Ipod Touch/Iphone... Wow... I'm endorsing Music Trainer!

June 17, 2009 at 8:57 PM

Tascam, Supersonic, move over. Ipod has you beat hands down. What an invaluable practice tool, listening tool, teaching tool.

Ipod/phone has over 25,000 applications. So many are music related. I have a few. Most are fun, some are silly, some are helpful, and some are amazing. There are multiple metronomes, theory exercises/games, virtual instruments, sound meters, tuners... the list goes on.

But last night I stumbled upon a most helpful one.

Music Trainer! It slows down music without changing the pitch. Music is very clear, slows way down. MP3's can be be uploaded and synched into your ipod/phone. For 9 bucks you can put an unlimited number of Mp3's, wav files and m4a files on your pod. Wow.

You can tap or slide to slow down or speed up music, whether it's slowing down Michael Rabin or Heifetz or a piano accompaniment, perhaps an mp3 from http://www.piano-accompaniments.com ....

I'm excited about this, can you tell?

And for those of you (like me) who may want to occasionally listen to a 'period' performance that is not a 1/2 step flat, you can move it up with or without changing speed. LOL

Many thanks to the creator of this great application, Andrew Davidson. I'm going to try to persuade him to become a member here so he can answer questions and perhaps take suggestions on how to improve this amazing music tool.

Best to all... :)

From Kim Vawter
Posted on June 18, 2009 at 3:39 AM

i don't have the iPod but i do use the Tascam Trainer to slow down the violin CDs without changing the pitch. I use that tiny little amp (size of a cheeseburger) that you recommended, hooked up to 2 little spare speakers. It takes up very little footspace with a big sound. You can toss mp3 s into Garage Band and slow down the tempo (use slider near the bottom) and then burn it into a CD for a cheap solution to getting a song slowed down.

iPod: A neat small package with unending applications. Can't wait to see the demo.

From Christopher Davis
Posted on June 18, 2009 at 4:52 AM

You need an ipod touch 2nd generation or iphone to install the application :\ I only have the ipod touch 1st generation. It would have been nice.

From William Wolcott
Posted on June 18, 2009 at 4:54 AM

ipod first gen works, too.

Update your system software for 10 bucks. :)

From Bart Meijer
Posted on June 18, 2009 at 6:21 AM

You can do the same thing in Audacity. It's free, but MP3s are not included.

From Ann Marie Cordial
Posted on June 18, 2009 at 1:30 PM

Ok, but what if you have a regular iPod? Can you purchase software to be uploaded to slow down music on an iPod? I use mine all the time when I play. Unfortunately, though, my iPod dock does not project a big enough sound. Most of my classical music can be barely heard, even when I put the music up as far as it will go.

----Ann Marie

From William Wolcott
Posted on June 18, 2009 at 1:44 PM

Plug your ipod into computer speakers (if you have them- I bought some really good ones used for 20 dollars). They are self powered and will give you more than enough volume. Just use the standard headphone jack and plug it into your ipod instead of computer.

You can't use old ipods, unfortunately. It has to be itouch or iphone.

From William Wolcott
Posted on June 18, 2009 at 2:31 PM

Bart, how is the sound quality on Audacity for slowing down recordings? I have a Mac, so I'm going to try it, but was wondering if you could offer your opinion. I have Pro Tools LE and have slowed down recordings, but the sound quality is really distorted, sadly.

Music Trainer has very little distortion even at the slowest speeds. Factor in the portability of the ipod and that's why I'm so impressed.

From Bart Meijer
Posted on June 18, 2009 at 5:52 PM

William,

I did not change tempo or pitch very much: only 10% or so for tempo and only a semitone up. I just wanted to hear what Rachel Podger would sound like in modern pitch.

The tempo tweaking was done to create a more friendly accompaniment, but not as slow as 20% down. Music minus one provides that, no doubt electronically.

I did not notice any distortion.

Happy experimenting!

Bart

I did not notice any distortion.

From William Wolcott
Posted on June 18, 2009 at 6:17 PM

Music Minus One usually just has the instrument quieted down, but can still be heard.

I imagine 10% slower wouldn't distort much. MT slows down quite a bit more than 20%.

Thanks, Bart.

From Laurie Niles
Posted on June 19, 2009 at 3:58 AM

Thanks for posting this, Bill, and for everyone's comments. When faced with so many possibilities, it can be hard to narrow it down to those that will be truly useful in a given situation. It helps to hear what people are doing!

Now. I'm going to go learn how to cut and paste on my old iPhone, with its new update!

From andy davidson
Posted on June 22, 2009 at 5:10 PM

Hi All

I am the creator of "Slow Down Music Trainer". Thanks William for the kind words.

I originally created the application for my self. Over the years I had bought several Tascam trainer like devices. They where expensive and hard to use. I found my self wasting a lot of time with trainers instead of actually practicing. At this point in time I know my core audio engine works.

My challenge now to really learn how people learn, practice, and play music. It has been surprising to me how varied peoples approaches are and how much this varies between different communities of musicians and their level of education.

My goal is to figure out how to create an application that is not only fun, intuitive and easy to use but that dramatically increases the performer's love of music

I really appricate any comments or suggestions you may have

thanks

Andy

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