Transcribing from MP3 and more

Has anyone got any ideas about a software to help with transcribing songs from mp3 files or YouTube videos etc. into tab or notation?

I’ve looked but not really found anything that does this even to a basic level. And I’ve been trying to find TAB for Trudy by Charlie Daniels for a while now. I can play most of it by ear, but id really like a way to make sure I’m in the right ballpark for sure or not missing anything.

Of course if there’s a program that can do some transcribing I think it would be really helpful for other things. Any ideas?

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I think a lot of people here use Transcribe! for this.

Yamaha ChordTracker is great for mobile.

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Thanks, I’ll give it a shot. I tried guitar pro 7 but i may just not understand how to use it for that purpose…

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There is also an APP for iPhone and Android of the same name, but called Transcribe+ 1.5
They are very similar and different at the same time.

The Desktop version that Howard listed is great, has been used for a long time and is pretty sophisticated and you can go pretty far with options and what you can do with it. @JoshFossgreen used it for most of the transcriptions he has done in Beginner to Badass and other extras he has made for Bass Buzz and his personal YT videos.

The App Version is just that, an App, not something that runs on a desktop PC or Mac. Doesn’t mean it is bad, just there are certain limitations to things you do on a mobile platform compared to what you can do on the PC / Mac. That gap is narrowing constantly, but it is still there.
However, there are things you can do on the App that take a little work and knowhow to do on the Program.
For instance it is about 5 clicks to split a song into 4 waveforms across the screen, each you can make audible or mute.
Menu
Split song into 4 parts
Select song
Song
Start

5 clicks and you get the song into
Vocals
Drums
Bass
Instruments

Now you can do the same thing within the Program, with not too many clicks, but you need to know what buttons / icons you are looking for, and you get a list of different options, like isolate bass, no bass, isolate vocals, no vocals, etc…
You don’t get the 4 different wave forms, but your active waveform turns into your selection.
This is great to isolate bass and listen to loops so you can learn a note at a time, and add the note to the clef while doing it.
there is a checker so once you fond a series of notes, you can go back to each note and see if the single wave peaks over the note you selected.
it is things that you can do on a pc with a mouse and keyboard pretty easily.

The App, I can’t say much about the transcription process, and if you can loop over notes in an isolated bass track to be able to determine what it is, like. you do in the program, because I have not used the App much, I am limited to the Free version, I have not upgraded YET, so I don’t know how much of that stuff you can do.
However
The App, with its ease to break into 4 wave forms, and turn on or off any combination of those that you want, is a GREAT TOOL to be able to HIDE the bass in ANY song, with 5 clicks (well a 6th to mute the bass), and with a few more clicks, you can have that song exported to any music file you want (well, a list of common file types) and have a saved song that is perfect to use to do a cover.
I have somebody that does this for me, and they use a software that cost $299 and up, to remove the bass from the tracks I have used for covers, so to get this app and not have to rely on anybody else, is awesome, and if that was all it could do, the App at $14.99, is WAY worth it, if it can do the rest, cool, its a bonus

The desktop program can export the song as well, I am pretty sure, and it is only $39, and it is widely used, and you can get tutorials online, on YT, and probably get help here.

TBH, for $39 and $14.99, it is almost criminal to not own both.

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Watch this video in particular. He goes over exactly what you are asking for, a way to isolate the music, and check it to the note to see if you are right.
it is not fool proof, and it can get confused, but the way he showed it, it worked pretty damn good.

If you go to about 5’40" in this one, there’s a great demo of the right way to use Transcribe! for bass lines - thank you Luke at Become A Bassist.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6zvflY7Z70

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Agreed, Transcribe! is the best I’m aware of for this task.

Here is a great tutorial on how to use it.

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Thanks, I’ll definitely be making use of it. I messed around a little last night with some iron maiden just to see how it handled galops, But that tutorial might make a big difference. And the Yamaha chord tracker worked great to for a quick reference to double check Transcribe.

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What is that? Is that what the guy used in the video? or is this a separate program?

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It’s an iPhone app.

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Yes. Its a phone app. I’m not going to say either is 100% accurate but between both programs I’ve been impressed so far.

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I checked it out. cool.
There is a way to check your work with Transcribe the desktop program within the program too, but have to watch that video to know how, I couldn’t tell you.

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