 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: nellsonic
Date: 2019-10-25 09:33
I wonder how many teachers and players here have been using SmartMusic Classic for the easy-to-work-with piano accompaniments. If you have, you probably know by now that SmartMusic Classic is being phased out in favor of a new purely web-based version.
Although marginally better in at least a few aspects, the new SmartMusic is greatly reduced in its utility as an accompaniment program. Many of the previously available standard repertoire titles are now gone, as is the ability to have the accompaniments transposed. For example, you can now only play the Mozart Concerto in Bb! If you want accompaniment for the A clarinet, too bad!
I can't seem to get anybody from the company to answer my questions, and I'm not sure I'd believe them about future plans anyway - based on past experience with them.
If you've read this far, you are probably, like me, needing or hoping to come up with some new alternatives. I'd be interested to hear what your plans are.
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Author: claricolin
Date: 2019-10-25 09:44
Coincidentally I started a free 30 day trial yesterday, having never used smart music before. I’m still getting used to it, but so far have been disappointed in the repertoire - no Poulenc or Hindemith or Bernstein sonatas for example, nothing by Finzi, Muczynski. Also nothing that my wife is playing for her grade 8 violin...Mozart sonatas, Stravinsky Pastorale, Mendelssohn Em concerto.
Also I’ve noticed most accompaniments are synthesised midi, but there are others that use “real” instruments. No way to tell what you’re getting until you’ve downloaded the piece.
Still, it’s early days for me; I think the pricing is great, and I reckon it will be good for my kids. I’ll keep an open mind...
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Author: Hurstfarm
Date: 2019-10-26 21:20
If you’re looking for real piano accompaniments, including rehearsal tracks, there is a decent selection here: < https://www.piano-accompaniments.com/acatalog/clarinet-repertoire.html>
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Author: kdk
Date: 2019-10-26 22:22
If you have Finale, you can make your own (or so it says in the user's manual). Supposedly, Finale can format it to follow a miced player like original SmartMusic does.
I haven't used this, nor have I used SmartMusic itself for several years, so the above is based on what I read in Finale's docs. I always found, as both a practice or self-amusement technique or a teaching tool that it was more a distraction than an enhancement.
Karl
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Author: MarkS
Date: 2020-02-03 00:21
I too am very disappointed by the "New" Smart Music. Not only is the Mozart Concerto unavailable for A-clarinet, but there are a number of wrong notes in the clarinet part for the first movement. I notified them several months ago. I got a relatively quick reply from tech support, saying that they would fix the problem as soon as possible and keep me updated. However, a little later, I got another email from the same person, saying that he found out that he was not able to keep me updated. When I checked this week, the errors are still there.
By the way, their excuse was that the product is primarily designed for less advanced players. Of course, were this valid, it would make no sense for them to include a number of advanced solos. How much effort would it take to provide a transposed accompaniment?
Another issue for me is that they advertise that it can be used on Ipad (but not on Android tablets). I have been using it on a desktop and laptop, but I would like to use it to provide piano accompaniment for casual performances. (I have professional accompaniment files, but find it comforting to have the cursor to keep in sync.) However, after I went out and bought an Ipad expressly for this purpose, I found out that the accompaniment cannot be played through wireless speakers when used with Ipad. When I complained, they said they did not include this option because the time delay from Bluetooth prevents perfect sync with the cursor. That is true, but the sync is good enough for most purposes. Furthermore, on a Windows laptop or Chromebook, they allow Bluetooth, so their excuse is not credible.
By the way, I am curious if anyone has a workaround for the Ipad-Bluetooth issue? I was able to get the accompaniment to play through my Bluetooth speaker, but that caused the clarinet part to be grayed out so I could not read it. Any ideas?? Thanks.
--Mark
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Author: tucker ★2017
Date: 2020-02-04 00:12
I used it for awhile and enjoyed it. At the time my subscription renewed, something happened (I can't remember exactly what it was) but I couldn't log into my account. I called customer support and they couldn't figure out what the issue was.
Finally, one of their tech support guys called me and had figured a work around to get my account active again. I basically had to create another windows account.... log off of my normal account... .log into my new windows account.. then open Smart Music. Way too much work so I never renewed.
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The Clarinet Pages
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