Version 2.0 for iOS
What is the Espressivo App?
Espressivo is an app that enables users to play pieces of music according to their ideas. A human performer achieves musical expression mainly by controlling the following musical elements:
- Tempo
- Velocity
- Articulation
The control of the musical elements is applied to all or just to specific staffs or voices.
Prerequisites
In order to take full advantage of the Espressivo app you need additional input devices or software.
Input Devices
If you do not have a gamepad at hand you might consider using the built-in motion sensor of your device. However, for best musical performances, we recommend a game controller. Generally, you should be able to use any MFi controller (Made for iPhone/iPad). Among those you will find:
- Playstation 4 Dual Shock
- Playstation 5 Dual Sense
- Xbox Wireless
In contrast to the Xbox controller, Playstation controllers also include a motion sensor. For musical performances, we recommend a controller with a built-in motion sensor.
Since the latest version, a camera can also be used as an input device. The system software is able to recognize movements of the hands and the head which is further processed to control the musical performance.
Alternatively, an iPhone can be used as an input device, as it owns a motion sensor as well. For this purpose, an dedicated iOS app called MusicalConductor is available on the App Store.
If you are a developer you might consider creating an app communicating over the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) or Bluetooth. See documentation Server Help to learn more on how to remotely control a musical performance.
Sound Output
This music app does not produce sound on its own. For this purpose you either use a MIDI player app, an Audio Unit extension, a Web Audio app, or connect an external MIDI device.
Sidebar
The left sidebar provides the essential functions of the app as will be shown in the following.
Welcome
The Welcome panel provides basic information on how to start using the app. You will learn how to connect a controller and a MIDI player. To begin, follow the suggested steps.
Repertoire
The Repertoire lets you choose the musical pieces you want to perform. Use the music pieces contained in the app or load pieces of your choice from your device or from a server.
There is also a context menu to manipulate the list of music pieces and to get information about the scores.
Please note that the score files are always shown on two hierarchical levels, independently of how deep your score files are nested.
By the way: Any images or Web documents placed in the repertoire’s root directory will be presented in the left column.
Score
Navigate to the Score panel to see the graphical representation of the selected score. During playback, the notes playing at the moment are highlighted and the score appropriately scrolls to show the currently playing part.
Use the buttons from the navigation bar to play a title or proceed to the next piece of music. Tap into the score to start playing the music pieces from any bar or note.
Gamepad
The Gamepad panel defines the mapping of the controller’s buttons, analog sticks and sensors to the musical elements.
Since more than one controller can be attached at a time, the controllers are organized in tabs. Switch the tabs to find all controllers.
The available keys of a controller are presented in a table. The first column of this table shows the symbol and the name of the respective key. Its current value is indicated by a horizontal bar. After the indicator, a popup menu presents the possible actions a key may perform. Finally, on the right column of the table, a menu lets you choose the staffs or voices an action is applied to.
With the gamepad’s buttons you are able to perform the following actions:
- Start or stop playing
- Rewind the player
- Set pedals on or off
- Proceed to the next title
- Switch to the previous title
- Change of the general tempo
- Change of the general velocity
- Choose a repeat mode
Analog sticks and sensors dynamically control the performance of these musical elements:
- Increase or decrease the tempo
- Increase or decrease the velocity, in general or per staff and voice
- Modify the articulation, in general, or per staff and voice
- Control the MIDI modwheel
For simplicity, start with one of the existing profiles such as Keyboard, Song or Buttons. Adapt the mappings for your purpose and save it as a new profile for later use.
Press the button Show panel in order to observe the current values. To identify controllers and performers, you might assign a symbol or emoji or a light color (the latter only applies to the Playstation controllers).
If you do not own a gamepad, you might consider using the built-in motion sensor as a simple but rather limited gamepad. Use the toolbar button to present detailed information about the use of the gamepad or the motion sensor.
Camera
Instead of a gamepad, a camera can be used as a musical input device. The application is able to recognize and process movements of the head and the hands.
With movements of your head, you are able to perform the following actions:
- Start or stop playing
- Rewind the player
- Proceed to the next title
- Switch to the previous title
Movements of the hands can be used to control the following musical elements:
- Increase or decrease the tempo
- Increase or decrease the velocity, in general or per staff and voice
- Modify the articulation, in general, or per staff and voice
Instrument
For sound output select one from these instrument types:
- Audio Unit extension
- Web Audio instrument
To use Audio Unit extensions install an Audio Unit app from the App Store.
The app already includes a few links to Web audio instruments. Add a link to use your favorite Web audio app.
MIDI
The MIDI panel presents all available MIDI destinations and devices. Use the virtual port for MIDI players on the same device or select one from the list of destinations. For external MIDI connections either scan for devices or advertise your device.
Piano Roll
The piano roll is an alternative way of presenting a score. Color schemes are used to identify staffs and voices.
Please note that data imported from MIDI or TSV files can only be shown as piano rolls or note tables, but not as musical scores.
Note Table
The Note Table panel presents all audible notes of a piece of music, the rests and the measures in a chronological order. Note tables can be exported as tab-separated values format and processed using the Numbers app.
Check this table if you think your score is incorrectly performed.
Note that the number of the notes is not necessarily identical to the number of notes shown in the score. For example, tied notes appear as a single note, ornaments do not create additional notes, but tremolo notes are expanded.
Tap the Note Table Help button from the toolbar to learn more about how note tables are formatted.
Notation
This panel provides an overview of the musical notations. Specifically, the following notations will be presented:
- Tempi
- Meters
- Keys
- Rehearsal markers
- Instructions
The notations are interactively linked to the score. It is also possible to temporarily modify the tempo and add new tempo markers.
Controller App
The Espressivo app supports Bluetooth connections to control musical elements. Press the Start button to run the Bluetooth Central. Once the Bluetooth device is connected you might stop searching for more devices.
Use the MusicalConductor app for iOS to establish a Bluetooth connection. Tap on Controller App Help to learn more about this app.
Server
The Espressivo app supports UDP connections. Start the server if you intend to remotely control the Espressivo app.
Tap the Server Help button to learn how to communicate with the server.
Log File
In the Log File panel you will find entries for each score opened during a session. You will also be informed about any warnings which occurred during the parsing of the score files. Use the context menu to get additional information.
Listen
Listen to the numerous recordings created with the help of the Espressivo application and a great virtual instrument. The content of the sound examples is delivered from a Web server. Note that accessability and selection of the recodings may change at any time.
Settings
The settings of this program are mainly concerned with how the musical instructions are processed and how musical scores are graphically represented.
Performance
Offers many musical settings such as the execution of ornaments and the repetition of sections.
Repertoire
Saves the addresses of previously visited repositories.
Browser
Choice of the preferred browser.
Piano Roll
Settings to control the appearance of the piano roll.
Performers
Settings to identify different performers.
Gamepad Controller
Defines the mapping between input elements and musical elements.
Camera Controller
Defines the mapping between gestures and musical elements.
Converters
Settings concerning the conversion of score data.
Score Representation
This panel presents numerous setting to control the appearance of the scores.
Choose the Detailed Options to get a complete list of Verovio’s options. Note that not all options apply to the specific use of this app.
Use the Reset button at the bottom to return to the default options.