cadence

At the keyboard

Cadence listens to MIDI notes, releases, velocity and sustain. Use your keyboard's own sound while recording.

Connect a keyboard

  1. Connect the keyboard to your Mac. USB MIDI is a straightforward starting point.
  2. Open Settings → MIDI, refresh inputs and select the keyboard.
  3. Release every key and the sustain pedal before starting an assessed activity.
  4. Arm the activity's input control. Merely connecting a keyboard does not start note entry or assessment.

If a disconnected keyboard leaves notes held on screen, use Clear held notes. This resets input state; it does not delete a score.

Enter a score one step at a time

In Compose → MIDI keyboard, choose the note duration and target staff/voice, then enable step entry. A played note or chord is entered on release. This is step entry, not live rhythm transcription.

Notation and guitar tab share the same pitches. Changing a fret changes the note; changing the string preserves pitch when a valid position exists.

Practise a piece

Open the full piece and choose Practise this piece. Make an opening pass, work on the focused material, and return to the surrounding phrase. In hands-together work, you can practise one hand while Cadence plays the other, then bring them together.

Play-along uses MIDI timestamps and an adjustable timing offset. Calibrate for your current keyboard, audio output and headphones. Changing the setup can change perceived timing. Automatic checks have been exercised with virtual MIDI; physical-device validation is still ongoing.

Listen to your phrasing

Shape the phrase saves piano takes for score-linked playback and comparison. MIDI recordings keep notes, key releases, velocity and pedal; they are not microphone audio recordings.

Reharmonise and improvise records a free response after a count-in. Save the take, then replay the same notes over the original or substituted harmony. Cadence offers listening prompts without an artistic-quality score.

A completed unsaved take stays available during navigation and failed-save retries, but not after quitting. Save it explicitly before closing the app. Switching focus or stopping during an incomplete take cancels that take.

Rhythm without pitch

Rhythm activities can use a piano key or the spacebar. Keyboard tapping is active only when that exercise is armed, so typing in a text field should not become a musical answer.