Shamisen Player App

General
#1

Shamisen Player the app for Android is available on Google Play . . .

http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simpleappswithoutads.shamisenplayer

(App by BH * Shamisen Sounds by Karl Hedlund * App Icons by Alessandro Zecca)

Some virtual shamisen fun for free and without ads and even with a few easter egg features.

Check it out and I should also dare to say share your opinion . . . :slight_smile:

Anyway this is the first app I ever made and a lot of thanks of course to Karl who already earlier had done note for note sound recordings of his shamisen which he shared for use in this app and also a lot of thanks to Ale for helping out in the graphics department creating the app icons.

(as for that colorful shamisen graphic I officially bought or licensed it for this project from another artist and you can also download a wallpaper version of it for your personal use . . . simpleappswithoutads.com/shamisen.jpg )

Cheers and of course I hope you are having some fun with that app . . .

http://simpleappswithoutads.com/shamisen.jpg

#2

Awesome ! Is there a chance for it to be developed for iphone ? Thanks anyway !

#3

as for me I don’t think so after I found it freakishly hard enough to grasp an understanding of one system I shall stick with this one . . . :slight_smile:

#4

Ha ! ha ! I understand, B H


#5

Thank you :slight_smile:

#6

Nice work!

#7

Thanks and thanks again since all of this wouldn’t have been possible without you :slight_smile:

so I “released” version 1.1 about an hour ago and I guess that will be it for now and quite a while I think it’s quite cool now and hope it works good enough on your whatever device . . .

on top of adding one more additional sound which you can use as a background for relaxed playing or just turn on until morning to faciliate a good night’s sleep I also had to change the star buttons and that rather pretty ‘musical #’ sign for a not that pretty and centered regular # sign as all of the former symbols seemed to not be included in the special characters coverage of some very popular samsung phones . . .

as for speed and responsiveness of the sound buttons the code I think is fine and I did what I could do with the development software I have at this time to also optimize the compilation of the app to make the app work and respond as fast as possible . . . also of course several ‘media players’ open at the same time as necessary to play several sounds at the same time as needed do draw quite a bit on processing power by nature so of course it would also be best to not have a lot of other apps open in the background or so when wanting to do some serious shredding with the shamisen app . . . :wink:

very much of course I would like to get your feedback and see screenshots from various devices as possible and in general I hope you might have some virtual shamisen fun with the app . . .

Cheers and have a good weekend!

BH :slight_smile:

#8

since I did a one take demonstration recording uploaded to youtube I should of course also share that in this thread :slight_smile:

#9

I tried it a little yesterday and I wanna say Congrats BH. You finally brought the projet into something real :wink:

I was happily surprised to find the Taiko sounds in it and to be able to play simultaneous sounds (some piano and other applications don’t even do that).

One thing was missing though and I understand it can be complicated but I am allowing myself to dream a bit and say that being able to make hajiki would make it even more useful for practices


Thanks for your hard work BH and Karl (and others if I am missing anyone else)!

#10

I can’t even imagine the effort by Karl I am happy that he had done those note for note recordings also and already earlier for his own shamisen composer web app and that it was not necessary to do this directly for just my little app and ale made the icons in the right format that was great also so yeah app from autriche sounds from sweden and graphics from switzerland or in other words bachido awesome . . . :slight_smile:

well without a well sounding shamisen I can’t do any additional recordings myself I guess a Shamisen Player Pro version could possibly be done sometime in some (fine with me as I need a break from this stuff at the moment anyway) distant future . . .

would be worth the effort I guess though in case good quality sounds would be available for both tataki options of hitting through to the skin and not hitting through to the skin and well on top of that hajikis also I figure could be implemented as for programming like also hold this button on the fly in addition to the note button you want to play and then the note will sound hajiki style . . . well though I would say let’s allow the app to live as it is for some time and who knows what might happen in the future . . . as for me I find the app quite nice enough already to play with or also to compose or stumble upon whacky basic melodies on the go that you might later elaborate on using your real shamisen . . . :slight_smile:

#11

Oy, I’m ashamed with how long it took me to try out Shamisen Player! :frowning: However, I finally downloaded it on this relaxing Sunday!

Hey, that’s pretty awesome! I like the simplicity, just the notes, sounds, and some effects. :slight_smile: I think an app like this is great for composing new shamisen songs.

Perhaps it’s similar to a writer having a story idea, but then loses the idea when he picks up a pen. With me, sometimes I have a song idea but by the time I unwrap my shamisen, put in the koma, put on the yubikake and bachi, the inspiration weakens. (Almost like there’s too much pressure)

Well, with this, when an idea for a melody comes, I can just tap it out and hear how it would sound on shamisen. Just tapping it out the moment a melody comes to mind takes a lot of pressure away and seems increase the chance of any creative ideas coming to full fruition!

Plus, just hitting random notes also sparked ideas for new melodies too!

Great work, BH, Karl and Ale!!! :smiley:

#12

Thanks a lot and also for your review on google play too . . . :slight_smile:

while the app does not offer a performance worthy shamisen playing experience on the go I am very glad to hear that the composing aid aspect about it could even be found useful by advanced players on the go . . . :slight_smile:

as for beginners I think it also allows exploring and composing somewhat beyond the technical abilities they may already have on their actual shamisen as they may find it easier in the app to quickly try out more as for finding cool basic melodies . . . or one can use it on the go to practice with regard to better memorizing some tune one is in the process of learning from tabulature at home . . . and finally for folks who are interested in shamisen but don’t have a shamisen yet it is certainly already a lot more interactive than watching clips on youtube and therefore should overall be fun enough for them too . . .

(sorry in case that could come across as me using a lot of words to praise my own app here haha but well those are my thoughts on the app and its genesis and I guess that’s all :slight_smile:

Cheers and again thanks everyone . . .

#13

But, when you compose thepossible piece/s for shamisen in this app, can you directly edit them?

#14

oh no the app is only for playing and playing with ideas when your shamisen is elsewhere there is no editor for recording or creating notation so don’t worry you don’t miss out on THAT much by not having an android phone :slight_smile:

#15

So I have released Shamisen Player Pro a day ago . . . :wink:

Seriously I think this is the one and only version one should have and it also is the cheapest Shamisen available.

Go play and have a splendid weekend and in case you go for the Pro version thank you :slight_smile:

© 2020 Kyle Abbott