I’ve pulled this comment into our thread on The Amazing Slow Downer so that we can better discuss the technology issues you are facing. Perhaps some of our other students can give their advice too.
With both of my parents are in their late 70s, I’ve seen firsthand how daunting the plethora of apps and software can be in this day and age. So you’re certainly not alone there.
As a Spotify user myself, I highly recommend “The Amazing Slow Downer” for all transcription-related activity.
Here is their website:
It could be nice to ask a family member to help you download the app on your mobile phone and show you how it integrates with your Spotify account. If that’s not possible I will help you to get this set up.
I’ve just sent you an email with some additional questions on the exact technology you are using and that will help me to recommend the best path forward.
Hi Scott, I’ve never used either apart from the demo version of ASD. I also don’t at this stage pay to subscribe to Apple Music or Spotify and good question as to whether ASD can work with both apps. I haven’t used Transcribe as yet and not sure if there is a free version available.
Maybe Hayden you could see if there was a student discount available for either ASD or Transcribe - be nice! Maybe a Pianogroove Promo Code
It’s funny Scott because I used to exclusively use Transcribe, but these days, just ASD. Here’s some of the reasons, and I would say the direct Spotify integration is the main time saver for me:
The general interface is very user friendly on iPhone. I find it very easy to select and loop specific points of the record and also change the speed incrementally. I particularly like the A/B loop interface. Sometimes these simple things can get very fiddly on touch screen, but the ASD handles it perfectly in my opinion.
If I hear something that I like on Spotify, I add it to a playlist and then I can immediately open it in ASD with A/B loop and slow down if needed. For me this is a big time saver instead of pulling files into Transcribe on my laptop.
Having both Spotify and ASD as apps next to each other on my iPhone background makes it easy to flick between then. Previously I used Transcribe on my laptop and I’d have to move and turn my body to pause, loop, change speed etc… whereas I find myself more grounded at the piano when using Spotify and ASD. My iPhone just sits on the piano.
The ASD app has “recently played” songs, making it easy to jump back into a record the next day after sleeping on it.
Also if I have looped a specific section of the song in ASD, when I reopen it, it’s right where I left off with the loop in place which I find handy.
Perhaps some of those features also exist in Transcribe, but in summary, I just find the ASD more enjoyable and intuitive to use, and less fiddly.
Hi Hayden, I really need to start getting into transcription, and want to get some software for this. It seems that you prefer the Amazing Slow Downer is that correct? Do you know if it can connect to a Google Play Music playlist, or just to Spotify / Apple music ?
Thanks, Natasha
The reason I suggest this is that the audio quality is clear and crisp, and it you can also check the answers to find out what you are getting right and wrong.
Moving onto your question:
Yes I recommend the amazing slow downer.
I’m not an Apple Music user, but when I open this app, I see that it does have an Apple Music option:
I also love how it remembers exactly where I was - for example if I have looped a specific section of the record - so when I log back in I can pick up right where I left off.
Let me know if I can help further with this stuff and have fun transcribing.
It’s difficult to begin with so do be patient with it. Try to spend 30 minutes a day and if you are getting frustrated trying to work something out, sleep on it and come back to it the next day.
Some additional information for those who might be using Apple Music (or are heavily invested like me ):
If you’re a Mac/iOS user, here’s what the Amazing Slow Downer notes:
Starting with macOS 10.13, Apple has made it impossible for third party software to playback DRM protected files.
For Apple Music, the app to use is Perfect Tempo. According to a review in Cult of Mac (May 16, 2019):
Perfect Tempo lets you speed up or slow down any song in Apple Music, so you can learn how to play it. Unlike every other app that does this, Perfect Tempo works on any song on the Apple Music service, not just purchased and/or downloaded songs. It also has a great, easy-to-use design, which is way better than the utilitarian drop-down lists of many other apps.
And just as Amazing Slow Downer no longer works with Apple Music, Perfect Tempo doesn’t work with Spotify.
hello @scott1 I will probably link ASD to Spotify, and just follow @Hayden’s suggestions above.
I have started to do chord scale analysis of songs that I am working on, it’s a very slow process, but very valuable. Hope you’re well in these lockdown times.
Thanks for posting this @Alex_Bicudo - I did indeed see it and it’s disappointing news.
I have been using the Transcribe! App this week, which just works on laptop/computer. The Transcribe! App doesn’t have a direct integration with Spotify unlike ASD but none the less it’s a great tool for transcription.
I currently use anytune pro. I don’t think there is Spotify integration so just rip the song off of YouTube and airdrop to my iPad. It drops right into the apps folder which is nice. App itself is great. iPad streams right into my FP 90x which makes practicing set up a breeze. We really live in an amazing time technology wise!
Awesome I will check out the anytune pro app. I have heard of it in the past.
So you are sending the audio from your iPad to the keyboard so that the sound plays through the keyboard’s built in speakers? that sounds like a nice setup.
I use ‘Transcribe’ quite a bit; the slowed-down audio sounds very good in that one. Whenever I need a song from Spotify I record it from within Transcribe, using ‘Stereo-mix’. You may have to enable that in Windows in your sound settings (under the ‘Recording’ tab). Sometimes I turn it off again since it causes feedback loops in FL Studio for example.
But in general, that gives you a nice mp3 file to work with in Transcribe from there on. I guess it’s legal to capture a song if you only use it privately for this purpose.
):
Guess I’ll use Youtubes slow downer from now on 
