[gcompris-devel] testers needed for new music activities in GCompris

[Bruno Coudoin]

Peter,

Thanks a lot for your feedback. A lot of your remarks have already been
fixed by beth. I just create a new bundle to test it:
http://gcompris.net/incoming/beth2.tgz

> > 
> > ** Explore Farm Animals / Explore World Music **

This has been deeply reworked, please retest.
 
> > 
> > 4) Your bonus smily has no sound. Sounds are fun! :)
> > You could borrow:
> > "/boards/sounds/bonus.wav".

I agree. It would match other activities.

> > 
> > ** Piano Composition **
> > 
> > 1) Safety question before erase:
> > Typing notes might take several minutes, but there are some
> > buttons, which erase them in 0.01 seconds. ;)
> > Perhaps erasing the notes should precede a question like
> > "Are you sure, you want to delete all your notes?".

I agree. This is also needed for other activities like our animation and
the word processor.
 
> > 2) Piano key marker:
> > While playing a melody, a yellow spark jumps from note to
> > note on the right side. So the user always knows, which note
> > is currently played. Maybe a similar symbol should be used
> > on the piano keys on the left side. So the user can look at
> > those and associate the sound she/he hears with the
> > corresponding piano key.

Very good point.

> > ** Name that Note! **
> > 
> > 1) The bonus does not have a sound. Maybe you could play a
> > row of about three short notes, which make up a happy or sad
> > melody.

Yes

> > ** Play Piano! **
> > 
> > 1) "Attempt" is not visible:
> > The melody, the user plays on the piano, is recorded and the
> > user can erase it, if she/he thinks, she/he was wrong. But
> > this is somewhat invisible. The user has to imagine: "There
> > is something recorded in the computers RAM"
> > It would be easier to understand, if you would show the
> > attempt, which was entered by the user, on the screen.
> > Perhaps you print the current row of entered piano key
> > letters next to the piano keys. E.g.: C C F G

We tried to address this by making the buttons context sensitive, the
erase appears only if there is something to erase.
 
> > 2) GCompris: Repeat question:
> > The GCompris interface provides a way to the user, to
> > "repeat the current question". This is a button (two green
> > arrows bend to a circle) in the GCompris bar. You set it with:
> >  # gcompris.bar_set(gcompris.BAR_LEVEL|gcompris.BAR_REPEAT)
> > 
> > Maybe you want to add this, to provide a user interface
> > homogeneous to other activities.

Yes, I should have ask Beth about this.
 
> > 
> > ** Play Rhythm! **
> > 
> > This realy is the most difficult activity of your six. This
> > is the only one, that made me read the manual. ;)
> > 
> > 1) BUG?: No auto level increase:

This is fixed now.

> > 
> > 2) Quick appear of the scrolling vertical line:
> > Using the scrolling vertical line, as suggested in the
> > manual, is quite difficult. Since it abruptly appears at the
> > first note. In this moment, the user has to play the drum,
> > which requires very quick reaction. (Or am I too tired? ;)
> > It would be way easier, if one could see the scrolling
> > vertical bar, a little bit before it hits the first note.

I agree and Beth made a fix for that.
 
> > 
> > 3) BUG: "Play" button needs double click:
> > If the user wants to hear the rythm again, she/he sometimes
> > has to click on the play button twice.
> > The first click stops the scrolling vertical line from
> > starting a new "run over the notes". And the second click
> > starts the replay. Whatever time I wait between two clicks.
> > And after replaying the sound, the scrolling vertical line,
> > does not come again. :(

Beth fixed this as well.
 
> > 4) BUG: No drum-sound while metronome:
> > If I start the metronome, playing the drum does not make a
> > sound any more. Disabling the metronome again, brings back
> > drum-sound at click/"space".

This is true and we won't fix this because we do not support in GCompris
a way to play several sound concurrently.
 
> > 5) GCompris: Repeat question:
> > See "Play Piano!" 2)

Ok
 
> > 
> > 6) "Attempt" is not visible:
> > See "Play Piano!" 1)
> > My suggestion would be, to add little dots below the eraser.
> > One dot for every drum beat clicked by the user.

On this one we have not the contextual erase and this is missing.

> > 
> > 
> > I hope, this amount and type of feedback is ok.
> > Having written all this, I realized, this is a veeeery long
> > email. Perhaps I should use the bug tracker next time?
> > Beth, what do you prefer?

There is not that much remaining issue, let's stay on the mailing list
for now.

Bruno.