DG Sync sstem for version comparison

[Gordon]

Anybody know anything about this? Found it attached to the back of the booklet for Pollini's newly issued set of complete Beethoven sonatas. Of particular note is point 2 in the list:



Link here:

http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/gb/gpp/index/beethoven9-app

[DublinJimbo]

Yes, I've familiar with this and have it on my iPad. In fact, it was the first made-for-iPad app that I bought.

It's an exemplary demonstration of how imaginative use of new technology can expand the learning experience. Also available from Touch Press along similar lines are Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor, Vivaldi's The Four Seasons and The Orchestra. All well worth investing in if you have an iPad (the larger screen size is essential — an iPhone doesn't really hack it).

[Gordon]

Thanks DJ - the bit I found intriguing was the "seamless" switching between versions as it were "on the fly". A bit tricky if you think about it. Lots of index poiints in the files linked to the score I suppose.

[OldTechie]

A couple of years ago something I was signed up for gave me another Touch Press application called "The Orchestra". This has extracts from 8 major works, each with the full score synchronised with the music. It seems to have been specially recorded for the app by the Philharmonia Orchestra under Eka-Pekka Salonen. The technology is very impressive. They had a multi-camera shoot and you get the conductor plus two relevant orchestra shots across the top of the score. A fourth section above the score has a map of the orchestra which lights up with the sound level from each player. You can go to a larger map and then move your finger around it to listen to the different players. That feature only works on the Beethoven 5 extract unless you pay an extra £0.69 for a few more Gbytes of data.

I played with it, thought it was very clever and a bit of fun, and then removed it to regain the 2Gbytes of disc space it occupied on the iPad. The web page for the app is here. I don't like listening to short extracts from pieces so I would not have been happy had I paid for it, but it was an interesting toy for free!