Hi Choirguy - thanks for the feedback (and doubly so for the app support
)
I don't want to hijack this thread and make it all about the app but seeing as you asked
(Hmm - I'm wondering if I can get permission to open an app support thread on UU - maybe in exchange for some free ad space for the UU forums?)
Anyway - I'm always open to suggestions, one of the main reasons I created the app was to become the app I was / still am looking for, to help me / any one start, develop and improve their playing on the Ukulele - for it to be a lifelong tool for players of all levels.
First off - Universal binary, it's on it's way - The app designer is working on a number of different layouts (most probably landscape) so we can present the screen in the best way possible, it won't be in the next release (which is due out in a couple of weeks) but will be in the one after that.
As for responding to pitch - that is absolutely on the list, however at the moment it's not technically possible with the dev tools I used to make the app, I am currently investigating new tools that will allow me to add in that functionality and it'll be the first thing I add when I am able (currently the app is a part time side project for me - if I'm ever lucky enough to make it a full time deal then you can expect a lot more updates a lot more frequently).
As for PDF's that's a whole different can of worms - it's been the single most requested feature and as much as we would LOVE to be able to provide the song sheets within the app - it's vital that we do it in a way that's legal and not going to get us in a whole raft of copyright trouble. We're in the process of talking to copyright attorneys as to how best to approach this but I for one am not going to do anything that opens the app (or me personally) up to fines potentially of over $100,000. I know a lot of sites show lyrics and provide song books for "personal use" but with the app being a commercial product I don't know how we can achieve that without complicated licence agreements and paying out massive amounts in royalties, amounts that would cripple us at the moment - I know a LARGE portion of all ad revenue generated from John's YouTube videos is held back by Google and distributed directly to the licence holders to protect us (and anyone else who covers copyrighted music on YouTube) from copyright infringement notices. However please, Please, PLEASE if anyone knows any copyright lawyers who can help us find a way to be able to achieve this in a realistic (and economically viable way) then please get in touch via PM.
It's funny you mentioned that about John's singing - it was one of the first things I mentioned to him and still rib him about from time to time as well
. In fact I think his "realness" is part of his attraction - I know he'd be more than happy to know he's inspiring more people to get into any kind of music.
Also (again full disclosure) yes it was a paid promotion for the Populele (it's mentioned at the start of the video), but John is fiercely protective of his brand and wont do anything to jeopardise that, so the quality of the Uke was a big deal for him and he would rather have walked away rather than promote an inferior product. In fact one of main reasons John and I have been talking to the Populele people is to discuss the possibility of directly supporting the Populele from within The Ukulele App - something that won't happen if neither of us feel that it's not a combination that provides real benefit to both our userbase and Ukulele players in general.
Side note - If anyone else has any ideas as to how The Ukulele App can provide benefit or help to players of any age / ability then please don't hesitate to send me a PM.
To answer your final point - I would say to start with the instrument / app is definitely aimed at beginners - as a tool to learn basic chord shapes and to be able to follow simple chord progressions as well as strum along to songs I think it's ideal - especially when the concepts are introduced via games / fun activities, anything that makes people want to pick up the uke and have "one more go" has got to be a good thing.
As for more advanced players I don't know (geek factor maybe - after all Jake Shimabukuro did call the Ukulele the Smartphone of Instruments
), personally I've been looking to the FretLight guitars and their apps / videos for inspiration as to how I personally would develop things - so for me, the ability to learn chord shapes up and down the fretboard, be able to play any scale in any key, have custom fretboard fingering exercises, extended chord progression sequences (that's in the next Uke app update BTW), integrate strumming patterns with a metronome, program your own extended fretboard sequences (and make them shareable with other app users), have video tracks with embedded fret data - these are all things I could see as being useful - although NOT being a pro uke player I'd be open to have UU users tell me what they wanted the instrument to be able to do.
Thanks (and sorry for the long response) - and as promised I will share more info about the Populele as soon as I get my hands on one!