Piano Wizard: DDR type teacher / Game

[Xiaou2]

http://www.pianowizard.com/

 Looks pretty darn cool 

[thennomeking]

I was going to modify Frets on Fire for this exact purpose...ohwell, saves me the time.  Thanks.

[ChadTower]

Cool!  I've been waiting on that.  Surprising that it took so long, really.  Given how integrated electronic keyboards have been with computers for so long I have no idea why there isn't a highly developed DDR type piano game out there already.  Maybe it's just not "cool" enough?

[DrumAnBass]

Awesome; thanks for that post! My kids are going to love that in a few months... Probably a little too young for that at the moment - they just turned 2.

[Xiaou2]

Kids?   Heh, Im getting it for Me!      Always wanted to learn
how to play,  and this looks like the easiest and funest way to do it.

 Whats great is that while its Kind of a game, its actually teaching
real songs as you go.  Unlike other DDR type games, which are
limited in notes and real compositions. 

 You can also import any Midi song in the program, so have greater
learning possibilities.

 Drumanbass, youd be suprised at what kids can learn at such
young ages once they have enough exposure.  The exposure to
complex stimulus will help to develop thier brains at a much 
faster rate.   (though you may have to buy a throw away
keyboard while they are in the ulrta destructive ages    heh )

 Ohh, they also make another version for younger kids too:

 

[KenToad]

It looks cool, but really nothing beats a real teacher and a real piano.  Even a terribly out-of-tune piano sounds infinitely better than a keyboard synthesizer, IMO.  Also, when you factor in dynamics and pedaling ...

However, I still would like to play with this.   

[Glaine]

Cool!  I've been waiting on that.  Surprising that it took so long, really.

I'm going to pop your bubble and explain that Konami actually made Keyboardmania a long time ago, you aren't at fault for not knowing about it - very few arcades have one because if you thought Beatmania had a high learning curve, Keyboardmania is a learning wall - you get crushed for a very long time. I only knew about it because once I had the Konami bug I researched most of the music games they made and there was an arcade a friend liked that had tons of music games. Very niche market stuff.

The best part is that there was a version of Keyboardmania that could be linked to Drummania and Guitar Freaks for linked play - that would be so much fun if I had friends who played these games. Well, first I need friends  .


Copied from the wiki:
There is also a simulator called DoReMi Mania, which uses *.pms files. However, players can use a midi-to-pms converter to simplify editing.

I remember using that program too, its really good and the converted midis play pretty well, advised if you don't mind playing midis and playing with .pms files  .


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboardmania

[Glaine]

Forgot to add, if you play the DoReMe simulator, you can supposedly plug in a midi keyboard into your PC as a controller and map the keys to the game.

I never got it to work but it sounds simple, I should try it again sometime when I want to get my butt handed to me.

[ChadTower]

I'm going to pop your bubble and explain that Konami actually made Keyboardmania a long time ago, you aren't at fault for not knowing about it - very few arcades have one because if you thought Beatmania had a high learning curve, Keyboardmania is a learning wall - you get crushed for a very long time.

Those are Japanese arcade releases... even WE, with our arcade obsession, aren't going to import $20,000 Bemani cabs.  These don't count in the "I could actually get it and use it in my home" category.

There is also DoReMi Mania, as listed, but of course that's a Japanese app with very little English out there on it.  I tried a while back to get that working and it just wasn't worth the effort given what it looked like it was going to be.

I still consider my bubble very much intact.

[horseboy]

They made keyboard learning games for both the NES and SNES.

[ChadTower]

Yep.  Both were terrible, very expensive, and are now ridiculously rare.

[Glaine]

Agreed, those Nintendo music games just felt wrong somehow. It felt like a stretch when there was a music maker in Mario Paint, though I still played around with it quite a bit. You can't really do much there without knowing how to read sheet music though and I don't.

I'll also agree that DoReMe might be a bit odd getting started but I felt it was smooth sailing after the start.

Similarly, you might look into Pop N' Music - its a 9 button game where all the buttons are huge and arranged similar to Beatmania or Keyboardmania. There is a simfile player for it as well but I had trouble finding songs for it so I didn't play it very much, even though the simfile player was pretty good.
I've never seen one of those machines in person (which I find funny because I've seen 2 Para-Para machines in person and the novelty fades quickly so I don't get why places have it).

Still, I don't think any of the Bemani games actually train you to play an instrument except Keyboardmania, though Beatmania sure makes me think I'm awesome.

[horseboy]

Yep.  Both were terrible, very expensive, and are now ridiculously rare.

Yep, a girlfriend of mine from college was housesitting for some old lady one time, when I happened upon the SNES version. The old lady had this massive cat (looked like a big pitbull, scary), and when a bunch of us came over it ran off and hid. As we were searching for the cat, I found a MIB SNES piano set. I wanted to offer her something, but I couldn't because then she would have known we went through her ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. Turns out the cat was dead in the back of the closet.

[romperwomb]

I purchased one of these for my daughter (4) and now I can play Beethoven's Fur Elise.  She's not so interested...I'm hopping the Sponge Bob cart i picked up for cheap gets her into it.

[Glaine]

Thats cool about playing Fer Elise, but I don't know any songs that kids would want to play but the theme song from Sponge Bob.

If she likes it you are going to hate hearing about who lives in a pineapple under the sea after the first day and will be buying her headphones.

[ChadTower]

Yep, a girlfriend of mine from college was housesitting for some old lady one time, when I happened upon the SNES version.

Check it out.

[missioncontrol]

It looks cool, but really nothing beats a real teacher and a real piano.  Even a terribly out-of-tune piano sounds infinitely better than a keyboard synthesizer, IMO.  Also, when you factor in dynamics and pedaling ...

Agreed, my daughter has been playing the piano since she was 4 (she's 10 now), she won't even touch a keyboard as it isn't quite the same as a real piano...