I am going to digress from my ongoing ornamentation theme for a moment. You may have been looking at the transcriptions from previous columns and thinking to yourself “it must be hard to hear all that detail at the speed that Irish musicians play”. In fact it is hard and that is why many of us use computer software to help out.

Why do we need computers?

In the days before computer based audio it was easy to slow down the tapes and reels that music was recorded on and play it slower, however, this lowered the pitch and made it a difficult exercise as you could hear more clearly but you had to transpose what you heard back into the correct key.

Once the music was digital it became easier, the computer could run an algorithm that slowed down the music while keeping the pitch the same. Unlike a tape, however, there was a noticeable drop in audio quality, even when the music was only slightly slowed down. These facilities were also originally confined to expensive audio suites beyond the price point for the average user.

The technology has moved on significantly since then – today there are many options, no matter what computer you have, at a price point that will not hurt too much.

Which one should I use?

The answer depends on firstly the price point, ease of use and lastly, but most importantly I believe, audio quality. The Amazing Slow Downer has great audio quality in my testing but does not have a very informative user interface. I have been using Transcribe by Seventh String Software. I really like the feature that when you highlight a section of audio it displays the notes it thinks are contained in that section on a piano key board Brendyn Montgomery is a New Zealand born traditional Irish musician who plays and teaches the wooden flute, tin whistle and fiddle, and travels extensively performing, recording and teaching traditional Irish music.

They can all change the pitch of the audio as well. This is very useful due to the fact (as I have discussed previously) that Irish musicians like to play on instruments tuned up or down from concert pitch, Eb or Bb flutes for example – they use the same fingering but by playing on a different instrument get a different pitch. So it is important to learn it in the correct fingering. I have to say that my current choice is Capo by Super Mega Ultra Groovy. It sounds great and has the best user interface, its major downfall is that it is Apple Macintosh only.

Programs available

Brendyn Montgomery is a New Zealand born traditional Irish musician who plays and teaches the wooden flute, tin whistle and fiddle, and travels extensively performing, recording and teaching traditional Irish music. www.brendyn.net