EyePlayChords
EyePlayChords is free music software for the Windows PC.
Purpose: This program allows any child in the class to participate in music lessons.
EyePlayChords is a musical instrument for people with severe disabilities who can control their computer screen with Eye-gaze, Head-gaze or a Mouse. It is a tool for playing and creating chords and single notes. A chord, simply put, is any combination of three or more notes. Single notes are used for playing melodies.
Setting up EyePlayChords is very simple:
Step 1 – Download and install our free software SetupEyePlayChords1210
Step 2 – Open “012 Scale C-Am penta.midikeys.xml” from the FILE drop down menu
Step 3 – Select the „Mouse Over Trigger“ box and start experimenting with your mouse cursor
Step 4 – Experiment with the computer keys 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
Main screen EyePlayChords
Chordpad-only view
EyePlayChords offers endless possibilities!
There are many ways to play
- With a Mouse
- With an Eye Tracker (Tobii etc)
- With a Head Tracker (Headmouse etc)
- With Switches*
* TIP buy the 5 switch EyePlayChords interface at https://robertsengineering.nl/ This interface is super user friendly!
You trigger the notes in different ways.
- Hover the mouse pointer over the chord pads
- Click on the chord pads
- Use a breath controller to trigger the chord pads
Acces a wide range of instrument sounds.
- You can use the internal Microsoft wavetable synth that comes included with windows
- With a virtual MIDI cable, you can connect EyePlayChords to MIDI-compatible music software running on the same computer (Reason, Kontakt, Ableton live, Respiro, Camelot)
- With a USB MIDI interface, you can trigger external music devices such as synthesizers, sound modules, samplers and keyboards
You can select* different MODES
- Mouse over trigger
- Sustain
- Endless duration*If you don’t select anything, the Chord pad will be triggered with a left mouse click.
The duration setting influence the length of a note.
Tobias Kozlowski demos his software.
You can also change some setting for the on screen keyboard.
Select Extra from the menu bar to change key sizes
Expression!
The Chord pads have different velocity values. The notes are loud at the top and become progressively softer towards the bottom of the Chord pad. You can also trigger the pads using a Breath Controller, and articulate them using your breath! (You will need to turn off the breath controller fixed velocity setting)
More Options
You can change the note duration, the velocity curve, and many other musical settings
- use the piano setting to change note duration of the Piano keys
- change the velocity curve
By default your chords will be stored in a documents folder.
The program has many other features, which you can explore yourself!
Sound like a pro! Advanced settings
Perfect sound with sampled sounds and a virtual MIDI cable
It is possible to use MySwitchMusic to control other music software.
Setting it up requires some skills with computers. You need a virtual connection cable and a music program.
We use the free Virtual MIDI cable software loopMIDI.
After installation, loopMIDI port 1 & 2 appear in the selection menu OUT.
3 free standalone programs with extremely good sounds.
1. The FREE software Kontakt Player of Native instruments.
Installing the program is a job, but it is well worth the effort.
Besides Kontakt Player you also need to download the free sounds library on the website of Native Instruments.
A sampler is a musical instrument that generates sounds by digitally playing sound fragments. The sounds sound lifelike! Nice sound gives beautiful music.
In the sample player you will find the MIDI tab under options. Select loopMIDI and refer to port A. Then load an instrument into the player and also select port A.
2. For a great Piano sound we highly recommend the program Addictive keys. They have a demo version of the acclaimed Studio Grand. You can find it here: www.xlnaudio.com/demos
This music software is highly recommended!
3. The FREE Decent Sampler
Installing this program is easy! Download
In addition to the standalone sampler, you will also find a number of sampled sounds on the website. Some of them are free.
TIP! More free sounds for the Decent Sampler are on the fantastic website Pianobook.co.uk
Pianobook is a peer-to-peer community of composers, producers and sound smiths sharing their sounds for all to use for free. Not all sounds on the website are suitable for the Decent Sampler, but this overview contains more than 100 (!) instruments and sound effects that are suitable. The sample Winter Voices is an absolute must.
Below is a short instructional video.
Great must see Video about the Decent Sampler!
Optimize the sound with an ASIO driver
For better sound we suggest to install an ASIO driver. Audio Stream Input/Output (ASIO) is a computer sound card driver protocol for digital audio specified by Steinberg, providing a low-latency and high fidelity interface between a software application and a computer’s sound card. asio4all
Even better is to buy an external sound card. We use focusrite
Controlling an External Digital Piano
Most digital pianos have a MIDI connection. EyePlayChords can communicate with the digital piano via a USB MIDI interface. How special is that! Modern pianos use MIDI over USB and then no separate interface is needed.
MIDI IN/OUT port on a digitale piano
Select USB MIDI out
TIP! The whole class plays together
Our software aims to ensure that everyone can actively participate during a music lesson. We would like to introduce you to a teaching method that can help you to reach this goal: Figurenotes. Start a whole classroom using Figurenotes and let them progress through reading music at their own pace, while letting the whole class play together. https://figurenotes.org/chords/
Note: We are aware that the editing and selecting in this program is too difficult for some users, so they may need an extra hand to set up for a performance. In the future we would like to add extra accessibility features for disabled players, so they can control the program more easily by themselves.
This software is conceived and developed by for My Breath My Music by Tobias Kozlowski.