I thought readers of this forum might be interested to know about a Winamp plugin that I recently found. The plugin is called ‘Slow Me Down’ and allows one to alter the tempo of an MP3 file without altering the pitch (however, the pitch can also be adjusted independently of the tempo so that minor tuning differences can be dealt with).
In practice, this means that if I want to learn a tune from an MP3 file, but the tune is being played a little too fast for me, I can slow it right down, and pick out the individual notes at a much more leisurely pace. However, the beauty of the plugin is that the pitch of the tune remains unchanged. Basically, its a bit like sitting next to a great piper, listening to him/her play a tune, and then saying “could you play that again, but much more slowly so I can try to learn what you are doing”
The plugin (and the Winamp program) can both be downloaded from the Winamp site:
This plugin is in fact by the author of the Amazing Slow Downer, and
I think it is the precursor to ASD. It doesn’t have as large a range of
tempo or pitch changes, but it works just as well as that much-loved
program.
On the Mac side there is a great little app called Amazing Slow Downer that also works with MP3, CD’s, WAV’s etc. It can also transpose, so I’ve used to for leaning tunes from C or B chanters.
Humor? Humor? I am not funny… er, well… I mean I used to be… but I sought out treatment and am much more serious now… sort of.
Audacity is a good plugin, simple, easy to use, free. Most, if not all, of my clips on clips and snips were recorded using that free plugin from downloads.com.
