CONTROLLING THE SPEED OF AUDIO PLAYBACK
There are several methods to control the speed of audio playback when playing MP3s or other audio files on your computer. There are a few free media players you can download, or you can use the functionality built into Windows Media Player. The two alternateplayers I suggest downloading are GOM and VLC.The playback controls for GOM and VLC also work on videos. Instructions for each are as follows:
Windows Media Player (WMP)
This should already be installed on your Windows PC. If not, there is a download link at the bottom of this page for the most current version.
• Keyboard instructions
FasterCtrl-Shift-GSets playback to 1.4 speed
SlowerCtrl-Shift-SSets playback to 0.5 speed
NormalCtrl-Shift-NResets playback to normal speed
• Visual Instructions
For finer control (0.1 increments), you can open up the slider window for playback speed. You can access that through going to View-Enhancements-Play Speed Settings. In WMP 11 (the current version for Windows XP and Vista - Windows 7 has WMP 12), this brings up a slider in the bottom area of the visualization pane. If you have another version of WMP, this might look different.
GOM
Although GOM is my favored video player, I don’t actually suggest GOM for controlling audio playback speed, as it tends to create distortion in alternate playback speeds, but I include it here to introduce you to it.In general it has excellent keyboard controls (which is another tutorial), and is also able to play back just about any video file you give it (including broken files). The built-in controls also give it fine speed control (0.1 increments) through the keyboard, which WMP and VLC do not have.
• Keyboard instructions
FasterCIncreases playback speed in 0.1 increments
SlowerXDecreases playback speed in 0.1 increments
NormalZResets playback to normal speed
VLC (PC or Mac)
This would probably be my primary suggestion, as the keyboard control is finer than through WMP, and it doesn’t create the audio distortion that GOM does. It does however take an extra keystroke to access the shortcut keys. There is a slider that can be used for fine increment speed control, but the preset playback speeds accessible through the keyboard are as follows:0.25, 0.33, 0.50, 0.67, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0.
• Keyboard instructions
FasterAlt-L-FIncrease playback according to the presets
SlowerAlt-L-WDecreases playback according to the presets
NormalAlt-L-OResets playback to normal speed
The fine controls are also accessible through the menu, by pressing Alt-L (to access the playback menu) and then arrowing down to either Faster (Fine) or Slower (Fine).
• Visual Instructions
For visually accessing finer control, you can simply click on the window on the bottom of the player that reads 1.00x. This will bring up a vertical slider that can be moved in very fine increments with either the mouse or the up/down arrow keys (once the slider is activated by clicking on it).
Download links
WMP:
GOM:
VLC:
VLC (for Mac):
Thank you to Nathaniel Rice from Chabot College for sharing this handout. ()
Nathaniel Rice Chabot College1May 2013