Hymn Accompaniments

We try to match the speed to the nature of the music - relatively quick for Worship Songs and slower for traditional hymns. Usually we record at the set pitch of the hymn, but these can sometimes be a bit high for a congregation.

It's a good idea to try singing along a few times before you decide it really is the wrong speed or pitch for you.

It is possible to change speed or pitch using an editor, and it's now possible with very little change to the quality.

If you have a computer, it's relatively simple to edit the music and change the speed or pitch. Note that this can't be done directly on CDs - you have to have a file, either imported from a CD or one of our MP3s or downloads to work on.

The first requirement is a piece of music editing software. We recommend Audacity, which we use to edit our tracks - it's free and available for Windows, Mac and Linux. It looks a bit overwhelming to start with, but it is relatively simple. Or choose your own preferred software. When you open a sound file you will see the hymn as a set of waves - it's usually visually very clear where the (shorter) playover and then the verses are.

Changing speed
Assuming you are using Audacity (other editors may or may not offer this facility), first select the whole track by choosing All from the Track menu. Now choose Change Tempo from the Effects menu (in recent versions 'Change Tempo' is under 'Pitch and Tempo' in the Effects menu). Make sure the 'Use high quality stretching' box is ticked. If you want to make the playing faster enter a positive number in the Percent Change box. We suggest trying 10 first. You can hear a preview of the changed speed to see if it's right for you before saving it. If you want to make the playing slower, enter a negative number in the Percent Change box. We suggest trying -10 first.

When you are happy with the speed, click OK. When the change is complete export a copy of the file by choosing Export from the File menu. We suggest you give it a different name to avoid overwriting your existing file, in case you want to make further changes.

Changing pitch
Assuming you are using Audacity (other editors may or may not offer this facility), first select the whole track by choosing All from the Track menu. Now choose Change Pitch from the Effects menu (in recent versions 'Change Pitch' is under 'Pitch and Tempo' in the Effects menu). Make sure the 'Use high quality stretching' box is ticked. Choose how much to change the pitch. If it's a bit high, it's usually enough to bring it down one tone - set the 'Semitones (half steps)' box to -2. You can hear a preview of the changed pitch to see if it's right for you before saving it.

When you are happy with the pitch, click OK. When the change is complete export a copy of the file by choosing Export from the File menu. We suggest you give it a different name to avoid overwriting your existing file, in case you want to make further changes.

There is an iPad app called Perfect Tempo that does allow you to change the speed of a track when you play it. You can find out more here. We can't guarantee the effectiveness of the app in all cases, but it does appear to work.

We can edit files to change the tempo or pitch for you.

Make sure you have bought the relevant tracks first, then drop us an email with the details of the tracks you need edited and the speed and/or pitch change you have in mind. We will send you a link to download the updated tracks. As this is quite a time-intensive process we do have to charge £1.50 per track, with a minimum total of £6: if you need more than 5 tracks changing, we can offer a discount. Send us an email to info@cul.co.uk and we can provide you with a quote.