Chopin for iPhone and iPod touch - Classical Music Forums

dandelion · #1 (**permalink**) Jul-27-2010, 04:34

International Classical Music Database is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting classical music.

Please explore our mission and programs at our website: http://icmd.org.

Recently we're planning a series of iPhone apps about great composers, focusing on both their life and music. We hope we can inject creative innovations into the products, also meets classical music lovers' true needs.

The first app in this series is available now on app store: Chopin. The poet of the piano.

Wanna truly understand the polish composer Chopin and his music?

In 20 minutes, you can:
Know his story.
Comment Chopin's music as critical as Schumann and Goethe.

Features:
Detailed analysis and explanation of Chopin's masterpieces.
Complete catalogue of Chopin's works.
Gallery of 20 precious pictures.
The app is well received from appsafari.com. Below are excerpts from their review:

Quote:

There are many esteemed artists and musicians whose works of art have survived the test of time, and become household names–Frédéric Chopin is one of them.
A master of Romantic music, the Polish pianist wrote compositions for piano solos that were (and continue to be) technically demanding
but quite expressive and nuanced, if played by the right hands. Some of his most well-known pieces include the Revolutionary Étude (Op. 10, No. 12)
and the Minute Waltz (Op. 64, No. 1).

Xibeiliux’s new music app, succinctly titled Chopin, reveals even more about this celebrated musician.
The Story tab brings you to a 12-slide overview of his life (although Chopin’s story could be told in much more).
Tap to go through the slides and text while enjoying one of his pieces. The Music tab holds the bulk of this app, including a detailed breakdown
and analysis of Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23. As the piece is played, different sections are broken down and explained
(earphones for this tab are recommended). Unfortunately, the other two shorter compositions included in this tab aren’t analyzed as deeply;
rather, they are probably there to just enjoy. The Album tab includes 20 pictures pertaining to Frédéric Chopin and his life,
while all other tabs launch the Safari app.

While I find the contents of this app engaging, I honestly don’t know how many other people would…let’s face it,
classical music isn’t exactly all the rage nowadays, and you wouldn’t have to analyze a piece section by section unless you needed to.
Aside from interest, the app itself isn’t horribly user-friendly, as there is a noticeable lack of control. For instance, the slideshow
and the Ballade analysis–although very informative–don’t include a back button or an option to fast-forward/backward.
One suggestion I would make for the compositions under the Music tab: include the sheet music, somehow, especially for the Ballade.
It’ll make all the analyzing much easier to see and follow (a good editor would make it even better).

The app is beautifully and tastefully designed, but is also frustratingly glitchy–I’ve had to manually restart my iPod Touch two times already,
and it crashes sometimes while I’m listening to the music. An in-app web browser would be great, as half of the tabs lead to Safari,
closing the Chopin app for those of us who don’t have multitasking. Potential users might balk at the $4.99 price tag,
so I hope updates will include a lot more content than the app currently has.

We would like you could try the app at your iPhone. And please provide your feedback and critic to apps@icmd.org
Your feedback will be treated seriously and will be served as the direction for future updates, improvements and redesign.
Thanks.

Available at app store now!

OperaSaz · #2 (**permalink**) Aug-05-2010, 17:36

Brilliant way to bring Classical music to a modern digital platform

These kind of apps could make classical music appeal to a new audience, which is never a bad thing.

Saz
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“Truly there would be reason to go mad were it not for music.” - Tchaikovsky

dandelion · #3 (**permalink**) Aug-06-2010, 03:58

That's correct! It seems to be the definitive approach to introduce new audiences, including the next generations, to the superb legacy of classical music. We believe senior classical music lovers can also be benefited from other kinds of contemporary application. Anyway, the future experience of classical music is promising, I believe.
Thank you.