A program to slow tracks? (for transcription)
 

I'm looking for a free program that slows an MP3 or audio file of any sort so that I can more easily transcribe it. While we're at it, what programs do you guys and gals use to transcribe?

Preferably for Mac also!

The Amazing Slow Downer

Not free but cheap.

http://www.ronimusic.com/

If you just google the single word "Transcribe" there is a great utility for this (for Mac's PCs etc). It is called .. "Transcribe"

It has a 30 day free trial and is the only one of these types of programs that is nearly artifact free. You can slow down to any percentage.

It's worth checking out and seeing if you can find a better one for no charge.

If you have an iPhone or iPod touch you can use the application "Music Trainer", which is almost free

Amazing Slow Downer is available for PC, MAC, iPhone and iPod Touch.

Me? I use Sony Sound Forge Pro. Not free mind.

Amazing Slow Downer is very good. Also a very good mp3 player, lets you change pitch, set up loops (you can save bits that you're working on), and do some other useful stuff. Should be a trial version you can d/l.

Any CD player made for disc jockeying will perform this slowing function (along with looping) as will a certain dedicated CD player from Tascam (the model number escapes me at the moment). I paid $200 for a Stanton CD player that will slow music. Make no mistake, a stand alone unit designed for this purpose will make the work much easier, but of course the trade off is having to pay more. The Tascam model for guitar player's is about $149, if I recall correctly.

I have both Transcribe! and ASD, and Transcribe! is much easier to use, loops and markers are easy to set up, and the quality of the slowed sound it excellent. It also allows you to add a pause to the end of a loop before it repeats - sounds like a little thing, but if you playing along I find it very useful. Neither is free, but its a small investment to improve your playing.

Paul.

Audacity is free. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Fran

Audacity is great - I love it, but its main aim is for recording/editing. Transcribe! is streets ahead for the job of transcribing - although I grant you it costs.
I used to use Audacity for slowing down MP3s, but I've seen the light :)

Transcribe! - Not free, but definitely worth the money if you make use of all the features.
Amazing Slow-Downer - Evaluation version allows you to slow down the first 25% of the song. There are perfectly legal ways around this limitation (think about it) ;)
Audacity - Not so useful for this purpose because it doesn't do real-time processing, i.e. you can't change tempo on the fly.

By the way, I just updated to the latest version of Transcribe! Great piece of software (and yeah, it actually does have an exclamation mark in the name :p)

As mmmaak, the esteemed leader of the AGF Transcribing Team (4 or 5 people ought to get the humor in that :D ) suggested, Transcribe! is an excellent program & the latest version looks rather slick.

:roll::roll::roll:

Did you make good use of the program, Scott?

Yea, it's been very helpful in figuring out some of the faster passages of various tunes.

I just purchased ASD, which I compared to Transcribe!. Although the layout of ASD is a little crude, I felt that it had slightly better sound reproduction at low speeds (to my ear, at least) than did Transcribe. The additional features of Transcribe, such as the wave form panel, weren't very useful to me, but then I rarely transcribe from scratch; I mostly am working from previously worked out transcriptions simply trying to work-out difficult passages. Either of them is worlds above the Tascam Trainer that I bought several years ago. The sound distortion on that at low speeds makes it practically useless.

That is true, and one of the reasons I stuck with ASD for so long. But once I really started using Transcribe! and making use of its features (which include visual waveform selection and video processing as well), there was no doubt which was the superior software overall. I transcribe from scratch, so that may make a difference in my preference :)

I've used something like that, if i'm not wrong it's sonic player..
yes, definitely this program able to slowdon the pace, but the tone is off.. wayy..wayy off.. just like in a film when someone screaming but in a slow motion..
p.s it's free player

Free? QuickTime Player and Windows Media Player are free and have that capability.

That said, try the Transcribe demo and take some time to look at the feature set.

I downloaded TRANSCRIBE and it all looks like Greek to me. I have no clue as to how to use it. I've read some of the help files, but they're not as elementary as I need it. Suggestions and/or insight into this program?

1) Use the FILE-OPEN menu to open your mp3 or whatever file.

2) Click the PLAY icon to start playing the song.

3) Click on one of the buttons along the top that say 25%-35%-50%-70%-100% to slow it down.

There are also icons for PAUSE, FF, REW, etc. that look just like the icons on a DVD player and you can click them. The only quirk is that if you PAUSE the song you have to click PAUSE again to resume where you left off. Clicking PLAY after PAUSE makes it start over at the beginning.

Lots of other features and information displays but if you just want to play it slowly that's easy as anything could be. The other really often-used feature is to take your mouse and drag it to highlight some portion of the orange timeline (the part with the squiggly audio display) to define a loop to be played over and over instead of the whole song.

I get the basics, but I'm not sure how transcribing comes into play. I play the song, there's the sound wave, but I don't know how this is suppose to help me transcribe. Isn't transcribing the ability to write out the melody and/or chords by listening to the song?

Transcribe! helps you errrr....transcribe by slowing down the song (in real time) without changing its pitch while at the same time applying certain algorithms to ensure that the playback does not become choppy at very low speeds. There are loads of other features, of course, but that's the gist of it.

Sure, it's not *essential* to have a piece of software to help you transcribe songs, but it sure makes things a heckuva lot easier! :guitar:

P.S. Are your speakers on? ;)

quicktime pro
 

Apple's Quicktime Pro can slow down audio and video. It's pitch adjustment is fair but not great. I like it and have used it for years.

There are no practical automatic-transcription programs for complex polyphonic musical performances, if that's what you're asking. Maybe one day but I can't really imagine that working very well. Heck, the overuse of fake reverb alone would have to be brutal to deal with.

Can you still download the old version? I use a five year old version....it's quite simple. I know they made several advancements, but I'm simple. I use it constantly.......loops, changing pitch, slowing down....all I need.

I've recently been looking at getting a program also...
I will 100% make a purchase in the near future, but trying to find the best one.

So far I've tried GDT (Guitar and Drum Trainer) by Renegade Minds, it's actually pretty good but seems to be a system hog (not the worst by any means though). Has a lot of features and relatively easy to use. You can be up and looping and slowing down in no time. Has some wicked options for wave forms, EQ etc... However I only used the basic functions (I just need to learn that solo!)

One nagging issue so far: Sometimes, it's hard to skip to a section of the song and I have to use the FF RW buttons. Clicking on the wave form marks the loop start and end (right and left click, simple). But how do you advance to a certain section of the song??? Then sometimes clicking on the wave form skips to that point. A bit glitchy but very usable still.

http://renegademinds.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=65

I'm also considering Riff Master Pro - anyone have any experience with this?

I'll dl a trial version later, and then also try transcribe. It also looks easy to use.
http://riffmasterpro.com/

I looked at Transcribe but it didn't look that friendly so I didn't DL it. Plus it was expensive. But if you guys say it's that good I'll check it out...

Really all I need to do is slow down the song so I can tab it out for myself. What does Trascribe! do that helps?