Topic: Transcription Software

[Montgomery]

I use the Amazing Slow Downer (for mac, but i think it's available for pc) to slow down and change the pitch of songs.  Works wonderfully.

[NotRevGDavis]

I use the Amazing Slow Downer (for mac, but i think it's available for pc) to slow down and change the pitch of songs. Works wonderfully.

I've been looking at both the Amazing Slow Downer and Transcribe! they both have great features. ASD looks a bit easier to use Transcribe! a bit more comprehensive. The reasons I haven't downloaded yet, can't make up my mind.

[waxwing]

Well, you can download Transcribe! for free for 30 days. I found the learning curve not really very steep once you start using it. Once you learn the control panel it's very intuitive. A lot is very optional but comes in handy for some tough spots, like really trying to hear those bass strums in Scrapper's Back Door Blues was the first time I bothered to use the EQ function and it was a great help. Being able to toggle a function on and off once you have it set up is great, too: 60% speed, click, regular speed, click, 60% speed (or whatever you want to set the over ride to). Works for me.
All for now.
John C.

[Montgomery]

You can download ASD and use it for free, with limitations.  I believe an unregistered version with only play the first 2 songs on a CD, and only a minute or so of an mp3 on your hard drive.  Completely worth it though.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I peeled this discussion out of the old Scott Dunbar thread.  It seemed there were two parallel discussions going on, and transcription software really deserved its own thread, since I know many of you are interested in it and use it.  Perhaps advances have been made since the posts on this thread were made, too.
All best,
Johnm

[uncle bud]

While I don't transcribe things, I have started using Audacity to slow things down without changing pitch. It works surprisingly well. You can slow the whole song, or just certain select tricky bits. I have always been a "press the << button on the Cd player over and over" kind of guy, but this function is going to prove useful I think, for both guitar parts and lyrics. You can also change the pitch without changing tempo, or change both pitch and tempo if you wanted. Audacity is free and relatively simple to use (e.g., those effect described above have commands like "Change Tempo", "Change Pitch" etc.). One trick is that to save a file you need to export it, rather than use the more intuitive "save" command.

[onewent]

...I, too, have used Audacity since about Dec and find it ok, better than nothing and good for the price    ...I've used it mostly for recording to post on the BP, but had to download another free program to get the mp3 conversion and it was a little dicey figuring this out ... when I use Audacity for slowing down, I find the sound quality degrades after about 25%, especially in the bass ... and, like uncle bud said, you can choose which part of the song to slow down by highlighting that section, or, if recording, you can select just the portions of the song you've recorded for posting purposes ...  overall, a little messy to use for my brain, but, not bad for the price

[uncle bud]

Hi Tom - I've haven't tried slowing down more than 25% so far, so haven't experienced that problem yet, although I guess I'd expect some sound degradation with this function. But I'll watch out for it. The Lame dll file for converting to mp3 caused me a little confusion as well, though I did get it working. Basically, download it and extract it to/put it in your Audacity folder. That said, I found the sound quality after conversion better using iTunes. At least for the Back Porch version of Suitcase Full of Blues I posted, I ended up converting using iTunes for a smaller file with better sound. So theoretically one could edit in Audacity and convert to mp3 with another free program like iTunes. dbpoweramp is another one that's free, although it may use the Lame encoder as well.

Overall, the sound editing programs I've tried have been less than user-friendly in general. Messy for my brain too. But the slow-down function in Audacity was relatively straightforward once I got a .wav file in there.

Cheers,
Andrew

[a2tom]

for my money, having all of the above, Transcribe is hands down the best.  Compared side by side the sound of Audacity and Windows Media Player slow down is not nearly of the same consistent quality.  The ASD interface is limited and limiting compared to Transcribe, which gets you the heart of the matter faster. 

tom

[uncle bud]

Thanks for the tip on Transcribe, a2tom. If I start wanting to transcribe things, I might consider it. But it's $50 or so, so not on my list at the moment if I can get the functions I currently need out of Audacity. It is not an audio editor, however, correct? I.e., when I upload a file from my minidisc, I can't cut the tune out of the false starts, coughs and what not when recording myself? So I'd need Audacity or something anyway?

[a2tom]

as you say Transcribe is not free!  Also, it is not really a sound editor.  You can do clipping of the ends, and it does have things like an equalizer, but for the most part it isn't geared toward that, not like Audacity or similar. 

BTW, if you are wondering why I have all of the above(!), well some are free, so no problem there, I was given the ASD as a gift, but found it limiting, and so checked out Transcribe's free trial period - paid my $$ about a day after downloading it.


tom