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 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).
New Play/Pause button
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