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Location: Cork, Ireland | What software can I use to play music slowly for learning purposes? For the first time ever, I am taking lessons - on playing Irish trad music - and want to learn some tunes which I already have on my PC . |
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| Syacmore, I was told to try "The Amazing Slow Downer". I haven't tried it though. Also, I have downloaded Audacity, but haven't used that either because my computer system (Windows ME) has been giving me problems lately.
Michelle |
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Location: NW Washington State | I think that the Change Tempo effect in Audacity might do it. Worth a try since it's free!
-Steve W. |
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| Audacity lets you change the tempo without changing the pitch (among other things). |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Thanks - been trying Audacity to do vey basic recording but had some problems with it. Will try it again though.
By the way, a great exercise we do during the class is to take a melody that you think you know, and to play it really slowly (on your instrument I mean, not a recording).
Also the teacher and class members are very impressed with my Applause as well as my 1615. |
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Location: closely held secret | Best Practice and
Music Analyzer are free, but Audacity would be your best choice.
Michelle, you really need to upgrade your OS. ME was the worst abomination ever perpetrated by M$.
Well, until Vista, anyway. |
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Location: Marlton, NJ | I've used Amazing Slow Downer very effectively. It was easy to use, and free (at least for what I used it for). |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Windows media player also has a slow down function. Just copy the song to your computer and you can play it half speed, but at the proper pitch. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | You can do it right on the iDEA pre-amp !!!
Scroll about half way down the page ...
iDEA FOR DUMMIES |
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Location: Flahdaw | I'm running Windows XP and I have problems with Audacity too. I know it's free and all, but there seems to be a lot of glitches with it. I'm using it now just to practice recording until I decide on a better system....maybe Zoom R-16 |
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Location: Marlton, NJ | If I remember correctly, ASD let you slow down to 10% of the original tempo. |
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Location: Brighty in Blighty | Sony Sound Forge Pro 10 |
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Location: closely held secret | There ya go. |
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Location: Sydney, Australia | +1 for Amazing Slow Downer. Also available on iPhone for added flexibility. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Amazing Slow Downer |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | The music is passed out and we play it. The tempo is at the total discretion of the conductor, or occasionally the keyboardist if it is something we know. We generally try and stay within about 10% of the composer's designated tempo. It usually takes a couple of reads to get it down, but never do we listen to recordings. |
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Location: SW Washington | I use Audacity almost exclusively for recording in my studio and the change tempo feature works great! However, if you are trying to slow down a copyrighted CD, you will have to use Audacity to record it analog or the copyright protection will prevent you from using Audacity to alter it. I often use Audacity to slow down parts for my students that are trying to learn difficult passages so they can hear the sequence of the notes distinctly. (Where oh WHERE was this stuff when I was learning?!?!?!?!?!?) |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Originally posted by David Van:
(Where oh WHERE was this stuff when I was learning?!?!?!?!?!?) During the early 60's when we did a lot of dance rehearsing in studios, we always used high-end record players that had tempo controls to slow down or speed up the record. Of course, this would not work for instruments because it also changed the pitch. I then bought a cassette player in the early 80's with the same feature to use in my own studio, but with the same pitch limitations as the record players. They were excellent learning tools. |
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Location: SW Washington | yes, in 77 I bought my first 'quality' stereo system... Infinity speakers, Kenwood amp, and a Techniques turntable that had a variable speed control... That was the selling point for that turntable... Partly because I could use it to 'tune' the song to my guitar instead of vice versa. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I used a Sony reel to reel from about 1965 and played it at half speed. Of course it changed the pitch, but my brain was able to adjust it back. |
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Location: NW of Philadelphia | Tascam MP-GT1 Guitar trainer. |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Got it working in Media Player - but still couldn't learn tune till I got it written down and played it note for note. Now can play it slowly - once I can do that from memory, can start building up speed. Technology helps but if you don't have the chops... |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | By the way if anyone hasn't ever taken lessons, or not for a long time, I can thoroughly recommend it. |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | In the old days, I just slowed down the record player and it sounded like drunk elephants walking. And lived with it. |
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Location: SW Washington | Lessons? When I was learning to play, my dad was wanting me to do something constructive with my time like playing football or basketball, NOT playing music! It was either teach myself or not learn, period. That was a running battle throughout my youth. Unfortunately, my marriage has a similar theme... sigh, does it ever end? |
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Location: Chicago | As a kid I obsessively studied LPs at 16 rpm--half speed--which dropped the pitch exactly an octave. I almost think of Pat Martino as a bass player!!! |
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Location: Texas | Originally posted by dobro:
As a kid I obsessively studied LPs at 16 rpm--half speed--which dropped the pitch exactly an octave. I almost think of Pat Martino as a bass player!!! Oh yeah, old turntable tricks! I did that too… I tried a slower RPM on the Supreme's "You Keep Me Hangin' On" and it sounded almost exactly like the (later) Vanilla Fudge version; vocals and all, just slower and lower than the original…
…and then there was the James Gang LP that frustrated people with "automatic" turntables since it had silliness recorded in the very last grooves on each side… side one had "turn me over , turn me over , turn me over …" side two was something like: "We're done… We can't be done!… Why Not?… Because Dunn is in California!" ;) |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Originally posted by David Van:
Lessons? When I was learning to play, my dad was wanting me to do something constructive with my time like playing football or basketball, NOT playing music! It was either teach myself or not learn, period. That was a running battle throughout my youth. Unfortunately, my marriage has a similar theme... sigh, does it ever end? Well, maybe not lessons as such. Am doing an evening class in Playing & Backing Traditional music. Not everyone is playing guitar on the course so its more playing together can be more like a jam session - get a new tune, one guy plays the melody, another adds suitable chords, someone else does something in between. Teacher dos play guitar and banjo-guitar so he does have some suggestions for technique. We've started going to a quiet pub afterwards and playing a few tunes - not just 'trad' but anything that comes into our heads. We outnumbered the other customers but they appreciated our efforts (might have been the beer talking but who cares) |
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Slowing down music for learning