software to slow down music?

Subject: software to slow down music?
From: SueH
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 04:10 AM

Does anyone know of any software which will slow down music without changing its pitch? I'm sure I saw some mentioned a while back but a search of the forum hasn't revealed anything.

Sue

Subject: RE: software to slow down music?
From: Alan B
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 06:58 AM

Don't know if it will help, but try looking in

Harmony Central
This is the software section of this enormous music resource
Alan B

Subject: RE: software to slow down music?
From: Neil Lowe
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 08:34 AM

I don't know about software but Akai makes a little box called the (dumb name) "Riff-O-Matic" that plugs into your stereo (or anything that has the common "RCA" plugs) and records 13 or 26 second snatches (the 26 second mode is supposed to have diminished sound quality) of music for playback at 2/3 or 1/3 of the original speed. It also has a feature called the "Note Grabber" that suspends a tone indefinitely, allowing you to find the pitch of that elusive note, as well as a pitch adjuster to step the notes up or down a quarter tone at a time to produce a full tone (I think, may be more) above or below standard tuning. Sells for about $130 U.S dollars but I have seen them on sale for $100.

Sorry for the blatant, commercial plug but I use this device all the time to transcribe complicated or fast riffs. An invaluable tool when trying to learn a particular piece of music, note for note. Otherwise I would never be able to figure it out.

Regards, Neil (now if I could only find a device that actually makes me play better).

Subject: RE: software to slow down music?
From: Alan B
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 08:50 AM

Neil

That reminds me, there's a neat piece of software for the guitar, which I got thru Harmony Central called Chord Finder. Its very good at giving you a good guide (not as exact as the advert implies)to the individual notes and chords being played in any music in a wav file

You can get a 30 free trial. Definatley worth a look.

Alan B

Subject: RE: software to slow down music?
From: Matthew B.
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 09:33 AM

I import the midi file to Noteworthy, and then slow the tempo

Subject: RE: software to slow down music?
From: Lesley N.
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 09:49 AM

Ditto Matthew's message - all of the midi software I have used in the past (I've stayed with Cakewalk for a while now - but it's a lot more expensive than Noteworthy) has had the capability of changing tempos. Also transposes, etc.

Subject: RE: software to slow down music?
From: Easy Rider
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 10:38 AM

All that is fine, if you already have a midi file, in which case you can simply print out the music.

The problem arises when you have only a CD of the song and no idea what is being played. I found a PC program, called COOL EDIT, that will listen to a CD, in your CD-ROM drive and slow it down without changing the pitch. I haven't tried it yet, but you can download a demo copy from http://www.syntrillium.com/

COOL EDIT

If you do, let us know how well it works.

EZR

Subject: RE: software to slow down music?
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 12:06 PM

G'day,
As a user of Cool Edit Pro, I can tell you it can change the speed of a .wav file without changing the pitch (or vice versa). If you change by more than a few percent it will start sounding odd.

If you are starting with a CD you will first need to extract the track to a wave file. There are many programs that will do this. If you want I can post a few URLs. If the copyright police show an interest I'm sure you can claim fair dealing if the CD is your own. (Note the nested ifs in that sentence).

Or you can go to Harmony Central & look for Musician's CD Player 1.36. It might be just what you want.

If you are starting with a MIDI file it's much easier, as Matthew & Lesley pointed out.

Cheers,
Alan

Subject: RE: software to slow down music?
From: catspaw49
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 01:27 PM

I recently purchased the hardware/software package from Schlock Computer Product in Chicago (9826 Midway Blvd., Suite 207, Chicago, Illinois, 60615) and it is very useful and does a tremendous job as to maintaining pitch. It has the advantage of being instrument sensitive with options for over 60 different instruments. This way you can play into the mike on the hardware package or through the CD drive. The rate of decrease is almost infinite. For instance, one chorus of Lady of Spain on accordion can be slowed to a time of 17 hours which makes the tune, although correct in pitch, totally unrecognizable and certainly more palatable. The basic unit package sells for $119.50 (American) but will not work with anything less than Windows 98...a big drawback.

catspaw

Subject: RE: software to slow down music?
From: CarlZen
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 02:16 PM

I purchased some software at a bluegrass festival (!?!) recently, and it is called Transkriber. It does just what you're looking for. You need Windows 95 and it is designed to help you do transcriptions and will slow the music down 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/8, or 1/12 without changing pitch. It is made by Reed Kotler Systems

http://www.reedkotler.com

I got it for $45 cash American. I don't know what they sell it for. It is functional. I have a little trouble with it, but I have a little trouble with everything. **smile**

Bill C

Subject: RE: software to slow down music?
From: SueH
Date: 13 Jul 99 - 07:34 AM

Thanks, everyone

I already use Goldwave for taking music from CDs, tape etc, & (for anyone who didn't know) you can also save the output as a .wav file with MPEG attributes, so files are small & can be played by Winamp or any other MPEG player.

I'll try downloading Cool Edit & let you know what it's like

Sue