No @PamPurrs …you need one.
And then you need a MIDI pad
And then you need a EWI Midi Wind controller….
And then you need a rack for them all.
And then you need to upgrade at least two of them.
Come on now, you know how this works.
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I said previously that I would not buy a midi controller just for transcribing but typically this will lead to using it for other things.
I agree 100% about buying a cheap controller. Could be more of a problem than it is worth.
The least I would do is a brand name. Something like this for $59.00. But still I would not buy it just to input notes into composition software like MuseScore or Crescendo.
AKAI Professional LPK25 - USB MIDI Keyboard
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LOL @John_E you are evil 
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And we’re back to square one. 
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Yeah that Akai would be a much better buy.
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Circular conversation 
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@howard Any thoughts on that virtual Reaper midi keyboard I posted the video for in post 92.
Maybe @PamPurrs could use that.
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If you have Windows, install the Piano 10 app from the Windows store (FREE). That’s what I’m using. It works fine for my purpose, I don’t need to get Reaper involved.
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Then you do not need a midi controller.
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That’s the standard MIDI keyboard in Reaper for entering MIDI notes and editing MIDI tracks. It’s fine. But if she is already using one she likes, not sure what it would add for her, in terms of transcribing.
BTW, Reaper will auto-transcribe MIDI tracks for you 
Just open a MIDI track you have entered and click on the notation button:
A little wonky looking due to how I played it and I didn’t set the key signature, but not bad for one button click.
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Very interesting.
You know I am retired and I thought I had a lot of time to spend on this midi journey but I have to say it sure is cutting into my practice time 
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You can enter MIDI that way too
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Welcome to the world of retirement, where we seem to have less time than we had when we were working 
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Well, just to follow up my M-Audio 49 Oxygen midi controller arrived yesterday.
Glad to say that this more than meets my expectations.
Got it working fine with MuseScore and definitely cuts down on note input time.
The only thing I haven’t figured out is how to input ties, dotted notes and change note duration on the controller keyboard. Everyone I have asked, or seen on YouTube, seems to still use the computer keyboard for these functions.
There is a learning curve but I expected that so no surprises there.
Next step is to incorporate it with a DAW, it comes with Ableton Live Lite but I will probably use Reaper, and I expect that learning curve to be steeper but that’s fine by me. One step at a time.
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… yeah, that’s a limitation I see with that method of input, which is why I would just stick to using the computer mouse (even if I had a MIDI controller). I like the idea of being able to drag and drop the notes I want, and select natural, sharp or flat, or dotted, or tied, or slurred, etc. all in one step.
I’m glad you like your Oxygen though, I have looked at that one also (the 25 key version) and may end up getting one someday just for kicks.
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Just to revive this topic I was recently asked what the original key of Johnny Cash’ song I walk The LIne was in.
This is a really unusual song because it changes keys not once, not twice, but 4 times!
Verse 1 : F
Verse 2 : Bb
Verse 3: Eb
Verse 4: Bb
Verse 5: F
Each time you hear him humming, he’s helping himself get oriented in the new key in which he’s about to sing.
What was he thinking, or more likely smoking, at the time. 
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I usually use good ole pencil and staff paper when transcribing, as I find the commercial programs to be a pain both in terms of just time to learn and imputing the notes and time values.
For me, the hardest part (after figuring out the key) is figuring out the rhythm, as often you can express the same “feel” with different notations. discerning various triplet couplings vs eighths/16ths with rests in between or deciding to notate a a doted eighth sixteenth pattern vs swung eight notes or a shuffle feel I find to be particularly mind boggling.
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I hear you. I find it a lot easier now being able to look up most songs on YouTube.
I am a pencil and paper fan myself although I do use a program called Song Surgeon that gives you a good idea of the chords and individual notes in a song.
I have been making tabs from scratch recently as the songs I want to play have horrible tabs plastered on the internet and they’re all way off. I am not a music theory person, so I can’t write sheet music, but tabs works just fine for me. My process is pretty simple - I isolate the bass track and put that into my DAW with my bass hooked up. I find some garbage tabs (usually some of the notes are right) and use that as my starting point. I listen to the bass line and identify where my crappy tabs are wrong, then fill in the blanks. I can’t identify notes by ear, so I just put a small chunk of the song on repeat and play different notes on my bass until they match the isolated track.
Maybe not the best way to do it but so far it’s working quite well for me and is a pretty enjoyable process!
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Yep there are a ton of garbage tabs out there.
I’m not sure there is a best way. Everybody has their own way of working these things out and if your way is working for you and you enjoy the process then that’s all that counts IMHO 
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