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Pitch / Key Alter Software

OK - I have less than a month to learn 44 cover songs! I'd sure love to find a software program that will allow me to transpose songs into other keys without slowing them down so that I can learn all songs in the same tuning. We are playing tuned down 1/2 a step so I'd like to drop the standard tuned songs down (about half of them) so I don't have to constantly re-tune when I rehearse them, plus I can learn the harmony vocals in the key that they will be performed at. Make sense? I hope so. Free is good, lol, but I'll pay for a glitch free solution! Standalone is cool, but I have Sonar and Soundforge so I can run most plug-ins too. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!
 
Yeah, didn't know where to put this, lol. I figured it was sort of about performance... Mods, move this where you think it belongs.

Dave: Sheet music is quite expensive and, IME, hardly ever note for note. My ear is pretty good these days so I don't need it, unless I am practicing sight reading.

Brad: I am going to rough chart them, maybe transcribing a couple fully, but I am in a rush. I would like is to be able to play along to the original recordings so I can work the harmonies and the song structures, plus build up some endurance - I have never done 4 x 50 minute sets before.
 
I was in the same boat in July of 2006 except the song count was more like 80(with some I knew). OK, here's what I did and still do when the "we play that in C not in D" etc happens:

1) Download Goldwave: http://www.goldwave.com/features.php
and the required mp3 converter piece "Lame": http://lame.sourceforge.net/index.php

2) For the "change keys" or move to E songs(Van Halen, SRV's), use the Pitch Shift function. BEFORE YOU DO THIS, WRITE DOWN THE SONG LENGTH in minutes & seconds(use in next step)
PitchShift.jpg


3) Restore the tempo with the Time Warp function by changing the Pitch Shifted length to the original length USING THE SONG LENGTH written down in step 2 with the DURATION adjustment. Make SURE you save them at 160kbps mp3 or better. The Time Warp function WILL make some things sound different but the bass will remain ok.
TimeWarp.jpg


4) Save all of the songs in mp3 to one folder on your hard drive

4) Dump that folder onto either a CD player(data files, mp3) or mp3 player of choice(we use Creative M ones http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Zen-...9?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1193089990&sr=8-5 ).

5) Listen to NOTHING but those songs PERIOD, ALL THE TIME.

6) Set up a home practice deal with a POD or other similar device to "play along with" the stuff:
MyWoodshedFx2.jpg


You can also "fix" song levels with Goldwave with the Edit Volume functions:
MatchVolume.jpg



Final suggestions:
Learn songs sitting down, practice them once learned STANDING UP as you would at a gig. BIG difference.

For endurance, practice for at least an hour or two at a time(standing practice, not figuring out time). I've done 5 hours straight(at my age) on weekends when I could and it SURE came in handy for that 3 hour and 40+ minute set we did at one show. Makes a 50 minute set a breeze.

It is a challenge.
Best of luck and, most important of all, have FUN meeting the challenge!
 
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winamp has a plugin that will do this for you automatically and remember the songs that are pitch-shifted. i believe it is called pacemaker - Link Removed

I use it to setup a playlist and it automatically remember and changes the pitch so i can play along with the song without worrying about retuning.
 
Transcribe from Seventh String Software is exactly what you need. I use it every day to learn new songs and practice them. It has a simple user interface that makes it is easy to change pitch, or slow down without varying picth to get difficult passages. You can EQ the bass out when you think you know the song, to be more by yourself at the bottom end. You can loop a passage, or play from a marker, etc. All this for the price of a set of strings.

And it is so simple and easy to use! You can do all that with other programs, but Transcribe was designed for exactly this purpose, transcribing and learning songs.
 
Bestpractice... free, open source & does the job...

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What?

BestPractice is a musician's practice tool, to slow down or speed up music, either from an MP3 file or directly from a CD. Ordinarily the sound is distorted when slowed down our sped up - you get the effect like when playing a 33 rpm record on 45 rpm speed (remember the Chipmunks?). BestPractice tries to correct this, so you can slow down and speed up music, while keeping the original pitch. It is also possible to change the pitch of the music without affecting its tempo. Play along with for instance Eb tuned guitars without retuning your own.
 
I recommend the Chronotron plugin for Windows Media Player. It works great, and sound quality is decent too! :) You don't have to play with any audio files, just activate the plugin, set the tempo and speed you want and play the song. That's it. :)

You can tune the pitch ±6 semitones (i.e. to any key) in 1 cent steps and set the tempo from 50% (half speed) to 200% (double speed). The tempo and pitch adjustments don't affect each other.

Strongly recommended. :)
 
Thanks everyone - I wound up using Bestpractice, it works great for what I need it for.

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Neat program, and freeware so hooray (although I liked it so much I sent the guy 5 bucks).

I looked at a lot of the other options mentioned, but bestpractice was the best sounding, and cheapest of the bunch that would let me save the pitch shifted files.