iPad App Reviews: Pianist Pro by MooCowMusic is a Musical Marvel

I was scolded by my girlfriend when I started playing with this app. My language went foul in front of my younger son (who I’m sure already knows much worse from the school yard). I cannot believe how WONDERFUL this app is. The exclamation (using certain unpublishable words) went something like: “OMG this is ****ing brilliant… sorry Tom.” He just laughed.

Pianist Pro has been available on the iPad since launch in April. However, it has shot into the musical spotlight after keyboardist Stephen Large from Squeeze used it to play a piano solo during the band’s performance on the Jimmy Fallon show last week. Wondering why a professional musician is using an iPad? I know why…

I’m not sure an iPad is really a performance instrument. Its lack of pressure sensitivity and weighted keys makes it an unlikely piano substitute. In single piano setting, the app offers a velocity sensor, dependent on whereabouts on the keys you touch. iPad doesn’t recognise touch pressure so this is a way to get a graduated force velocity from the virtual keyboard. The interactive window shows just over an octave of the piano’s 88 keys. Navigation along the keyboard is a simple press of a button. Other keyboard options include a double board that looks and plays like a church organ (which is also one of the sounds you can select). In double keyboard mode the variable velocity feature is lost and volume is set at maximum. An interesting way that Pianist Pro could make iPad an excellent performance tool is as a wireless keyboard. Using the MadCowMusic OSC server, the iPad uses its WiFi connection to play your synthesizer linked to your desktop or laptop via USB.

Pianist Pro really comes into its own as a composition tool. It has an integrated drummer function allowing you to lay down a rhythm on up to 4 different drumming sounds: kick, snare and hihat (open and closed) at 3 different intensities. Its fully featured arpeggiator allows you to play complex and perfectly timed runs of notes from holding down a few keys. The latest version of Pianist Pro includes a new feature, Pattern Arp, which allows you to define a complex pattern of notes that play by simply holding down the chord keys.

Many of the app settings are fully user-definable. The settings interface is designed as a real-life synth mock-up, making changes a familiar task. Other changeable functions that don’t relate to a real-life keyboard are displayed on a screen designed like a coffee-stained note pad! Pianist Pro is an excellent tool, and its versatility is limited only by the creativity of its user.

Pianist Pro is available for $9.99 from iTunes

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pianist-pro/id358857758?mt=8#