INSTALLATION

This current installer is only available for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. (MAC version is not yet completed, sorry.) If you have any difficulties installing to Windows 7, please keep track of the error messages so that we may help you.

Download the Demo Setup from here.

This is the complete program, so you will not need to download anything further. You will only need to paste in the Registration Key to make it a fully functional version, at your own leisure. Without a Registration Key, the program will only run in demo-mode, with a select few pieces of music available to “test drive” it.

Run the Setup file: The program will place itself in the recommended directories. If, for some reason, your version of Windows does not have the .NET Framework update from Microsoft, the program will need to access the Microsoft website for this and may take some time downloading the necessary files. Make sure you have access to Internet, preferably high-speed.

When the program is finished installing, you should be able to see the blue Personal Pianist icon on your desktop. You will also have a Personal Pianist group in your Start Menu. Double click the desktop icon or use the Start Menu icon to begin running the software.

SOUND SET-UP

If your computer has several different sound cards, or uses a Midi interface to attach another external sound device, you should be able to see all the available options under SETUP, from the main screen. Click on this button: Look under “Midi Playback Device”. There is a drop-down menu to choose your sound device.

** We recommend that you pick “Microsoft GS Wavetable SW”, since most of the libraries have been optimized for this default sound setting. **

If you do not hear any sounds when playing songs from Personal Pianist, you will need to check your volume settings as well. Look for the small speaker-icon on the lower right of your screen. Double click it. Make sure you can see the volume control for “SW Synth”. If it is not there, you will need to click “OPTIONS”, then “Properties” to see a list of volume controls. Make sure there is a green check in the box next to “SW Synth”. The volume slider should be set to maximum (up to the top). Also make sure that the MUTE box is NOT checked on SW Synth. Some music software applications will occasionally move the SW Synth slider down to 0 again, so always check this volume control if you are having trouble hearing any music.

Then make sure that your speakers are on, and volume is up, if applicable. We suggest that you use external speakers that have their own separate power source, like the Logitech S100. USB-powered speakers may not have the necessary volume needed to be heard over the instrument.

LANGUAGE SELECTION

Under the “Setup” button, from the main screen you will see a “Language” option at the top of the small window that pops up. ENGLISH is the default language. Click on the option to get a drop-down menu list of languages.

** Please Note: NOT ALL Languages are installed from this list. **

At the moment the program will run in ENGLISH, JAPANESE, FRENCH, SPANISH, and GERMAN. Other languages will be added in future versions as the need arises. Please select one of these five languages to continue.

UN-INSTALLING / RE-INSTALLING

To remove or re-install Personal Pianist, you will need to look under ‘Control Panel’, and ‘Add/Remove Software’. The Personal Pianist icon will be listed there. If you encounter errors when running the program you may need to re-install. It is important to save your Registration Key (emailed most likely) for re-registering the program once it is installed again.

IMPORTANT: in order for a re-install to be successful, you will probably need to DELETE certain data files associated with the program. These are not deleted automatically with the Un-Install function:

• For Windows XP users – look in drive C:/ (usually) – under “Documents and Settings”. Then under the main user [your name] – look for a folder called “Application Data”. Scroll down to “Pleasant Solutions”. In this directory will be “Personal Pianist”. Please DELETE this directory BEFORE trying to re-install.


• For Windows VISTA users: you should search for a folder called APPDATA. Follow the same instructions as above. Look for “Pleasant Solutions” folder, and delete the Personal Pianist folder within that. If you have trouble finding or deleting the folder, email us at admin@personalpianist.com and we can send you a short file that may be able to clean up the data automatically.

REGISTRATION KEY

Once you start using Personal Pianist you will come to realize that hundreds of hours of work have gone into the preparation of the libraries of piano parts AS WELL AS all the free study materials, such as scales and arpeggios – in play-back format as well as printable PDF files complete with recommended fingerings and bowings.

Future libraries that are currently under production also take many, many hours to input, edit, and proofread. Your contribution through purchasing the Personal Pianist “Registration Key” gives you access to all of these libraries, with no time limit or download limit : ALL FREE ! And at a cost of $26.95 – less than the cost of just one rehearsal with a professional rehearsal pianist – we hope you’ll agree that this is an incredible value. Please support us in our work on Personal Pianist, so we can keep it available to the next generation of music students at a low cost.

MANY THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF PERSONAL PIANIST!

In order to ‘unlock’ the software for unlimited use and playback of all of the free libraries, you will need to purchase a Registration Key. The store site accepts secure credit card payments through PayPal as well as any coupons. If you have no access to use PayPal for this transaction, please email us at register@personalpianist.com and we’ll give you details on mailing your payment to us – but this could delay things for several weeks, depending on your location. We highly recommend using PayPal. It is simple, safe and convenient.

Once the transaction is completed, you will be e-mailed a Registration Key. You need to be ONLINE for Registration, one time. It will look like a “paragraph” of scrambled characters, perhaps 5 or 6 lines long. You will need to ‘highlight’ (with mouse) the entire paragraph [CTRL-A], and “COPY” it [CTRL-C]. In the Personal Pianist software, on the main page, there is a blue button on the right side for “Registration”. Click on this. There will be another blue button in the next window – “Register”. Click on this. Click in the lower half of the next window, where there is a blank white space for you to ‘paste’ the copied Registration Key. Use: [CTRL-V] to paste it if you like. Then click “Save and Close” at the bottom of the screen and, once the security verification is received from the website, you’ve successfully registered your copy of Personal Pianist!

** As the Registration Key is intended for 1-time use only, we highly recommend that you delete the e-mail immediately – once you’ve successfully registered – so as to prevent anyone else getting a hold of your key and with it, your personal information. If for any reason you need to re-install the software, it will probably preserve the key on your system. If there is a problem and you need to re-insert the Registration Key, please email us and we'll re-authorize it as soon as possible. **

The previous window should now contain your personal data, specifying who the program is now registered to. If there is any error with the key – make sure that you copied it completely from the email (did not leave out any characters) and try again. If you still have a problem – please FORWARD the email to us and we’ll see what we can do to assist you.

Once the program is REGISTERED you will be able to play any of the music libraries from our site, as well as all scale practice and other libraries. You can also, then, load in any MIDI files (.mid) that you may have or locate from the internet. The program will be able to then adjust the speeds on these midi files as well. Please beware though: some internet .mid files may contain errors which the program cannot resolve, and may not play properly. Please note that we do not guarantee that all non-Personal Pianist midi files will be playable by the software.

ADDING LIBRARIES or MIDI FILES

Once Personal Pianist is installed, you will need to add a library or midi file, in order for it to start playing accompaniments for you. If the program is un-registered, then it will ONLY be able to play certain DEMO libraries, created by us to show new users the features of Personal Pianist. Please check the Website Resources Page for Demo Libraries (Free) and full graded libraries, as well as Scale and Arpeggio Libraries. Once registered it will be able to play any library that you choose to add, as well as almost ANY midi file.

Click on the “Add File” button, from the main window, and then on the “Add Library / MIDI file”. Select your library or MIDI file (.mid) in the directory it has been saved to, and click “Open”. Once it has been added, repeat the process to add further libraries, or individual MIDI files, then click on the red ‘X’ to close the window. Libraries will appear in alphabetical order in your list, and any individual MIDI files that you add will appear under the Personal Library.

REMOVING LIBRARIES or MIDI FILES

By clicking the “Remove File” button on the main window, you can remove the currently selected library or midi file. Make sure you have already selected the file or song you would like to remove. NOTE: you cannot delete individual songs from a Personal Pianist Library (.ppl) – clicking “Remove File” will remove the whole library. The program will prompt you to confirm that the selection is correct before deleting any files. If you have saved the library to your computer previously, that file will not be touched, and can be re-installed into Personal Pianist again at a later time.

The process of removal may take a few moments, up to 30 seconds, depending on the file. Once the button appears to turn green, the application is working on extracting the selected file or library for removal. Personal Pianist stores your complete library of songs as a ‘continuous’ file for easy retrieval during normal operation of the program. Please be patient when removing libraries, as there will be a large amount of data editing.

SELECTING A SONG / PIECE TO PLAY

In the main window, center of the piano, there is a blue highlighted line: this is the current library selected. If the program is just installed, or after removing files, this may appear blank until you click on it for the full list of libraries. Select a library from this list. The ‘Personal Library’ will contain any individual MIDI files (.mid) that you have loaded into the program (i.e. non-PPL files).

Above this library list, the orange area will identify the current song or piece selected. You can click on any other song in the library list, or use the [Page Up] / [Page Down] buttons on your keyboard to move between pieces.

Press the blue “Play” arrow at the bottom of the Piano to begin playback. Alternatively, you can press the [Spacebar] on your keyboard to start and stop the music. Generally, using the [Spacebar] is more convenient than the “Play” button during practice. The “Rewind” button – double arrow pointing back – will rewind the piece to the beginning, or to the last place you started from, if pressed only once. If you start a selection from the middle of the piece, you can return to the same spot to re-start at anytime by pressing the Rewind button only once – or by pressing the [Backspace] or [Enter] keys on your keyboard ONLY ONCE. These keys will serve the same function.

Getting to know the Keyboard shortcuts will aid greatly in using the program. Changing the speed using the [UP] and [DOWN] arrows / moving the bar position with the [Right] and [Left] arrows are a few of the convenient features.

ISSUES RELATING TO MIDI FILES

Personal Pianist is designed to let you start at any bar in a piece from which you may wish to practice. The P.P. Libraries contain much more data than a basic midi file, and therefore can tell you which bar to start playing in, and even may have sheet music attached to the file (as a PDF file), or an audio track (MP3 file) to play as well. However, some Midi files (that are not Personal Pianist Libraries) may not line up perfectly with the bar counter, or may behave strangely if it has conflicting Time Signatures left in the file by whoever created it. You will also notice that some of the special playing features do not appear when using raw MIDI files.

{ You may be able to edit MIDI files yourself if you have the correct software, and understand how they operate. }

If you come across a strange problem that you cannot solve, with any Midi file, please feel free to email it to us, and we’ll try to sort it out. (admin@personalpianist.com).

USING THE KEYBOARD

The Shortcut Keys, which are very convenient when using Personal Pianist, are listed under the “Information” button, off the main page. In the next window, the top blue line reads “Keyboard Shortcuts”. Click on this to bring up a list of the keys and their functions.

If you’re playing an instrument and practicing with your computer, it is much more convenient to press the [Spacebar] to start and stop, rather than using the mouse. If you miss the start, or want to try something again, it can be done very easily by pressing [Spacebar] to stop, and [Enter] or [Backspace] to return to the same starting point. If there’s a place in your piece of music that you wish to spend some time on, it can be helpful to note the bar number in Personal Pianist – write it in pencil on your music for reference. Then use the [Left] arrow to backup 2 or 3 bars from that point – start the piano part. Go back to this point over and over again easily, by pressing [Enter] or [Backspace] once. If you press [Enter] or [Backspace] TWICE, it will return you to the beginning of the piece.

** The starting point will still be saved, so if you press those keys a third time it will go back to that practice point again. **

If you’re playing through a whole library of pieces, it can be very convenient to press [Page Down] to drop down to the next song in the list. Use [Page Up] to move up to the previous piece in the list.

CHANGING TEMPO or SONG SPEED

Changing Tempo also can be done conveniently by holding down the [Up] or [Down] arrows. The tempo value will change quite rapidly this way. You can also use the mouse to drag the tempo slider along, or even click on the Turtle or the Rabbit to move it slower and faster. Holding the mouse click down on the Turtle or Rabbit will also allow the Tempo value to change rapidly, continuously. You can even click on the Tempo Line, on either side of the button to move the value in the desired direction.

PRACTICING TIPS

1. Focus on what you’re trying to achieve by using Personal Pianist:

• -  Steady Rhythm is essential in the study of music. Younger students especially will understand, much more quickly, the need to play at a steady speed in order to stay with the piano part. Our experience with the program is that practicing with these piano parts is much more interesting and fun than practicing with a metronome, and thus the students will use this tool much more frequently over the course of their studies.


• -  Familiarity with the piano parts: In the preparation for student recitals and exams, it is a huge benefit to already be familiar with the piano parts BEFORE hiring your accompanist. Most people pay out $25 to $75 PER rehearsal for a professional pianist, and you want to make the most of your time there. For younger students, they can really maximize their rehearsal time if the student already has the piano part “in their ear” from many uses at home, using Personal Pianist for practice.


• -  ‘MUSICALITY’ – most of the piano parts provided in the Personal Pianist libraries contain some fluctuations in the tempos (called “rubato”) especially at the ends of pieces, where we have built in a natural slowing down (“ritardando”) where it is appropriate. This is something that you simply can’t practice with only a metronome, and will build up a natural feel in the student for this kind of thing. Very often also, in the middle of some works, there is a pause, or other “ritardando” between sections, and a lot of time has been spent by the creators of Personal Pianist to program these tempo changes into the piano parts. ** It is important to note : there are many ways to interpret music and these tempo changes are only one such interpretation, however, we have attempted to include a very standard and moderate approach when creating the piano files.


• -  Frequency of use with the piano parts. Depending on your course of study, and your own personal goals, there are many pieces that you won’t necessarily use for exams or recitals, even though you learn them in your studies. Quite often we don’t get a chance to practice and play these pieces with a live pianist. Personal Pianist allows much more of this in your daily practice, at a very economical price!

Personal Pianist does not try to replace the “live experience” of a real living pianist. When you finally get together for rehearsal with your accompanist, you will of course find a much greater flexibility in the collaboration as the pianist reacts and adjusts (hopefully!) to what you are playing and you spend time discussing your own interpretations of the pieces. Having practiced many times with Personal Pianist beforehand, however, you will be much more familiar and comfortable with the piano part, and hopefully you have used the tempo control in Personal Pianist to build up your own speed and ability in each piece to a performance tempo already.

• -  When trying each piece for the first time, attempt to play it at the suggested tempo: Find out how far away you may be from this speed. Then slow it down to a speed that you are comfortable with, and can successfully keep up with throughout the piece. Gradually increase the tempo. If you find there is one small section in the piece that feels too fast for you, try practicing that section only, slower, and gradually speeding it up, to be able to play it at the same speed as the rest of the piece. Do this by finding your starting point, a few bars before you intend to play, and pressing [Spacebar] to start. Play ONLY the difficult section and then Stop with the [Spacebar] also. Press [Enter] or [Backspace] once to retry it again. After a few times, increase your Tempo. Keep returning to the same starting point until that section feels smooth and secure.


• -  NOTE: Each piece in the libraries that we create will have an introduction in the piano part of a few bars. This is to allow the user a moment to get the instrument up, after pressing [PLAY]. If you are unsure of where to begin, refer to the “Start at Bar” indicator, just below the piano keys.


• -  Practice the pieces BOTH using the music to read (if you are reading music already) and without the music, playing from memory. Ideally, you want to memorize each of your pieces and be able to play flawlessly with the piano part. As you play from memory, you will be able to focus more of your attention on your own technical challenges, and your posture / position. Go back to looking at the music occasionally, just to make sure you take note of important dynamic markings, or articulations that may be in the music.


• -  Set the volume on your computer playback loud enough to be heard over the sound of your own instrument. This may be fairly loud, but it is essential to always be able to hear the accompaniment line.


• -  If you’re preparing for an exam, try out the Scales Libraries for Personal Pianist for your grade level. These contain most likely the exact list of scales and arpeggios that you will need to prepare. You can easily “page-down” through them one by one, making sure that your tempo is steady, and your tuning is accurate. It’s a very good check-list to go through!

PERSONAL PIANIST FOR TEACHERS

• -  FOR TEACHERS – Can Personal Pianist be an effective teaching aid during lessons? This is how the program evolved actually. One of the creators of this software, a violinist and teacher, began using his own MIDI accompaniment files during teaching, through the computer, to add a new dimension in the lessons. However, the software was too complicated for the average student or parent to use at home – especially for adjusting tempos, which eventually led to the creation of the Personal Pianist program.


• -  We are well aware that some violin, cello and other instrumental teachers are quite accomplished pianists also, and can accompany the students during lessons. Others are not so skilled on the piano. EVEN IF you are a competent pianist: the ability to press “PLAY” on Personal Pianist, and then give 100% focus to watching the student’s technique is a great addition to the studio. This is what the creator of the program discovered in his own teaching – being able to watch and correct the student’s bow position and technical flaws during “performance” with the piano part, was much easier with the software.


• -  We are quite sure that you will notice an immediate fascination from the student when being asked to play with the piano part. They become attuned quickly, to the need to maintain a steady tempo. It’s quite a challenge at first, but a fun challenge at the same time. We have had an overwhelmingly positive response from students trying out the software. Give it a go and see for yourself!

TUNING TO A-440

In the main window you will see one of the piano keys is blue, and has “A-440” next to it. Click on this to get a steady tone for tuning. It will play for approximately 10 seconds.

VIEWING / PRINTING PDF FILES:

If a piece of music includes a printable PDF file (opens in Adobe Acrobat Reader), then a blue box will be present in the lower right area of the piano. It reads “View PDF Score”. If you click on this button a page should open in Acrobat Reader, displaying the solo part for that piece of music. You can print this out if you wish.

If no box is visible with this option, then it means that a solo part is not available yet, or that we may still need to obtain copyright permissions to include the printable version, if a piece is still under copyright.

At the top of each Library, there will probably be a NOTES page listing any necessary information about the library. In the Scales libraries it may contain the complete sheet music for the scales and arpeggios. In both of these cases, the “View PDF Score” button will be present when you select this piece. Click on it to read the comments, or print the parts.

WHAT IS THE MP3 BUTTON?

In some of the libraries (only a few at the moment – many more to follow!) there will be an actual recording of the piece, done by a professional, for you to listen to as a reference. In this case, on the lower left of the piano you will have TWO options: 1. Midi Piano; and 2. MP3 Player. This can be a very valuable practice tool, especially if it is so readily available while you are practicing with the piano part. Listen to a professional play your piece, and strive to play it in much the same way.

When you select MP3 Player, the button will be green. Many of the playback features used for piano accompaniment will disappear, as they are not available in MP3 Mode. You can press [Play] to listen or use the [Spacebar]. You can also use the position slider still, just under the piano keyboard, to move quickly back and forth through the recording if desired. MP3’s are not adjustable by tempo, as they are “live” recordings.

If the option is not visible on your main window, then there is no MP3 recording attached to that piece at this time.

WHERE TO START PLAYING?

Each piece in the libraries that we create will have an introduction in the piano part of a few bars. This is to allow the user a moment to get the instrument up, after pressing [PLAY]. If you are unsure of where to begin, refer to the “Start at Bar” indicator, just below the piano keys. This bar number will let you know where you should start playing, if you watch the bar counter also. Slow down the tempo if you are having difficulty joining the piano at the correct spot.

TROUBLE SHOOTING / ERROR REPORTING

If you encounter an error in Personal Pianist and cannot get the program to function properly for you, you can try several things:

• -  Follow the instructions above for Re-Installing the software. Especially pay attention to removal of the data library (ConsolidatedLibrary.ppl), as this can cause problems even after re-installing.


• -  If you would like technical assistance from us: when the error message appears, please click F12. You will get a window with a large amount of computer messages on it – this is an error tracking report. THEN – click [Ctrl+C] to copy that window. Paste this [Ctrl+V] into an e-mail for us, and send to: admin@personalpianist.com. We will do our best to help you solve the problem or forward the error to the developers at Pleasant Solutions, if necessary.


• - Most errors are caused by bad data in the midi files, or occasionally (rarely now) in an error within one of the Libraries. We try our best to de-bug each and every library before posting it to the web, but we do make mistakes once in a while. Most likely if you re-install the software, then test each library or midi file again, one by one, you will discover which one is causing the problem. IF you believe it is one of the .ppl libraries (from us), please e-mail the library to us immediately so we can solve the problem and remove it temporarily from the web-site. If you cannot delete the ConsolidatedLibrary.ppl file from your system, email us for assistance and we’ll try our best to guide you through it.