Rhythm Chaser is a Music rhythm reading program. I developed it out of some work Diane and I did with two of our Grandkids during some Zoom sessions in the Covid19 lockdown period.
If you can read music and feel like whiling away a few moments in (probably) utter frustration then this is for you!
It works on Windows, MacOS and Linux (see note below) and you can play your responses back on the computer keys or via a midi keyboard.
Download either the 32bit or 64bit version according to your computer. If you're not sure the 32bit one should work anyway on Windows and will give a warning on a 64bit Mac but will still work. If you are a Linux user I'm pretty sure you will know what system you have.
If you are updating from an earlier version and want to keep your score data, copy the 'mydata' file from the old version into the new one. Then you will still be able to see your overall test results.
You might get the usual warnings that you are trying to run a program from an unknown developer etc. but The program has been submitted to scrutiny by lots of anti-virus programs (see results here).
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It may be necessary to run the Mac
version program by right-clicking (or Control-clicking) over the app to
avoid the warnings about unknown developers etc.
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| IMPORTANT -
There is a slight problem with the Linux version where the very first
test you play in a new session will often show far more mistakes than
you really made or stutter a bit. To avoid your accuracy statistics
being affected by this, when you first run the program just start a test
then cancel it before it ends. After that all should be well.
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Linux 32bit version 1.2----------------------------------------------------- |
Version history
10/02/21 Version 1.4 (Windows and MacOS)
1. The MacOS version now allows access to all General Midi sounds
2. You can now select from one of three levels of accuracy when running the tests. Most Accurate still (as before) requires an accuracy level of a 60th of a second to score a perfect 'hit'. Medium makes a small adjustment to your results to make each note a little more accurate, and Relaxed is even more generous. This is to make the tests more encouraging to younger users and less experienced music readers.
06/02/21 Version 1.3 (Windows only at the moment)
In addition to the original piano sound, there are 12 other real instrument sounds to choose from. More experienced users can also add their own in the 'user' folder if they wish to. Details below.
Adding sounds to the user folder (Windows only)
Samples must be in WAV format, no longer than one second long for each note, and there must be files for c.wav, d.wav, e.wav, f.wav, g.wav, a.wav, and ch.wav. The actual notes played in the files do not need to be c,d,e etc. but must be named as such.
11/08/20 Version 1.2 (Windows, MacOS and Linux)
1. You can repeat tests until you are happy (or fed up!)
2. In the Results window you can now play back your last test.
3. The skill levels have been redesigned slightly
4. Midi play on Windows uses better random note choices
5. Options (mode of test, tempo, midi or keyboard input etc.) are now saved with Scores data.
Bugs cured:
Tempo slider now cannot be changed during a test.
Graphical Results display was inaccurate if the tempo was changed from when the test was run.
30/07/20 Version 1.1 (Windows and MacOS)
1. Now works on MacOS
2. Midi input in addition to computer input is possible.
3. Tempo control over a wide range
Bugs fixed:
If the user played no notes at all the accidental 'division by zero' has been corrected. If you suffered from this then just delete your 'mydata' file and start again to keep a track of your accuracy progress.
26/07/20 (Windows only) Version 1.0
First release