On a Mac
macOS 14.4 or later, using Core Audio’s own system audio tap. The first recording asks for the System Audio Recording permission, not Screen Recording: SlowBird hears your computer’s sound and nothing else.
Record whatever your computer is playing. Then slow it down.
Press Cmd‑R (Ctrl‑R on Windows), play the thing you want to learn, and press stop. The take lands in your SlowBird library as a track like any other, ready to slow down without changing pitch, loop by the bar and mark up with notes. No BlackHole, no Audacity, no drivers, no second app.
Free 7-day trial · recording needs macOS 14.4 or later, or Windows 10 or later
Three steps, one app
- Press record. Cmd‑R on a Mac, Ctrl‑R on Windows, or the record button. SlowBird waits, and the take starts at the first real sound, so it never opens with dead air.
- Play it. A lesson in your browser, a backing track you bought, a teacher’s shared session, your own take from a DAW. A live waveform and level meter show it is coming in.
- Stop & Save. It is in your library with its waveform drawn. Slow it to 60%, loop the phrase, name the lick and keep it.
Why not BlackHole, QuickTime or Audacity?
The usual route to recording your computer’s sound is a chain: install a virtual audio driver, reroute your output through it, record in one app, export a file, then open it in another to practise. It works, and it is five jobs where you wanted one. SlowBird uses the capture the operating system already has, so there is nothing to install and nothing to reroute: your sound keeps playing through your speakers or headphones while it records, and the result is already where you practise.
On Windows
Windows 10 or 11, using WASAPI loopback, the documented way to record what a PC is playing. No Stereo Mix to switch on, no drivers.
Lossless takes
32-bit float WAV at your audio device’s own sample rate, so slowing it down later has every detail to work with. A take can run up to 20 minutes.
Never the microphone
It records what your computer plays, never your mic, and leaves out its own playback so it cannot record itself. Your recordings stay on your computer; nothing is uploaded.
Questions
Do I need BlackHole, Soundflower or Audacity?
Not with SlowBird. It records what your computer is playing through the capture built into the operating system: a Core Audio tap on macOS 14.4 or later, and loopback capture on Windows 10 or later. There is nothing extra to install, no virtual audio device to route through, and your sound keeps playing through your speakers as normal.
Does it record my microphone?
No. It records only what your computer is playing, never the microphone. It also leaves out its own playback, so it can never record itself.
What quality are the recordings?
Lossless: 32-bit float WAV at your audio device’s own sample rate. The take starts at the first real sound rather than with dead air, and a single recording can run up to 20 minutes.
What do I need to run it?
On a Mac, macOS 14.4 or later; the first recording asks for the System Audio Recording permission, not Screen Recording. On a PC, Windows 10 or later. One £19.99 licence covers two computers, Mac or Windows in any mix, after a free 7-day trial.
Can I use it to slow down songs from Spotify or Apple Music?
SlowBird records whatever your computer plays, but whether you may record from a streaming service is set by that service’s terms and the law where you live, and many services do not allow it. Recording is for your own practice and study, and having the right to record what you capture is your responsibility (see the terms). For a track you want to keep working on, buying a download you own is the clean route: drop the file into SlowBird and it is in your library.
Once it is recorded, the rest of SlowBird takes over: slow it down without changing pitch, loop the hard bars, and save the licks as named notes.
Free 7-day trial · then £19.99 once, for two computers, Mac or Windows