I've been writing for a long time about how I use "Transcribe!" by Seventh String Software to learn tunes, I finally put together a live video demonstration of the program:

High Resolution version on Vimeo:
http://www.vimeo.com/1252232
(Click on the zoom button in the lower right of the video window to view full screen.)

Low Resolution version on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY846dfCrv0&fmt=18

Here's detailed information on the process:
http://www.tradlessons.com/?page_id=135

I find the program particularly useful for learning tunes from recordings done on Bb/F, A/E, or C#/G# instruments, its trivial to shift the pitch to match my C/G.

I have no financial interest in the company, just been using their software for a very long time.


Cheers,

Michael

Wow!
Thanks alot.
Is there any recognition of the key built into a program?
How do you know what key it's in on the CD? I'm usually using my accordion's left side, but sometimes they cheat and raise the pitch.
Audacity does all of this, but the quality is so-so.
It's fine to change pitch down from C to G, but any lower, or higher is noticeable.
And slowing down really sucks. If you slow down with Transcribe more than 50%, does it drop in quality?

Yes, you can select notes in the waveform and it will show you on a piano keyboard it believes it to be based on FFT analysis. I'll add that feature to the next live demo. You can also play a drone note (like a D or G) while bringing up the tuning page (Look on the right side of the dialog in the demo video) and then adjust the tuning to be consonant against the drone. I'll show that as well next time.

Very kewl. But that sure is a funny sounding concertina!

-jim

It is, isn't it... :-)

I also play Anglo concertina, have found the program great for learning tunes off, for example, Mary MacNamara's Traditional Music From East Clare CD, where many of the tunes are played on low-pitched instruments. I use Transcribe to bring them up to match my C/G.

Hi Michael

Thanks for the pointer to the program. I wasn't aware of it's existence. Does it work with a special file format like MP3, or does it work direct from CD? The site isn't very clear about formats.

Good job on the tutorial, it's great!

Thanks
Leo

It can read .mp3, .wav, and also most AVI and Quicktime movie formats, will process the audio while showing the video in a window. If the audio is slowed down, so is the video.

I've posted a video showing how to use Transcribe! to slow down videos as well as audio. This is great for working out tunes and techniques from instructional videos:

Higher res version on Vimeo:
http://www.vimeo.com/1270338

Low Res version on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PpuBWeheYA&fmt=18

Cheers,

Michael