TOPIC: Try mTrax for your practice sessions

If you want a good play along music program that is excellent for practicing, mTrax can slow down the tempo to your pace especially if you don't want the extra hardware of a TASCOM or other similiar device. Try mTrax for your practice sessions. You will not be disappointed - the cost is $50 but they offer a 14 day free trial before you purchase.

mTrax is a software program put out by the Terra Softa company which enables you to load music files from your computer into mTrax "libraries". You can control the speed (tempo) of the music and also the pitch (key)- it does a lot more, but I have not got around to investigating all the details.

So if you are having problems getting players together for practice sessions or afraid of boring other players with you slow leads, mTrax will give you your own personal back up band that plays at your tempo. Also you can slow down small portions of music to riffs and fill ins used in the song you are practicing.

If you are interested, search the internet using mTrax - but don't confuse it with stock tracking programs! You won't be dissappointed!

It's a play along, or can you slow the tune down to learn it? Someone at class had suggested a program that slows music down so you can dissect it and learn it....forgot what it was called....

There is a program called Transcribe! that is great for play along practice. It allows you to change pitch, speed, and store and recall loops. The web site is www.seventhstring.com
Good Luck- Reid

There is also a free program called audacity that can slow down music without changing the pitch. It's a free download, though depending on your computer and operating system you may need to also download drivers to read and write MP3 files.

-Chris

I've been using "the amazing slow downer", which seems to have all the capabilities if the mTrax as far as changing speed, pitch, and playing loops, etc----it also costs about $50 and to me its worth every penny since you can start out slow and work up to 100% speed as you get better and better. They also have a trial version you can download for free but it has only limited capabilities. The website is www.ronimusic.com/