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FAQ - Miscellaneous Questions about Transcribe!
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  1. "Is there a Transcribe! discussion forum?"

    There is a music transcribers' forum which contains a lot of Transcribe! users including me. See this page.

  2. "Is Transcribe! available for the iPhone or Android or other smartphones?"

    The short answer here is "No". My reasoning goes like this. It seems to me that the reason people like Transcribe! is because it is quite a full featured product : that's what distinguishes it from the large number of apps which can slow music down and do simple looping. If all you want to do is slow music down then you can get that for free on desktop computers (see this page), and there are already apps which do this on the iPhone.
    So if I was contemplating doing Transcribe! for the iPhone, how would I approach it? There would be no point in doing a stripped down version which just did slowdown and simple looping, because that would be throwing away everything that makes Transcribe! special, and you can already get such apps anyway. But if I try to make a full featured Transcribe! on such a tiny screen, it would be a horrendous job. It would be an enormous amount of work to try to fit a significant amount of Transcribe!'s features onto such a small screen and I'm not sure how practical it would be at all. What I'm saying is that I think the "right" application for the iPhone is indeed a simple slowdown and loop app, but that's not what Transcribe! is, or what it should become in my view.

  3. "Does Transcribe! run on the iPad or Android or other tablets?"

    Not at present. There is one way of running Transcribe! on such devices which is to use your tablet as an interface to your real computer - using what is called Virtual Network Computing (VNC). The basic idea is that your real computer is running, and you install special VNC server software on it which makes it possible to control it remotely over the internet. On your tablet you run VNC client software so your tablet then becomes a remote interface to your real computer and you can then do anything you could do if you were sitting in front of your real computer at home. Of course the response will not be as fast, especially if the network connection is slow. You can even get VNC clients for smartphones such as the iPhone though I'm not sure I would recommend trying to use a real computer through such a small screen.

    There is lots of VNC software available, ranging in price from $2 to $80. Here are some I know of. These are mainly for iPad clients but if you search you will find VNC clients for other tablets and smartphones too.

  4. "Does Transcribe! run on netbooks?"

    Netbooks are small laptops. They typically have screens from 7 to 10 inches, proper keyboard layout (though small) and internet connectivity by WiFi. Built-in 3G network connectivity is available on some models. For Transcribe! you need a colour display screen with a resolution of at least 800 * 600 pixels. All netbooks I know of do have at least this, but it would be worth checking if you are thinking of buying a very small one.

    Mac: there is no Mac netbook but see above about the iPad.

    Windows & Linux There are lots of netbooks available. Most of them are available in both Windows and Linux versions. The Windows versions are running XP or Vista or Win7 so should naturally be compatible with Transcribe!. The Linux versions do in fact usually seem to be compatible with Transcribe! though this has to be tested for each model as they all use different Linux distributions. Update: sadly many manufacturers are now offering only Windows on their netbooks. You can normally install Linux if you want to but you have to do it yourself.

    I'm interested to get feedback if you try Transcribe! on other small machines.

  5. "Does Transcribe! work on 64 bit operating systems?"

    The short answer is "Yes". Transcribe! for Windows and Mac is a 32 bit application and I don't have plans at present to bring out a special 64 bit version. This is because I'm not at all sure that there would be any benefit. 64 bit is very beneficial for programs that want to deal with files or memory more than 4GB (such as movie production or large databases) but Transcribe! is not such a program, and might actually run slower in a 64 bit version.
    Windows: Transcribe! has been tested and runs fine on the 64 bit versions of Windows XP, Vista & Win7.
    Mac: it isn't an issue, Mac OS X does not have separate 32 bit and 64 bit versions.
    Linux: 32 bit apps don't work too well on 64 bit Linux, so for this reason we do provide separate 32 and 64 bit Linux builds which you will find on the download page.

  6. "Is Transcribe! for Mac available in the Mac App Store?"

    No, and I don't have any immediate plans to make it available. I don't see any great advantage to it, and I do see various drawbacks. Rather than put a lengthy discussion here, let me refer you to This Article.
    In particular see the section headed "iOS App Store developer concerns, magnified" which has five sub-heads:

    • No trial/demo versions (Apple don't allow them)
    • No paid upgrades (and no free upgrades either: all upgrades have to cost the same as the full version)
    • Apple’s cut (Why would I want to give Apple 30% of every purchase?)
    • No direct relationship with customers (I can't tell who has bought it)
    • Not knowing if an app will be rejected (After doing the work to make the app compatible with the App Store, Apple might reject it anyway)

    And to that I would add another point : quite a few universities and music colleges use Transcribe! : they get a big volume discount and they install centrally on a server. As far as I know, the Mac App Store has no support at all for this kind of purchase and installation. In short, I don't think the Mac App Store is intended for applications like Transcribe!

  7. "How do you slow down music without changing the pitch?"

    Click here for a discussion of the subject.

  8. "Where can I find someone to transcribe some music for me?"
    "Do you accept music transcribing jobs?"

    No, I'm too busy working on the software and running Seventh String. Visit Google and search for "music transcription service". Or post a message to the MusicTranscribers discussion forum. Click here for more info about this.

  9. "Is it possible to transcribe music automatically?"
    "Why does the automatic transcription program I have bought, produce such a useless result?"

    Automatic transcription of music is very difficult and as far as I know there is no program that can produce a usable result, unless possibly on some very simple material such as a one-note-at-a-time instrument recorded without accompaniment. Even then it probably won't get the rhythms anywhere near, though it should be able to recognise the notes.
    Certainly there is software out there that claims to do automatic transcription (click here) but in my view some of these products make rather exaggerated claims about what they can do. If you need help with using such products, ask them - not me!

  10. "How can I get work as a music transcriber?"

    I would suggest you check out existing services to see what they offer (visit Google and search for "music transcription service"). Set up a website offering your services. And then use your imagination (but don't use spam) to make people such as musicians, music publishers, etc, aware of your existence. It might be worth contacting existing transcription services as they might want to subcontract. Also you could post a message to the MusicTranscribers discussion forum. Click here for more info about this.

  11. "Is there any printed documentation?"

    No. The Help files are all the documentation there is. If they are missing anything, please let me know.

  12. "Is Transcribe! available in any language other than English?"

    Not at present. Transcribe! is aimed at a small niche market and does not at present earn the kind of money that could justify such effort and expense. I consider that developing the software further is a more effective way to spend my time. Maybe in the future.

  13. "Can I run Transcribe! on Mac Classic?"

    Version 6 of Transcribe! for Mac was released in 2003 and will run on Mac OS 7.5 - 9.2 (now known as "Classic" Mac OS). We still keep it available though hardly anyone now uses such old computers.

  14. "Can I run Transcribe! on Windows 95/98/ME?"

    Version 6 of Transcribe! for Windows was released in 2003 and will run on these old Windows versions. We still keep it available though hardly anyone now uses such old computers.

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