Simple pitch control for iTunes?

[DieBeachballDie]

I have a fancy cassette player that has this, and i used it constantly. That was early 90's technology. I'd like to assume its not asking too much for something like iTunes, or a 2013 iMac.

Basically, i just want to (quickly/easily) slow down or speed up a song... to adjust the mood, to play along with my guitar, etc. I know Audio Hijack will do this, among other things... neat program, but right now i don't need to spend $50 to do what my ancient cassette player would do.

Is there something simple (read: cheap/free) that will do this?

 

[Dave Braine]

Audacity will do that for you.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/mac

 

[DeltaMac]

I have a fancy cassette player that has this, and i used it constantly. That was early 90's technology. I'd like to assume its not asking too much for something like iTunes, or a 2013 iMac.

Basically, i just want to (quickly/easily) slow down or speed up a song... to adjust the mood, to play along with my guitar, etc. I know Audio Hijack will do this, among other things... neat program, but right now i don't need to spend $50 to do what my ancient cassette player would do.

Is there something simple (read: cheap/free) that will do this?

You are describing two related, but not necessarily connected things.
pitch (how high or low a tone goes)
tempo (the speed of a song)
Those two are dependent on each other. Slowing down a tape, for example, both slows the song down, simply changes the motor speed, which lowers the relative pitch of all the music, and slows the music down.

A digital source can do both, or just one, or odd combinations such as faster/lower, or slower at a higher pitch.
Lower the pitch, or slow the song down without changing the pitch.
Lower the pitch to get it in the range of a particular instrument - or
Slow down the song so you can practice more effectively when you are still learning the song.
Pitch control on a cassette would only do both, faster/higher, or slower/lower.
Digital methods allow you to play a song at a slower speed, yet with the notes at a higher pitch, or many other combinations of those two criteria.

Amazing Slow Downer is an app that does this very well.
Check out a demo - http://www.ronimusic.com/amsldox.htm
This has been available since 2000 for OS X.

Audacity is good too. I use it for recording quite often.

 

[DieBeachballDie]

Audacity will do that for you.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/mac

Hmmm...

----------

You are describing two related, but not necessarily connected things.
pitch (how high or low a tone goes)
tempo (the speed of a song)
Those two are dependent on each other. Slowing down a tape, for example, both slows the song down, simply changes the motor speed, which lowers the relative pitch of all the music, and slows the music down.

A digital source can do both, or just one, or odd combinations such as faster/lower, or slower at a higher pitch.
Lower the pitch, or slow the song down without changing the pitch.
Lower the pitch to get it in the range of a particular instrument - or
Slow down the song so you can practice more effectively when you are still learning the song.
Pitch control on a cassette would only do both, faster/higher, or slower/lower.
Digital methods allow you to play a song at a slower speed, yet with the notes at a higher pitch, or many other combinations of those two criteria.


Audacity is good too. I use it for recording quite often.

Well, obviously my old cassette player simply just slowed down/sped up the tape... so pitch changed along with the tempo. That was cool enough, but what you mention would be even more fun.

THING IS... . . . as neat as this is, i was sort of looking for something in a player, or something to add-on (not sure how this stuff works) to my existing iTunes player. Something i could modify tracks with, AS i play them, on the fly. My cassette player just had a simple knob... track was playing, you could just slow it down or speed it up. Too easy.

Maybe i have this wrong, but to use Audacity for this i'd be basically modifying/creating permanent tracks? as in they'd be separate in my music library from the originals?

----------

Amazing Slow Downer is an app that does this very well.
Check out a demo - http://www.ronimusic.com/amsldox.htm
This has been available since 2000 for OS X.

Okay... thats pretty much it, but $50? Seems a bit spendy for such a simple little trick really...

 

[DeltaMac]

...
...

Maybe i have this wrong, but to use Audacity for this i'd be basically modifying/creating permanent tracks? as in they'd be separate in my music library from the originals?...
Okay... thats pretty much it, but $50? Seems a bit spendy for such a simple little trick really...

That's like saying that recording and playing back music is "a simple trick"
Yes, it may be - but not if you want it to be done well, and without distorting the original music - more than the pitch and tempo manipulation.

Audacity can record.
And, can simply play a music file, as is.
Plus, you can manipulate that music file, including editing out noise, and a variety of other effects can be added.
You can play back your changes, without modifying the original file at all. But, you can save your changes, each save can be different modifications. You can then use those modified songs in any way that you like.
Outside of the changes that you make (which would be new files), your original files (the songs themselves) don't need to be changed (and they shouldn't, eh?)
Try out Audacity, and see if it fits your needs.

(You can also try out that Amazing Slow Downer for free, which you may like enough to buy it. It's a "one-trick pony", but the one trick is very good.)

 

[Dave Braine]

Maybe i have this wrong, but to use Audacity for this i'd be basically modifying/creating permanent tracks? as in they'd be separate in my music library from the originals?

Yes, but wouldn't be the same with Audio Hijack that you mentioned in your first post?

Well, obviously my old cassette player simply just slowed down/sped up the tape

How did it/you do that? I had numerous cassette players but the only time the music sped up or slowed down was when something was going wrong.

 

[DeltaMac]

...

How did it/you do that? I had numerous cassette players but the only time the music sped up or slowed down was when something was going wrong.

The cassette player is pretty simple.
Some have a control that adjusts the speed of the drive motor.
And - the pitch/tempo of the song changes accordingly.

 

[DieBeachballDie]

That's like saying that recording and playing back music is "a simple trick"
Yes, it may be - but not if you want it to be done well, and without distorting the original music - more than the pitch and tempo manipulation.

Audacity can record.
And, can simply play a music file, as is.
Plus, you can manipulate that music file, including editing out noise, and a variety of other effects can be added.
You can play back your changes, without modifying the original file at all. But, you can save your changes, each save can be different modifications. You can then use those modified songs in any way that you like.
Outside of the changes that you make (which would be new files), your original files (the songs themselves) don't need to be changed (and they shouldn't, eh?)
Try out Audacity, and see if it fits your needs.

(You can also try out that Amazing Slow Downer for free, which you may like enough to buy it. It's a "one-trick pony", but the one trick is very good.)

What i meant by that was that i only really NEED the one simple little trick. I'd love to play with the features, but right now, and for the foreseeable future, i just don't have time to play with music.

The Slow Downer is also $50.

I guess what i'm looking for doesn't quite exist.

----------

Yes, but wouldn't be the same with Audio Hijack that you mentioned in your first post?


How did it/you do that? I had numerous cassette players but the only time the music sped up or slowed down was when something was going wrong.

That was something i read in someone else's thread, for a similar question.

The cassette player simply had a pitch control knob. As the music was playing, you could turn it either way to slow it down or speed it up. Simple 5-10% changes could drastically alter the mood of the music. Some songs i never did play on their original tempo.

My original point though, was that that feature was simple. I could just play music and mess with it as it played, while i did other stuff. It wasn't something i had to sit down and mess with. The mentioned programs sound really cool... i love that stuff, but for now i just wanted the feature, and i can't spend $50 for it.

 

[Dave Braine]

The cassette player simply had a pitch control knob. As the music was playing, you could turn it either way to slow it down or speed it up.

OK. Never come across that feature.