Jump to content

Menu

Interactive metronome app


Recommended Posts

I have been talking with my brother about developing a better IM app then I can currently find in any App Store. Made me wonder what features others would find valuable in an IM-like app, or if there’s no real market for it? He prefers to develop apps that cost a few bucks up front but don’t contain extra paid features or ads, I believe. What would you want to see, besides basic beat and immediate feedback regarding your pace?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If there’s a way to give feedback, that would be good (using some input for sound, maybe?).  

Features: videos to show what is expected (not just clapping but stomping, clap plus stomp, alternate hand to foot activity etc as it gets more difficult), after video to show/explain, a game type goal - shooting spaceships, making food, sports activities, animals racing.

 

I think brain beat(?) Is the at home version for IM, maybe some ideas from there. And marketing to ADHD and other kids would have enough of a population (link to studies that show benefits). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you tried Measuring Metronome by Umbo yet? Someone mentioned it here and I haven't tried it yet. 

Personally, I think the importance of the app or feedback system (fancy IM stuff, whatever) is overrated. It's good and useful and vaults things to the next level, but we got ASTONISHING results with my dd (around age 12 at the time?) using just the Pro Metronome app, free, no feedback, nothing. Clapbox also can do echoing feedback, which can be fun.

It's what you DO with the app and exercises, not the app itself. Honest. See whether the existing apps are effective and don't be too perfectionist about it. There's a lot of research that EFFORT makes brain wiring, not whether the attempt was perfect. This is true in math (read Boaler, Mindset Mathematics), and I'm saying it's true in metronome work too. If you do it IMPERFECTLY and you do it faithfully, you're probably going to make progress. Use what you have, start today, do 5 minutes. After they can do that comfortably (whether that takes a day, a week, or a month), then work up to 10 and then 15 and 20. If you feel like you've hit a developmental max, then begin increasing difficulty. Heathermomster has posted exercises. Anything crossbody is good. Adding in distractions (radio, tv, conversation, kids running around) is good. Bringing in language and working memory (digit spans, n-backs) is good. Figure out what isn't working that you want to improve and target it. You can do Callirobics with a metronome if you want to target handwriting. Hmm, I'm just thinking out loud here that that might be cool to try with my ds! I don't know what would happen. I've read about doing it. For my dd it was crazy hard. I don't know how he'd do.

When I called around about paid IM years ago, almost nobody in the big city had great things to say. They had the software, but they hadn't thought through what to DO with it or how to make it develop pathways and get the dc functional improvement. So they did it, got lackluster results, and gave up, even with the best equipment. But we did it with a free app, were incredibly intentional about how were working with it, why we were doing each thing, and we got amazing results. And there *are* some OTs, etc. getting good results, because we've had the stories! But those people are rare, honest. What's holding you back is therapeutic diligence (short, intensive sessions, frequency) and bringing in exercises with it that target what you need done. Do that, and you'll get results probably. For free. And for me, I figured if my free efforts weren't enough, I could then go pay. :smile:

Have you tried doing metronome work with them? How did it go? What happened? I will tell you that when I started with my ds, I was shocked at how incredibly discoordinated his system was. He could not even do a single clap. He was 6 iirc, and he would just hyperclap. No app is gonna solve stuff like that. That's just slowing down, meeting them right where they are, setting goals. It's not the app. It's what you do with it. 

If you have someone who is *ready* to work on precision, then put headphones on them and use MM or Clapbox or whatever and work on it. 

Edited by PeterPan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, I am actually the one who mentioned measuring metronome! ? We like it, though it does have glitches like reversing the error messages when you were too fast or too slow. As best I can tell, it is only available for iOS, and there is no real equivalent for other operating systems.  That is one of the reasons why I asked my brother if he might be able to develop something for android maybe. ?

 

We do you use measuring metronome on an almost daily basis, and we also do a variety of metronome work, including some vision therapy stuff.

 

I think it would be amazing if the App could somehow pick up sound from a stomp or a clap and also give you feedback on if that was too fast or too slow, rather than just being able to identify if your tap is too fast or too slow. But I’m not sure how ambient sound would interfere with measuring claps or stomps or something of that sort.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's an app. See if it's still in the app store. I swear things I think are classics just disappear. Oh dear, it's gone! I just checked. Well that just goes to show you. They update the iOS and things no longer work and are dropped from the store. 

Have you upped the level of difficulty of what you're doing and added distractions? Have you done Heathermomster's instructions?

Edited by PeterPan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

I recently released an interactive metronome training app called TempoTutor-Toon that focuses more on the fun aspect but has several forms of audio and visual feedback so it can be an effective trainer. I created it for myself and my (adult) daughters who have benefited from using it. I may develop more variants if there is demand, but the first one was "toon" themed to help appeal to a wider audience. I implemented heads-up indicators, on-screen statistics, detailed statistics, stereo audio (indicates if you are early, late, or on time), and even a pink noise option to help with focus.

Check out more details here:
https://www.cardilloscreations.com/app/tempo-tutor-toon/

For the record, this type of app isn't as easy to develop as you might think at first glance. First of all, smartphones cannot really produce anywhere near the precision that is possible with specialized equipment. Most are lucky to be able to support 60fps, which is a timer granularity of roughly 16.67ms, and then you still have to account for other processing hiccups, touch propagation, etc. You also have to be careful about how you detect the time difference and periodic timer frequency to avoid clock skew. System timers do not fire precisely - so you need another way. I dealt with this and was able to achieve fairly accurate timing and measurements (as much as possible with a 60fps max). Then, if you solve timing and clock skew problem, you need to be sure that the statistics and other features provide interactive feedback that's accurate enough to provide useful feedback during training.

Ultimately, I focused on creating a fun design with key features that are essential to using it as an effective interactive metronome trainer.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...