BP2_Kisstunes

Hey everybody:

I stumbled upon this really neat Web 2.0 tool named "Kisstunes" (http://www.kisstunes.com/m3/home.aspx), and I thought I would share it with you all.  I am a band director, for those of you who didn't already know, and I'm always looking for musical tools with simple interfaces that will get my students making music in as many ways as possible, especially using technology.  From what I've learned so far, I believe that Kisstunes fits the bill quite nicely.  Here's a screenshot (complete with Full Sail ad; this is purely coincidence I promise):

The application is web-based, done in Flash, meaning that it can be accessed just about anywhere.  This link takes you directly to the player: http://www.kisstunes.com/m3/kiss3.aspx?m=games  Kisstunes allows the user to make music on a keyboard by using the computer's keyboard and mouse.  Kisstunes also allows the user to record and playback tunes, which one can then share the tunes through social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) or download the tunes for their own personal use.  There is a video tutorial that is accessible from a tab to the left of the keyboard if one needs it, and a computer-keyboard-to-keyboard legend in the upper right-hand corner of the keyboard window.  Kisstunes allows the user to choose from three keyboard sounds: electric piano, grand piano and vibraphone, and all three of the sounds are very nice.  One neat feature is that even if one was to record in, say, the grand piano sound set, playback can be heard in any of the three piano sounds.  The user has to sign up for an account with Kisstunes to download and/or share tunes, but the account set up is free, and no private information is shared without the user's content.  User-created tunes can be set to private as well, just in case one is sensitive about his or her music (as many musicians tend to be)!

Here are some things that I did not care for; there were some minor issues I had with the tool, but no tool is perfect.  The virtual keyboard has 2 1/2 octaves worth of keys visible on screen, but a user is only able to control 1 1/2 octaves from the computer keyboard without the use of the mouse.  This fact may not matter to a non-piano player, but to a trained piano player this issue could be a deal-breaker.  In addition, only six keys can be activated at one time, which means more complex melodies and chords are inaccessible to the user.  There is occasionally some lag between when keyboard keys are struck and when the sound actually fires, but I suppose that's an issue with any web-based application at some point, and might be attributed more to connection speed than a flaw in the software.  I had problems getting an account set up, which meant I could not save or share my music, but this may solely be user error and I won't hold that against the quality of the application.  Ultimately, most of the issues that I had with Kisstunes are issues that trained pianists would run into primarily, so for many people these issues would not be issues at all, which is why I think the application still has great potential.

Kisstunes is very easy to use, and very simple, which is what I am looking for in a musical tool for my beginners.  When I get back into the school computer labs, I'm going to see if the website and application is available for student use and not a blocked site; Kisstunes seems pretty harmless to me, but you just never know with the content filters at work what's viewed as "good" and "bad"...