The last tutorial explained the beginning process of how to start to transcribe music.

This tutorial will explain a range software which you can use on your computer to make life easier when transcribing. Also, you will learn about the little tricks you can do with EQ settings, slowdown and loop features in software. Finally we will look into different ways of getting your ears and head right into the middle of the music. Sounds tricky? Well, three words that will help with everything? practice, Practice, PRACTICE!

Software

There is a plenty of software available that can be used to help with the transcription process. Some software is freeware (ie. - downloadable for free from the internet), and some software available for purchase, with more features, which can be more powerful.

Windows Media Player 10
This one is easy to use and comes bundled with Windows and has regular updates through the automatic Windows XP updater. This is what I personally use just because it's quick, easier and allows you to change some basic parameters of the music/sound without too much hassle. For those who need to loop music, this one may not be such a useful program.

Some features are: Slowdown and speed up to half or double time with out change of pitch, 10 band graphic equalizer, Bass Boost.

Freeware
http://microsoft.com
Rating - 8/10

Transcribe
This program allows you to slowdown without pitch loss, loop certain sections that can be stored and recalled whenever you want, EQ filter, pitch spectrum analysis (ie - this displays a piano keyboard and outlines the peaks in the sound signal according to frequency to show you the pitch being played - can be accurate sometimes but also misleading), karaoke mode (this partially removes the vocal track but also eliminates the 'air' of the recording (anything above 18Khz) it can sometimes partially remove anything else in the mid range frequency of where the vocals sit (around 9Khz - 14Khz) ie - saxophones, piano, trombones, guitar.

Shareware/Purchase
http://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe
Rating - 6/10

Solo Explorer
Now this one is cheating all together. This program gives you the chance to convert Wave files to Midi Files. This program works on the same principles as the Transcribe program above. It recognizes frequencies within a recording and outputs it as midi data so you can save the midi file and then open it up in any notation program or sequencing program.
This program is only for one instrument recordings and doesn't do such a great job on ensembles, however, it can pickup certain elements within a recording if you're having trouble hearing a note or a line.

Shareware/Purchase
http://www.recognisoft.com
Rating - 3/10

There we have it, 3 different programs that are capable of three different things to make your life easier as a musician. As I said earlier, there are heaps of programs like this all over the internet, the top three are the best ones in there class for the job that they do.

Now, lets look quick look at EQ settings that can help you hear different elements of a recording.....

There are three main levels to EQ; High, Mids, and Low's.... Within these three levels you have many different frequencies.

Ever heard of A440?
What the 440 means is that it takes 1 second for the A to make 440 repititions, so, imagine a bass thats in the lowest frequencies that can take a low C (C2 on the keyboard) to take 1 second to make 65 repititions. This measurement is measured in Herz (Hz and every thousand as a Khz K = 1,000).

So, if you were ever wondering what the numbers mean underneath the sliders on an EQ panel, now you know.

High: 2.001Khz - 18Khz
Mid: 131Hz - 2Khz
Low: 31hz - 130Hz

There are such things as "High Mids" and "Mid Lows" - if you have an EQ pannel that have more than 10 sliders, then you can be safe to assume that the "High Mids" will fall half way between the High and Mid as above - the same principle applies with the "Mid Lows".

Note: The Lowest A (A 0) on a piano is 27Hz, the highest C (C8) is roughly 4.3 KhZ.
The human ear has a capability of hearing from 20 Hz right up to 22 Khz - so what sort of instruments are placed in the 18Khz and above? Not much, these frequencies are used to brighten up a recording, make the picolo/high strings stand out a bit more or to make the cymbals on a kit more "sparkly".

Below is a list of where the MIDDLE ranges of each instrument sit in the frequency range:

Bass: Between 30Hz - 146Hz
Piano: Between 261Hz - 1Khz
Trumpets: Between 261Hz - 1.3Khz
Trombones: Between 110Hz - 392Hz
Alto Sax: Between 261Hz - 1.3Khz
Tenor Sax: Between 110Hz - 392Hz
Bari Sax: Between 90Hz - 280Hz

Thats a rough and very brief explanation on EQ.....

So, make sure you keep coming back to this section regularly as I will be writing more articles or reviews that may be of interest to you.

For those who don't know anything about midi. Midi stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface - this is language used by computers and electronic keyboards to communicate and playback what's on the screen in programs such as Sibelius, Finale Cubase etc. Midi can get really in depth and complicated, however, for the purpose of this tutorial I will go through it at a later stage.