Recommended "slow 'er down" software?

[clarevt]

Some beginner mando books come with cds that, from the first song on, whip along at about 350 mph. I have seen software online that will slow a tune down so it's not just a blur for my flailing fingers. Can anyone recommend a particularly good program that will slow the tempo and not mangle the pitch too badly, that will run on a Mac?

Thanks!

[Rob Gerety]

http://www.ronimusic.com/amsldox.htm

I use the windows version - its excellent.

[John Flynn]

I can also recommend "Transcribe!" by Seventh String Software. When I set out to buy a slow down program, I downloaded the trial versions of both "Transcribe!" and "Amazing Slow Downer," compared the two for a week or so and then bought "Transcribe!" They are both great programs. My humble opinion is that "ASD" is a bit more user friendly, while "Transcribe!" has some additional functionality, although for 90+% of what you are likely to want such a program to do, they are comparable.

http://www.seventhstring.com/

[clarevt]

Thanks, Rob. I tried the demo version and was amazed at what you can hear at 5 mph!

[clarevt]

John, Transcribe! is great! Thanks for the recommendation.

[EarlG]

Do you know if Transcribe will work with a .wma file?

[John Flynn]

Originally Posted by EarlG

Do you know if Transcribe will work with a .wma file?

Yes, it will. It will even do the audio portion of a .wmv file.

[jpf]

Quicktime on your mac will do it just fine. and it's FREE.

[John Flynn]

Originally Posted by jpf

Quicktime on your mac will do it just fine. and it's FREE.

I was not aware of that, but I just checked it out. That's pretty slick for a free program. FYI, Windows Media Player 10 and above will do it also, but not as well as Quicktime. However, neither player has anywhere near the functionality of the slow down programs previously discussed. Not even close.

[demotlj]

If you have an iphone or ipod touch, you can get the Slow Down Music Trainer app. You'd need to convert the songs to mp3s first but iTunes will do that. This makes practicing nice and portable.

Laurie

[JonZ]

http://www.amazon.com/Tascam-DR-1-Po...7555680&sr=1-1

The Tascam DR 1 is a portable device that will slow down and speed up MP3s. It will also loop songs or sections of songs and can be used as a digital recorder. The advantage is portability.

[Baron Collins-Hill]

Free, and an amazing program is audacity:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

everything you will ever need and more

[Coffeecup]

Audacity is a great program, but for the slow-down function I'll give another vote for Transcribe. One of it's abilities, which I haven't seen on other programs, is identifying the note(s) being played at a particular time - very useful for identifying chords, and the program also lists suggested chord matches.

[Rob Gerety]

A word to the wise - keep it simple, go with ASD or the Tascam unit. Just my opinion!

[John McGann]

Originally Posted by rob gerety

a word to the wise - keep it simple, go with asd or the tascam unit. Just my opinion!

+1000

[terzinator]

Amazing Slowdowner. Unbelievable. Also like how you can change keys, or even vary the pitch by cents.

[Daijoki]

Originally Posted by Baron Collins-Hill

Free, and an amazing program is audacity:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

everything you will ever need and more

I second that. While SlowDowner, etc., are easier (they're designed to do what we're discussing), Audacity is FREE.

[Jim Broyles]

Yes, Audacity is free but it is so cumbersome to use that to me it isn't worth using even at no cost. I bought ASD when it was $40.00 but I'd gladly buy it at today's price just for how easy it is to use and because of how you can dial in the exact pitches on these old records. You can take "Earl's Breakdown," for instance, which F&S played tuned up half a step, and put it in G so you can practice along with it. Every pitch or tempo change is immediate - no waiting to re-calibrate and load up like Audacity does.

[Coffeecup]

Here's another free option http://www.xs4all.nl/~mp2004/bp/

[Rob Gerety]

Yea, I agree with Jim. ASD is the way to go for simple functional slow down software. I use it almost every day because I am in this mode of learning melodies on mandolin by ear and it really has been a god send.

[Mandolincelli]

Originally Posted by jpf

Quicktime on your mac will do it just fine. and it's FREE.

Can you explain how to use Quicktime as a "slowdowner?"

[jpf]

click on your sound bite (mp3) ... go to file > open with > quicktime
when player appears go to window select A/V Player. on that screen you can change pitch, tempo, and play with the EQ's

I have amazing slowdowner also and it is great but just to slow down a passage to learn it I usually just use QT

[Mandolincelli]

Thank you Jean. I think I need to upgrade my QT.

[mattburnside]

Here's what I've found useful--download the latest version of Winamp, and then two plugins. One's called SlowMeDown, the other is called LoopMaster.

You can run both plugins at the same time. LoopMaster allows you to select a section of the song to repeat, and SlowMeDown allows you to go all the way down to half-speed (and you can tweak the pitch +/-100 cents while you're at it).

All of this is free.

[Jim Broyles]

Sounds pretty cool if the audio quality is reasonable at slow speeds. Half speed might not be enough for some hard passages but it ought to be okay for most purposes.