This command displays a dialog which enables you to adjust the tuning of the piece to concert pitch (A = 440Hz). This is important because Transcribe!'s spectrum analysis assumes that 440Hz is A, and displays it as such. This means that if the piece is not at this pitch - perhaps the piece was copied on a cassette machine which doesn't run at exactly the right speed, or perhaps the musicians weren't playing at concert pitch anyway - then the spectrum display will be hard to interpret as the peaks won't be at the centres of the notes. You can also make bigger changes to the pitch here if you want, enabling you to transcribe the piece in a different key from the one it was played in. This might seem very similar to what you can do with the Play-Faster/Slower command : the difference is that tuning adjustment has transcription-wide effect, and happens before spectrum analysis and thus affects what you see in the spectrum display, whereas Play-Faster/Slower is view-specific scope, and is applied after spectrum analysis so has no effect on the spectrum display.
If you are using an instrument which is not tuned to A=440 then you can of course use the Tuning command to tune playback to match your instrument, but if you do then the spectrum display will be inaccurate. It's probably a better idea to tune your instrument to A=440 if possible.
If you play a transposing instrument then you might also want to read this.
Note that Transcribe! always reports playing times, durations etc. as in the original file before any pitch/speed adjustments.
The left hand pair of sliders in the dialog enable you to choose a reference note to tune to, and its volume. The right hand pair of sliders enable you to adjust the pitch of the piece in semitones and hundredths of a semitone (cents).
An easy way to adjust the tuning is to do it visually. First select a clear-sounding note from the piece so its peak is visible in the spectrum display and then select the Tuning command. Adjust the tuning so the spectrum peak is centred over the middle of the keyboard note it corresponds to.
The "Adjust Note Timbre" button brings up the Adjust timbre dialog which allows you to adjust the timbre of the reference note.
"Synchronize speed" button.
When you apply pitch changes to the sound (with either this dialog or the
Faster/Slower dialog) then the speed also
changes. Press this button to apply a speed adjustment so as to restore playback
to the same speed as the original sound file. It is a one-shot adjustment, meaning
that if you then make further adjustments to the pitch then you would need to press
Synchronize again to keep the speed the same as the original. The
Toolbar also has a
Synchronize button which has the same effect.
Control the way a stereo piece is mixed to mono for analysis and listening.
Transcribe! plays and analyses in mono. This means that if the audio file you are using is stereo then Transcribe! must convert it to mono. This dialog enables you to control the way in which this is done, for instance by listening to one channel only, or by mixing them together in some way.
Changes you make in this dialog have transcription-wide effect, and control both what you hear on playback and also the spectrum analysis. The profile display is not affected : it always displays a straight mono mix of the two channels.
The "Bypass" checkbox returns you to a straight mono mix for comparison.
The purpose of this dialog is to help you concentrate on the instrument(s) you want to hear. Its simplest use is to move the "Mix Level" slider full left or right, to select the channel in which the instrument you want to hear is clearer. You can also check the "Out of phase" checkbox, which reverses the phase on one channel, causing them to cancel out. You may then be able to adjust the mix level to achieve maximum cancellation of whatever you don't want to hear (perhaps a vocal) while still hearing the accompaniment. How successful this can be depends on how it was recorded. Note that if the recording was originally mono (e.g. copied from an old vinyl mono recording) then it won't be effective at all. Instruments that were recorded in true stereo (using two microphones - pianos are often recorded this way) won't cancel out very much while instruments recorded on a single mic (such as vocals) and then placed in the mix by panning will cancel. Therefore it is sometimes possible to cancel out a vocal while leaving the piano audible, which is useful. Reverb is usually true stereo so it won't cancel.
Occasionally an instrument may be present on both channels but with a slight delay applied to one channel (to make a "bigger" sound). In that case you can cancel it more effectively by using the "Channel delay" slider to undo the delay that was applied.
Note that if you are using slowdown (see Faster/Slower, Play menu) or MP3 decoding then Transcribe! sets the Audio source buffer size to zero during mix adjustment. This prevents the "Pre-computing audio data" box from popping up while you are adjusting the mix, but it does mean (if your computer is slow) that there may be slivers of silence interrupting playback.
You can use this command to apply filtering (EQ, Equalization) to the sound file
you are working on. This allows you to emphasize the sound of the instrument(s) you
want to hear, and to reduce the volume of things you don't want to hear. It operates
according to the frequency (pitch) of the sound so cannot distinguish between two
sounds both in the same frequency range.
Changes you make in this dialog have
transcription-wide effect, and control both
what you hear on playback and also the spectrum analysis. The profile display is
not affected : it displays the sound in the sound file, without EQ.
This dialog is rather large : if you are running a low-resolution screen (640 * 480) you may need to move the Control Strip out of the way and adjust the position of the dialog so you can access all the controls.
The "Bypass" checkbox enables you to switch off the EQ, for comparison.
The "Gain" slider at the right adjusts the overall gain. If you use a lot of boost in the EQ settings then digital overload (distortion) may occur. In this case, reduce the overall gain to prevent distortion.
The EQ offered is 5 band parametric, with a graphical display showing the overall
frequency response curve resulting. The 5 bands are marked "Low", "Mid 1",
"Mid 2", "Mid 3" and "High". Each band has the same controls, as follows :
If any of this is unclear, just have a play with it - you will easily see what the controls do by looking at their effect on the displayed frequency response curve.
EQ filtering uses substantial computer power, so if your machine is slow you may see the "Pre-computing audio data" box pop up. On the other hand, if your machine is fast enough to do slowdown without pitch change, then EQ should not be a problem.
Note that Transcribe! sets the Audio source buffer size to zero during EQ adjustment. This prevents the "Pre-computing audio data" box from popping up while you are adjusting the EQ, but it does mean (if your computer is slow) that there may be slivers of silence interrupting playback.
This command displays a dialog giving details on the name and format of the currently loaded Sound file (if any).
The MIDI Options dialog enables you to set up Transcribe!'s response to MIDI input, so you can use MIDI messages to start and stop Transcribe!'s playback. Transcribe! does not output MIDI at all. MIDI options are global.
The point about this is that when you are transcribing you will often have pencil and paper in your hands, or a musical instrument, or both. It is therefore very useful to be able to operate Transcribe! "hands free" - to start and stop playback with your feet. To use this feature you need to have a MIDI input port on your computer (these can be bought from many different manufacturers if you don't already have one) and you need to have some kind of foot pedal capable of generating MIDI output. Typically you might use :
There are various MIDI driver interfaces used on the Mac. To use MIDI with Transcribe! you need to have Opcode's OMS (Open Music System) installed. MIDI port hardware for Mac usually includes this software as it is fairly standard. If you don't already have it, it can be downloaded for free from Opcode's web site at www.opcode.com
Simple Setup
If you need to know more, read on . . .
The Gory Details
Transcribe! can respond to any note on/off event, controller on/off event or program change event, on any channel. Continuous controllers (such as volume or pitch bend) are ignored. You should be aware that program change events are a bit different from note on/off and controller on/off events. When you press a note, or a controller such as a sustain pedal, an "on" event is generated. Later when you release the note or controller an "off" event is generated. On the other hand a program change event is strictly a one-shot affair, there is no "end of program change" event. This means that a program change event is not as versatile for controlling Transcribe!, as note and controller events are. Also, most program change pedals will generate the same program change twice if you press the same pedal twice but they don't have to and if yours doesn't then that is more limiting still.
The basic concept is that you can configure Transcribe! to respond to selected MIDI events by effectively translating them to keystrokes on the computer keyboard. The MIDI options dialog is where you specify these translations. The reason why this is useful is that Transcribe! already has a rich collection of keyboard shortcuts for controlling playback, so this technique gives you access to the same collection of shortcuts under MIDI control. Some of these shortcuts (such as <spacebar> to start playback, <period> (full stop) to stop) are documented alongside the command in question, many others including the function keys are documented on the keyboard shortcuts page.
When you tell Transcribe! to translate a particular note or controller to a particular key on the computer's keyboard, it naturally treats the note or controller "on" event as pressing the key and the subsequent "off" event as releasing it. However because of the "one-shot" nature of program change events mentioned above, when you tell Transcribe! to translate a program change event to a particular key on the computer's keyboard, it treats the program change event as if the corresponding key was pressed and then immediately released. This is fine for those keys which anyway take no notice of when they are released such as <spacebar>, <period>, <comma> but it doesn't work so well for those keys which only make sense if they can be held down for some time, such as :
The MIDI Options Dialog
Respond to MIDI : this checkbox switches Transcribe!'s MIDI responses on or off globally.
Release when in background : when you activate another application, Transcribe! is then in the "background". If you leave this box unchecked then Transcribe! will still listen and respond to MIDI messages while in the background, which can be very useful if the foreground application is perhaps a notation program into which you are entering the results of your transcription. However if you prefer Transcribe! to stop responding to MIDI when in the background, check this box.
Device selection list : here is a list of MIDI input devices attached to your computer. Select which one you want Transcribe! to listen to.
MIDI Event Monitor : this list box shows what MIDI events Transcribe! is hearing. If you press a note on your MIDI instrument and nothing appears in this box, this means you've plugged the MIDI cable in the wrong hole.
Specify a Response for the Selected MIDI Event : this button will only be enabled if you have selected (clicked on) an event in the "Monitor" box. Pressing it will bring up the "New MIDI Response" dialog (see below) which enables you to specify what keystroke Transcribe! should translate this MIDI event to.
Current Responses : this list box shows what responses are currently configured. Each line specifies a translation from a MIDI event to a keyboard shortcut.
Edit/Delete the Selected Response : these buttons will only be enabled if you have selected (clicked on) an event in the "Responses" box.
The Edit MIDI Response or New MIDI Response Dialog
In this dialog you select the keyboard shortcut to which the selected MIDI event will be translated. The MIDI event in question (its type, number and channel) is displayed in the "MIDI Event" box.
Keystroke generated : this list shows all the keyboard shortcuts which can be generated from MIDI events. You should select one of these.
Invert Action : it is sometimes possible for a controller's action to be "upside down", so that pressing it produces an "off" event and releasing it produces an "on" (you will see from the "MIDI Event Monitor" if this is happening). In this case you should check the "Invert Action" checkbox to get correct behaviour.
Action : for your convenience, this gives a brief description of what the currently selected keyboard shortcut actually does.
Edit Function Key : this button will only be enabled if you have selected a function key as the current keyboard shortcut, and if you currently have a transcription open as some of the function keys have transcription-wide effect. It brings up the Program Function Key dialog for the function key selected.
The Fret Display Options dialog is relevant only if you play a string instrument. When you shift-click the piano keyboard, a little window pops up telling you which strings at which fret would play the note. This initially defaults to standard 6 string guitar : the Fret Display Options dialog is where you specify other string instruments, the number of strings and tuning. This information will then be used when you subsequently shift-click the keyboard. Changes made here have global effect.
If you have adjusted the pitch with the Faster/Slower command then this will affect the string & fret information just as it affects the notes played by the keyboard. The true sounding note is reported in the string info pop-up.
We speak here (and in the string info pop-up) of "frets". Of course, many string instruments don't have frets but I think our meaning should be clear anyway.
The dialog has a selection list at the top where you can select from various common instruments such as guitar, violin, bass etc. This is simply a convenience - if you select one of these then Transcribe! will set the number of strings and their tuning to the usual for that instrument. If you use the other controls to change the number of strings or their tuning then Transcribe! will set the instrument selector to "Custom".
Then there are four numerical "spin" controls.
The first is "Highest fret". Transcribe! does not set this for you when you select an instrument, it's up to you to change it if you want. It doesn't actually have to be the highest fret on the instrument, you should set it to the highest fret which you want Transcribe! to consider using for alternative fingerings. The point is that most notes can be played on several different strings, at higher fret positions on lower-pitched strings. Transcribe! will report these alternate fingerings as long as they do not exceed the "highest fret" that you have specified. Transcribe! makes an exception for your highest-pitched string and will always report the fret number for this string no matter how high the note is.
"How many strings" : can be from 1 to 12.
"Tuning for each string" : here you select which string and specify its tuning. The tuning is specified as a MIDI note number, but for convenience an English description of the note's pitch is given as well. The MIDI octave number is also given - for instance, middle C is "C4" and the B just below it is "B3". Remember that guitar and bass are transposing instruments : they sound an octave lower than written. The top string of the guitar in standard tuning is correctly reported as E just above middle C.
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