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A great learning tool for musicians


roomjello

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I've used that and found it very helpful, especially when trying to work out blindingly fast passages. When using it to figure out voicings for chords it can be misleading unless you have a pretty darn good understanding of the harmonic series and the overtones of the instrument in question. Without that, you're likely to think that notes that match the strongest harmonics of the actual notes are being played. It's especially difficult when the harmonics of several notes in the chord coinside (I believe called "ringing" when the instrument is voice, maybe for other instruments too). Of course, that's a problem even without the tool. I vividly remember a friend pointing this out to me long ago, listening to an acapella quartet. His eyes light up and he asks "How many notes are being sung in that chord? Who's singing that high note?" The answers being "5" and "everybody, or nobody". Wow.

 

OK, back to Transcribe. The main features are easy looping, slowing down the audio, pitch adjustment (to match the recording to your instrument, if necessary), and the FFT/piano display to help work out difficult voicings.

 

It really is helpful. I confess I haven't used it for years, but only because it's a bother to reload it every time I get a new laptop, and the need doesn't come up often enough. I'm sure I have the activation code somewhere ... But I got my $39 worth out of it long ago. For anyone facing the daunting task of transcribing lightning licks or unfamiliar voicings more than once or twice a year, it would be a godsend.

 

Of course, you can do much the same thing in your DAW, but Transcribe is a very convenient, and that FFT display is very handy.

 

Oh my, based on that screenshot, it looks like it now makes guesses at which are fundamentals (the green dots). Even better, but with the same kinds of pitfalls you'd have using your ears without paying attention to instrumental timbre.

 

BTW, I'm not positive, but I believe once you pay it's good for lifetime updates. Maybe I'll download the latest and see.

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