"We LOVE the Superscope! Until now, the
process of recording our students onto CD has been a long and often
problematic process. Superscope enables us to make quick, good
quality recordings in a variety of situations: classroom
performances, demonstration recordings of repertoire for students
by instrumental tutors, concerts, extra-curricular ensemble
recordings which can be used for feedback and self-assessment - the
opportunities are endless! The other fantastic thing about
Superscope is that it is so easy to use. It has been one of our
best purchases yet!"
- Susan Gouchee, Director of Music,
Canterbury College, Queensland, 2005
"I have recently acquired a Superscope PSD340 music practice and CD recording system. As an enthusiastic pianist with a passion for jazz I had been looking for something that would enhance my capacity to transcribe solos and other elements of musical performance recorded on CD's. This is relatively simple to do without anything other than a CD player for slower or more familiar lines but for very fast or complex solos it can be somewhat more difficult. If you have a tape recorder with two speeds on it (eg 7.5 ins per sec and 3.75 ins per sec) then you can record at the higher speed and play back at the lower speed. The solo will then be heard at half its normal tempo and you are then in a better position to interpret it. The drawback is that the music is also heard one octave lower and this can often provide an alternative impediment to understanding what is going on. Also many tape recorders are not equipped to start and finish playback at defined points so you can spend a lot of time just getting the tape into the right position each time you want to re-hear something.
The beauty of the Superscope is that you can play back a CD between two specified points at a speed up to 75% slower than the recorded tempo without any pitch change. I have found that this dramatically improves my ability to transcribe difficult performances and hence understand the musical intent of the performer. If you understand what is going on you are better able to utilise similar ideas in your own performances. There are various software packages that enable tempo changing without pitch shifting but, unless you have a computer with an adequate sound system beside your piano, these are much less convenient to use.
Of course the Superscope enables you to do quite a bit more than I have mentioned above. If you wish, it will change the pitch or key of the recorded audio up to plus or minus an octave without changing the tempo. This is useful for playing along with recorded music in a key different to that in which the audio was recorded. Alternatively it can be used to tune the audio to your instrument rather than tuning your instrument to the audio. I have mentioned changing the tempo down by up to 75% without changing pitch - it can also be increased by up to 50%. Also key and tempo can be changed simultaneously. Depending on how vocals are recorded, the Superscope is capable of reducing them. This can allow a singer to treat the Superscope as a backing system with reduced "interference" from the recorded vocalist. Other features useful for practicing music include a built-in metronome and a built-in chromatic tuner. The Superscope can be connected in to powered speakers or into an external amplifier or can be operated using its own speaker.
One of the features I find very useful is the direct recording capability. The Superscope has built in microphone preamplifiers or you can use the built-in condenser microphone. Since it has two independently operable CD players, one of which is also a CD writer (CD-R "write once" or CD-RW "rewriteable") you can record yourself directly to CD playing along with music already recorded if you wish. Note that the audio from the CD player may be routed into the recording system via a Digital In so quality is not degraded. A teacher would also find the recording capability helpful in providing students with feedback of their performances.
To put it succinctly, the Superscope PSD340 is marvellous device and any serious musician will quickly discover how useful it is."
- John Curtis, Jazz pianist, Melbourne, Victoria, 2005
"I have now been using the PSD Superscope at Morayfield East State School and Morayfield State High School for the past twelve months.
This recording device has proved to be more valuable than I ever expected. I have found that beginner students don't relate to playing at an even speed, but once they have heard themselves and try to tap along to their own performance they immediately appear to grasp the concept of playing at an even speed. Rewritable CD's have been the best to use.
The CD's supplied with Standard of Excellence are performed too fast for the beginner student. This machine allows the tempo to be slowed down to a comfortable tempo for individual students.
The voice reduction has proved to be an asset for vocalists to practice and perform at school performances. Students can practice first with the vocal line in to give confidence, then use the voice reduction button and sing with the backing only.
The condenser microphones that can be purchased with Superscope are excellent for recording bands and choirs, the reproduction is of an excellent quality, so this enables instructors to make a recording of the year's work and students can have a copy to take home. This is not in breach of copyright."
- Ken McCallum, Queensland Instrumental Music Instructor, 2005
"Using the Superscope, I have made recordings of piano solo, vocal and instrumental performances and the result is really outstanding. The Superscope CD Recorder has been an excellent investment. Choir directors have found their CD rehearsal tracks most useful and students have enjoyed the experience of reviewing their rehearsal sessions and helping with preparation for upcoming exams, eisteddfods and recitals."
- Peter Crane (Accompanist, Brisbane, Queensland)
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