuning:
Playing of two notes to identify whether the second note is sharp, flat or in tune
Variable length of notes in time.
Variable offset of the second note from the first note, from being played at the same time to playing immediately after the first note.
Ability to select different sound (MIDI patch) for the second note
User selectable maximum detuning, so the second note can be out of tune from the first one as far as a whole step (good for young ears learning to identify lower and higher).
Changeable granularity for the second note, so the detuning of the second note can be anywhere from 1/64th of a whole step all the way up to a whole step
set tonic - same as other modules
interval - separate the two notes by a set interval. Good for string players and others that need to learn to tune in 4ths, 5ths, etc.
direction - for using an interval other than unison allows the second note to be above, below or randomly selected by EarToner.
Requirements:
Java 1.5
What's New in This Release:
This release adds new playback functionality of incorrect guesses.
A simple Windows executable has been created.
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