Transcribe from Seventhstring.com

[M19]

I just started using "Transcribe" to tab-out (that is, learn how to play) a new song that there is no "sheet music" available for, and it is going well.

Although I wish that you could just play the sound file and the program would write the tab for you (!), this program does allow you to both slow down the tempo to 25% of normal w/o affecting the notes and in addition, see the major (and minor or decaying) notes on a keyboard graphic at any instant in the song. You can also loop a section and work on a particular passage or phrase repeatedly until you have it.

The particular song I'm learning is Tim Snellman's "Whistle a Happy Tune" from the AGF collection CD. I started assuming it was in Open D, but the fingerings were odd, and listening carefully for which notes sounded open, I realized that it is in drop D. It'll be while, but when I get it down I'll post a recording.

Transcribe is about $40, and I think it well worth the investment as an aide in learning new pieces from recordings.

[El Duque]

I like that program a lot.

My trial run is over so I need to buck up and buy it. Haven't had a need of late.

Well worth it imho. The slow down and loop feature make it what it is.

There was no music for the tune I was trying to learn either. It went well.

[JonPR]

I agree. It's my favourite piece of software of any kind - intuitive to use, minimal stuff you don't need. (I've been using it for maybe 10 years - the earlier versions had absolutely nothing you didn't need; later ones have added a few superfluous bells and whistles, but they're easily ignored.)

There's way more useful stuff than just slowing down and looping. For stereo files the Mono/Karaoke tab (out of phase) is handy. So is being able to tune the track, mark up sections, measures and beats, add text labels.
It will also work with video, although - the one downside - not with youtubes. You have to convert them first to MP4 or MOV, which needs another piece of software (free), and a few minutes of processing. (A minor hassle I guess.)

More up-to-date users may bemoan the lack of an app version, but if you're used to working on desktop or laptop that's not an issue.

(As for registering, when I first had it I found you could keep using it for free just by clicking away the warnings. But after another month I felt it was so good he deserved the (cheap) price -and of course that gets you all the updates forever, no extra charge.)

[srick]

I use Transcribe! on my desktop also. It's a fine program and well worth the price. On the IPad, I use Anytune Pro, which is even more amazing. However, more resources are needed for a good iPad experience.

One of the biggest problems with the iPad is the need to transfer and store files since you can't plug in a usb drive or external hard disk (plus there's a limit on iPad internal memory space). I picked up a Sandisk Connect flash drive yesterday ($30 at Best Buy) that is a flash drive with wifi chip attached. Plug it into your computer, transfer the files, connect to the new wifi hotspot and voila! Battery life is about four hours.

Anytune will also allow you to open audio and video programs in iPad apps. Last night I took a favorite video from Youtube, converted it with one of the free convertor sites to mp4 and then placed it on the drive. Then I used anytune to slice, dice and isolate tracks... Holy cow!

Amazing times.

[mastercaster]

Originally Posted by srick

I use Transcribe! on my desktop also. It's a fine program and well worth the price. On the IPad, I use Anytune Pro, which is even more amazing. However, more resources are needed for a good iPad experience.

One of the biggest problems with the iPad is the need to transfer and store files since you can't plug in a usb drive or external hard disk (plus there's a limit on iPad internal memory space). I picked up a Sandisk Connect flash drive yesterday ($30 at Best Buy) that is a flash drive with wifi chip attached. Plug it into your computer, transfer the files, connect to the new wifi hotspot and voila! Battery life is about four hours.

Anytune will also allow you to open audio and video programs in iPad apps. Last night I took a favorite video from Youtube, converted it with one of the free convertor sites to mp4 and then placed it on the drive. Then I used anytune to slice, dice and isolate tracks... Holy cow!

Amazing times.

I use Anytune on the iPad also, great featured filled app. I also extract audio from video to slow down and loop in Anytune but I do it all on the iPad.
I use Swift Player. It is a video player that will speed up and slow down video. It will also bookmark and loop between bookmarks.
I also download video from sites using Swiftplayer's web browsing function. Then I use Swiftplayer's open in function to open the audio in Anytune for more precise control.

http://www.tapparatus.com/swift

Great for video courses like Truefire on the iPad.

[Mr Fixit eh]

I've purchased Transcribe and although it's not perfect, it is well worth the $$.

steve

[M19]

Moderators always show excellent judgement!

[Music2Jam]

I was also using Transcribe, it worked for me and I was very satisfied and got a value for my money, then along with it I am also Song Surgeon which was referred by my music instructor and yeah I enjoyed the software, I would also recommend this music software aside from Transcribe.

[815C]

I'm another happy Transcribe user. Sure wish it had been around in the 70's when I was playing 33rpm records at 16rpm to figure out solos.

[hubster]

I use Transcribe!. My deal is to start with a youtube video or song from itunes, load it into transcribe to work it out, and at the same time I use an awesome program called Tabledit to tab out the song. Once my tab is how I want it, I print to a pdf and load it onto my ipad using Forscore. I attach the audio so I can work on playing the song and can listen to the audio. That's my system.

[Riverwolf]

Please excuse my ignorance. Will this program "Transcribe" actually TAB out a song?
Like (example only) I could load Stairway To Heaven and it would show exactly note for note?
I didn't think such a program even existed.
If it does not do note for note, then what does it do?
I went to their website but only got more confused.
Thanks.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

Please excuse my ignorance. Will this program "Transcribe" actually TAB out a song?

No! You won't find any software that will do that for you, not reliably anyhow. (Programs that say they do are hilariously incompetent, and need so much hand-holding it's quicker to do it yourself.)

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

If it does not do note for note, then what does it do?
I went to their website but only got more confused.
Thanks.

It basically allows you to manipulate the audio in various ways to help you listen more closely. Such as:
Slow down without changing pitch (anything up to 20% of the original);
Select and loop sections of any length (when you do this it displays the simultaneous pitches it hears as peaks against a piano keyboard - ie, spreading the chord out into its constituent parts - you can right click each peak to get guitar tab positions for that note, if you don't understand piano);
Raise the octave (to hear the bass to help identify chords);
In stereo tracks, allow you to remove anything panned dead centre (usually lead vocals and bass), and also select different parts of the stereo spectrum;
EQ patches to remove or enhance specific frequencies (not too useful IMO).

It also has a chord guessing function - when you select a beat or two of the audio - which works pretty well, except when you really need help, ie when the track is heavily distorted or has lots of dense timbres. IOW, when you can't hear what's there, it can't either.

It will work with video, but only in MP4 or MOV format, so youtubes need to be downloaded and converted.

There are a few similar programs, but none are better at analysing audio (at least in this cheap price range). Some pretend to be (such as Riffstation), but get things wrong. Some do roughly the same as Transcribe, such as Capo (Mac only).
ASD does most of the same things, but doesn't display the waveform like Transcribe does, allowing you to label it, mark sections, measures and beats etc.

Think of it like a microscope is to a biologist, or a telescope to an astronomer. They don't expect those things to tell them what it is they're seeing! But they're still essential pieces of kit.

[Riverwolf]

Thanks JonPR.