FAQ - Using Transcribe!

Click here to return to the main FAQ page.

1. "How do I get started transcribing music?"

   Click here for an introduction to transcribing music, and also read the Overview and Getting Started sections of the Help that comes with Transcribe! itself.
   Transcribing music is hard work and although Transcribe! makes it easier, it is still hard work.
   If you have never transcribed music from recordings at all then it can sometimes be a good idea to start by using traditional methods - using a perfectly ordinary CD player or iPod for your first transcriptions. Then try Transcribe! again. That way, you learn one thing at a time instead of trying to learn everything at once.
   Also see the query below, "Does Transcribe! actually do the transcribing?".

2. "How do I get playback to loop continuously?"

   First, be aware that "markers" have nothing to do with looping. You choose what to loop by selecting it with the mouse. So:
   - On the "Play" menu, select "Play Selection" and "Loop" so that both of these items have tick marks against them. In fact this is the default anyway, as long as you haven't changed them.
   - Select the section you want to loop - that is, sweep the mouse over the waveform display with the button pressed, so the desired section is selected (highlit).
   - Press the Play button on the toolbar. That's it.
   You can also do it by pressing the "A-B Loop" button on the toolbar : once to set the loop start point and then again to select the loop end.

3. "How do I change the horizontal scaling (zoom) of the waveform display?"

   Various methods are described in the Help (menu commands, keyboard shortcuts) but my favourite is to right-click (ctrl-click on Mac) the main scrollbar and drag. Try it!

4. "Does Transcribe! actually do the transcribing?"

   No. There are (and have been since the 1970's) some very clever people working on this with very limited success on anything but the simplest music. You can find links to other people's efforts here.
   Transcribe! does attempt to guess what notes are being played at any chosen moment (marking them on the piano keyboard) and also to name the chords being played. But it makes no attempt to deal with rhythm, or to produce musical notation or midi.

5. "Does Transcribe! handle musical notation?"

   No, Transcribe! does not address the question of notating the transcription - some people use notation software, some don't write anything down at all (they are learning to play something by playing along). Personally I use pencil and paper.
   You can add textual annotations to the transcription, useful for lyrics, chord symbols, comments etc.
   I don't plan to add notational capability to Transcribe! - if I give it limited capability then people will immediately start complaining about the things it can't do, while full-featured music notation is a huge job, and there are already any number of software packages around for music notation, click here.

6. "Does Transcribe! record or playback MIDI?"

   No, Transcribe! is for transcribing music from sound recordings. There are any number of software packages around for MIDI, click here.

7. "How can I edit the sound file itself?"
   "Will Transcribe! do multitrack recording or mixing?"

   Transcribe! is not a sound file editor or multitrack recording package. It records, reads and plays sound files but does not modify them. It can also export modified sound files (e.g. with pitch or speed change applied) although this is not its primary purpose.
   You can find links to editors and other sound-related software here.

8. "How can I save a modified sound file from Transcribe! ?"
   "Why can't I load the XSC file saved by Transcribe! into my sound file editing or playing software, or burn it to audio CD ?"

   If you want to save a modified sound file from Transcribe! (with altered speed or pitch for instance) then the command you need is called "Export Sound File" (File menu, on version 7) or "Copy to File" (Tools menu, on version 6 or earlier).
   XSC (transcription) files don't contain any sound. They are text files containing information about your transcription. Read the Help for the File Menu (in Transcribe!'s Help) for more information.

9. "When I export a sound file, why is the speed change (or pitch change or whatever) not applied?"
   "When I export a sound file, why can't I select the "Karaoke" (or "Speed" or whatever) checkbox?"

   The idea about exporting modified sound files from Transcribe! is that first you set up the modifications you want using the Fx (Audio Effects and Controls) window, so that the file is playing in the same way that you want to save it.
   Then use the Export command and check the boxes for the effects you want applied to the exported file.
   So, if the speed change you applied is not appearing in the exported file then it probably means you didn't check the "Speed" checkbox in the Export dialog. On the other hand if the checkbox in the Export dialog is disabled, this is because you didn't apply the effect in the first place - cancel the Export command and use the Fx window to apply the effect you want, then Export again.

10. "Why won't Transcribe! export or record sound in mp3 format?"

    Transcribe! offers the choice of WAV or AIFF for exporting or recording audio files. These formats are "safe" in the sense that they are uncompressed and therefore cause no quality loss. They are also large but these days most people have big hard disks and you can always convert to mp3 or other compressed format using other audio utility software if you want.
    Audio compression is a tricky field : there is no one mp3 format, there are endless varieties of bit-rate, encoding method, etc, and even with the same options, some encoders are better than others. And many people prefer other compressed formats anyway such as AAC, WMA, or Ogg Vorbis. I simply decided that there is no need to get involved in this complex and rapidly-changing field.
    If you want to record from analogue source directly to a compressed format then there are many audio utility programs which can do this. See this page.

11. "How can I transfer a transcription to a different computer?"
    "Why won't my transcription (xsc) file open when I transfer it to another computer?"

    You can transfer transcriptions from one computer to another, even when the computers are running different OS's (Windows / Mac / Linux), as long as the destination computer supports reading the sound file format involved.
    First read Transcribe!'s Help for the File menu, to make sure you understand about transcription files (xsc) and sound files (wav, mp3 etc). Also check the list of supported sound formats in Transcribe!'s Help - Various Topics - Sound Files. If Transcribe! on the destination computer does not support the format of the sound file then you will need to convert it first. Transcribe!'s "Export Sound File" command on the original computer may be useful here, but note you will subsequently need to use the "Import Sound File" command to load the newly exported sound file into your transcription.
    Then copy both the sound file and the transcription file to the same folder on the destination computer. Or put them in different folders, but then you will probably need to use the "Import Sound File" command to find the sound file on the destination computer.
    When you open the transcription file on the destination computer then it can happen that although the xsc file does open (its name is displayed in the titlebar of the transcription window), it reports that it cannot find the sound file. In this case you should make sure that the sound file is present on the destination computer, then use the "Import Sound File" command to load it into the transcription.

12. "How can I adjust a selection to a whole number of beats or measures?"

    You can adjust the selection with the mouse (shift-click will extend an existing selection) or with the keyboard (see the Help for Keyboard Commands) but how about if you want to extend the selection at one end to be exactly one beat or measure longer than it was before? If you have placed beat or measure markers then you can do this on Transcribe! version 7 (not version 6). Transcribe! version 7 has many commands which are not immediately visible. This is deliberate as I don't want to scare new users with a complex interface.
    Read the Help for Keyboard Commands which tells you how to configure any command to be triggered by a keystroke of your choice. You will see a group of commands with names like "SelectionIncreaseRightMeasure" which increases the current selection at the right by one measure, and so on.
    For example: to select a whole measure around the current point, configure a keyboard command with its "press" command as "SelectionIncreaseRightMeasure" and its "release" command as "SelectionIncreaseLeftMeasure". Then to advance the selection to the next whole measure, program another key with its "press" command as "SelectionIncreaseRightMeasure" and its "release" command to "SelectionDecreaseLeftMeasure".
    These commands can also be triggered from foot pedals of course.
    Also see the "Move" buttons on the "Misc" page of the Audio Effects and Controls window. Read the Help for this page, to find out more.

13. "How can I have more preset speed settings?"

    You can of course have any speed you want by using the slider on the Speed page of the Audio Effects window, or by typing into the box on that page. But perhaps you want to set the speed without bringing up the Fx window.
    You can choose what speed buttons appear on the toolbar, in Preferences - Toolbar. If you want more preset speeds than that, then you should use keyboard commands (see Help - File menu - Keyboard commands). There are commands for increasing and decreasing the speed, and you can create new keyboard commands for any speed in 5% increments from 5% to 100%, and then in 10% increments up to 200%.
    Also remember that you can adjust the speed using the mousewheel on the speed button in the toolbar (see Help - Toolbar), or using a continuous MIDI controller (see Help - File menu - MIDI commands).
    Also if you want to get seriously technical about it then see Help - Various Topics - Automation.

14. "Why won't Transcribe! open the tracks I bought from the Apple music store?"

    Version 7 Transcribe! on Windows and Mac reads mp4, m4a & aac files but not m4p which is a protected format (usually from the Apple music store). This is because Apple won't tell us how, they only allow their own programs to read these files. In fact Apple are attempting to remove this restriction but can only do so by agreement with the music owners - see the note just below about "iTunes Plus", and see this discussion on the official Apple site, written by Steve Jobs: Click here to read it.
    You will find workaround suggestions in the Help if you search for "m4p". Burn the track to audio CD then copy from there back to your hard disk is one solution. Or you could plug a cable from the headphone-out to the line-in and use Transcribe!'s "Record new sound file" command to record it while it's playing.
    Also remember that you can play such files in QuickTime Player which, in recent versions, can slow the music down (select "A / V Controls" on the Window menu). It does not currently have such features as graphic EQ or Karaoke mode.

    Also note: Check out the Apple Music Store's "iTunes Plus" feature (listed in "Quick Links" at the upper right of the Music Store window, also when the tracks are listed you will see a "+" sign alongside the price).
    "iTunes Plus" is a higher quality download and more to the point, it comes without DRM (digital rights management) protection - it's an "m4a" file rather than an "m4p". This means you can play it on non-Apple devices and software, including Transcribe!
    You can upgrade previously downloaded tracks to iTunes Plus, if available (not all tracks can be bought in "plus" format).

15. "How can I open a transcription from an audio CD on Windows?"

    If you have Windows 2000/NT/XP/Vista then first make sure you are running Transcribe! version 7.
    You can use the "Open" command (File menu) to open an audio CD track, though in fact you might prefer to copy it to your hard disk first, using the "Copy sound file" command.
    Otherwise you are running Windows 95/98/ME and Transcribe! version 6.
    In this case you can't open a transcription directly from an audio CD but must copy the track to hard disk first. This is discussed in the first paragraph of the Help page "Overview - Using Transcribe!". Note that the "Track 01.cda" etc. files which Windows shows you on an audio CD are not in fact sound files and there is no point in copying these to your hard disk. You should follow the instructions given in Transcribe!'s Help as described. There is also more info about ".cda" files in Help - Various Topics - Audio File Formats.

16. "How can I open a transcription from an audio CD on Mac?"

    If you have Mac OS-X then first make sure you are running the OS-X version of Transcribe! - version 6 for OS-X if you have OS 10.1.0 - 10.3.3, or version 7 for OS-X if you have OS 10.3.4 or later.
    You can use the "Open" command (File menu) to open an audio CD track, though in fact you might prefer to copy it to your hard disk first, using the "Copy sound file" command.
    Otherwise you are running Mac Classic (OS 7.5 - 9.2) and Transcribe! version 6.
    In this case you can't open a transcription directly from an audio CD but must copy the track to hard disk first. This is discussed in the first paragraph of the Help page "Overview - Using Transcribe!".

17. "Why does Transcribe! respond sluggishly or have gaps in playback, when playing from audio CD?"

    Although your CD player is of course capable of playing in the usual way, it may nevertheless be sluggish when used with Transcribe! - this is because Transcribe! needs access to the audio samples and so has to use a different method for reading the data from the CD.
    The answer is to copy the track to your hard disk first, then play it from there. This gives better performance and also has the advantage that the track will still be there after you take the CD out.
    On Transcribe! version 7 use the "Copy Sound File" command (File menu). On version 6, look in the Help for information. There are also many programs other than Transcribe! which can copy ("rip") tracks from audio CD to hard disk.

18. "Can Transcribe! display videos?"

    Yes on Windows & Mac (not yet on Linux). You may need to convert the video to a suitable format first, see Help - Various Topics - Video, and also see this page.

19. "Can Transcribe! play the sound from a DVD movie?"

    Not directly. You can get software that will allow you to copy a movie from DVD to a format which Transcribe! can read - that is, a "mov" or "wmv" file - or to export the sound from a DVD to a sound file which Transcribe! can read. Or, you could plug a lead from the headphone jack which has the DVD soundtrack to the computer's line-in, and use Transcribe!'s "Record new sound file" command to record it while it's playing.
    Note that if you use "mov" or "mp4" format then Transcribe! on Windows or Mac can also display the video, see Help - Various Topics - Video, and also see this page.

20. "Can Transcribe! play the sound from a video file?"

    If you have QuickTime version 7 installed on Mac or Windows, then Transcribe! should be able to play the sound and the video from QuickTime movies (mov and mp4 files). And on Windows, Transcribe! should be able to play the sound (but not the video) from Windows Media Video files (wmv files). If you have a video in some other format then you would need to convert it first, and you can find tools for this on the web.
    See Help - Various Topics - Video, and also see this page for more information about video formats and how to use them with Transcribe!.
    If you only want the sound, not the video, then a simple alternative is to set the video playing, plug a lead from the headphone output to the line-in, and use Transcribe!'s "Record new sound file" command to record it while it's playing.

21. "Why won't Transcribe! read MPEG version 2.5 files?"

    Transcribe! will recognise these files and report what they are, but does not read them. This is because (i) they are not an ISO standard. (ii) there is no need to use them, and very few people do. (iii) I don't feel like it.

22. "Why does Transcribe! only play the first few seconds of my mp3 file?"

    Sometimes mp3 files have faulty data in them, and different programs handle this in different ways. Transcribe! chooses to stop, because there is a danger of speaker-destroying or ear-destroying noise. So if you have some other software which plays the whole mp3 file, listen closely at the point in the track where Transcribe! stops : you will very likely hear a strange noise and/or a dropout caused by faulty data. The solution is to update the software you are using to produce mp3 files. Or load the file into some editor which will read the whole thing and re-export it, to get a copy without faulty data.

23. "Why won't Transcribe! play on Windows while using ASIO or RTAS with other audio software?"

    ASIO & RTAS drivers achieve low latency by taking exclusive control of the soundcard so other applications cannot output sound at the same time. There are two possible workarounds. (i) Install another soundcard and configure Transcribe! to use it (in Preferences). (ii) Don't use ASIO or RTAS, instead tell your VSTi's to use the standard drivers that are part of the OS (meaning that you have to put up with higher latency).

24. "Why won't Transcribe! play through my Digidesign sound hardware on Mac?"

    First of all, close ProTools down. If ProTools is running then it is not usually possible for other applications to use the DigiDesign hardware at the same time.
    Recent Digidesign sound hardware on Mac should work ok - it's just a matter of going to "System Preferences - Sound - Output" and selecting the Digidesign device. If it's not there or doesn't work then it may help to go to the Support section of DigiDesign's website and download and install the "CoreAudio Driver". However some older DigiDesign hardware is not fully compatible with OS-X and won't work. In this case they themselves recommend that you should have other sound hardware for use with other applications.
    DigiDesign's "CoreAudio Driver" is the crucial piece of software involved, you probably have documentation for this already supplied with your ProTools setup, and you can find more if you search the Support section of the DigiDesign website for technical documents on CoreAudio, for instance this: http://akmedia.digidesign.com/support/docs/CoreAudio_Usage_Guide_25695.pdf

    Regarding the Digidesign Audiomedia III : this card was discontinued some time ago and Digidesign have stopped supporting it. It is not fully compatible with OS-X and this is why Transcribe! cannot use it.

25. "Why won't Transcribe! play through my Digidesign sound hardware on Windows?"

    First of all, close ProTools down. If ProTools is running then it is not usually possible for other applications to use the DigiDesign hardware at the same time.
    If you are using recent versions of DigiDesign hardware and software then you may be able to go to Transcribe!'s Preferences - Playback, and select the Digidesign device. However if that doesn't work then read on.
    Transcribe! uses Windows' "WaveOut" group of functions for sound output, and DigiDesign's "WaveDriver" is the crucial piece of software involved. So if Transcribe! does not find the DigiDesign hardware, or fails to open it, then this normally means that you need to install or update or reconfigure the DigiDesign WaveDriver. You probably have documentation for this already supplied with your ProTools setup, and you can find more if you search the Support section of the DigiDesign website for technical documents on WaveDriver, for instance this: http://akmedia.digidesign.com/support/docs/WaveDriver_Usage_Guide_25693.pdf
    Note particularly what they say about disabling Windows' System Sounds, and about adding third-party apps (such as Transcribe!) to the "WaveDriver Opt-In List". If this all seems rather complicated, don't complain to me, complain to DigiDesign.

    Regarding the Digidesign USB MBOX : The mbox does not by default work for audio playback with Transcribe! and many other application programs (though it does work with Windows Media Player).
    In this document: http://akwww.digidesign.com/support/docs/WaveDriver_Usage_Guide_6.7.pdf I find: "WaveDriver is not multi-client. Only one application at a time can use the WaveDriver. Be sure to disable the Windows system sounds. It is also recommended that you use a separate sound card for games or other general work. For third-party soft-synthesizer and samplers, use the Digidesign ASIO Driver (refer to the ASIO Driver Usage Guide)."
    So, maybe if you disable system sounds, close any other app which might be trying to use the mbox, then close & relaunch Transcribe!...?
    Single-app-only for the mbox is clearly a drawback, which is presumably why they recommend having another soundcard as well.

26. "Why don't Transcribe!'s keyboard shortcuts work after I click on the Audio Effects (Fx) window?"

    The point here is that the Fx window also uses keystrokes for its own purposes - for instance there are boxes in the Fx window that you can type numbers into. It would be perfectly possible from a technical point of view for the Fx window to use the keystrokes it's interested in and pass the rest across to the transcription window in case they might be shortcuts, but the potential for confusion would be enormous.
    The solution is to use the <esc> shortcut which does work in the Fx window, and which takes you straight back to the transcription window.
    Another solution is to use Transcribe!'s "global shortcuts" - see the Help for Keyboard Commands (File menu).

27. "Why isn't Transcribe! responding to MIDI or Foot Pedal commands?"

    The most likely cause is that when you ran the "MIDI commands" or "Foot Pedals" dialog, you configured the commands but left the "Respond to... " selection (at the top of the dialog) as "Never".
    Also be aware that if you unplug the MIDI interface or the pedal then Transcribe!, not being able to find it, will set "Respond to..." to "Never" in order to avoid endless error messages as long as the thing is missing. So when you plug it back in again, you will need to run the dialog again to switch responses back on again.

28. "How do I change the sound used for Transcribe!'s built-in keyboard?"

    You can adjust Transcribe!'s keyboard timbre on the Tuning page of the Fx dialog (or the Tuning dialog in version 6) and you can adjust the volume by moving the mouse up and down while playing a note on Transcribe!'s piano keyboard. The sound used is pretty crude, synthesized internally. It's not intended to sound beautiful, it's only intended as a pitch reference.

29. "How can I play notes from my MIDI keyboard in Transcribe! ?"

    I don't plan to turn Transcribe! into a "performance instrument" in this way (for one thing, the built-in sound is not very pretty). However it shouldn't be necessary - the right way to do it is to use other software to play the sounds from MIDI.
    What software are you using now to play sound from MIDI? You should be able to leave it running while you use Transcribe!, and it should continue to work.
    It may be a good idea to switch off Transcribe!'s own MIDI responses to prevent confusion. Also if your MIDI player app stops playing when you bring Transcribe! to the foreground then it may be possible to fix this. It's a matter of telling the player app to continue responding to MIDI even when in the background. Otherwise, many apps suppose that if they are in the background, you don't want them to respond to MIDI. Check the Help for your MIDI player app to find out how to do this.

30. "Can I print out a picture of the spectrum?"

    You should take a screenshot and use that. On Windows the PrintScreen key copies a screen image to the clipboard from where you can paste it into a document. On Mac OS-X use "Grab" (in Applications/Utilities).

31. "How can I transfer Transcribe!'s Preferences and other settings to another user or another computer?"

    There is no automatic way of doing this for the Preferences. However you can transfer Keyboard Commands and MIDI Commands, by using the Export and Import commands on the File menu.

32. "I created a lot of markers and saved my transcription, but when I loaded it again the markers have gone"

    You probably loaded the sound file again, when you should have loaded the XSC (transcription) file which was saved. Read the Help for the File Menu (in Transcribe!'s Help) for more information.

33. "What is the recommended way to use markers?"

    My preferred way of marking a section of music is to play it through once, tapping the 'M' key at the start of each measure. If you want the beats marked then double-click the first marker and specify auto subdivisions - I very seldom use actual beat markers. And if you want the sections marked then double-click (or right-click) the relevant measure marker and convert it to a section marker (or use 'S' instead of 'M' for marking it in the first place).
    Remember that the Navigation Bar (View menu) allows you to go directly to any marker.
    Also note that if you want to mark events that happen in arbitrary places (e.g. the place where a particular lyric or chord or note happens) then Text Blocks are usually more suitable - see the Help for more about Text Blocks.

34. "Can I generate markers automatically?"

    Every now and then, someone proposes a scheme for automatically generating markers at fixed intervals, or for converting Transcribe!'s automatic subdivision markers into "real" markers. However I have so far resisted such suggestions as they would add to the complexity of using markers, and I am not at all convinced that they would offer significant benefit. My preferred way of marking a section of music is described in the query just above. This is very simple and it gets the measures marked in the same time it takes to play them. If you have some more complex scheme in mind then please ask yourself, is it really any quicker or easier than the method I have just outlined?

35. "Why doesn't the file I was last working on, appear in the "Recent Files" list?"

    The "Recent Files" list shows recent transcription (xsc) files. So if you don't save your transcription (the "Save" command on the File menu) then there is no transcription file, so it won't appear on the "Recent Files" list. Read the Help for the File Menu (in Transcribe!'s Help) for more information.

36. "Why does Transcribe! load transcription (xsc) files by default, not sound files?"

    Transcription (xsc) files store information about your transcription such as tuning changes you have made, markers you have placed, EQ settings, etc, and of course the name of the sound file. Transcription files are very small, they do not contain a copy of the audio data.
    If Transcribe! then offered to open the sound file again then you would be starting a new transcription and the markers etc. would all be gone - this would be very confusing for a beginner.
    But is is very easy to open sound files directly if you want to. Bring your file browser (Windows Explorer or Finder) to the front (but make sure you can see some of Transcribe!'s window behind it). Locate and select the sound file (or files) in the browser and drag-n-drop onto the Transcribe! window. You can also drag-n-drop from iTunes or (on Mac) Spotlight.

37. "Why do guitar notes show up an octave lower in the spectrum than I expected?"

    If you read music on the guitar then you will know that the open top string is written as E in the top space of the treble clef, but Transcribe!'s spectrum of a recording of a guitar playing the open top string shows it as E above middle C - the bottom line of the treble clef. This is quite correct, because the guitar is a transposing instrument which sounds an octave lower than written : the open top string in fact sounds as the E above middle C although it is written in a guitar part an octave higher. The same issue applies to double bass.

Seventh String Home