I dedicated my last semester of school to investigating the question:
How can design enhance the musician’s experience?
To understand this question more specifically, I narrowed my focus to three sub-questions. Spending two weeks investigating each question, I cumulated my knowledge into developing Rehearsal: an application for practicing musicians.
Visual Musicians
These musicians use sheet music or tablature to practice music.
Score Card: compares what was last played to sheet music
Mimic Mode: plays a few measures of music and asks musician to repeat it
Annotations: provides annotations that vary by instrument (ex: finger numbers for piano)
Learn Parts: allows the musician to record their own parts (ex: right and left hand of piano) and share music parts with other users (ex: different parts of a choir)
Audial Musicians
These musicians practice mostly by ear and memory.
Record and Edit Live Sessions: allows the musician to create and edit new tracks for their song library
Compare Tracks: shows a visual comparison of tracks so the musician can analyze their differences
Mix Tracks: allows the musician to compile several tracks into one track that can be added to the song library
Labeling Tracks: to keep the musician organized, tracks are organized by song and can be labeled to help identify parts of the song, date, and other variations.
Music Exercises
These short exercises are designed to bridge the gap between audial and visual musicians.
Theory: tap out rhythms, identify key signatures and learn notes on a scale
Interpretation: for fifteen seconds, interpret the image as music
Ear Training: harmonize with chords, identify pitches, and quiz yourself
Improvisation: choose parts (bass, treble, rhythm) and play along to the looping track
How can design enhance the musician’s experience?
To understand this question more specifically, I narrowed my focus to three sub-questions. Spending two weeks investigating each question, I cumulated my knowledge into developing Rehearsal: an application for practicing musicians.
Visual Musicians
These musicians use sheet music or tablature to practice music.
Score Card: compares what was last played to sheet music
Mimic Mode: plays a few measures of music and asks musician to repeat it
Annotations: provides annotations that vary by instrument (ex: finger numbers for piano)
Learn Parts: allows the musician to record their own parts (ex: right and left hand of piano) and share music parts with other users (ex: different parts of a choir)
Audial Musicians
These musicians practice mostly by ear and memory.
Record and Edit Live Sessions: allows the musician to create and edit new tracks for their song library
Compare Tracks: shows a visual comparison of tracks so the musician can analyze their differences
Mix Tracks: allows the musician to compile several tracks into one track that can be added to the song library
Labeling Tracks: to keep the musician organized, tracks are organized by song and can be labeled to help identify parts of the song, date, and other variations.
Music Exercises
These short exercises are designed to bridge the gap between audial and visual musicians.
Theory: tap out rhythms, identify key signatures and learn notes on a scale
Interpretation: for fifteen seconds, interpret the image as music
Ear Training: harmonize with chords, identify pitches, and quiz yourself
Improvisation: choose parts (bass, treble, rhythm) and play along to the looping track
