CharangoPalette

Charango Palette is a strumming simulator for the charango (and the baritone charango). Press a chord card on the palette and it strums with real recorded sound, so you can play Andean folklore rhythm patterns. Lay out a progression, let the app play it, and export the audio. With charango and ronroco (baritone charango, a fourth lower) you can quickly pick the capo and instrument combination for any key and see the chord chart on a single screen — a help for players who want to take on songs in unfamiliar keys.

■ Pick a key, get the chords for the song Tap the key on the circle of fifths and the palette fills with the diatonic chords of that key plus the usual secondary chords. The app also suggests a setup: standard or baritone (ronroco), and where to put the capo.

■ A wealth of chords to play 686 registered chord shapes. Search for the one you are curious about and play it with exactly that fingering. You can register your own shapes with a name and have them show up in search and on the palette. And when you have a shape but not its name, the app offers the chord names that fit, ready to register.

■ Press a card, hear the real thing Turn on play mode and every chord card strums when you press it. Press the right side of a card for a downstroke and the left side for an upstroke. The sounds are note-by-note recordings of a real charango and a real ronroco, 316 samples in all, captured beautifully with a NEUMANN KM184. Latency is kept low, so playing along at tempo feels good. (Bluetooth audio adds delay.)

■ Play rhythm patterns as you hold Turn on pattern play and the strumming pattern loops for as long as you hold a card, stopping when you let go. 55 presets across 12 genres: huayno, cueca, bailecito, carnaval, tobas, diablada, morenada, tinku, caporal, zamba, taquirari and chuntunqui. Change the tempo and switch patterns right on the palette. Put a Mute card on the palette to play the rhythm on left-hand muted strings.

■ Focus mode: nothing but the cards Tap Focus on the palette and the chord cards fill the screen. Scrolling and editing are off, so you can play without worrying about a stray touch. Buttons at the bottom switch between your registered patterns (from the next bar if a card is held), and the tempo is at the top.

■ Build your own patterns Enter down/up and partial strokes, repique, chasquido, golpe, tapa and accents on a step grid, then loosen it up with per-stroke early/late timing, swing and humanize. Meters 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 and 6/8; length from half a bar up. You can also duplicate a preset and adjust it.

■ Sequence an accompaniment The Sequencer tab puts chord changes and pattern switches on a piano roll and plays them back. Choose the chord entry method that suits you: per row, drag & drop or step entry. Tempo, bar count and meter are adjustable; in 6/8 the tempo display and metronome follow the dotted quarter. If a pattern's cycle doesn't fit the lane's meter, the app tells you on the spot.

■ Audio export Export the accompaniment you built in the sequencer as WAV (24-bit) or M4A and hand it to Files, AirDrop, Messages and more from the share sheet. Choose the whole song or the loop range, with a repeat count. You may use the exported audio freely in your own work (videos, streams, songs), including commercially; credit is optional (redistribution as a sample pack or sound library is not allowed).

■ Also • Tuner (listens through the microphone; reference pitch adjustable) • Optional degree names, diagram size, circle of fifths or grid key picker • iPhone and iPad, portrait and landscape alike; landscape widens the sequencer grid, and iPad shows more card columns • Japanese, English and Spanish

No account, no network. Everything stays on your device; nothing is collected or sent. Exported audio files are created on the device and shared only when you choose to.

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