Comments on, and Links to, Impro-Visor

Comments

From Datamation, Open Source Mega-List, December, 2012:

"Sometimes you get one really great line or phrase for a song, but just can't get the rest. The Impro-Visor can help you finish your composition by suggesting improvisations and solos built on your theme. (It's also a valuable educational tool for aspiring jazz musicians.) Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X."

From SZ, October, 2011:

"I thought you might get a kick out of this little recording I did a few days ago of one of my original tunes using "Impro-Visor" - such a wonderful tool! I just loaded in a lead sheet version of my tune in Impro-Visor, set up some "jazzy" instruments in KONTAKT and then used loopbe to link via MIDI. Enjoy!

Thanks again for all your work on such a great tool!"

One of the 8 Best Free Linux Music Notation Programs

Impro-Visor

From softoxi.com, October, 2011:

"A powerful, flexible and intuitive piece of software create to help jazz players understand the process of improvisation under different styles and genres."

10 best (unknown) open source projects:

"When you want a software application to teach you the fundamentals of improvisation, of chord structures, transitions, and solos, then give Impro-Visor a try. First write your song sheet, then play it back for instant gratification, with auto-generated rhythm section accompaniments. Your music sheets may be exported as MIDI or MusicXML, and it supports a large range of musical styles from Zydeco to African. (Linux, Mac, Windows.)"

Jason Lyon:

"Prof Bob Keller's computer intelligence team have produced this intriguing open-source program which uses AI algorithms and vocabulary modules to generate solos in the style of various performers. Also includes playback, and the ability to edit and enter leadsheets."

From RC, September, 2010:

"Bravo on a very comprehensive, insightful and creative application!!"

From Guitar Impressions, September, 2010:

"Impro-Visor [is a] program that can be a real help to the student of improvisation. My students and I use it to create backing tracks that we can solo to. Basically you type in your chord progression, choose a tempo and style (swing, latin, blues etc.), and away you go: piano, bass and drums give a convincing accompaniment for you to practice your soloing. You can choose the type of bass, and change the piano to a guitar if you prefer; basically there's plenty of fun things to explore if you're so inclined."

From DM, September, 2010:

"By the way I need to complement the designers of Impro-Visor again. Over the weekend I was rehearsing with a vocalist for an upcoming house party and we wanted to do a tune I hadn't rehearsed. For the party I am hiring a rhythm section, but rehearsal I thought we'd try out Impro-Visor to see how fast we could simulate the band. So, I used text entry and put in a couple dozen chord symbols, picked a style and a tempo, and in less than 5 minutes, we had a credible rhythm track to rehearse to. (Then later I can play with some improv ideas to flesh it out for the big show.) When I compare how easy this is to the frustrating hours I can spend on commercial midi software, the genius of Impro-Visor is the more amazing."

Intervals - David Liebman's Newsletter, May/June 2010

"An excellent FREE program for beginning improvisers... This seems like a very good tool for beginners and elementary players on any instrument. A student can write a solo on a simple harmonic progression-analyze the color codes for info on what they did and then generate a similar solo on another set of changes. ... Prof. Keller entered one of my solos which features a menu which includes choices of rhythmic feel, ratios of the dotted eighth to other rhythmic values, even noting a latin to swing rhythm, etc."

(Check out the transcription of Dave's solo on Picadilly Lilly.)
Create digital music, Apr 19, 2010 (Peter Kirn's blog)
Linux Journal, March 2010: Projects on the Move (pdf)

"If you happen to be a jazz musician, you will find a creative helper in Impro-Visor."
Mac software reviews, January 2010

"Song Composition at its Best: An easy way to compose and listen to music ... If you are in need for a good composition software, with a lot of features and a good database, you are lucky because Impro-Visor is exactly what you need."
SourceForge blog, by Lee Schlesinger, December 2009:

"Unlock Your Inner Jazz Singer with Impro-Visor"
From GearDownload.com, December 2009:

Your product, Impro-Visor 4.07, has been tested 100% clean and rated 5 stars on GearDownload.com.
From the PS, in the Steel Guitar Forum, September 2009:

"I downloaded this last night and will more than likely use it to supplement my BIAB use. It is geared very strongly towards jazz and was designed, it seems, to try and teach people how to improvise or at least work on their improv skills. As a jazz head on guitar I found it very useful."
kengon's blog: Outside Notes, August 2009:

"If you're into building your chops/skills and using innovative technology to help facilitate this, you would be well served to consider Impro-Visor as part of your toolkit."
From SoftPedia.com, August 2009:

"Impro-Visor" has been tested in the Softpedia labs using several industry-leading security solutions and found to be completely clean of adware/spyware components. We are impressed with the quality of your product and encourage you to keep these high standards in the future. To assure our visitors that Impro-Visor is clean, we have granted it with the "100% FREE" Softpedia award. To let your users know about this certification, you may display this award on your website, on software boxes or inside your product. More information about your product's certification and the award is available on this page:

http://mac.softpedia.com/progClean/Impro-Visor-Clean-60908.html
JavaOne 2009 Blog: More Java, More Music, June 2009 (see Java Meets Jazz)
Dave Phillips, writing in Linux Journal, September, 2008:

"Impro-Visor is an 'improvisation advisor', i.e. it's a program that helps an improviser learn how to play over arbitrarily complex chord progressions. There's really nothing quite like Impro-Visor: It's not primarily an accompaniment generator a la Band In A Box, nor is it a mere software version of Music Minus One, though it is capable of functioning in those roles. It assists the musician with harmonic analysis and suggests possible routes for the improvisation to take through the chord changes. Its name reflects its intent, it advises the player regarding optimal note choices available and will generate a variety of possible takes for the soloist to consider. Impro-Visor is truly unique software, highly recommended to anyone learning the tangled ropes of the art of the musical improvisor."

From TB, September, 2008:

"Impro-Visor really is an amazingly rich piece of software. I've been trying out Impro-Visor off and on for a couple of years, mostly for accompaniment, transcription, and to be able to listen to the melodies from lead sheets. I've been trying out programs like Sibelius, Finale, Band-in-a-Box and Guitar Pro. But not until I decided to give Impro-Visor a new try the other day, and delve deeper into it, did I start to realize how powerful Impro-Visor really is! Seems I could not find any scales missing in there, even though I tried hard to find one ;-)"

From JH, September, 2008:

"This is an exceptional piece of software. The ability to set up your own musical vocabulary sets it apart from everything else out there."

From GA, September, 2008:

"I found your software really great. I really appreciate the effort to make a free software. I'm just a poor jazz student (for a hobby) and your software seems to suite all my needs."

From EK, September, 2008:

"I am using your software, but I am also using this project as a model for something I would like to do with my students someday. It is great to be able to show a dean how the idea works."

From JK, September, 2008:

"Echoing all the positives, Bob. Not only do you provide a wonderful (free!) product, the Yahoo! method offers a forum like this. Keep on keepin' on."

From Assefa, September, 2008:

"Just to say great work Bob. I found downloading for the first time a bit inconvenient as it deprived me of quick gratification :) But joining the [Yahoo!] forum made it quite easy to keep up with the updates and learn from queries and responses on the forum. Keep up the good work."

From Bill, September, 2008:

"I felt compelled to draft a quick note in support of your efforts. I have to admit that at first I thought that it was a bit awkward to sign up to yahoo groups to get access to the software, but very quickly realized the benefit of being connected to both the users as well as the primary developer. I have both enjoyed and benefited from the majority of the posts to the group. As both a software developer and musician with an interest jazz and automatic improvisation I recognize the level of effort and expertise that you have put into this and thank you for it."

From SS, August, 2008:

"I am so impressed with Impro-Visor! I just discovered it and I want to thank the whole development team for such a great tool."

From Andrew, August, 2008:

"As one of the creators of the jMusic library I'd like to congratulate you on the Impro-visor application which I found recently. I'm hoping you won't mind if we feature it on the jMusic applications page."

From EW, March, 2008:

"I just discovered Impro-Visor this evening. Great job ! As a musician, I will first use it as a play-back generator, but will surely dig into the advising part very soon (and as an AI research fellow, I will also read the technical background of the design)."

From LG, March, 2008:

"Great job this Impro-Visor ... I am still discovering it, very beginning."

From PH, November, 2007:

"Wow Bob, this is an amazing resource that you have shared with us. Just looking at My.voc is an education all by itself. Good thought provoking stuff."

From Luc, July, 2007:

"I downloaded Impro-Visor yesterday and I already am almost addicted to it. I namely play jazz so this is going to be useful to me for practicing standards and writing choruses, no doubt about it. I also happen to play with a band of traditional music from the Basque country (in the south west of France) and we have an accordionist. As you know accordion and guitar are difficult to blend, a little bit like piano and guitar, mainly because they are both polyphonic instruments. So what I did was to write the accordionist's scores to Impro-Visor and using the playback function gave me the opportunity to write proper arrangements both in terms of rhythm and voicings. It is also very easy to edit accompaniment styles (not like my hardware sequencer). I mean it is obvious that this piece of software was made by musicians for musicians. The color codes are very helpful too."

From BC, June, 2007:

"I downloaded Impro-Visor and have been spending some time with it - it is very cool!! :)"

From KT, December, 2006:

"I've got Impro-Visor on my mac laptop at the moment and it's really useful software (can't speak for BIAB as I've never used it). I use it for quickly setting up chord progressions to jam along with and it also comes with the chords for loads of the standards. I havn't even begun to use the improvising facility yet as time is at a premium at the moment, but I'd recommend it to anyone and it's free!"

From RS, December, 2006:

"I'm enjoying the software well. Since there is no count in the beginning (like Jamey Abersold's CDs) would it be possible to add a pick up bar in the beginning? I haven't explored this idea yet because I was busy playing, which was more fun. Thanks again."

From MB, December 2006:

"I am a professional software engineer and a budding/beginning jazz guitar player, and I have really enjoyed playing around with Impro-Visor over the past few months. Thanks a lot for the great product! There is really nothing else like this program out there, and it has helped come up with some interesting solos."

From PB, June, 2006:

"Nice app! I added a link here: http://www.softsynth.com/links/java_music.html Thanks for creating that software and sharing it with others."

From NF, April 2006:

"I wanted to thank you for posting the message about Impro-Visor 122 to the jazz_guitar discussion group. I downloaded it (and Java 1.5) and it runs fine. I particularly like the 'Advice' button which is a nice way of reminding me of all the options available to an improvisor over various chord transitions. I haven't explored Impro-Visor in depth yet, but I wanted to say that I really appreciate the work that you've put into it & your making it available to others. Also, the user interface really feels 'clean' (i.e, not cluttered like Band-in-a-Box and many other programs). It's very easy to use."

From LR, April, 2006:

"Just wanted to thank you for the excellent piece of work. I use music software and I think yours stands with the best of them. Clean interface and musical erudition are just some of Impro-Visor highlights."

From RG, March, 2006:

"I came across your Impro-Visor application today and thought it was really neat. Great job!"