Software

[Robert Carr]

The goal for this information is to get the favorite software for the group. Maybe we can swap learning/ideas/free tools, etc. Maybe someone is using software that's a better fit for you …

What software do you use for…

Slowing down songs to learn?
Music Notation?
Recording/Editing
Music theory

Software is on…Desktop/laptop/tablet/Ipad/phone?

I use:
Mac Laptop or Desktop
Musescore 2 for Notation. (Noteflight.com looks promising.) https://musescore.org
Logic 9 (10 is out but ouch, pricey!)
Transcribe+ for iPhone/iPad
Tenuto for iPhone/iPad
Transcribe for slow down without pitch change (www.seventhstring.com)

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Logic X is $200... don't see how that's even remotely pricey considering what it is.

In response to your other questions, I use Logic, ProTools, and Live for recording (mostly Logic when I can help it).

 

[CoreyT]

For slowing down songs to learn:

Riff Master Pro and Roland Cube Jam for the iPad.
The Roland one is free, I think Riff Master Pro may have been free, or a few bucks.
I like Riff Master Pro better, but they are both great.

I loaded AC/DCs Hells Bells into it several months back as the opening riff was giving me fits, and a few YouTube vids I was not quite getting it.
With Riff Master slowing it down to 50% or so I was able to nail it.

Both programs keep the original pitch too which is great, or you can change the pitch too.
I highly recommend you try both apps and see which one you like best.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

I use Audacity to slow songs down. It's free. I actually use Audacity a lot. It's not particularly bad or good or clean or artifact free...but it's free. It's certainly no worse than YouTube's built-in half-speed algorithm.

Audacity can also be used to record simple stuff -- it even does multiple tracks, though I've never used it for anything besides simple stereo.

For multi-track recording, I use Cubase. There's a learning curve, but my approach has been to only learn the things I need to do when I need to do them. Not the smartest approach, but it keeps me from defenestration.

I don't have but need notation software. Transcribe you say? I will give it a shot, but Cubase probably has something in it.

 

[alantig]

Logic and Pro Tools for recording.

VLC for slowing stuff down. I also have a CD player that will slow stuff down, change keys, and cut out the center channel.

Don't use notation software much - lately just the built-in stuff in PT.

 

[Rachmaninoff]

I use a Windows 7 desktop PC, with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface, and a pair of KRK VXT4 active audio monitors.

For recording I use Sony Sound Forge 10 (newer versions are worse) and Cockos Reaper; both can be used to slow songs down.

For music notation I use Sibelius 6.2.0.88 (newer versions are worse).

 

[jay]

Windows 10 on Microsoft Surface Pro 4:
- Reaper (it took me less time to be able to use, compared to others)
- karaoke-version.com (to download songs removing guitar tracks - not sure if it counts as software but it really is super fun, highly recommended)
- Transcribe (almoste never use it, actually, as I rarely have the mp3 files, using Spotify)

iPhone:
- iReal Pro (not a big fan, though, it's a bit too repetitive)

 

[László]

Logic X. Every once in a while Digital Performer, PT, or Cubase.

Logic's notation capability is quite good, and more than enough for me.

I've never needed slowdown software, but it's because my material is original. It'd be a great tool for covers.

 

[JonW]

For learning songs, I use Capo on my Mac. Slowing down sounds still somewhat natural and you get a bunch of features to isolate or mute parts of the mix. And the whole audio is displayed in a spectrogram which really helps finding out the details and certain notes.
I edit all my tabs manually with TextMate, but you could use every other text editor on the planet.

For recording, I use GarageBand. Although there are moments, when I would like to have the one or other feature you only get in Logic...