Re: Transcribe or Amazing Slowdowner?
I'm looking at Transcribe and thought I would revive this thread. I'm interested in the slowdown feature, but am most interested in converting YouTube videos to my preferred key to play along with. Is Transcribe the best software for doing this these days, at a reasonable price?
Re: Transcribe or Amazing Slowdowner?
I have used Transcribe for years on the Mac but recently have been using an iphone app called Anytune Pro that is available as both a laptop and phone app - my current favorite. I don't believe they support the other PC or Google based platforms.
Re: Transcribe or Amazing Slowdowner?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
geechee
I have used Transcribe for years on the Mac but recently have been using an iphone app called Anytune Pro that is available as both a laptop and phone app - my current favorite. I don't believe they support the other PC or Google based platforms.
Maybe this will help someone. I use Windows and Android, so am looking for applications for those.
Re: Transcribe or Amazing Slowdowner?
Another advantage for using ASD is that it can access your Spotify playlists (if you're a subscriber).
Re: Transcribe or Amazing Slowdowner?
I prefer Transcribe.
But, I use it only on laptop. There is currently no iPhone app for transcribe, so I use ASD on my phone. That's a necessity these days (using phone apps in my studies), although I prefer using the laptop. So I won't be dropping Transcribe any time soon.
Re: Transcribe or Amazing Slowdowner?
I used to use Slowdowner, but switched to Riffstation at some point, before Fender bought it. Fender was giving it away for free a while ago. I find it has some useful features compared to Slowdowner - but then, I haven’t tried a recent version of that. In any case, you should at least check out Riffstation to see if it’s a better fit.
Steven
Re: Transcribe or Amazing Slowdowner?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sherry Cadenhead
Maybe this will help someone. I use Windows and Android, so am looking for applications for those.
If you just need something to slow down the music without altering pitch, the Music Speed Changer Android app is free and to me sounds just as good as ASD
Re: Transcribe or Amazing Slowdowner?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DaveGinNJ
If you just need something to slow down the music without altering pitch, the Music Speed Changer Android app is free and to me sounds just as good as ASD
I'll check into that, but I'm mostly interested in changing YouTube video keys.
Re: Transcribe or Amazing Slowdowner?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sherry Cadenhead
I'll check into that, but I'm mostly interested in changing YouTube video keys.
This is one of those areas where Transcribe! really shines for me, working videos, because I can adjust speed and pitch, and the video generally goes at correct speed to match the audio in Transcribe ...
There are some requirements to using Transcribe! with video:
1. Download the video to your laptop or desktop computer. I download any YT video I plan to work with, in mp4 format.
2. Make sure you have Quicktime installed on your computer. Transcribe! uses the QT engine to display and control video. I don't use QT normally for video, just have it installed, and Transcribe! automatically detects it.
3. Right-click the video file and choose "Open with ..." and choose Transcribe.
Some of the other programs may work with video, I don't know, but Transcribe! was developed specifically for helping musicians to transcribe music from audio and video files, and it is very useful sometimes when using video to suss out someone's fingerings while transcribing.
Of course, if you change the key, the fingerings won't be helpful. So if you're changing the key, why even use video? You can download from YouTube audio only, converting the download to mp3, and use any good slow down program to change key if they have that feature.
For downloading all sorts of video files (or converting them to audio mp3), I use the "Video Downloader" extension for FireFox.
Re: Transcribe or Amazing Slowdowner?
Mark is right: if you plan to change keys from the original, then video won't do you any good! You are not interested in a direct "transcription" of the piece, per se, as it's actually played. Instead, you want to slow it down and modulate the pitch to some other key. For this purpose, you should just capture the YouTube video as an audio-only (MP3) file, although a video MP4 file would work fine, too. Amazing Slow Downer will serve you perfectly well for this purpose (I like it a lot), but so will Transcribe! Doesn't really matter which program you choose. If you are downloading YouTube videos from the internet, nearly any browser EXCEPT Chrome will likely have an extension to let you do this. The Google folks own both YouTube and Chrome, and they make it almost impossible to download from YouTube. Stupid, near-sighted monopolies.
Re: Transcribe or Amazing Slowdowner?
So with the right browser, I wouldn't need additional software?
Re: Transcribe or Amazing Slowdowner?
If you rip the CD track to your PC, you can play it back (from the file) at varying speeds using your Windows Media Player.
Re: Transcribe or Amazing Slowdowner?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sherry Cadenhead
So with the right browser, I wouldn't need additional software?
No, No. I think you may have misunderstood much of what has been written in this thread. You indicated that you revived it because you wanted not just to slow down the music, but also to change the key (pitch) of a YouTube video. A browser alone won't do that, Sherry! The YouTube site itself will play back videos at slower, but fixed, speed in your browser -- any browser -- at 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 times full speed, but this feature is not especially useful.
You'll first need to DOWNLOAD the YouTube video to your computer as an MP3 (audio) or MP4 (video and audio) file so you can work with it. You wrote that you use a PC. If so, then get a YouTube video downloader extension for your browser and install it. There are several of these to choose from. For a browser, you also have several choices, including Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, or Firefox. Just don't use Chrome, since they won't support a YouTube download.
Once downloaded, you can play an entire MP3 file back at any speed that you like using the free Windows Media Player, which comes with Windows 10 (as Mandocrucian said). But this feature is not as helpful, IMO, as being able to slow down and repeat a selected section of the work, with various tuning adjustments to match your mandolin, adjustments to the tone, and so on. These are among the many features offered by the programs Amazing Slow Downer and Transcribe!
Also, you said that want to change the pitch. So again, you're asking for features offered by the Amazing Slow Downer and Transcribe! A browser won't do that, Sherry, and neither will Windows Media Player. You should look into buying and installing the Amazing Slow Downer or Transcribe! I happen to like Amazing Slow Downer, myself, but either one should work for your purpose.
Re: Transcribe or Amazing Slowdowner?
Thanks, sblock! I needed a thorough explanation like you've given. I use technology every day in my work, but don't do things like this.