Since I’ve been practicing and learning using CTC mechanics, I’ve found myself wanting to do more transcribing of challenging parts. It’s been so long since I tried to transcribe anything that my last efforts were with CDs, pencils and music notation paper. What should I be using that’s current?
I know I can sound like a broken record but I HIGHLY recommend Soundslice.
Once you get it up and running, get the hang of how to use it, you can:
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load up audio (or video) and the notation editor in the same window instead of having things spread out in different programs
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sync up the audio or video with the bar lines/beats in your score so that you can check your work more easily, jump to different parts of the recording/score in sync. this seems small but I’ve found it to be a gigantic time saver
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similarly, with video you’re then able to watch and rewatch, in slow playback, the player playing a specific section, synced up with your score, so you can double check things like fingerings etc
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save the work online so you can access it on different devices and share it with people
on and on…and it’s free if you only are transcribing from youtube clips.
I don’t work for them so this isn’t personal promotion - I am friends with one of their guys but I don’t personally make any direct benefit or profit off of the company, I just think the software is awesome and it’s been a big game changer for me and my teaching.
here’s a demo of me transcribing a section of a wes montgomery solo using soundslice:
here’s the score itself (touched it up a bit and corrected some things after the vid)
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The amazing Levi Clay, who we use, has some killer tutorials on his YouTube channel:
He’ll sometimes just livestream while he works, narrating his decisions. It’s mind boggling how fast he is. And a lot of that is having his tools and screen set up, key commands memorized and so on. It’s like he’s flying a fighter jet.
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Hehe I tried getting Levi into soundslice, he was a bit resistant. I still think if you’re starting from scratch, probably faster and more intuitive to use soundslice rather than using guitar pro + transcribe like he does, but I respect he has his whole system worked out.
I think guitar pro has more nuanced notation available, for when you actually want to share or print the thing, but in soundslice you can always export into guitar pro to add in whatever extra details anyway.
SS at least as of now has some bugs that need addressing, but they are working on it.
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Speaking of SoundSlice, I guess it was you (@JakeEstner) who recommended me to try it out. And I did. But I don’t transcribe in SS itself. I use GuitarPro + Transcribe (or sometimes just VLC player) and then I upload GP file to SS. This is what I got used to but I’m using SS more and more. Anyway, it is really great to see notation along the actual music. I enjoy that and I’m building my transcriptions portfolio there 
By the way, the creator is a super friendly human being. I wrote a letter with a request to take a look at one really minor detail that annoyed me. I didn’t expect much but he fixed that and asked me to check it again and to give feedback. I feel morally happy when I use a product of great people who don’t get defensive and butthurt as a result of receiving some honest feedback 
To answer @MelodicGrit’s question: I think it’s very helpful to have something that allows slowing down and looping selected sections. Besides the products already mentioned here, you may try DAW if you use one and I also heard that people use Audacity for that.
For writing notation, there’s MuseScore (free software). All other programs that I know cost some money (GuitarPro, Sibelius, Finale)
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Look at me making my first post on the forums (I think?)
I love Soundslice, and as you know, all CTC transcriptions go up in Soundslice. I was going to deal with the synching of all the Gambale transcriptions (which have just been submitted!).
I use Guitar pro because it works (if it aint broke), it’s an application that my students have, and it’s an application that clients can offer files for to give more interactive products.
You’d be surprised how many artists have wanted me to work in Sibelius or whatever so they can release a PDF book… and then I tell them that if they offer Guitar Pro files, they can offer that same PDF, but more value ontop of that.
Anyway… back on topic!
As Troy said, I’ve got TONS of videos on my Youtube channel, and I’m always happy to help out with any questions you have. Drop me a comment on any video and I’ll get back to you right away.
But commendations, transcribing is the best thing you can do to improve that ear, so keep at it.
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Yeah @Medium_Attempt Corey is a great dude and at this point feel comfortable calling him a friend. Got to hang out with him and other members of the SS team at NAMM, all really great guys who want to be delivering a quality service and product.
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Thanks for all the great information. With so many great options available, this seems like a great time to get into transcribing in general. I’d previously mostly blown off transcribing anything other than specific licks I wanted to learn because I thought it was too time consuming. These days that’s not the case!
Levi, your videos make transcribing seem fun and interesting. Your channel is a great resource all around. Thanks for sharing.
As I’m currently working off of a 13" MacBook Pro, SS seems to be a good “one stop shop” to start off with so I think I’ll give that a try. If it seems too limiting or not user friendly enough for a newbie, I’ll likely move on to other things at some point. I’ll definitely look here for advice before making any purchase commitments.
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I’ll give a vote to Transcribe by Seventh String Software - great for the playback of the song or lick you want to transcribe. Fast licks can be slowed down and repeated with excellent audio quality.
For the actual transcription I prefer Guitar Pro, fairly user friendly and has all the options you realistically need. I often transcribe the bass and drum parts for songs I want to learn and then use this to play along with.
If only these tools had been available in the 80’s would have saved countless hours rewinding cassette tapes!
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