I'm using a little soft called transcribe http://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/download.html and I find it very helpful to transcribe a song. No notation or anything, but it allows you to play with the EQ and speed of the song, define sections and loop them, has a note and chord guess function... Nothing that can't be done with other audio programs but all those functions are just a button away with this program. It has a 30 days evaluation period and the license is pretty cheap (around 40usd), so check-it out, you might find it useful.


Cheers, Daniel.

I checked it out and it looks very promising i will download the trial asap and try it !


Cheers,
Bas

EDIT: couldn't wait and downloaded it through a 64kbit link (I'm currently abroad and only have my iphone as an internet connection, felt like the pioneering days of the internet haha). It's an amazing tool for practicing and figuring out songs from mp3's, wav or whatever. Did a trial on a couple of songs I know and I was amazed by the good results Thanks for this great tip ! )

I have been using Transcribe! for many years and it is a great piece of software. I've become pretty good at using it so feel free to ask questions. There are some very cool features that some people aren't aware of.

-Eric

Cool Eric! As mentioned in the first post, I didn't find any unique feature in transcribe but the sounds transformations (speed and/or pitch) sound fairly good and it really focus on the basics and everything is very easy to use (only one click away).
Eric, I'm just starting with transcribe and I I do have a few questions:
- There is a "piano roll" view for which I don't see a real use (unless you can export it to midi?). Any comments on this?
- The beats and measures markers: Is there any way to mark the first 2 or 3 bars and then replicate that for the rest of the song / section?


Thanks in advance, Daniel.

Just a related item, if you want to learn a song in a different key from the original, play back the file through QuickTime and use the pitch control. The tempo stays the same.

Happy transcribing...

The ovious functions are speed changes @same pitch, usefull for practing licks from slow to fast.
Pitch changes to correct thise songs which are not exactly on the right pitch (some songs are speed up or slowed down just a bit during mastering, especially the older songs originally mastered for vinyl).
Identiefying sections (verse , chorus, bridge etc) and looping, again, very handy for practicing the difficult bits of the song.
The player (start stop loop on/off, rewind etc etc) can be assigned to footpedals so as to keep the free hands (pun intended). This can also be done by midi, so basically every midi capable device can be used to control the tool.
Oh, cherry on the cake, a note and chird guessing feature to help you disect the hard to hear bits a song can have.
I'm pretty sure this ones gonna stay for me


Cheers,
Bas

Eric, any more (hidden) functions I didn't mention in my previous post ?



Cheers,
Bas

I don't use the piano roll. It's a new feature and I just haven't had a chance to check it out.

I don't think there's a way to replicate measure markers. I don't think you'd want that since temps vary too much. The easiest way to set measures is to listen to the tune and tap the M key on the downbeat of each measure. Then go back and change the measure markers at the beginning of a section to a section marker. You can also subdivide the measures any way you want. I usually edit the very first marker and subdivide it by 8. You can then set all measures after that one to repeat the subdivisions.

Let me know if that helps.

-Eric

I've used this for years- once you get to know the keyboard shortcuts, it's very quick to use, select phrases to loop, slow down, use EQ to remove bass, or specific instruments, use karaoke to remove instruments that occupy a position in the stereo mix..

It's a tool I use most days, and it shows that it's designed by a musician.