Slowing down CDs/mp3s - software?

Whistle
1

Hi,
I am a very new beginner, and am trying to learn some tunes and ornamentation from listening to CDs and mp3s. I have seen the suggestion on many threads about “slow-down software”.

For mp3s, I am set, I found a nice little plugin for WinAmp that slows down mp3s called “Slow Me Down” by Roni Music. That was free. However, if I open CD audio files with WinAmp, the plugin does not seem to do anything (tune plays at normal speed).

Rather than try to diagnose this particular problem, could folks please tell me what software they use to slow down CD-audio on their computer?

I would prefer something free if possible, for Win98. Roni Music has a “pay-for” package that will slow down CD’s, but I would want some reviews from C&F’ers before I plunk down cash.

Thanks!
Caren

2

Caren,
I’m using Winamp with the ‘slow-me-down’ plug-in and everything works fine.
I’ve tried 2 other free demos. One only plays portions of each file and the other was much harder to adjust. It’s not worth downloading either one when Winamp works so well, FREE.
My suggestion is to change your plug-in settings and get Winamp going.
Does the plug-in window popup when you run Winamp? If so, make sure the bypass box is not checked.

3

I just started using something called Transcribe, available at http://www.seventhstring.demon.co.uk (recommended by somebody in a previous thread – thanks!) It’s available for PC and Mac; I installed it on a Mac, so I can’t comment on how it would work on a PC.

All I can say is, I had NO appreciation whatsoever of the complexity of some people’s playing. The first thing I played was Junior Crehan’s Favorite/Corny is Coming, a set of reels from Planxty’s forst album. Liam O’Flynn is a genius. At least now I know why my playing sounds so crappy – I thought I’d been playing half as many notes as him, but it’s more like a third or a quarter.

This program also lets you export a file (.aiff, .wav) that can be played on a normal CD player.

Charlie


[ This Message was edited by: chas on 2002-01-20 13:17 ]

4

Chas, the link you posted gave a 404 message, leave off the (.)

http://www.seventhstring.demon.co.uk/

[ This Message was edited by: Tony on 2002-01-20 13:10 ]

5

Thanks for the link. I had problems with the winamp plugins, but Transcribe works fine.
Cheers,
jb

6

Greetings people

Does anyone know of a program that will convert .ram files into mp3s as I have tried to slow them down on the Roni music slow downer but to no avail…it is also not possible to play them on WinAmp. Any replies would be gratfully appreciated.

All the best

C

7

GoldWave audio player has a shareware version which includes a “slower downer” thingie.
Dave

8

I’ll also cast my vote for Transcribe!, its absolutely fantastic for many reasons:

  1. It allows changing speed and/or pitch independently.
  2. It allows you to tune the music to match your pitch for those recordings where the band is a little high or low of concert pitch
  3. It allows you to save slowed down tunes to .wav files
  4. You can select a section of a tune and have it loop play
  5. You can set markers to easily find tunes, A and B sections within tunes, etc.
  6. Inexpensive
  7. Runs on both Mac and PC
    :sunglasses: Handles both uncompressed as well as .mp3 files.

Cheers,

Michael Eskin
San Diego, CA
http://www.michaeleskin.com


[ This Message was edited by: eskin on 2002-01-23 19:34 ]