TIAMIT, is an open source project to learn to read music with different instruments using gamefication. It is based in the idea of visual memory, the user will see the notes in the music sheet and the positions where these notes are in the instrument, a sound capture and analysis module will check the notes played giving a final score of the performance. It also has a database engine where different users can be ranked and see their performances.

Demo of Instruments:

Guitar

E Diatonic Harmonica

Alto C Ocarina

Note: My ocarina is not very professional (and not very tuned :p ) so it doesn’t get the notes very well but it gives an idea of how it looks.

General Demo

Adding a new instrument

Basically the procedure is:

• copy one of the BackgroundGame png in content
• Replace the instument image
• copy the notesPositionsTemplate.xml in content/metadata
• insert the positions of the notes
• add the files tovisual studio project
• add the support of the instrument in the code, this means modify these 3 methods:
  • TiamitMainForm.TiamitMainForm()
  • Interpretacion.LoadContent()
  • CargarCancionControlador.fullIntrumentPositions()

Using the simple game without forms and databse

Just comment the line

TiamitMainFormControlador g = new TiamitMainFormControlador();

in Program.cs and use the commented lines as template to call directly the game

GestionarInterpretacionControlador g = new GestionarInterpretacionControlador(“/everyNoteE4E8.xml", "Guitar");

Deploying Database

• You need a working instance of a database server
• If it is Sql server, use the tiamit.sql script to create the DB
• If is other engine use the script as example of the needed tables and store procedures names
• Get the string connection
• Replace it in ConexionBD.Conexion()

Technical details:

Requirements:

• visual studio > 2010
• Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4.0
• for database support was tested using
  • local
    • Sql server express 2008 and Sql server management studio 2008
    • Sql server express 2012 and Sql server management studio 2012
  • Remote
    • Sql server express 2012 in Azure instance

Music and Audio Considerations

In this project C4 is considered as central c (Acoustical Society of America (ASA) ) for the frequency detector https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_(nota)

Guitar:

However for the xml notespostions files, this will depend on the intrument, so for example guitar which is a Low transposing instrument (sounding an octave lower than written) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musical_instruments_by_transposition) the C3 will have the postions of 5th string fret 3 and 6th string fret 8 (which correspond with the real pith of c3 130,81) but the position in the sheet will be the one of central C (C4)

String/Fret Note Frequency

Sixth Open E 82.407 1 F 87.307 2 F#/G 92.499 3 G 97.999 4 G#/A 103.826

Fifth Open A 110.000 1 A#/B 116.541 2 B 123.471 3 C 130.813 4 C#/D 138.591

Fourth Open D 146.832 1 D#/E 155.563 2 E 164.814 3 F 174.614 4 F#/G 184.997

Third Open G 195.998 1 G#/A 207.652 2 A 220.000 3 A#/B 233.082

Second Open B 246.942 1 C 261.626 (Middle C) 2 C#/D 277.183 3 D 293.665 4 D#/E 311.127

First Open E 329.628 1 F 349.228 2 F#/G 369.994 3 G 391.995 4 G#/A 415.305 5 A 440.000

The best way to test the positions xml for guitar is to use the musicxml called everyNoteE2E6.xml

E Diatonic Harmonica

For the diatonic Harmonica the positions in sheet corresponds exactly to the notes

Some helping positions in game

Y positions of fundamental notes in sheet

• D4 402
• E4 393
• F4 383
• G4 373
• A4 363
• B4 352
• C5 343
• D5 332
• E5 321
• F5 310
• G5 303

Guitar strings Y positions

• 1: 20
• 2: 47
• 3: 74
• 4: 108
• 5: 140
• 6: 170

Future work and/or Contributors Ideas:

• Octave support in recognition: for now it works, as always say the correct note is sounding, hats enough for now, but seems having some problems with the exact hertz of the octave, so for now is not always posible to detect the exact octave, only the note
  • identify de octave
  • some problems in detection (it says C4 is 65 hertz (c2))
• Paint notes out of sheet in correct position (lower than D4 and higher thatn G5)
• It could be interesting in order of add instruments easily, to put the seeht positions in an indepent xml that corresponds exact with the ASA notation (C4 261 Hz), and in the postion instruments xml put the information about the transposition
• After finish a lesson it should return to form but close (when you close the lesson it works)
• When adding insturments one have to put the list in many parts in code, could be good to have a central way to do it
• Improve the visual art in general (I did it all myself XDXDXD)