11/25/09 Review: New Omniano-The Band release: Piano Concert

[WanderingMinstrel]

Omniano-The Band has morphed into three separate programs. The first to be released in the US is Piano Concert. I was a beta tester for this last fall and I watched it get better and better and better. IMHO, it's definitely the coolest piano app ever for WM6.1 and WM6.5 devices.

Like the original program, you get a full range of 8 piano octaves in the keys of C and also F. And you can show and play them as duplex keyboards (one on top of the other) or as a straight single piano keyboard.

Two new features are somewhat amazing.
There is a chord bar that lets you play any two notes as a chord. On an HTC WM device like my TP, you can't multi-touch the keyboard on the screen so harmonic chords were impossible until this. If you're quick, and with practice you can be, what you play really sounds like chorded piano melodies.
For an even fuller sound, there is a built-in multitrack recorder. You can record whatever you play and then play it back -- and accompany and record your previous track with a new track. That REALLY sounds like a real piano.
If you write music or get ideas for songs at random times like I do, you can play what you hear in your head or hum, save it, and later play it back and fill in overdub tracks for chording and a real song sound.

Like I said, I watched Piano Concert take shape in beta testing. I'm not associated with or affiliated with Sheon, the developer, in any way. Apologies if this review sounds like an ad. I'm just really impressed with his work.

The commercial release costs $4.99, a cheaper price point than I suggested. And shortly, the Flute Concert and Drum programs will become available in new and transformed forms on Handango. You can check out Piano Concert at [url]http://www.handango.com/ and search for Piano Concert.