LearnJazzPiano.com archives: CD Player for transcibing
jerry -- 10/03/2006, 02:01:07 -- #30227
Can anyone recommend a small/cheap CD player with pitch control that can be used for transcribing. I've had a quick look on the net and only found very expensive players that do more than I need.

sid -- 10/03/2006, 02:19:45 -- #30227
Do you mean speed control?

If you use Windows, the most recent versions of Media Player let you slow down playback - go to View/Enhancements/Play speed settings.

sid

jerry -- 10/03/2006, 02:39:11 -- #30227
Speed control would be good I think, I just need something that will allow me to bring the recorded track into tune with the piano if there are any slight differences. I'm looking for something that can sit on my acoustic piano (walkman type CD player).

clobaton -- 10/03/2006, 07:43:43 -- #30227
Most of us are always looking for a solution for speed control, to help transcribing. but if you still want to change the pitch of the song, instead of changing the pitch of your interpretation, try the transcribe! software at www.sevenstring.com, you can change the pitch in octaves, semitones, or cents, but you will need a closeby computer :)

jerry -- 10/03/2006, 08:06:24 -- #30227
Had a look at this a while back (free trial period only) and thought it was good software, but I don't have the sort of setup where I can have a computer by the piano.

I may just get myself a normal/small CD player and not worry about pitch control. My concern was for recordings that fall between keys (i.e. less than a semitone out), but maybe this is not that common a problem.

SolArt -- 10/03/2006, 15:07:10 -- #30227
I still have my old Marantz cassette tape recorder with pitch control & half-speed. Great for changing pitch...& no close-by PC necessary.

CynBad -- 10/03/2006, 15:48:16 -- #30227
Yes, SolArt, and the new Marantz CD players are the expensive ones the original poster is talking about.
Although, I thought they had one with speed control only for $300 or so.

jerry -- 10/04/2006, 01:27:26 -- #30227
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll see what I can find in the Marantz range.

SolArt -- 10/04/2006, 04:15:43 -- #30227
Anyway a good portable unit is very much so worth the price, the same way I feel about cases for Keyboards and accompanying equipment. Why beat up (& damage!) your expensive equipment? Besides, cars often have high unexpected repair bills which have to be paid. So just do it!

sean8877 -- 10/04/2006, 06:53:10 -- #30227
I use this tascam instrument trainer to transcribe and figure out licks. It slows down CDs without changing the pitch, very useful:

  http://www.tascam.com/Products/cdvt1mkii.html

jerry -- 10/06/2006, 03:29:17 -- #30227
Thanks Sean, thats a nice looking bit of kit, and for what it is, not too expensive.

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