I just happened upon this shareware a day or two ago. There are other programs that do the same things but none, in my experience, so easily and conveniently.
http://www.e-soft.co.uk/Audiotran.htm
I downloaded the shareware, but am debating on testing it.
It costs $24.95. That’s enough to buy another whistle!
But here’s what I have been doing for free:
I use Audacity. Load the MP3, select the whole thing by hitting Ctrl-A,
then choose Effect and Change Tempo.
Oreo Phil
I would recommend you to use BestPractise. Its nice, easy to use, can slow down both audio CDs and MP3 files and it’s free.
I haven’t used Audacity in a while, but I remember that if you lower the default sampling rate, you will use a lot less memory and have less crashes. The version for OSX is a lot nicer than the old one for 9 (Mac talk here).. The speed control, without changing pitch, is great too. I had to transcribe a field recording of a Mayo Indian playing a flute in a non-standard meter and it really helped a lot.
And as I have said before Windows Media Player will do the same slow down and its free.
Ron
Yes, Media Player will slow down the tune, but it won’t change the pitch which can be really useful if you want to learn a tune that some piper is playing in, say, the key of B or that Tommy Peoples is playing in Db. You can do that with Audacity, but it’s a more complicated procedure than with Audiotran. So, it’s a convenient combination which you can use and if you like it, you can send them money, and if you don’t, you can keep your cash.
From what I’ve seen WMP can only slow down in certain increments.
I have one called “The Great Slow Downer”. It came with Band in a Box.
I can adjust the speed to whatever I want. I’m not sure if it does pitch changes though.
Once I know a song I use Band in a Box for background while I practice. It has made a huge positive difference timing.
I’ve been using “Transcribe!” for this purpose for many years and highly recommend it for both features and ease of use.
The program is able to both change pitch without changing tempo (great for working out tunes from old recordings in E-flat or other keys) or slowing down tunes without changing pitch. Has extensive equalization capabilities so you can isolate one instrument out of an ensemble. Very simple section marking and looping capability. I’ve learned literally hundreds of tunes using this software. I believe trial versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux are available for download.
Cheers,
Michael
another thumbs up for Audacity on a Mac