Andy Robinson - would you use software written by this man?
You can find some of my music here
www.eighthstring.com/albums.html
I wrote the first versions of Transcribe for my own use in summer 1998 and various flavours of version 1 appeared on the web in late 1998 / early 1999. At this point it was Windows only. It had the "spectrum analysis" feature but no "slowdown without pitch change" or "record to file". These last two features were added in response to user feedback, and version 2 was released August 1999. I also changed the name about this time from "Transcribe" to "Transcribe!" as I was advised that using an ordinary English word as a product name is a bad idea. I got the idea from Rogers and Hammerstein (what does he mean?).
Sometimes people describe Transcribe! as "a program for slowing music down without changing the pitch", and when they do I usually reply that they are missing the point, that Transcribe! is a specialized player for people who transcribe music, and slowdown is only one of its features, and often not the most important one. If they express doubt, then I remind them that version 1 did not have that feature.
For amusement and historical interest, I have dug out those old Windows versions
and made them available here.
Click here to download Transcribe! version 1.11 for Windows, built 10th March 1999
Unpack in a temp folder, then run setup.exe
Click here to download Transcribe! version 2.00 for Windows, built 1st Aug 1999
It's a self-installing executable.
You may run these if you want, for amusement and historical interest only.
Use this registration info: Name:KIRI Number:29964
They work ok on Windows XP and earlier. I haven't tried them on any more recent OS.
I do not, of course, offer any support for these versions!
Here is a page from our old website offering version 2.00,
archived by the Wayback Machine on the 2nd March 2000.
I had quite a few enquiries from Macintosh users, so I decided it would be a good idea, and highly educational, to get a Mac and learn how to program it. The Windows version (up to version 6) uses Microsoft Visual C++ with the Microsoft Foundation Classes application framework. I looked into various cross-platform development systems, but in the end on the Mac (up to version 6) I used MetroWerks CodeWarrior C++ with the PowerPlant application framework, which meant rewriting all the user interface and OS interface code for the Mac version. Most of the DSP (digital signal processing) code ported straight across though.
The first Mac version (2) was released in March 2000
The first Mac OS-X version (5) was released in April 2002. This is a "Carbon" application using MetroWerks CodeWarrior C++ with the PowerPlant application framework.
Version 6 was released on all three platforms in Jan 2003. This was the final version using the technologies mentioned above.
Version 7.0 was released for Windows and Linux in April 2004, and for Mac in July 2004. It is a major redesign and rewrite. It's written in C++ and uses the wxWidgets cross-platform application framework on all platforms.
The windows and menus of the program are laid out in a more logical and convenient way, the Help system is much improved, many more sound file formats can be read, there is stereo playback, better sound quality, 31 band graphic EQ, transposition, configurable keyboard shortcuts, multiple stored loops, provision for adding textual annotations (in 7.1), and many many more improvements.
Equally importantly, the rewritten program is internally elegant and targets Windows, Mac, and Linux from a single source code. This makes it enormously easier to work on, so ensuring that Transcribe! can continue to move forwards.
Version 7.1 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released in October 2004. It addresses issues affecting 7.0, adds "text blocks" (annotations) and many small improvements.
Version 7.31 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 31st May 2006. Main features are Global Shortcuts (hotkeys), support for more sound file formats, and "Universal Binary" Mac version.
Version 7.50 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 16 Jan 2008. Main new feature is video (on Windows & Mac, not yet Linux).
Version 8.00 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 20 Nov 2009. It features a whole new layout and look, along with various improvements to sound file handling, some new commands, and various other improvements and bugfixes.
Version 8.10 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 3 Aug 2010. It has video export, font selection in text blocks, and many other small improvements and bugfixes.
Version 8.20 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 23 Aug 2011.
Principal new feature is a piano roll view showing note guesses over time, aligned with the waveform view.
It also adds video display (which the Windows & Mac versions have had for a long time) to the Linux version,
and many other small improvements and bugfixes.
Click here for detailed release notes.
Version 8.62 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 5 Aug 2016.
The most important thing about this release is the move from QuickTime to GStreamer on Windows & Mac.
Click here for detailed release notes.
Version 8.73 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 25 March 2019.
Main new features are metronome clicks and scrubbing.
Click here for detailed release notes.
Version 8.80 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 11 Nov 2020.
In terms of features this is a minor update, however on the Mac it is the first version to specifically target macOS 11 (Big Sur) on both Intel and Apple Silicon processors. We will keep version 8.75.2 available for people running earlier versions of macOS.
Click here for detailed release notes.
Version 9.00 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 26 March 2021.
This has substantial changes including multiple soundtracks, subtitles, and the move to 64-bit on Windows.
Click here for detailed release notes.
Version 9.10 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 5 June 2021.
Various improvements including the first native build for Apple Silicon M1 Macs.
Click here for detailed release notes.
Version 9.20 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 27 Feb 2022.
It's the first Windows version to include GStreamer as part of the install instead of requiring a separate download, but is otherwise fairly minor.
Click here for detailed release notes.
1st January 2023: We have moved to a different distributor (FastSpring) and have also relaxed the license terms: from now on all new license keys are valid for all OS's (Windows, Mac & Linux). Click here if you have an older license key and you want to switch to a different OS.
Version 9.25 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 18 March 2023. Various improvements
affecting the interface, keyboard shortcuts, pedals, and other things.
Click here for detailed release notes.
Version 9.30 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 6 July 2023.
Added support for separate Stem files (i.e. stem files in multiple separate files, as opposed
to multiple sound tracks in a single file which we have supported for some time),
and various other improvements.
Click here for detailed release notes.
Version 9.40.0 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 3 Jan 2024.
We have reorganised the menus.
Click here for detailed release notes.
Version 9.50.1 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 14 Jan 2026.
It has video cropping, better support for Microsoft Surface ARM machines running Windows 11, and various other new features and tweaks.
Click here for detailed release notes.
Version 9.51.0 for Linux was released 1 March 2026 and is a minor update for Linux only. Switched to pipewire instead of pulse as default sound output interface, and some other minor tweaks.
Version 9.51.1 for Linux was released 23 April 2026 to fix a crash when using Stem files, affecting some Linux distros (primarily Mint Cinnamon).
Version 9.51.3 for Windows was released 4 May 2026 to fix an annoying dialog that would sometimes appear for a very few Windows users.
Version 9.60.0 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 4 July 2026.
It uses a more recent version of the GStreamer media handling library (1.28.4)
Click here for detailed release notes.
Version 9.60.1 for Windows was released 6 July 2026 to fix a problem when installing on top of a previous installation.
Version 9.60.3 for Windows, Mac, and Linux was released 23 July 2026. It uses an even more recent version of the GStreamer media handling library (1.28.5) and fixes some minor issues.
Version 9.60.4 for Windows was released 6 August 2026 to fix a video problem affecting a very very small number of Windows users.
Version 9.60.7 for Mac was released 14 August 2026 to reduce CPU usage, mostly on Tahoe.