Slow Down Audio & Bring Down Pitch Like In The Analog Days

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davidmkgrossman
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Slow Down Audio & Bring Down Pitch Like In The Analog Days

Post by davidmkgrossman »

(DP7 User)
Hi,

I had to tape a rehearsal with my drummer's old cassette recorder which was running slow (old batteries?). I converted the cassette recording to a digital file, but I want to slow it down so the tempo is right and the pitch is down about a whole step (bring the key back down to G major from A major).

Long ago, I did both pitch shift and time scale respectively, and I can refresh my memory about these in the manual, but I'd like to tie them together as if I were just slowing down the motor on a cassette player (too bad I couldn't take my drummer's cassette player as well as the cassette - this wouldn't even be an issue). Is there any way I can do that?

Feel free to point me to a term or particular spot I can look up in the manual rather than laying it all out for me. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
David
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HCMarkus
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Re: Slow Down Audio & Bring Down Pitch Like In The Analog Da

Post by HCMarkus »

Put the audio files in a sampler and tune to taste.
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Re: Slow Down Audio & Bring Down Pitch Like In The Analog Da

Post by stephentayler »

Good advice.... DP itself cannot do the pitch change without time correction as you can in, say, ProTools, so a sampler is a good option, or there are other 3rd party solutions that I am sure others will recommend.

Cheers

Stephen
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davidmkgrossman
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Re: Slow Down Audio & Bring Down Pitch Like In The Analog Da

Post by davidmkgrossman »

Do you mean cannot do pitch correction WITH corresponding time change? (I want to slow down time and drop pitch).
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buzzsmith
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Re: Slow Down Audio & Bring Down Pitch Like In The Analog Da

Post by buzzsmith »

"Amazing X" does both...it might be a reasonable solution. I think there's a demo. (Used to be called "Amazing Slow Downer".)

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Re: Slow Down Audio & Bring Down Pitch Like In The Analog Da

Post by macguy »

Hmmm... that doesn't seem like it would sound too good! I just junk bad recordings that are lost for hope... sounds like there would b tons of artifacts.
davidmkgrossman
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Re: Slow Down Audio & Bring Down Pitch Like In The Analog Da

Post by davidmkgrossman »

Thanks for the Amazing X tip, Buzzsmith, I'll look into that.

As far as sound quality, you might say I'm using an anvil to crush an ant here - I'm just trying to listen to a rehearsal so I can make some comments to give to the band arrangement-wise, not to actually preserve the moment or create a final product.
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Re: Slow Down Audio & Bring Down Pitch Like In The Analog Da

Post by stephentayler »

davidmkgrossman wrote:Do you mean cannot do pitch correction WITH corresponding time change? (I want to slow down time and drop pitch).
Precisely. ProTools offline AudioSuite pitch change can change pitch only while leaving the timebase the same, or by selecting 'without time correction' option it acts like a varispeed.

Unfortunately there is no such simple option in DP.

Cheers

Stephen
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Slow Down Audio & Bring Down Pitch Like In The Analog Days

Post by macguy »

Still, if the batteries were wore down (or whatever) and the source was recorded out of speed then changing it back to the appropriate speed would induce formant artifacts... Oh well.
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Re: Slow Down Audio & Bring Down Pitch Like In The Analog Da

Post by KarlSutton »

stephentayler wrote:
davidmkgrossman wrote:Do you mean cannot do pitch correction WITH corresponding time change? (I want to slow down time and drop pitch).
Precisely. ProTools offline AudioSuite pitch change can change pitch only while leaving the timebase the same, or by selecting 'without time correction' option it acts like a varispeed.

Unfortunately there is no such simple option in DP.

Cheers

Stephen
I'm confused I thought that's what the formants thing was for? In the spectral part of DP?
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Re: Slow Down Audio & Bring Down Pitch Like In The Analog Da

Post by stephentayler »

The Spectral and formants thing is only suitable for mono audio anyway, and a change in pitch leaves the length of the audio file the same.

In a a nutshell, halving the speed on a tape machine would drop the pitch one octave and double the length. There is no facility built in to DP that can achieve this, so other solutions have to be considered, such as a sampler...... I usually just nip over to PT and use its AudioSuite pitch shift, or sometimes use MachFive within DP.

I have had to change speed on many tapes that I have digitised in the past that have been recorded on inaccurate machines.

Cheers

Stephen
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Re: Slow Down Audio & Bring Down Pitch Like In The Analog Da

Post by davidmkgrossman »

Alright - time to install that pro-tools dvd I've been procrastinating about - feels like such a betrayal :(
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Re: Slow Down Audio & Bring Down Pitch Like In The Analog Da

Post by Gravity Jim »

While we're discussing this, have any of you ever produced the "unplugged turntable" effect, where an audio file gradually slows down and goes lower in pitch at the same time?

And if so, can you do it with DP's stuff, or is there something else that makes it easier/cooler/better?
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KarlSutton
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Re: Slow Down Audio & Bring Down Pitch Like In The Analog Da

Post by KarlSutton »

Gravity Jim wrote:While we're discussing this, have any of you ever produced the "unplugged turntable" effect, where an audio file gradually slows down and goes lower in pitch at the same time?

And if so, can you do it with DP's stuff, or is there something else that makes it easier/cooler/better?
The only way I ever knew how to do that was with the lo-fi plugin in Pro Tools.
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grouse
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Re: Slow Down Audio & Bring Down Pitch Like In The Analog Da

Post by grouse »

Apple's AU pitch plug does the slow down turntable thing. It'll also probably work for the OP's needs. It should show up in DP for anyone with Garageband.
Either that or DP's own Nanosampler should work. Drag the audio file onto the Nanosapler and play your keyboard.
Don't think there's any need to do something as as drastic as open Pro-Tools. :wink:
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