Using an Audio Slow Downer Program
Every musician fantasizes about playing like that famous all time great, who dazzled the world with his or her blistering speed on their instrument. For me, it was Vladimir Horowitz or Artur Rubenstein on the piano. Oh, how I dreamed about playing that Beethoven Concerto just like they did!
So, for practice, I purchased a Music Minus One recording. These are recordings of the orchestral part for a solo instrument, with a metronome clicking whenever there is a solo section. The problem was, I wasn't Vladimir Horowitz! I couldn't keep up with the music! And, at that time, there was no audio-slow-downer that would keep the key the same.
New Technology, New Capabilities
Nowadays, this problem no longer exists. Audio editing software has created tremendous opportunity for musicians to practice and perfect their technique. Every student knows that you start off playing the things slowly, and eventually you will speed up until you reach performance tempo. That's how you learn. All high-end audio editing software includes an audio-slow-downer function.
One program, however, is focused specifically on musicians who wish to practice at varying tempos. It is called Song Surgeon, and it takes any audio file and allows you to
- slow it down,
- speed it up, and even
- loop it so that each successive time it plays a little bit faster.
And, the best thing about it, is that the audio quality remains consistently good. I found that only when slowing it down to less than half of the pieces tempo, did distortion creep in to the sound.
But What About Singers?
Vocalists can rejoice as well, for Song Surgeon can change the key without touching the tempo. I am a tenor, and I sometimes perform with the recorded backing tracks. A few of them are meant for baritones, and I find it difficult to effectively sing some of those lower notes.
Song Surgeon transposes the song at top-quality, without changing the tempo at all. I then export the file. I have found the result to be of high enough quality to use in performance.
I tested Song Surgeon thoroughly, and find that it's quality is great. You can test it also, by clicking here and downloading the free demo. The best thing about it is its simplicity. The functions most important to practicing and performing musicians are right there on the main interface, not hidden on some overcrowded menu. It is made for you.
Song Surgeon is not just an audio-slow-downer. It also detects and displays the chords in a song, detects and displays the beats per minute, allows you to lower the volume of the recorded vocals, has a metronome function and lets you put a four beat click intro, and other features. Check it out here. Highly recommended!
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|Song Surgeon, an App that Slows Down Music | |Using an Audio Slow Downer Program | |Software to slow down music without changing pitch | |Tempo Changer Program |
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