Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Home Concert Xtreme - do you still use it?

I've been playing with the demo for Home Concert Xtreme, and I'm considering it as my big birthday present for this year. I'm curious if others have tried it, and whether it's been something they've continued to enjoy playing with.

I'm not so much asking opinions on its pedagogical merits (even I see some possible issues there), so much as whether current/past users have continued to enjoy playing around with it. I'm having a bad piano slump due to soporific side effects from a migraine-preventative medication I'm trying out, and I'm hoping this could be an early birthday present that might kick-start me out of this piano funk.

I've been a computer geek for ages and ages (was a computer science major decades ago), and I very much enjoy playing around with educational software. I've spent happy hours interacting with Practica Musica, as well as all the various web-based music theory software. So this seems to be the sort of computer/piano toy that I tend to enjoy, and so far the demo has energized me enough to pull me out of this drug-induced torpor.

So have you tried this software? Did you continue to enjoy it? Or did the luster wear off fast?

(btw, I am a Mac user, and in general am willing to pay a bit more for attractively-styled, well-behaved software that does what i want it to without any fuss or muss. This seems to fit those guidelines).

ETA: Here's the company's page for the software, and here's a youtube demo.

Saw that the guy in the video could make the software adjust to the player's speed. Just wondering if you can have the music progress at af fixed speed (beats per minute.) Do you know if that option is available? It must be though.

Why don't you try out Synthesia, for less than a third of the price of Home Concert Xtreme? HCX is possibly better, still couldn't see that much difference between the two, that could justify paying more than triple price of Synthesia. Some user on YouTube recommended MIDI Illustrator over HCX.

http://midiillustrator.com/buy.htm

You can, in what they call "jam" mode. There are 3 modes: you can make the score wait for you to play correctly, you can make it accompany at your playing speed and ignore your mistakes (as in a performance), or you can make it scroll along at a fixed pace where you need to keep up with it's predetermined speed (as in sight reading).

MIDI Illustrator looks pretty cool, and would be awfully tempting for me if i were on a Windows system, but I've a Mac user (Does anyone know if WINE can handle MIDI? I seem to vaguely remember that it doesn't, but I could be wrong or outdated...)

Synesthesia's demo doesn't let you try the scored option, and I can't find a video of it on the web, just a screen shot in which the notation looks kind of spindly and hard to read. I like that Home Conxert Xtreme has very pretty notation, with an option to make the attractive notation quite large, all of which makes it much easier on my middle aged eyes (I'm the one who started the "Do you need piano glasses?" thread a while back ).

Maybe I'm put off my Synesthesia's focus on falling-lines mode, which strikes me as a dumb way to learn music, or maybe I'm put off by its graphical look and feel, but it's not a program I enjoy being inside, if that makes any sense. OTOH, being inside the software of HCE feels clean, bright, and un-cluttered, and the program does everything I want it to without my needing to mess around with configurations, documentation, etc.

It may just boil down to issues of user-experience & taste, which determine why I choose Mac over Windows, Sibelius over Finale, etc even when these choices cost quite a bit more. Some software makes me cranky, and some makes me happy, and over time I've found it penny-wise/pound-foolish when I've failed to choose the happy kind

So there's no Mac version of MIDI Illustrator, too bad. The note display of Synthesia looks a lot like the one in Home Concert Xtreme, it has the measure being played light up in blue. You were probably watching the video on the website. It's more than two years old and the sheet music display has progressed somewhat.

The difference between the two programs is, that instead of a red line in HCX showing the exact notes within the measure, you're supposed to play next, Synthesia shows a vertical much thicker blue column, a little bit darker than the measure color.

In HCX you can have many lines of sheet music, not just one like in Synthesia. Still, in the video for HCX, when the on-screen keyboard was shown, there was only room for one line of the treble and bass clefs pair.

That may depend on your screen size and resolution though. If you drag the sheet music over the falling notes display in Synthesia, the notes just get bigger. This may be a helpful option for "middle-aged" eyes (I suppose mine can fall into that category.)

Whatever you choose, good luck and please let me (us) know how it works out for you. I'm curious to know how good Home Concert Xtreme, too bad noone here has tried it (or the ones who've tried it haven't commented.)

Here's another software package in this category, maybe worth checking out.

http://www.emediamusic.com/pkm.html

Thanks for finding these and sending links. Has anyone out there tried the eMedia package?

There is a second (intermediate) volume to the set that seems like it might be more appropriate for someone who's not a total beginner.
http://www.emediamusic.com/ipkm.html

Also, if anyone is interested, there's also been some activity on another thread about this same software which I posted over in the Digital forum

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1971567.html

I'm resurrecting this thread, first to report that the software did indeed apear as an early birthday present. I also wanted answer a question from the Christmas music thread in this thread, just to keep both threads more on topic for future readers.

I think the first thing a potential user needs to know is that this software probably won't work so well with just any old MIDI file that you might find on the internet. It needs the MIDI file to be formatted a certain way.

In spite of that, Home Concert Xtreme seems lightyears smarter about interpreting such files other programs on my HD, including, Sibelius. In all my other programs, when you first open a MIDI file, it looks like really nasty sheet music. Sibelius at least has plug-ins and adjustents you can make to massage it into reasonable sheet music.

HCX, on the other hand, opens (properly formatted) files right up, and can immediately displays any MIDI channel as entirely reasonable notes on the staff. Occasionally you might need to tell it which MIDI channels are the piano parts, but that's as hard as it gets.

The main thing HCX wants is for
A) the right and left hand piano parts to each have their own MIDI channel
B) the other accompaniments parts to be in other MIDI channels than these

The catch is that most properly formatted MIDI files are not free. The good thing is that if you're still in method books, a number of methods provide properly formatted MIDI files, either free or for an extra price.

Now if you're at the level to be playing piano concertos, there are 12 piano concerto MIDI files you can buy from the company that makes the software, which allow you to play the concerto accompanied by a MIDI orchestra which follows your cues. But I'm nowhere near playing piano concertos, so I'm using method book MIDIs.

The accompaniment MIDI tracks can be volume-adjusted and turned on/off individually, plus there is a prominent button that turns the whole accompaniment feature on or off with a single click. You can have the accompaniment wait for you to play the right notes (learning mode), or make it play at a steady pace, like an elaborate metronome (called "jam"mode), or else you can have the accompaniment be like a real backing orchestra or band, which follows your tempo as you play (and I forget what this mode is called :-/ ... performance mode?)

I'm finding that the trick is to sloooooowww down the accompaniment to a snail's pace when in Learn mode, otherwise I'm playing faster than I should to keep up with it, and thus ingraining all those clumsy little mistakes one makes when playing faster than one should.

Gah, I have to go do some stuff, but I'll post this and write some more later. Stay tuned...

Thank you for sharing this, I've been checking HCX out as an alternative to Synthesia. While S is quite good, as long as it reaches, HCX has so many more features, monitoring your progress for example.

I find at least 90% of the MIDIs drifting around on the internet, are garbage. I've ended up making most of my MIDI files myself, mainly from sheet music books.

Although I've recently found out (with the help of a PW member) that even song arrangements from respected companies like Hal Leonard, can be close to impossible to play. However, as long as you don't treat them like the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, they can be good guidelines.

Even MIDIs bought legally can be rubbish. I subscribed to virtualsheetmusic.com about a year ago and many of the files I downloaded from them are no good, some of the Christmas songs sounded weird. At least you know where homemade MIDIs are coming from.

Lastly, I've also had difficulties with some MIDIs in Synthesia. So if a MIDI fails in some of those software packages, it's probably not the software's fault, it's most likely because the MIDI is poorly made.

Thanks, that's interesting to know about the all rogue MIDIs out there .

I want to clear something up though. You said HCX, in learn mode, will refuse to continue with accompaniment when you make mistakes, but it doesn't tell you what kind of mistake you've made, or keep track of any longterm progress.

The only program I've seen (demos of) that will actually let you know precisely what kind of mistakes you've made is the eMedia piano course. The main disadvantage of that one (to Mac people like myself) is that the CD-ROMs don't work with Mac OS X Lion or Mountain Lion. Also it doesn't seem like you can make it play any music other than the pieces that come pre-programmed into the CD-ROM (though of course that only makes me want to figure out if there's a hack to get around that...).

And while we're talking alternative software, I'm quite impressed with MidiIIllustrator -- there are a number of video demos of it over on youtube . If it were Mac compatible, I'd try it out for sure. It supposedly works under Wine, but I haven't gotten the demo I downloaded to work with CrossOver (kinda like non-freeware Wine Pro). I just signed up for a year of CrossOver tech support via the election freebie, so I might inquire more about that.

One grain of salt for readers to take, with regard to all my opinions stated here: for whatever reason, I tend to have major fun when using my DP as something akin to a giant video game controller. I even have a little Akai LPK25 that lives next to my comfy chair so I can play my musical video games in the living room too (or enter music into Sibelius, if I happen to feel productive).

So I'm not really sure how pedagogically sound any of this stuff is. For me I think it's just a way of turning practice time into playtime, hypnotically staring at the glowing screen and hitting all the right buttons to win the clicky-clicky game.

OTOH I'm pretty certain that the time I've spent playing midi-based video games with Practica Musica and other theory software has actually done a lot for my comfort with and enjoyment of music theory. So mostly I'm hoping that HCX will turn out to be similarly effective at "edutaining" me

I'm pretty much on this same line, I like to combine the computer geek with the piano geek in me, that way I'm more likely to spend some time practising. Talking about time, my univesity duties are seriously interfering with my piano hobby, I don't like that.

Therefore I tend to use those helping tools in my piano playing, it makes it more appealing when you're not in the mood to delve into theory, or do some boring piano technique exercises.

Some people rant about software like Synthesia and HCX, but I think it can be helpful. Sometimes you just need to focus on some part of a song, how you use your hands to play this or that part. Then it's nice not having to worry about where it is on the sheet vs. the piano itself.

The human eye always focuses on moving things, not as much on what is stationary. In a piano software a line moves across the sheet music display or a piano roll.

Don't know about MIDI Illustrator, tried it once. The automatic fingering feature appealed to me, but it was way out of line, unless for someone who has had their genes mixed up with an octopus.

It's the same with MIDI Illustrator as with HCX, since those programs sell at 3 to 4 times the price of Synthesia, they have to be at least twice as good to be worth the money. But I feel there's only a tiny bit of a difference between the two and Synthesia.

It's worth mentioning that Notation Composer has some built-in practising features, but it's not interactive. However it's sheet music display is great. If it had interactivity it would be really great. Doesn't have a virtual keyboard either.

Thanks for answering my question in such detail, tangleweeds. Also thanks for doing it here, so we would not pirate the other thread.

I was asking about Home Concert Xtreme, because I was wondering if it would help me with my rhythmic troubles. Following your example though, I have opened a new thread for it.

Personally I think you'll lose touch in actually playing the piano. You'll be so focused on pleasing the computer you'll lose you feeling in proper touch and musical interpretation. I guess it will be okay for a learning tool in the lower levels, but it will be no good for playing with feeling when getting to harder grades..

I can see the danger of losing touch with the music, but HCX has a few factors in its favor with that.

First, it is only in "learn mode" that it evaluates what you're playing, by waiting for for you to play the right note. The whole point of that mode is simply making sure you know all the notes, and hopefully we all know that making music goes way beyond simply knowing the notes.

"Jam mode" basically functions as metronome, but instead of going "tock... tock... tock...", it plays the accompaniment at a steady (user-chosen) speed, and form there it's entirely up to you to keep up with it or not. So that's really no more helpful or harmful than using a metronome to work on your tempo -- there is no factor of "'pleasing" or "displeasing" the computer, any more than one can "please" or "displease" a metronome.

And in Perform mode, the computer follows your lead. Apparently it's possible to confuse it by playing with such irregular tempos that it can't figure out which part of the music file you're trying to play, but again it's not evaluating you, so there's no motivation to "please" the software.

In favor of musicality, the software always automatically records your playing, and remembers the last 3 performances. So
1) there is not "red dot syndrome" since it's *always* recording
2) if you want to evaluate the musicality of your performances, the last three attempts are always there, automatically recorded, for you to go back and evaluate. It's just a matter of remembering to click the right button so you can evaluate what you've played.

That said, I would like to continue to clarify that I consider this software to be a toy, a midi-based game, and mostly an amusing piano motivator rather than any sort of awesome groundbreaking learning tool. If you're a geek, and you already happen to own a MIDI-able keyboard or DP, and you like playing with techie software/hardware toys, then you might have a lot of fun with it.

But I wouldn't suggest purchasing it it to help solve real learning issues with your piano playing. If you really want to learn while playing around with interconnected computer and DP, I'd suggest you'd get a lot more learning for money spent through Practica Musica.

Back to the beginning, I asked for this as an early birthday present mainly because I've been very low on piano (or any other) energy due to an annoying anti-migraine medication. The software is serving its purpose admirably in that context -- it's a fun new toy that gets me to the piano at times when, without a fun new toy to get me going, I'd probably end up taking (yet another) nap.

I see you, but still... when you are doing exams, or really playing for people, if you make a mistake you are just supposed to carry on like it never happened. This will teach you that you cannot move on until you played the right notes, where if you practice enough, you won't ever hit the wrong ones.

Also, when you want to play tempo rubato, for instance playing most of chopin's pieces, the timing will just be the timing on the score and will not let you personalize it.

It's totally up to you, and I'm not trying to be critical but I think it may get you into bad habits.

There's only one mode where it does that (the mode that checks whether you do indeed know the notes). The other two modes (which is where you'd do the majority of your practice) expect you to carry on through mistakes.


That's actually not true. The whole point of "Performance Mode" is that the accompaniment follows your timing cues.

I'm only objecting to your objections only because the are based on significant misunderstandings of how the software works. I'm not saying that this software is an optimal way to learn; I think of it as an amusing musical toy, something equivalent to guitar hero, but with real sheet music, and MIDI keyboard input (and accompaniment which behave in different ways, depending on which mode you choose)

Just to drag the thread off onto another tangent (-:

Re: prevalence of junk midi files on web and rarity of properly formatted ones.
Are any of you using sheet music scanning software to create your own midi files, for use with HCX or whatever other tools ?

Yes, a while back I picked up SmartScore Piano Edition, and have been quite pleased with it's ability to read in scores accurately.

Maybe not a fair comparison because it was an earlier edition, but I got PhotoScore Lite with Sibelius 6 (so that was a while back) and it was a lot more finicky about its scans, made lots of errors, and was non-transparent in its editing functions.

As for still using Home Concert Xtreme, I've been wanting to play with it, but since my move last summer, I have get to rig up a good computer shelf over my DP to use it comfortably, and so I've missed playing with it.

I picked up Home Concert Extreme earlier this year, but put it aside after a few months. This thread prompted me to take another look at it.

Like others have said, a MIDI file has to be specifically formatted to be cleanly recognized/displayed by Home Concert Extreme. Fortunately for me, it turns out that the MIDI files that I just purchased/downloaded from Yamaha are perfectly compatible with HCX. Now I'd like to print the piano scores of those files, but I see that there's no print function in HCX.

Does anyone know of a software product (preferably low-cost or even free) that will print a "properly" formatted MIDI file?

Thanks!