slow music down tool

gretschdrum

gretschdrum

Junior Member
I'm thinking that it might be beneficial for me to be able to slow music tracks down so that I can hear what is being played a bit clearer. I've googled "slow music down" and it appears there are quite a few programms that can do this, I would be very interested in what you guys use/recommend, if anything?
 
gretschdrum said:
I'm thinking that it might be beneficial for me to be able to slow music tracks down so that I can hear what is being played a bit clearer. I've googled "slow music down" and it appears there are quite a few programms that can do this, I would be very interested in what you guys use/recommend, if anything?
Click to expand...

The "Amazing Slow Downer" is pretty good. I think it's a free trial period that eventually expires so you may have to pay to continue to use it. What's nice about it is it adjusts automatically for pitch so the music sounds the same, just slower.

Great for deciphering complex parts.

http://www.ronimusic.com/slowdown.htm
 
Does the ASD have any advantage other than a hyped up name? Audacity is free and the Change Tempo setting maintains the pitch (if you want the recording sped up to change pitch as well for a chipmunk effect then you use Change Speed).
 
Typically Transcribe! gets mentioned, too.
It's not free - I paid 60 dollars a few years ago - but it has nice additional features and well, it was designed with slowing down being one of the main functions.

http://www.seventhstring.com/
 
I used the amazing slow-downer once too but it's true it has a trial period, you're better off using what Anon suggested.
 
The apple app Mimi copy works well. It also doesn't mess up the pitch when the speed gets changed, and allows you to quickly slow or speed up any song on your iPod. I believe it cost 5 bucks from the App Store.
 
Thanks for your input guys. I have downloaded Audacity, as it's free. Just need to figure out how to use it now!!
 
gretschdrum said:
Thanks for your input guys. I have downloaded Audacity, as it's free. Just need to figure out how to use it now!!
Click to expand...

1. Open file
2. Ctrl-A (slect all, as with other software)
3. Effect --> Change Tempo ... and choose your percentage.

Some pay-for programs no doubt have more precise algorithms, which could be more useful for some applications, but if you're just trying to work out what patterns a drummer is playing then I expect Audacity will cover bases and is certainly excellent value for money ...
 
Great suggestions here. I didn't know that Audacity can slow down
tempos without changing the pitch so thanks for that.

I use SloMo Director and it can also slow down tempo in audio and
video format. It's not a freebie though but it's a lot cheaper than Transcribe.

http://www.slomodirector.com/

I will have to check out Transcribe.

Update: Tried out Transcribe and I also like it especially the sound quality
in very slow tempos.

Raymond
 
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If you have a Iphone there's an app for $1 called DJay, which is a lot of fun to mess around and DJ with, but they also have a BPM control which allows you to slow down whatever song is playing. It's a pretty intuitive app, and you don't have to lug a computer around with you just to slow down songs. I'm not sure if they have it for Android but it would be worth looking into.
 
I use the Amazing Slow Downer iPhone app, which is excellent for me since my drums are nowhere near a convenient computer. Every so often they offer the app for free, I got lucky...
 
Is there an app that will slow down and adjust the pitch proportionally?

E.g the old fashioned way?

Someone bounced off a track in protools and it came out too fast, and we can't get him to bounce it off for us, so our only option left is to slow it down and fix the pitch.
 
Dre25 said:
Is there an app that will slow down and adjust the pitch proportionally?

E.g the old fashioned way?

Someone bounced off a track in protools and it came out too fast, and we can't get him to bounce it off for us, so our only option left is to slow it down and fix the pitch.
Click to expand...

I had the same problem with some old tapes.

Audacity again:

1. Open file
2. Ctrl-A (select all, as with other software)
3. Effect --> Change Speed ... and choose your percentage.
 
Anyone know where I can find this?

On my old computer I once downloaded a free app that would slow a song down without changing the pitch. That computer is now toast and I don't remember what that app was called.
 
I use Transcribe. You have to pay for it, but it's well worth it. You can go lots with the EQ and FX, changing speed and pitch, etc. You can even export sections of the tune with the changes you've made. I often slow a piece down, and loop a 4 bar phrase. You can choose to have it loop multiple times. Great for practicing grooves as well as transcribing.
 
You've received a lot of advice so here's a bit of history and why it is great to want to "slow down music today" vs yesteryear. With the digitization of music, it is possible to slow the music down but keep the pitch the same....something that wasn't commonly available to the public. By the early 1960's radio stations had devices called "rate changers" to use with there analog reel to reel recorders. These were used to "fit" commercials into a certain length of time within parameters. A rotary head "sampled" out pieces from the recorded tape to accomplish this. For the rest of us in the 50's, 60's, 70's and into the 80's, the method to slow down music to learn was to either get a record player that would play a 33 1/3 rpm record at 16 2/3 (and the pitches would all be an octave lower) and you would hear it at 1/2
normal speed or to acquire a reel to reel tape recorder and then play the recording at 1/2
the speed it was recorded, again lowering the recorded material by one octave. Reel to reel recorders in those days commonly had speeds of 1 7/8 ips, 3 3/4 ips, 7 1/2 ips and 15 ips.
There were machines that recorded as slow as 15/16 ips and as fast as 30 ips. Then there
was a variety of head formats (in other words, if you had your recording at 7 1/2 ips and wanted to play it on a friends machine, it had to have the same head format to work properly). There were full track, half track, quarter track, half track stereo, quarter track stereo and other formats.

A very popular device for music students in the 70's and 80's was the Marantz cassette recorder. Portable and designed with musicians in mind, it offered a 1/2 speed playback along
with a variable speed playback...but still the pitch was changed.


Soooo... we are very fortunate to have today's options at our desposal.
When I think back to my youth when most households had just a radio and very few a tv,
today's world is more than I ever could have imagined.
 
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