Hands-free file/vid playback control?

[Deliberate1]

I have started trying to learn new pieces from on-line videos, piece by piece, and sometimes note by note. It is driving me mad having to put down the guitar every few seconds, and then try to find when I want to backtrack to by manually searching.

Is there some sort of program, or device, that would allow me to "rewind" to a particular spot, and even loop a short segment, either with a foot control or in some other hands-free way?

Grateful for any suggestions.
David

[Lost Sheep]

There is a thread discussing bluetooth connected floor pedals for turning pages. Many of these devices are programmable to send other commands than just page-forward and page-back.

Sorry, I don't have a link, but a search on "Bluetooth" or "Page-turner" or the "AirTurn" brand (that particular manufacturer's name was mentioned, as I recall) should find it.

[Chriscom]

This Vidami pedal has been in my Facebook feed constantly, though I don't know much about it

https://vidami.com/products/vidami

I thought it was just for YouTube, but their promo includes a very long list of platforms, most of which I haven't heard of. But YouTube and Vimeo, a good start!

[Deliberate1]

OP here. Thanks, mates, for the leads which I will investigate. Cannot imagine how much easier learning a tune would be without the need to constantly track backwards. Nearly like picking up the stylus arm and placing it back on the record.
David

[redi]

I have been looking for a set-up to make video and music playback a little easier when holding an instrument as well.

Please post up any ideas on any simple set-ups.

[Doug Young]

If you can download the video - there are tools like 4K Video Downloader that let you do this - then Transcribe! is very useful. You can loop any section, speed it up or slow it down by any amount. If you're actually transcribing something, it also gives you some assistance with what notes are playing.

[redi]

I tested an app called "Fiveloop" that seems to work well on every platform I have tried.

It can also connect to a pedal... bluetooth ones too, although I don't have hardware to try the pedal part yet.

[Deliberate1]

OP here. Obliged all.
David

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Deliberate1

I have started trying to learn new pieces from on-line videos, piece by piece, and sometimes note by note. It is driving me mad having to put down the guitar every few seconds, and then try to find when I want to backtrack to by manually searching.

Is there some sort of program, or device, that would allow me to "rewind" to a particular spot, and even loop a short segment, either with a foot control or in some other hands-free way?

Grateful for any suggestions.
David

For Youtube videos I simply left click the mouse on the timeline to "set" the starting point where I want to loop a section of video. DO NOT move the mouse! I then use the space bar to start playing at that point and click the space bar again to stop where I want.

Click the left mouse button to bring the starting point back to its original position and repeat the space bar control however many times as you wish.

The best part about Youtube videos is most of them can have the speed reduced by 25% or 50% without changing the pitch. Great for working out more complex passages. The speed adjustment is found by clicking the little daisy-shaped "settings" icon at the lower right of the control bar.

The left arrow key lets me step back by a certain number of seconds for each click if I only wat to use a single keystoke.

[shufflebeat]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

If you can download the video - there are tools like 4K Video Downloader that let you do this - then Transcribe! is very useful. You can loop any section, speed it up or slow it down by any amount. If you're actually transcribing something, it also gives you some assistance with what notes are playing.

I do something similar, until recently with "AB repeat player" on Android but now with "AB music trainer", also Android, which is better spec'd and apparently very reliable.

Loops can be saved, named, repeated, rearranged, exported (with small fee).

[GanAinm]

You can buy a dedicated machine to do this. Or you can buy any number of inexpensive footswitches that will command your computer (a click of the footswitch = a click of the mouse, or more if you make a macro), then you program the pedal to equal the commands of the program you’re using (programming is simple and takes about 2 clicks). Then it’s up to your program.

I prefer to work in audio, so if a video is my only source I’ll often move it to audio. You can use foot pedals in video too, but the program functions are usually less refined.

The most efficient program I use for this is Amazing Slowdowner, mainly for one feature, the auto-reverse. One pedal, 2 clicks – the first click stops the recording and automatically jumps back 2 seconds (or any other length, it’s adjustable in settings). The next click of the same pedal starts it again. If your program doesn’t have that auto feature, you might be able to create a similar macro, or else you need 2 pedals and 3 clicks: Pedal 1, click stop. Pedal 2, click reverse 5 seconds (a common minimum). Pedal 1 again, click start.

Hands free seems like a miracle when you first experience it, but soon you take it for granted and get a bit picky. For example, soon a 5 second minimum is too long (ain’t nobody got time for that , or as the saying goes, your short term memory might be a problem, and so is your short term memory). Then depending on the speed and the passage, even 2 seconds isn’t just right, so you adjust it. Then you notice you can’t leave your foot on the electronic foot pedal and you don’t like having to move your foot off the pedal after each click. Ok, but luckily your other pedal with its guitar-style mechanical stompbox switch does work – now you feel a satisfying click at each action and you can leave your foot on the pedal (pedal depressed) while your loop is playing. This matters when you’re playing cross-legged because unweighting that foot to move it off the pedal every time is a lot of work . Ok, now all is well, but you get my drift.

Then all of that starts to seem unnecessary and it seems fine just to reach up and hit the spacebar to do the same thing. And your pedals will still be there for the next big project .