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Transcribe! is one Nifty Program
Here are 9 reasons why you really should look into it:
- It is far superior to iTunes and other audio players (or worse, YouTube!) in just finding your spot. Ever try to transcribe a tune using YouTube? Forget about getting to your spot instantly (wheel galore! But also inaccurate). With Transcribe! you can quickly navigate to exactly where you need to be. And I mean exactly– down to the very note! Or explore a fraction of the beat. Zoom into that waveform until it fills your screen!
- Awesome key commands to make navigating the song a breeze!
- Speed up or slow way down without changing the key!
- Change the key of any song (Working with singers, anyone?)
- Loop sections and shed!
- Boost frequencies to hear certain instruments better!
- Set section markers, measure markers or even beat markers!
- Export transposed or slowed down files for students, band mates…!
- Even slow down videos and zoom in down to the exact note!
Yes, there are other programs that can fulfill basic slow down/speed up functions – even free ones like Audacity. There is the “Amazing Slow-downer” and iPhone app I like, AnyTune Pro.
But Transcribe!‘s cool features and intuitive layout, great algorithms (minimizing mickey-mousing when changing tempo or keys) and killer exporting options make it by far my favorite of the lot.
Whether you are new to taking tunes off a recording or are shedding bebop solos trying to check out the nooks and crannies of your heroes’ work, Transcribe! will be your best friend.
But use wisely- as a tool, not a crutch.
Check out my tutorial, complete with a list of my favorite, easy to remember key commands.
Full disclosure: I’m an affiliate, y’all! I only recommend products I believe in and actually use on a daily basis myself. Boom! Please use the following links to purchase.
Download Transcribe! Key commands List as a PDF
PS to add: Proud to say Seventhstring Software’s Andy Robinson listed this tutorial on his website with a nice endorsement after watching it. Oh yes, and we are right under Jennifer Batten’s tutorial 🙂
Here is an excellent 30 minute tour of Transcribe! – thank you Ariane Cap.
7 Replies to “Transcribe! Tutorial – My Favorite transcribing Software Explained (Plus: Best key commands!)”
Awesome read as I had no idea how to use in a beneficial way.
I’m on iOS – iPhone XR: I picked up Anytune which does a lot of great things free or pretty inexpensively.
yes, I do recommend AnyTune for ithings as well. If you want completely free, Audacity is an option as well.
Transcribe just sounds so much better when you speed up/slow down and the interface is much more intuitive. Plus: can’t beat the keycommands and functionality!
Hi – I’m very interested in purchasing the software but first need to know if it can also transcribe isolated guitar track videos from YouTube and if so, what are the steps to download the videos and then get Transcribe to play them? Thank you!
Hi Joey, thanks so much for checking out my tutorial. You can load all standard file formats into Transcribe, including movies. Transcribe will not spit out a ready chart. “It” doesn’t transcribe anything for you – your ears do! Unless you have a midi track or use a DAW, no program can do that. Transcribe! gives you suggestions for notes and if it is an isolated track those suggestions can be very accurate. You can just download the youtube video or use a program like “Youtube to mp3” to download and then feed it directly into transcribe. With the video you can even see the slowed down fingers!
That’s really useful Ari! A couple of things I find useful
– transcribe up an octave helps reduce the muddy bass select you pointed out
– when beats are marked you can select and ask it to calculate the BMP
Thanks Steve. Glad it’s useful! Indeed those beat markers can be super helpful! Thanks for commenting