Cant seem to get around the speed issues

Introduce yourself, show your set up, discuss tips, ask questions, and more!
andrewwegierski
Posts: 783
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2018 4:37 pm

Re: Cant seem to get around the speed issues

Post by andrewwegierski » Tue May 15, 2018 10:01 am

While I don't program or upload any of the interactive sheet music, I can offer some insight on the tolerance.

If there was a fixed time interval, then users would be allowed to play less accurately at faster tempo. On the contrary, at a slower tempo, the tolerance for inaccuracy might almost be zero.

The best method for assessment definitely falls within the category of "proximity" to the note, + or - a very small percentage. So the consequences of that are a little more wiggle room on the slow tempos, it seems. That's just an unavoidable part of MIDI analysis in the software. Again, with all this conversation, I urge users to take advantage of the metronome function and play exactly to the beat, by ear. When I'm using the app, I notice that if I'm barely making all the notes - but still getting green - it probably means I'm going at too fast of a tempo for my ability at the moment. It's best to slow it down so you're comfortable with playing exactly to the metronome.

Additionally, it's impossible to only assess notes as correct if they are exactly on the beat due to CPU processing and MIDI latency, etc. That's just the nature of such an interface. But we strive to make it as accurate as it can possibly be, and I know that it is.
Andrew Wegierski

Customer Support Representative
Music Arranger

support@playgroundsessions.com

scirocco
Posts: 33
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 3:25 am

Re: Cant seem to get around the speed issues

Post by scirocco » Tue May 15, 2018 7:47 pm

andrewwegierski wrote:
Tue May 15, 2018 10:01 am
If there was a fixed time interval, then users would be allowed to play less accurately at faster tempo.
Only if you regard "accuracy" as a proportion of note duration. But that isn't how the human body works. Your reaction times and accuracy are fixed for your current level of skill - you don't magically get more accurate just because the song is a faster tempo than the previous one.
andrewwegierski wrote:
Tue May 15, 2018 10:01 am
The best method for assessment definitely falls within the category of "proximity" to the note, + or - a very small percentage.
Proximity in time, yes, say 100ms or something. I'm suggesting that percentage of note duration is NOT the best method for assessment, because it will vary between songs.
andrewwegierski wrote:
Tue May 15, 2018 10:01 am
That's just an unavoidable part of MIDI analysis in the software.
It certainly could have been avoided if the PS app designers hadn't chosen on day 1 to define the tolerance in terms of proportion of note duration at the song tempo. They could just as easily have chosen to define it in absolute duration, which would have more closely reflected human performance, and, just as importantly, not varied between songs.

Personally, I find the PS app works very well indeed (on PC anyway, Surface Pro tablet). I get no latency issues. Once I stopped staring at the cursor and started listening to the beat I get it right a lot. And if I get it wrong, it's my fault, not the app, I'm only at intermediate and I can tell as soon as I play it that I was late, and the green/red note confirms this correctly and accurately.

It's just a bit difficult with faster songs like GoT where the tolerance is VERY tight due to the way it's defined. The tiniest fraction late and you're dead. :)

Laurensss
Posts: 105
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2017 5:20 am

Re: Cant seem to get around the speed issues

Post by Laurensss » Wed May 16, 2018 1:57 am

scirocco wrote:
Tue May 15, 2018 7:47 pm
Only if you regard "accuracy" as a proportion of note duration. But that isn't how the human body works. Your reaction times and accuracy are fixed for your current level of skill - you don't magically get more accurate just because the song is a faster tempo than the previous one.
No, but typically faster pieces with shorter note durations will be put further along in the curriculum, and one of the skills hat are developed while playing should be accuracy. Some pieces have a challenge of position changes, others maybe a lot of sharps or flats and others have fast sections that come with lower tolerances (and, be it off Playground or paper, must be played more accurately else they don't sound like anything).
It certainly could have been avoided if the PS app designers hadn't chosen on day 1 to define the tolerance in terms of proportion of note duration at the song tempo. They could just as easily have chosen to define it in absolute duration, which would have more closely reflected human performance, and, just as importantly, not varied between songs.
You write this as if you were there.
First off, nowhere I read that the interval is a pure percentage... as Andrew mentions they have to take into account machine latency as well, so I would expect them to use a composite (fixed number of ms + something variable depending on the note length, or something like max[percentage;minimumInt]). Second, I would be surprised if this were decided on day one, but instead expect it's one of the aspects of the software that quite a bit of thought and experimentation went into - thereby making for one of the little secrets that you don't just reveal on a public forum.

Post Reply