SupermegaultragroovyCapo3 £20.99
Couldthisnewappleadthewaywhenitcomestolearningtoplayinthefuture?
CONTACT: Supermegaultragroovy PHONE: N/A WEB: supermegaultragroovy.com
Okay,you canhavelessons,but wesuspectthewaymostofus learnedtoplaywasbylistening toourfavouriterecordingsover andover,tryingtofigureoutthe notesandchordsandthen playingalong.Now,whilea smallproportionofreaderswill rememberdroppingtheneedle onvinylrecordsplayingathalf speed,thingshavemovedon quiteconsiderably.
Thisisperfectlyreflectedin Capo3,thelatestsoftwarefrom Supermegaultragroovy,who claimthatitis“thefutureof learningtoplay”.Runningona Mac,Capo3canimportany songfromyouriTuneslibrary andofferyouachoiceofphrasetraining slowingdownthetempo withoutchangingpitch, transposingthepitchofasong, fixinglooppointstorepeat sectionsandvocalreduction/ elimination.Whatismost remarkable,though,istheclaim thatitcanautomaticallydetect asong’schords.
InUse
Loadingasongisacaseof followingmenus,orsimply dragginganddroppingthefile ontoCapo3’sicon.Asyouplay backthesongandlistentoit, youwillseeitswavefile,plusa spectrogramthatshowswhat’s goingonmusicallyoverthefull frequencyrange.
It’sbasicallyaseriesofblobs atthecorrectpitch,butyoucan pickoutwhichblobsrepresent thenotesinaguitarsolo,and thenclickonthemwitha mousetohearthenoteplayed backonavirtualpiano.
What’smore,youwillfind thatdraggingthemouseover thenoteputsitintothetab displaybelow–notnecessarily ontherightstringbutyoucan theneditthataccordingly.
Asfortheautomaticchord recognition,asasongplays, thechordsappearbelowit.We trythiswithloadsofdifferent songsandtheresultsaremixed, wehavetosay,dependingin partonhowdensethesong’s instrumentationis.Forone,it sometimesdoesn’tpickupon allthechordchanges,andfor thoseitdoes,sometimesyou gettherightchord,sometimes thewrongchord.
However,Capo3invariably displaysrelatedchordsinthe rightkey,soisadefinitestarting pointandagenuinehelpwhen youarefiguringstuffout,as longasyouhaveamodicumof musicalknowledge.Youcan easilycorrectchordsandthen addnewones,soyoucanalso useittochartyourownsongs forpassingontobandmates forlearning—assumingthat theyhaveaMacandacopyof Capo,thatis.
Verdict
Capo3isundoubtedlyavery usefulapp,althoughit’sa personalchoicewhetherit’s worthshellingout£20.99.Its chordrecognitionisnotperfect, butitmaybeaskingthe impossibletogetittoaccurately spitouteverysinglechordfrom everysongyouputintoit.Asit stands,itgivesyouarealheadstart itsstandardphrase-training facilitiesareexcellent(theslow tempofeaturesoundsvery clean),withhelpfulfeaturesfor theguitarist.Whetheryou’re learningguitar,teachingit,or justneedtoworkoutanew repertoirequickly,Capo3could beaninvaluabletool. [TC]
GUITARIST RATING
Guitaristsays: Apractical softwaresolutionforworking outhowtoplaysongs