Program to convert music into notes...

[meisel]

Im looking for a program that can convert music, for example from mp3s, into notes.
I once saw a program at a friend that made all instruments in a song into guitar tabs, and i`m sure that it could be translated into normal notes as well. There shouldn`be a problem to do this, then.
So, does anyone here know any such programs?

[DarkWind]

Mp3 and Midis are completely different. MP3s are recorded sounds that translate into sounds waves. MIDIs depend on your hardware to translate digital messages that it sends to play music. So, it can't be done, at least, without good accuracy.

[xvimbi]

Im looking for a program that can convert music, for example from mp3s, into notes.
I once saw a program at a friend that made all instruments in a song into guitar tabs, and i`m sure that it could be translated into normal notes as well. There shouldn`be a problem to do this, then.
So, does anyone here know any such programs?

In fact, translating sound into notes is a huge problem. It is not so difficult if you have a single instrument that plays clean notes. Fourier-analysis will be able to figure out the frequencies (pitch) and amplitudes (loudness) of all the notes in a piece. However, as soon as there are no clear sounds and several instruments involved, I don't think it can be done, at least not with the currently available technology.

[allchopin]

Your ears.  It's the only way.

[meisel]

i thought it was mp3s i saw being translated to notes, but i guess i should ask him about it then.
Thanks for answers, untill the technology is there, i willl have to continue doing it by ear. It at least works, not always perfect though.

[allchopin]

There is a way to make it simpler.  There is a free program out there called the Amazing Slow Downer that basically stretches the mp3 to a variable level so that you can hear each pitch being played, helpful especially with fast and intricate passages.  I used this to put a 4 and half minute piece that especially loved into music, using that program, Finale open side by side, and a lot of repetition.  I guess this depends on how badly you want the music .

[meisel]

There is a way to make it simpler.  There is a free program out there called the Amazing Slow Downer that basically stretches the mp3 to a variable level so that you can hear each pitch being played, helpful especially with fast and intricate passages.  I used this to put a 4 and half minute piece that especially loved into music, using that program, Finale open side by side, and a lot of repetition.  I guess this depends on how badly you want the music .

Sounds interesting... so the music doesn`t get toned down in frequence? Guess i`ll have to try it then  

[piano_learner]

Your ears.  It's the only way.

I agree. Mpeg is a ‘lossy’ compression system. Lossy compression reduces a file by permanently eliminating certain information, especially redundant information. When the file is uncompressed, only a part of the original information is still there but the loss would not be very perceptible to the human ear. The ability for some future technology to extract all the necessary information from an Mp3 is not only questionable, but will depend heavily on how much compression was initially applied when the file was created.

[xvimbi]

Sounds interesting... so the music doesn`t get toned down in frequence? Guess i`ll have to try it then  

The frequency does not change. That would mean the pitch would change. The program simply slows down a piece. Of course, one can also speed up a piece. This technology can be used, e.g., for patching together a symphony from several takes, where each take is at a slightly different speed.

[allchopin]

Sounds interesting... so the music doesn`t get toned down in frequence? Guess i`ll have to try it then  

No, it doesn't - the drawback is that the final sound is very scratchy and somewhat hard to decipher.  This is, of course, because you are getting something for nothing (time).  So don't expect magic - it really just helps with fast passages that hard too hard to determine at normal speed.  It also speeds up pieces, but I haven't neeeded that.

[timothy42b]

This weekend I downloaded midi files of some common hymns.

I imported them into Noteworthy Composer for the purpose of seeing the notes as sheet music (and being able to make some changes without a sequencer.)  

It worked.  But the notation was nothing like you would expect.  The programs capture all the notes.  But they make very interesting choices of what staff to put them on, what note values to use, etc.  There is no way you could follow a voice part from what you get, for example.  

If I only have a few hymns to do, it is faster to just type the notes in from scratch.  

[FST2]

Unfortunately, for the technical reasons given, there is no easy way to transcribe MULTI PART scores from mp3 or wav formats into midi or notes. Transcribing by ear is the only RELIABLE method.

I saw a good analogy elsewhere, here it is (reproduced) :- "you can easily make a cake out of milk, eggs, and sugar, but it's rather tough to make milk, eggs and sugar out of a cake".


The suggestion by allchopin, concerning Amazing Slowdowner, is a good one.


If you want to waste your time playing around with audio to midi/notes programmes, then try intelliscore (probably the best of the bunch)

https://www.intelliscore.net/




 er . . . There is one other reliable way for changing an MP3 file into a MIDI file.
Here it is: (reproduced)

(1) Put your MP3 file onto a diskette.
(2) Give the diskette to someone who is really big, really mean, and preferably somewhat drunk.
(3) Have your friend say "This [censored] is a [censored] MIDI file, and if any of you [censored]s disagree, I'll [censored] your [censored]."

I'll leave it up to you to find which method works best . . .