I'm a blind musician (cello, beginner) and I'm looking for an app and hardware that will allow me to review recordings of my lesson without putting the bow down all the time to rewind or fast forward. I've tried hand-held digital recorders like Victor Reader Stream and MicroSpeak, but to use these, I need to put the bow down and manipulate the recorder. I'm thinking that an iPhone recording app with a foot pedal to rewind and fast forward must exist but I'm having trouble putting it together. would appreciate advice on which apps and foot pedal (Bluetooth, maybe) combinations would work for this purpose, with VoiceOver, of course. I don't need high fidelity in the recording. The teacher plays and speaks the music - I just need to hear it well enough to learn it. thanks.
Comments
Playback of recordings on iPhone with foot pedal
Hi Amy,
I tried to find a way to do this a few years ago whilst trying to transcribe my research interviews for my Master's degree with no luck. Someone else might know of an app that will do the job but I'm not aware of one.
I had to use some software called Express Scribe Transcription Software. This is available online and you can also buy a fully functional foot pedal to go with it from the company or Amazon.
The software company who make this application might have created an app but you would have to search for it. The foot pedal is USB and the software is for Windows or Mac but the software on Windows is accessible with Jaws.
The software will play a variety of file formats and I have used it for both speech and musc playback. You can rewind and fast forward and you aso have the time so this might be particularly important for music?
Steve.
thanks
Hi Steve - thanks. I've seen this software in my searches for a solution but had no idea if it would work with Jaws etc. this might be the best bet. It means I have to drag my laptop into the practice room, but that would be okay. Maybe I could record the lessons on one of my hand-held recorders, and if the right format, transfer to PC and use the software to review the lessons. thanks again.
Infomation about foot pedal
Hi again Amy,
I've just looked up the foot pedal on Amazon UK. It is called the Infinity USB foot pedal and it retails at just under £50 which I guess if you are in the US is about 70 dollas. Quite expensive but it is metal, very robust and you can play, fast forward and rewind. You can also format the operation of the pedal i.e. hold down the petal to play or tap to play and tap again to stop.
In terms of file formats and copyingfiles from a hand held recorder: this is quite easy and Express Scribe works with a variety of formats such as mp3, wav, mp4 occ etc. etc. Otherwise the same company that produces the Express Scribe software also makes an audio format translater software package so that you can transfer, for example, from occ to mp3.
Steve.
Steve - got Express Scribe
Steve - got Express Scribe and the Infinity foot pedal today and installed. then I downloaded my recorded music lessons that I had on my MicroSpeak. the whole system works beautifully to quickly rewind and play my lessons, helping me more quickly memorize the pieces. Many many thanks.