New App Lets You Play Piano on the MacBook Pro's Touch Bar

[MacRumors]

Most MacBook Pro apps that have implemented support for the new Touch Bar have focused on putting settings, editing tools, and other utilitarian features right at a user's fingertips, but a new app from developer Graham Parks aims to have a little more fun with it.

The "Touch Bar Piano" app is designed to turn the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro into a little tiny touch-based piano that can be used to make music.

Available on Parks' website, Touch Bar Piano is fully polyphonic and offers 128 instruments to play with. It only works with the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, but Touch Bar emulator Touché can be used to try it out if you don't have one of Apple's latest MacBook Pros.

Touch Bar Piano doesn't exactly follow Apple's developer guidelines, which say the Touch Bar should be used as an extension of the keyboard and the trackpad rather than a display, but it's a fun way to show off what the new MacBook Pro can do.

Article Link: New App Lets You Play Piano on the MacBook Pro's Touch Bar

 

[32828870]

That is, if the MacBook Pro doesn't overheat and shutdown or the GPU suddenly stops working. Courageous Innovation™

 

[garirry]

A very expensive piano keyboard indeed - also a very uncomfortable one to use I imagine.

 

[Hirakata]

Looks handy. I'm sure all the pro musicians are dying to get this machine...

 

[asleep]

Oops, it crashed.

 

[Cwolk]

Finally a great app to show off the Touch Bar with

 

[avanpelt]

Looks handy. I'm sure all the pro musicians are dying to get this machine...

Agreed. This looks even more goofy than that DJ looked at the keynote (and I wasn't sure that anyone would be able to top the DJ...until now).

 

[samcraig]

"can show what the touch bar can do"

Yea. It can act just like any other touchscreen that's on a person's phone or tablet

 

[EndlessBuffoonery]

Jesus, you people take everything way too seriously. Nobody is expecting a musician to write the next great piano sonata on the touch bar. It's just a goofy thing you can do. Can we not make every minor, silly app an excuse to claim the touch bar is a stupid gimmick and actually judge it on the improvements it's meant to offer now and/or with future app updates?

 

[jstorm01]

Just imagine when a full screen touchscreen can do one day !

 

[autrefois]

And some people thought the Touch Bar was too gimmicky!

It's a fun idea, but certainly doesn't help those who are skeptical about whether or not this is really a "Pro" machine anymore.

 

[aleni]

When apple launch the tb. I knew it in a month someguy gonna make a piano app for the tb. Am i a magician or just mr. Obvious?

 

[NickD73]

Amazing! Apple did it again! Simply stupendous! My boss is going to love to see this on Monday!

 

[Cineplex]

Clearly ergonomics was a 90's only thing.

 

[DisNerd]

Honestly to have this open while arranging in finale to quickly check intervals or pitches rather than having GarageBand open on my phone would be pretty handy.

 

[jonnysods]

"It's not a gimmick we swear"

- Apple

 

[now i see it]

Ok, I think for the first time I won't leave a sarcastic remark. That piano keyboard is funny. What the hell. Why not? Have a little fun.

 

[kstotlani]

Jesus, you people take everything way too seriously. Nobody is expecting a musician to write the next great piano sonata on the touch bar. It's just a goofy thing you can do. Can we not make every minor, silly app an excuse to claim the touch bar is a stupid gimmick and actually judge it on the improvements it's meant to offer now and/or with future app updates?

And the improvements are?

 

[KPOM]

Finally a great app to show off the Touch Bar with

Imazing 2.0 makes good use of the Touch Bar.

Anyway this piano app (just a proof of concept) has been out for over a week. I'm surprised the rumor sites just found out about it today.

While this particular app is useful only for entertainment, this concept could be functional elsewhere (MIDI apps, audio editing, etc). But all we'll get on this thread are several hundred sarcastic posts about how Tim Cook needs to be fired for "gimping" the Mac with a piano bar.

 

[Kabeyun]

A very expensive piano keyboard indeed - also a very uncomfortable one to use I imagine.

Looks handy. I'm sure all the pro musicians are dying to get this machine...

Finally a great app to show off the Touch Bar with

Agreed. This looks even more goofy than that DJ looked at the keynote (and I wasn't sure that anyone would be able to top the DJ...until now).

"can show what the touch bar can do"

Yea. It can act just like any other touchscreen that's on a person's phone or tablet

Amazing! Apple did it again! Simply stupendous! My boss is going to love to see this on Monday!

Clearly ergonomics was a 90's only thing.

"It's not a gimmick we swear"

- Apple

How 'bout everyone take a breath, sip some decaf, and realize this is just a cute proof of concept. Reminds me of the Church's early position on the fork.

 

[EndlessBuffoonery]

And the improvements are?

Irrelevant to my comment. Try to keep up, mate.

 

[PinkFloyd71]

Can keyboard cat play it?

 

[EndlessBuffoonery]

How 'bout everyone take a breath, sip some decaf, and realize this is just a cute proof of concept. Reminds me of the Church's early position on the fork.

Don't you understand! This app this guy made is proof that the touchbar is useless and that Apple is DOOMED! They can't innovate any more because this one guy made this one app as a joke. That's how it works. Now why don't you join the rest of us in crushing misery by finding something to complain about and making a smarmy comment about it.

 

[Zirel]

How 'bout everyone take a breath, sip some decaf, and realize this is just a cute proof of concept. Reminds me of the Church's early position on the fork.

Doesn't matter. This is PC master race people.

They hate the TouchBar because they know no matter what, they are not going to get it in their PCs running Windows 7

 

[mactactic]

This is the stupidest MacBook Pro ever IMHO !!
Really a touch bar ?
The most logical idea would have been a whole keyboard as the touchscreen with iPad features.