consistant melody is impossible

yeah i like the idea of this instrument but; it doesnt work stable enough for me to make a good tune. the recognition of finger press on multiple holes isnt stable. it doesnt recognize when i press on a hole alot of the time and it will unpress the hole im pressing without me taking my finger off, also it does this when i have multiple holes pressed and move from one hole to another with one finger it will automatically undo a hole i am pressing without me letting my finger off.

yeah i watched the video of that guy playing zelda theme, im sure he had to have alot of takes just to get the video of that.

also i read a form in the q&a'a forum about the same problem with alot of other people, there was a sugestion in there that if you turn wifi off it may work but it doesnt, i even cleared cache, cookies, and history, turned bluetooth off it still isnt stable in the fashion i mentioned...

But like i said before, It's a good idea of an instrument; just not stable enough.

Try plugging in your iPhone cable into the iPhone and either your computer or the wall. It works so much better that way. Otherwise try holding your thumb near the shiny metal part of the iPhone. It's a grounding issue with the iPhone and not smule. But smule said v 1.2 might help.

I was having the same problem. I, like you tried all of the above plus one more thing. I found that if I took my case off so that my fingers came in contact with the metal along the outside of the screen it works perfectly. It's a hassle, I know, but on another post called "finger hole recognition" a smule rep said that on the new version (not yet released) of the iphone software the problem is gone.

wel plugging in my iphone to charge in the wall or computer seems to fix the problem, thanks now i can start jammin! :)

if more precise pressing of "holes" are required (hard to play through a song accurately), but plugging iPhone into power makes it more sensitive and easier to play notes, then wouldn't that be:

1. a bug

2. something that can be improved, when iPhone is unplugged from power

???

i tried it and yes, it works better when it's plugged in. but i can't rely on power plugs available, in such a short distance (oh, like two feet power cable?), when i am mobile. i really wish this can be improved, somehow.

One thing that I noticed was that if your fingers are too close, the sensors get confused about which "hole" you're trying to press. I try to keep my fingers as close to the edges of the iPhone as possible and it has eliminated just about any lost fingerings due to finger-touch-sensor overlap.

We have explained this issue over here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=702

Grounding Problems!!

Yes...

I was having the same issue. I read about the hole recognition problem and tried the suggestions. Plugging a USB cable into the iphone does indeed fix the grouding problem as I have a rubber case on mine and really dont feel like going through the hassle of squeezing it off every time I want to play the ocarina.

ALSO!

A suggestion on the other post was to hold your fingers a certain amount off of the holes when you play as to not have your fingers directly pressing on the circles. When I show the application to friends and such I use that method. It's not as effective as having a cable plugged in but it does help.

ONE MORE THING!

lol... So I can try to make a bunch of peoples day! Plugging the USB cable into your phone fixes the grounding issue. Plugging it into the PHONE. It DOES NOT have to be plugged into the computer or the power outlet. Just let the cable dangle. Cheers!

[quote author=Nullz]Try plugging in your iPhone cable into the iPhone and either your computer or the wall. It works so much better that way. Otherwise try holding your thumb near the shiny metal part of the iPhone. It's a grounding issue with the iPhone and not smule. But smule said v 1.2 might help.\[\/quote\]

Same observation here, Nullz: in fact, when just on battery power my iPhone (dec. 07 vintage / 2G of course / fmwre 2.2), I cannot get any note consistence: when pressing one hole, this action might just "unpress" another adjacent hole. Ocarina demands peak and consistent power.

This issue of note unpredictability has also been mentioned in the forum's "Ocarina Q&As"

- Roger T

Just to add info on this issue, I have a similar problem, only it is absolutely consistent. My machine is an iPhone 4, software 4.3.1. Whenever I press a third hole, the three of them become immediately uncovered (i.e., the outer rings disappear). That happens irrespective of which are the first two holes played, whether the iPhone is plugged in, or whether I'm grounded touching the armature. Touch mode doesn't change it, either. As a consequence no note that requires three or four holes touched can be played.
I would like to know if the issue will be solved eventually, thank you.

I have exactly the same problem as camiguin2 - one or two holes is fine, a finger on a third hole turns off the first two holes. This is absolutely consistent - any one hole is fine, any two holes, also fine; but three or four holes just not working at all - just plays as if all holes open.

It worked perfectly before the latest update (version 1.4.3), and indeed was a favourite way of showing the surprising capabilities of the phone. I don't believe this is a grounding issue (and plugging in the cable doesn't make any difference). I have an iPhone 3GS with latest iOS 4.3.1. I've removed the ocarina app, rebooted the phone and re-loaded the app, but it's still the same.

Please fix this - otherwise I can only play tunes which only use 0, 1 or 2 holes.

Update - from the '"finger hole" recognition' thread in the Ocarina Q&A forum, I have a solution to my problem and that of camiguin2 above - turn off the 'zoom' accessibility function in Settings > General > Accessibility > Zoom. That turns off the phone's three-finger touch detection for zooming, and allows the ocarina to act on touching three holes ...

Perhaps the devs could detect whether 'zoom' is turned on and either turn it off while the ocarina is active or at least pop up a message saying that the ocarina won't work properly while the zoom is on?

Meanwhile, my ocarina is working perfectly again : - )