New version (20th June): Version 1.4 of Tastiera should fix all problems with non-US keyboard layouts. (Safari 5 finally made this possible.)

Tastiera (Italian for ‘keyboard’) is a Dashboard widget that transforms your computer keyboard into two independent 1½-octave piano keyboards, each of which has a flexible range and can be assigned to any of the 128 instruments defined in General MIDI.

As can be seen above, the widget itself will clearly show which key corresponds to each note, and this holds true for any keyboard layout.

Instrument and note/octave names are available in italiano, en français, auf deutsch and in English.

Download and registration

Tastiera is shareware; you can download it free of charge and try it out for a period of up to 30 days.

The unregistered version has a limited choice of instruments and ranges, but is otherwise identical to the full version.

Click on this button to pay in euros, currently €6.42.

Click on this button to pay in US dollars, currently $8.22.

Click on this button to pay in pounds sterling, currently £5.34.

The licence is sent out automatically, typically within a minute of a successful payment. Please make sure you provide a working e-mail address.

We use PayPal to process payments, but this does not mean that you need to sign up for a PayPal account; simply click on the appropriate Buy button and follow the link above the credit-card logos. Additional payment methods may become available once you select your country.

System requirements

Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) or Snow Leopard (10.6) is required, as well as Safari 5.

Press etc.

FamousWhy

The Famous Software Award has been initiated by FamousWhy.com to recognize “Famous Software”, which come up with innovative and efficient ways to reflect the best relationship with users assuring their satisfaction.

macnews.de:

Dashboard-Widget macht Tastatur zum Keyboard

ZeroZen:

Tastiera: Un piano en tu dashboard

moazine

Dashboard를 알차게, 이달의 Widgets

User comments

Paul Jackel via VersionTracker:

So far, functions perfectly. It not only simulates (or assigns) pitches to the keyboard, it will also sustain a pitch if the given key is held down. In addition, I find the interface to be very attractive. [...] as a professional singer, I suspect this little widget [...] is going to prove invaluable.

Private communication:

I love this widget! [...] I’ve been searching desperately for months, and there’s absolutely nothing even close to this. This widget is straight-forward and extremely simple to use.

MacGeek19 via MacUpdate:

This is soo cool.

Private communication:

I wanted to write to compliment you on the beautiful Tastiera widget. It is a nicely designed piece of software, simple to use and lovely to behold.

Version history

1.4 (20th June)

Fixed problems with non-US keyboard layouts.

1.3 (16th July 2009)

New, more piano-like design.

1.2 (16th February)

Added the option to show note names. Translation into Italian, French and German completed (error messages and ‘Done’ button added).

1.1.1 (16th August 2008)

Corrected default ranges, which were too low in version 1.1.

1.1 (5th August)

Decoupled the two 1½-octave manuals. Added choice of instruments (previously only one piano sound). Adjustable range (previously fixed at G–c and c–ggg respectively). Instrument and note/octave names available in Italian, French, English and German.

1.0 (5th July)

Initial release.

0.5 (27th May 2008)

Expiring public beta.

Remaining minor issues

One or two key positions are probably wrong for American (ANSI) and Japanese (JIS) keyboards. (This has to do with the physical keyboard layout and number of keys.) Please get in touch if you are using one of these keyboard types and would like this issue to be fixed.