The Pianist is one of those software packages that's a little tricky to categorise; initially it looks like an education package, but it is cheap enough to buy just for the fun of it or to make use of the MIDI files it contains. The version being reviewed runs on any Apple Mac, but PC and Atari versions are also available.

At the heart of The Pianist is a huge collection of MIDI song files, each being a real-time (unquantised) piano rendition of a famous classical piece played by a concert pianist using a weighted MIDI keyboard. The range is impressive, covering Eric Satie to Grieg, but the really novel thing is how the program is arranged. As your favourite MIDI module plays the tune of your choice, the notes are shown on a piano keyboard along the top of the screen, and it's possible to slow down the tempo or transpose the key if required. Other MIDI parameters, including pan, velocity, chorus, level and reverb settings, may also be changed by means of virtual sliders.

You can set the pieces to play in a random order to provide a kind of MIDI classical jukebox, or you can select individual pieces by type, mood, period, difficulty or composer. It's even possible to set up a list of your favourites so that you only hear the tunes you like. When a piece has been selected, an information box reveals a serious-looking picture of the composer alongside a concise but useful selection of notes about the piece. Clicking on the Biography box produces an equally concise biog of the dude in question, while pressing Trivia starts a multiple choice quiz with three selectable levels of difficulty. As if that weren't enough, the program also contains a dictionary of musical terms.

The Pianist is a beautifully conceived piece of software and is worth the asking price just for the MIDI files, which may be loaded directly into a sequencer should you want to rearrange any sections. As an educational tool, it offers the interactive approach of CD-ROM but without the cost; the only downside is that you really need a hard disk drive because the MIDI song files alone take up a lot of space.

Further Information

The Pianist £49 inc VAT.

Arbiter Pro MIDI, (Contact Details).