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Podagee57
Lokahi
USA
280 Posts |
 Posted - 09/26/2007 : 5:35:20 PM
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Anyone have experience with software that slows music down without distorting the pitch. I did a search and found several alternatives, but not sure of what's out there. I'm hoping someone here may have some knowledge they can pass on.
I play strictly by ear and some of the faster tunes can be challenging to figure out. I thought this would be great for some of the faster slack key tunes, and especially bluegrass stuff where they really move the fingers around in a hurry.
Any recommendations?
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What? You mean high "E" is the TOP string. No way dude! That changes everything! |
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MahinaM
Lokahi
USA
389 Posts |
Posted - 09/26/2007 : 8:46:36 PM
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Hey Kurt!
I just got this new little toy for my birthday that is kinda nifty called the Playmate by Alesis. Here are the specs:
The Alesis PlayMate Guitarist is a full-featured Guitar Effects Processor and CD Player in one. The PlayMate Guitarist features a built-in CD player that allows independent pitch and tempo adjustment for playing guitar in any key, slowing down the music to learn a passage, or practicing at even faster tempos. You can dial in any guitar sound from 80 editable multi-effects presets in the PlayMate Guitarist. A friendly, one-function-per-knob design makes the Alesis PlayMate Guitarist easy and fun to use.
I've been so dang busy, I haven't even had time to play with it. However, I hope to be able to test drive it out soon. I liked it because I can hook it up to my amp and use it as an effect pedal as well as play CD's in it learn a passage of the song. It's a real nice, all-in-one unit that I don't have to sit in front of a computer to use. You can find out more detailed info on any music gear site (just Google it and lots of sites will come up). I'll let you know how it goes, ok?
Mags |
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slackkeymike
Lokahi
440 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2007 : 04:22:35 AM
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I dunno... musicians friend says its discontinued... amazon shows DRASTIC price cuts. There must (may) be a problem with the Playmate.
I use Audacity. Its quick and surefire. I have a "Learn" playlist in itunes. I use Audacity to slow and export via mp3 (you will need the lame.dll add on) into itunes, then sync it up with my ipod. I normally use 40% and 30% for high tempo tunes. Plus, ipod is light and portable. BEST OF ALL... its free!!
Mike |
Aloha, Mike |
Edited by - slackkeymike on 09/27/2007 05:54:03 AM |
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sm80808
Lokahi
347 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2007 : 06:14:41 AM
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This one works really well:
Transcribe!
http://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/screenshots.html
it allows you to slow down the tempo without changing pitch
isolate one instrument in a group
highlight and loop sections easily
and it will tell you what notes were played if you are having a really hard time figuring it out.
It is a free trial download and is easy to uninstall if you don't really like it
Audacity works pretty good too. There is also a program called Wavosaur which makes looping sections really easy. |
Edited by - sm80808 on 09/27/2007 06:19:37 AM |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2007 : 06:45:22 AM
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In addition to Audacity there is Reaper (shareware) which has a fully functional demo for an indefinite time and free to try.
Also almost all of the commercial DAW's (Audition, Sonar, etc) have pitch and time shifters, but at a commercial price.
There is another stand-alone thing called "Amazing slow downer" that I have not tried but many friends use.
And of course, there is the infamous Antares auto-tune, which can be used to slow down or speed up as well a pitch shift, so far as I know.
With each of the tools above the pitch/time shifting algorithms are somewhat different and you will get differing results with differing amounts of "artifacts" from each. I have not found one yet that does a good job of shifting more than a few semitones (or the equivalent amount in time) without significant artifacts. (and I have tried all the above except Antares and "Amazing slow downer".) Shifting a whole octave (or doing half-speed) is, of course, a special case and usually does not have many artifacts.
However, for learning tunes a little artifact distortion is not usually a problem.
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
Edited by - Lawrence on 09/27/2007 06:45:55 AM |
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jlsulle
Lokahi
USA
284 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2007 : 11:04:36 AM
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| I have both Audacity and the Amazing slow downer and I prefer the slow downer as you can go from almost stopped to really fast with little change in pitch. I think Audacity distorts the sound a little more, However both programs work well and best of all are free. Jerry |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2007 : 11:35:29 AM
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quote:
work well and best of all are free.
Amazing Slow Downer is NOT free (unless you have an illegal copy): it is $44.95
http://www.ronimusic.com/
The trial version is not fully functional and will give you the following behavior (from the company website):
quote:
Q. I'm trying out the trial version of your software and I get strange error messages that will not go away whatever I do. I'm not a registered user.
A. Make sure you are not trying out the software with any kind of password entered. The errors will go away when you pay for the software.
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
Edited by - Lawrence on 09/27/2007 1:42:32 PM |
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noeau
Ha`aha`a
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2007 : 2:02:38 PM
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| downloaded trial version of transcribe. Looks interesting. free for 31 days. then deal? or No Deal? |
No'eau, eia au he mea pa'ani wale nō. |
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slackkeymike
Lokahi
440 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2007 : 6:40:56 PM
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Well, the cool thing about Audacity is (besides the fact that it is free) is that you can work with the developers at sourceforge.net and improve the algorithms (if besides being an awsome slack keyer, you have some nifty programming skills!!)
Mike |
Aloha, Mike |
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sm80808
Lokahi
347 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2007 : 03:58:40 AM
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Free trial, then you either buy (I eventually did.. I use it a lot) or uninstall and install again (I did that a few times too 'cause I am poor :P ).
I really like it for transcribing harder material.
Another useful feature is the ability to highlight a section in the piece and save it so you can always come back later to work out the rest of it and not lose your place. |
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jlsulle
Lokahi
USA
284 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2007 : 05:25:25 AM
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Lawrence,
I have been using the "free" amazing slow downer for some time. It is a free legal download but has some limitations, ie; you can only play the first song of a CD or you can play only the first part of a computer file. I normally take any song of any CD that I want to play and copy it to a blank CD thus making it the first (only) song on that CD. I do this only for my own personal use and therefore all free and legal. With all due respect, Jerry |
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chunky monkey
Ha`aha`a
USA
1018 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2007 : 05:45:26 AM
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| I use Amazing Slow Downer. It's worth the $45 to get past the limitations of the free version. |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2007 : 06:44:49 AM
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I do this only for my own personal use and therefore all free and legal. With all due respect, Jerry
Shareware is supposed to be registered and paid for after one is satisfied with the demo. That is why they limit the functionality of the Demo in the first place. Usually the fine print also specifies some sort of maximum time limit for using the demo, even if the software does not have a "turn off" timer, as Slow Downer apparently does not have.
People need to know that Amazing Slow Downer is not meant to be free software (as opposed to Audacity and some others), so stating that it is free is inaccurate. There is no free version, there is a demo version that you are supposed to pay for after you are satisfied, and that is up to one's own conscience.
It is good that you are not using a cracked version in any case! 
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
Edited by - Lawrence on 09/28/2007 07:51:09 AM |
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Podagee57
Lokahi
USA
280 Posts |
Posted - 09/29/2007 : 07:43:53 AM
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| Thanks all, I'll be checking all this out. What a wonderful resource you all are. |
What? You mean high "E" is the TOP string. No way dude! That changes everything! |
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