What software do you use for transcribing?

[Fretz]

Hey Fretters

I'm getting into transcribing a lot of songs and I've heard that some people use softward to slow songs down without changing the pitch.

What do you think is the best option for doing this?

 

[Eric]

I use VLC media player (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/) for pretty much everything these days. It's compact, doesn't use up much memory, plays every media type you can think of, and (most importantly) can slow down and speed up tracks without changing the pitch. Oh, and it's free.

Some tracks don't fare so well with the slowdown, probably because of the low audio quality, but it works well otherwise.

 

[syo]

I use VLC media player (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/) for pretty much everything these days.

Funny, I just discovered VLC player a couple of days ago. Not a fancy interface but lots of functions and, as you say, plays almost anything. Didn't know that you could slow a track down with it too.

 

[Robert]

I recommend Song Surgeon. You can try a demo on their site. I like how it allows you to save a section as a separate file, so you can easily find that loop you were working on at a later time.

 

[Eric]

I like how it allows you to save a section as a separate file, so you can easily find that loop you were working on at a later time.

That reminds me -- with VLC you can also loop just a section of the song, which I use for learning certain parts of a song I might be interested in.

 

[Eric]

Funny, I just discovered VLC player a couple of days ago. Not a fancy interface but lots of functions and, as you say, plays almost anything. Didn't know that you could slow a track down with it too.

The little double arrows on either side of the song scroll-bar will slow down and speed up the song:

 

[vroomery]

That is awesome. VLC even place broken files that are missing pieces.

 

[syo]

I checked out the Song Surgeon site. What a hoot. The infomercialish vibe instantly killed my interest. But that's just me. At least it's developed by the "Lead Guitarist and Vocalist for one of the nation's premier Rock bands". Pretty impressive...:notme

Looks a bit overpriced ($60?!) especially compared to VLC which has many of the same functions for free. Seems with song surgeon, you can slow a piece down all the way to 5% but if you have to go that far, you should probably tackle easier pieces first.

For myself, I use the looper/tempo features in Guitar Rig 4, Amplitube 3 and, increasingly on my Boss eband (great tool). All of which also allow me to record.

 

[bcdon]

Wow, I didn't know VLC could slow songs down and I use it all the time. I'm listening to a slowed down Pantera's "I'm Broken" right now and it is still awesome! :dude Thanks, Eric!

 

[t_ross33]

Amazing Slow Downer works really well. It does a good job of maintaining sound quality when changing tempo or pitch and includes loop functions etc. Not free, but not too expensive.

 

[GuitarAcademy]

I rarely use software but when I do, I use ASD, bought it years ago and Its very easy to use. I never heard of VLC being able to slow down without changing pitch. That Song Surgeon site seemed Info-mercialish as well, but the features including the converter seem well worth the price.

 

[Neal]

I recommend Song Surgeon. You can try a demo on their site. I like how it allows you to save a section as a separate file, so you can easily find that loop you were working on at a later time.

Robert:running You doing it to me again:thwap

 

[Robert]

Sorry Neal, hope that's a good thing though!

 

[natethegreat424]

Riff Master Pro

The best product I've used for this purpose is Riff Master Pro, no question. I use it every day and it has helped me transcribe some pretty difficult songs. However, I believe it will run you $40 - $50; nonetheless it's worth every penny.

Not sure if this is kosher, but if you do end up deciding to purchase it and you want to help out my guitar teacher (I just helped him registered as an affiliate with Riff Master) you can purchase it using the link below and he will get a percentage of the sale. (MODs please let me know if I should not be posting stuff like this, I'm simply trying to help my teacher out, I do not stand to benefit either way).

http://riffmasterpro.com/?hop=sylvester4

Hope this helps.