No two people process information at the same rate -- you'd be pretty
uncomfortable if you had to read at someone else's rate. So why, when
listening to the Web-based, audio-on-demand version of
The Harrow Technology Report (THTR Radio), should you be forced
to listen at the same speed?
Now, thanks to an earlier pointer from reader Armin Von Werner, and from
new software from Microsoft, you no longer have
to!
1) As of September, 2003, Microsoft's "Windows Media Player"
version 9 will let you alter your playback speed right out-of-the-box.
Go to View/Enhancements/"Play Speed Settings" and you can adjust the
playback speed as you wish, without it sounding like Alvin the Chipmunk.
2) If you're not using Windows Media Player, reader Armin Von
Werner has indicated that if you use the WinAmp program (www.winamp.com)
as your MP3 player, you can add a very cool WinAmp plug-in called
"PaceMaker," written by Olli Parviainen (http://www.sunpoint.net/~oparviai/pacemaker/),
that will allow you to speed-up or slow-down this journal (or any other audio, for
that matter) as you wish, without changing its pitch!
As of Jan., 2002, both programs were free.
To gain this ability, you must install WinAmp
(if you don't already have it), and then install
PaceMaker.
(During the WinAmp installation process, you may wish to allow it to
become your default .mp3 player, but that is not necessary.)
Then, configure WinAmp to use PaceMaker as described in the PaceMaker
documentation, or follow these steps after BOTH WinAmp and PaceMaker
are installed:
1)
From within WinAmp, hit CTRL-K.
2)
In the left-hand list, under "Plug-ins," select the "DSP/Effect"
item.
3)
In the right-hand window select the "PaceMaker tempo
controller" entry so that it is highlighted, and then close that
window. You'll notice a small
window appear titled "Pacemaker" with several controls on it --
more on that in a moment.
Now, if you allowed WinAmp to become your default .mp3 player, simply
clicking on the "Listen to this Issue" link in any THTR issue
should automatically begin playing it in WinAmp.
(If WinAmp is NOT your default .mp3
player, you can copy and paste the "listen" address from any THTR
issue into WinAmp using the "Add URL" button in the lower-left
corner.)
Once THTR issue is playing in WinAmp, you can adjust the
"Tempo" slider on the PaceMaker "Sound Control" panel to
make the playback as fast or as slow as you wish! (Leave the Pitch and Speed sliders in their center position.)
That's it!
(Please note that it's beyond the scope of THTR
to provide any additional instructions or support for WinAmp or PaceMaker;
check out their respective Web sites if you have questions. And of course you install and use such tools at your own
risk. But it only took me a few
minutes to get this combination up and running flawlessly.)
