Bounce Metronome 4.3 Public Beta

Youtube Video

The Sound of a Pendulum Wave - As Bounces with Harmonic Series Pitches.

 Current upload of the public beta: 29th August 2012

This has now been RELEASED.

See Bounce Metronome 4.3 Release

 

OLD POST

PLEASE NOTE: this is BETA software. It's the public beta of version 4.3 which I've been working on since the end of 2011.

Also rhythms saved from this beta might play and animate in a different way in the final release. Thanks for trying it out, and do let me know if you have any suggestions, or find any bugs 

The beta installs into a new folder and has a new desktop shortcut so it won't interfere with the older version.  However, it is experimental, and more likely to have bugs than a release.
 
Read on to find out more about the beta.

 

Youtube Video

Two rhythms ♩ ♪♩ and ♩ ♪♩ ♪ as a beat preserving polymeter - this is one of the preset rhythms in the Drum & Dance view in the main window drop down..

Am currently doing uploads most days, to fix minor bugs in the beta usually, or  minor improvements in the user interface, no major additions for a while.. Won't bother to do an update of the text here each day, as most of the fixes are only of interest to a small minority of the users of the software - just check at the top for the date to see if it is newer, and email me if you want to know something about the beta, or have something particular that needs to be fixed. Then I'll email back when your bug is fixed or whatever it is you need to know.
 
You can also take a look at the Facebook group where I tend to post more often, e.g. to find out what's new in the beta today. http://facebook.com/bouncemetronome
 
If you spot any bugs, the best way to report them is to save a bug report project from ? >> Save As Project for Bug Reports or User Support, and email that to me along with a description of what went wrong. You don't have to do it that way, just tends to save time if you do. Thanks for trying it out, and interested in any comments or suggestions, Robert.
 
Version 4.3 adds Polymeters like 3/8 with 2/4 (Beat prserving) and the option to combine the Drum & Dance rhythms as a polymeter, also Steve Reich style rhythm phasing as in the example to the right. Other improvements include: full unicode support,  support for custom percussion menus (e.g. for Studio Drummer), new sprite features, and the pitch and volume bounces (an audio version of the visual bounces).
 

Youtube Video

Rhythm Phasing Example - Same rhythm in all sixteen parts,with the tempo slightly changed. The other parts are faster than the first part by 101%. 102%, 103%, ,,, 115%. First eight parts use the eight harmonics 1/1, 2/1, 3/1, ... 8/1 and the next eight parts are at the same pitches shifted down an octave.

 
New features 
  • Polymeters like 3/8 with 2/4 (Beat prserving)
  • New polymeters option for the Drum & Dance rhythms - if the parts vary in length, then you have an option to play them as a beat preserving polymeter (see video earlier in this page for an example).
  • New rhythm phasing option for the Drum & Dance option (example in drop list of rhythms, video at the top of this page)
  • You can use unicode now with file names, lyrics, bouncing numbers etc. The idea is to help the many users of Bounce Metronome who don't have English as their first language.
  • Custom  percussion menus  - for use with e.g. studio drummer, can select any of its instruments by name for any of the parts using the normal non melodic percussion menu. Also as you hover the mouse over any of the instruments (or naviigate the menu with keyboard) you hear the instrument played so can preview what it sounds like before you select it.
  • New on-screen percussion keyboard, lets you play any of the percussion instruments wiht the mouse.
  • The Microsoft GS Wavetable synth which you get on every modern Windows computer as part of DirectX has the full selection of the GS drum kits, so I've added them in as presets into the drop list of non melodic percussion menus. This lets you can use any of the instruments on this page:http://www.voidaudio.net/percussion.html (though you can only use one of the drum kits at a time).
  • Pitch and Volume bounces. These give you an audio version of the visual bounces, so may be of especial interest to blind users of the software.
  • Bouncing Sprites made easier to use with new features
  • Also added some preset visual options using unicode, e.g. option to show bouncing  special characters now preset to a list of distinctive unicode printers Dingbats suitable in shape for a bouncing character: ★ ✾ ✰ ✲ ✳ ❉ ✿ ❂ ✺ ❀ ✽ ❄ ✪ ✫ ✯ ❖ ✖ ✦ ✧ ✠ ✡ ✢ ✣ ✤ ✥ ✙ ✚ ✜ ✕ ✇ ✷ ✸ ♥ ♦ ♣ ♠ ❑ ■ ▲ ▼ ◆ ☺ ☻ ❍ ☪ ☯ ☸ ⌘ ❀ ◉ ◎ ▣ ◐ ◒ ◑ ◓ ◩ ◪ ◧ ◨ � - also for the beat numbers you can now set it to show various alternative numerals such as Japanese numerals, and Arabic Indic numerals.
  • Using the custom beats per measure you can do things like play 5/4,conducted as 2/4 with eighth notes, and counted visually as 6/8, i.e. no need to synchronise  the same measure size for the visuals or the conducting patterns with the sounds for any of the parts
  • Tempo strip at the bottom of the 2D bounce window so you can adjust the tempo and see it change, without need to bring up the tempo dial.  Arrow to the tempo dial which shows the direction of the tempo change - so when practising gradual tempo changes going up and down in cycles, you can see instantly which way the tempo is changing
  • Numerous other minor features and additions
  • A few minor improvements and bug fixes for the features already included version 4.2