Perf Pitch

Inspiration

In addition to software engineering, I also am getting a degree in music. Having played the violin for over 15 years, I love making and listening to music. Something that has always helped in my practice and performance is perfect pitch, my ability to know pitches without needing a reference. It helps keep my intonation much more consistent that typical. With this app, I hope to help others develop this skill that I know they will appreciate acquiring.

What it does

It offers two practice methods. The first has the user listen to the played pitch and touch the appropriate piano key (located on the screen) to see if he/she is correct. The second has the user sing into the phone, then plays that against the actual tone to see how correct/incorrect he/she is.

How I built it

I used my recently acquired skills in iOS app development and Swift to create this. I started with a lengthy brainstorming process then executed small goals that amounted to the final product.

Challenges I ran into

There were many things I did not know how to do before I began (i.e. audio recording, audio playback). Luckily, I had great resources to help, such as various examples found online and the Apple employees who gave me guidance in solving my problems and improving the project.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I am very proud of the app's appearance; it looks very simple and elegant. I am also happy that I got the audio functions to work.

What I learned

I learned a lot about working with iOS and Swift. I also got to experience my first hackathon and now know how I should plan for success in my next one!

What's next for Perf Pitch

I'd love to implement an FFT to the recorded WAV file so that the user's pitch can be determined. I think that would really take it to the next level. Another avenue to take with this project would be adding more statistics so that the user can track progress.

Built With

• swift
• xcode