August 25th, 2010
A new version of the Salsa Rhythm Application for iPhone has just been released.
Some of the new features in this version:
- iPhone 4 Retina Graphics support
- New BPM counting system, easier for dancers
- Improved Clave instrument sound
- New “Cuban Guaguancó” pattern for Congas and Bass
- New graphics for Congas, Bass and Piano
- New splash screen
- Popup screen with quick help on first start
You can get the upgrade for free using the App Store application on your iPhone/iPod Touch.
If you haven’t purchased the application yet, you can find detailed instructions here:
http://www.salsarhythmsoftware.com/iPhone/get.html
You are also invited to check out a new salsa music timing video we uploaded earlier this week. High definition with annotations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN_u2BVc9u0
Tags: clave, guaguanco, iphone 4, retina
Posted in New releases, iphone | No Comments »
August 14th, 2010
We have been working for about a month on a new version of the Salsa Rhythm iPhone Application. Our focus was to create a better user experience by improving the graphics and sound sample quality.
One of the main features that will be visible for all the iPhone 4 users is the new Retina resolution graphics we have included. The instrument icons will suddenly look much sharper and crispier on your mobile device screen, along with new glyphs for the Piano, the bass and the conga drums.
To see how big the difference is, I have prepared an illustration, containing real graphics from the application. In this illustration, you can see the low resolution graphics and the Retina resolution graphics side-by-side, so you can get a good feeling of what it looks like:
The pixelated image on the left is what you see in the old app version. However, after you upgrade to the new version you will see the high resolution image on the right (you must have iPhone 4).
There are even additional improvements waiting for you in version 1.1 of the Salsa Rhythm App for iPhone, and it has just been dispatched to the Appstore approval process, meaning it will be available within a few days.
You can sign-up to our mailing list and get updates about the new version, also a chance to win a free copy.
Join here: http://www.salsarhythmsoftware.com/iPhone/
Tags: bass, graphics, guiro, iphone 4, iPhone app, new features, piano, retina, retina display, retina resolution, version 1.1
Posted in Feature Announcements, New releases, iphone | 2 Comments »
August 7th, 2010
The new version of the Salsa Beat Machine is finally ready!
Some of the major changes in this version include:
- Unified Mixer interface that replaces the old Instruments tab
- New “Visualizer” display, displaying the beat count along with animated congas and claves that move along with the music
- New sound sample for the Clave instrument
- Improved sound engine, with much more accurate beat display
- Play/Pause button, as requested by many users, and buttons to mute/unmute all instruments at once
- Popup menu for controlling instrument properties and changing patterns
You can view the new version immediately by going to our homepage, http://www.SalsaBeatMachine.org/, and clicking the big blue “Start the Beat Machine” button.
Users of the standalone version can also download an update for free, using our download portal page at http://www.SalsaBeatMachine.org/download.html.
We hope you enjoy this new release and looking forward to hearing your feedback, comments and suggestions.
The new "Visualizer" tab
Tags: beat display, clave, new version, user interface, visualizer
Posted in Feature Announcements, New releases | No Comments »
July 28th, 2010
After releasing the iPhone version to the appstore, and creating the free downloadable Salsa Rhythm Application for the PC, I have finally found some time to improve the original Salsa Beat Machine.
Select all/none, clave orientation buttons
Inspired by continuous feedback from instructor Eric Freeman and a our user-manual author Daniel Suchman, I have decided to refresh the user interface and add some long-desired features. The main changes are:
- New play/pause button, finally!
- Merged the functionality of the Instruments tab into the Mixer tab, no more duplicate functionality.
- Mute/unmute instruments simply by clicking on them.
- Visual indication for muted instruments – gray fill with a red X over them.
- New buttons to select / deselect all instruments at once.
New Play/Pause button
- New button to switch between 2-3 and 3-2 clave.
- Eliminate the key selection dropdown, use the new know to switch keys.
- New popup window to change instrument programs and settings.
- New splash screen (standalone version only).
Instrument options menu
Users of the standalone version can already see these changes by getting the latest version. Go to http://www.salsabeatmachine.org/download.html and enter your email address. The online version of the Salsa Beat Machine will also be updated in a few days, so the rest of the users can enjoy these refreshing changes as well.
Finally, there is another big change coming, both in the SBM and in the iPhone application. We are going to make the BPM counting of the rhythm easier for dancers by counting the beats the same way as dancers does. This change will be explained in an upcoming blog post, stay tuned…
The new Splash screen
Posted in Feature Announcements, General News, salsa rhythm software | No Comments »
July 17th, 2010
Just before heading to plan the next version of the Salsa Rhythm Application for iPhone, I would like to collect some feedback from you, the users, in order to know which features you are missing the most in the current version of the application.
You can leave your comments in the blog, in facebook or just mail us to iphone@SalsaRhythmSoftware.com.
Posted in iphone | 1 Comment »
July 16th, 2010
Hard to believe, but it has only been one year since the first release of the Salsa Beat Machine. What started as a small personal project made for fun has become a popular software with thousands of users around the world, contributors and donors from more than twenty different countries, and we are still just at the tip of the iceberg.
So how far did we come in the last year? I have compiled for you a list of some keypoints in the development of the Salsa Beat Machine:
But all of this is just the beginning – there are a plenty of ideas and enhancement that you are going to see during the coming year. I am not going into detail in this post, but are welcome to join the community mailing list, read and get involved in the development of these ideas and features.
What I do want to tell you about is the general direction in which the Salsa Beat Machine is heading. So far, the Salsa Beat Machine offered the users a “sandbox” – a place where they could play and experiment with Salsa music without any prior knowledge of music theory, latin rhythms nor technical background. Even though this has opened the door to the world of Salsa for many people, we still feel we are missing some important points:
- There is no step-by-step guide for people how to use the SBM in order to improve their musicality,
- There are is very little information about different instruments, their roles, and how everything connects together to create the music,
- Most important – Many beginners do not realize the importance of understanding and feeling the music for improving their dance.
Therefore, we aim to improve the SBM for addressing these points. We already have a few community members helping us with this:
- Joel Dominguez is creating instructional videos explaining how to use Salsa Beat Machine to improve your musicality.
- Daniel Suchman is writing a comprehensive user-guide for the standalone version, including “how-to-use”, explanations about the instruments and theoretical background behind the Salsa music.
- Jason Ortiz is working on an online commercial for promoting the iPhone version.
- The community at SalsaForums.com helps to promote the Salsa Beat Machine amongst beginners.
We encourage all readers who care about the future of the Salsa Beat Machine to get involved, share and collaborate on your ideas, making the Salsa Beat Machine accessible for every Salsa dance student in the world. This is our vision for the coming year, and you can be a part of it !
Last but not least, celebrating the launch of the iPhone application and our anniversary, we are giving away free copies of the standalone PC version of Salsa Rhythm with the iPhone look & feel. You don’t need an iPhone to enjoy this version – its run on your ordinary desktop PC / laptop. You can see a screenshot and register to get your own copy here:
http://www.salsarhythmsoftware.com/iPhone/pc-download.html
Tags: anniversary, download, history, roadmap, videos
Posted in Events | No Comments »
July 15th, 2010
It has only been a week since the release of the Salsa Rhythm application for iPhone, and we have already had more than 100 downloads of the new application. Excited by this quick adoption and download rate we have decided to create a free standalone, downloadable version of the iPhone application that can run on your desktop and laptop PCs.
This means you can enjoy all the benefits of the iPhone application also on your PC, without needing any internet connection: the new Salsa Rhythm app for PC looks just like the real iPhone version and works the same way the iPhone version does, bringing the power of the iPhone application to your desktop too. I have a screenshot to show you what it looks on my Windows XP computer – Yeah, it really is an iPhone-lookalike running the Salsa Rhythm from within my desktop.
The new iPhone Simulator 1.0 version of Salsa Rhythm will be available for download during July, without any charge, and we will let you register for a free download starting from tomorrow. The link for registration & download will be published on this blog and also on social media, facebook and twitter tomorrow, so stay tuned…
Previewing the new version, soon available for free download
Tags: free download, iphone, new release, simulator, standalone version
Posted in General News, New releases, iphone, salsa rhythm software | No Comments »
July 9th, 2010
The long-waited iPhone version of the Salsa Beat Machine is now available for download under the name “Salsa Rhythm”. You can find it by searching for “Salsa Rhythm” in your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad AppStore, or even easier, you can go directly to this appstore link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/salsa-rhythm/id379868541?mt=8 and click the blue “View In iTunes” button on the right.
If you like the new Salas Rhythm application, please take a minute and leave a review in the appstore. If we see that the iPhone application becomes popular and gets more than 80 reviews and ratings, we will purchase an iPad device and start working on developing a new version designed especially for the iPad.
Thank you for your patience waiting for this release, and be sure that we are already working on our next release, Salsa Rhythm for iPhone v1.1, with exciting new features.
Tags: appstore, download, iPad, iphone, ratings
Posted in New releases, iphone | No Comments »
July 6th, 2010
The Salsa Beat Machine for iPhone is currently being reviewed by Apple engineers for selling on the iTunes Appstore. While we receive a lot of excited feedback from users, some say they just can’t wait to see it running on the iPhone device. Since we can’t do much to speed up apple’s application review process, we came out with a cool toy to keep you busy with:
The Interactive Demo of the Salsa Rhythm Application for iPhone !
Interactive Demo of the iPhone Application
So what is the Interactive Demo? It’s a flash application that simulates the iPhone application, so not only you can see how it’s going to look like, but you can also play and interact with in, try all the fancy features and get an overall impression of how the real application is going to be. We have also included a small web-form where you can choose to opt-in for an email notification once the real iPhone application is available on the appstore.
The Interactive Demo is a part of the new website we have built for the iPhone application, and is available here:
http://www.salsarhythmsoftware.com/iPhone
We hope you will enjoy this interactive demo, and are looking forward to hearing your impressions…
Tags: application, flash simulation, interactive demo, iphone, new technology, salsa rhythm
Posted in Feature Announcements, iphone | No Comments »
July 4th, 2010
We wish Happy 4th of July of all our dancers who celebrate this event. We hope the Salsa Beat Machine will continue serving you faithfully and help you develop your independence in listening and interpreting the Salsa music.
Happy America Independence Day !
Tags: special days, wishes
Posted in Events | No Comments »
