Musician’s love Macs. That’s a fact that no one can deny. Apart from the stunning apps like Logic Pro on the Mac, I take it no musician would like to have a BSOD while paying per second for studio time. Musicians like Macs not because they look pretty or make them ‘look cool’, but because they allow them to do what they do best, make music.

Apple of course has been pushing music with Garageband, and the latest ‘Learn to Play’ feature. This is well and good for particular songs, and if you can shell out $5 for every track you want to learn. That’s where Capo from Super Mega Ultra Groovy Software comes in.

Fresh out of the oven, Capo is an app that allows you to learn music by controlling the pitch and speed of your music. It’s as simple as that. Or is it?

If you thought this was one of those little applets that was strewn together in spare time, think again. Capo is a mixture of brilliant user interface (by Brandon Walkin), and raw power (developer Chris Liscio), both of which make a deadly cocktail.

I remember my brother, a very good musician, used to use the Creative software to study songs. The speed reduction came in very handy. But then I also remember him repeatedly using the mouse to repeat a particular part of a song. It looked so unnatural. The user interface also was so bad that it took him a while to understand how to work the software. The quality of the speed reduction was below par, but acceptable at the time, considering what it was doing (and the fact that it was a PC).

Capo’s user interface on the other hand, is so geared towards learning music, that I really want to pick up the guitar and make a fool of myself. You drag in a song into the box (from Finder, iTunes, anywhere), upon which it loads up a window. The window is perfect from the word go. On the left are two options: Speed, and Pitch. Above that is the album artwork which looks just plain lickable.

Using the speed stops, you can reduce the speed of the song, while keeping the pitch at the same volume. This is so well done, I couldn’t believe my ears! I don’t know what soundcard my iMac has, but it certainly trumps the output that came out of the Creative Audigy and the Auzentech Xplosion sound cards that were present on my PC. Every note was played slowly without any distortion. The pitch of the voice stayed steady right down to the slowest speed. Hold down Shift while dragging the slider to adjust between the default stops.

Next I tried the pitch adjustment (Tip: hold down shift to adjust between full digits). Again, blown away by the output quality. The voice very effectively switched over, without any excessive ‘electronic’ feel that is associated with most of these pitch benders I’ve heard.

The UI is so simple I’m having trouble finding excuses for grabbing screenshots!

From a user interface point of view, it couldn’t get any simpler. You have three steps to slow down your song, and a slider to adjust your pitch. You can also repeat a section of your audio track just by dragging over it. Great for practising those menacing guitar solos. You can also have separate markers for Chorus, Bridge, and Verse, for whatever reason.

This is an application that shows that good user interface doesn’t stand for a hollow application. That simple doesn’t mean underpowered. That Mac OS X is not all about ‘looking good’. That third party developers on the Mac care about its users just as they care about the Mac themselves. That looking good is welcomed with open arms!

At $40 for a single user license, I don’t expect everyone to jump in and buy it. You might even be able to find a free application that does slow downs. But if you value user interface and time, and are practising to be the next Jimmy Hendrix, this app will certainly help slow down his guitar solos. The trial allows you to use a single session for 5 minutes, more than enough to judge the app. I can’t wait to show this to my brother.