What are transcriptions?
In musical terms, a transcription is a piece of written music that is
based off of a recording. The transcriber makes his best effort to
accurately write down exactly what is being played on the recording.
Most often people will transcribe improvised solos from Jazz music to
improve their own improvising skills. Others, like yours truly,
transcribe whole songs that aren't available elsewhere as sheet music.
What equipment do you use?
Usually I use my iPod
to listen to the recording at the piano, headphones so I can hear
individual notes better, Finale
to notate the songs on the computer, and Acrobat
to port the Finale files to PDF format for cross-platform
compatibility. A handy tool for those of you just starting out is
the Amazing Slow Downer which
slows down audio without changing the pitch. I used that for my
first song but I don't need it anymore. If you choose to use that
software, I advise that you don't get dependant upon it. It's not
good practice. :)
How long does it take to transcribe a song?
That depends on the duration and complexity of the song. I find
that usually I take one hour to transcribe one minute of music.
That's a long time, I know, but I'm obsessed with perfection. :) I don't
know how long it takes others to transcribe, but I imagine that my
hour-to-minute thing is a reasonable time to take to get things right.
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