Transcribing music

[llhyperdude]

Hello,
I just graduated from High School and am going on to College to major in Music. I have a strong interest in transcribing music (taking audio files and writing out what I hear). Is there a market for transcribers? Is it possible to make money writing transcriptions? I would imagine that courses in composition would help me.
Thanks,
-llhyperdude

[ted]

Hard to say. I think you would have to ask people like Dapogny, Scivales and Posnak. I suspect not, because much music is digitised at the point of creation these days, which process renders transcribing unnecessary. If you have a good ear it is a handy process to develop at the personal level but I think you would have to be abnormally quick and accurate at it to make money from it.

I do not immediately see why courses in composition would help this ability.

[allchopin]

Hard to say. I think you would have to ask people like Dapogny, Scivales and Posnak. I suspect not, because much music is digitised at the point of creation these days, which process renders transcribing unnecessary. If you have a good ear it is a handy process to develop at the personal level but I think you would have to be abnormally quick and accurate at it to make money from it.

I do not immediately see why courses in composition would help this ability.

I'm going to have to disagree with you Ted.

I was in your exact shoes hyper, and I still am constantly transcribing today (video games, movies, CD's, etc.) - it is something that I love to do.  The great thing about this ability is that it is not yet obsolete at all.  The fact is, there is no program extant today that can take any recording you have an turn it into a midi/sheet music.  And even if they were to come out with a program that could decipher a simple melody on the piano, this most likely wouldn't be able to carry to 8-bit Nintendo sound, orchestrations, synthesized new age music, etc.

I have come across a few sites offering transcription services, some posting free sheet music (https://www.cerulean-pictures.com/ for one).  The market seems pretty open to this skill as long as you are able to be flexible to the needs of any type of musician - otherwise I really am wondering if anyone would pay good money for this service.  You don't necessarily have to be quick (other than to be able to churn out many, many transcriptions in a reasonable amount of time) but you must be accurate or your client will hear a wrong note and discard your work.  When I hear transcriptions of others of pieces that I know well, I am extremely critical and usually am able to find flaws that turn me off from that transcription completely.

Taking courses in composition can help your ear training a great deal, and simply taking theory courses will help tremendously with your speed and accuracy.  Being able to hear progressions rather than individual notes is an important aspect of being able to transcribe (as I have learned from personal experience - not by someone telling me I need to do this).  Majoring in music will help you attain this ability better than you probably could alone.

Just think of what we would be missing of greats like Liszt decided to just tour and play instead of writing out some of the greatest transcriptions for the piano (although he usually didn't follow the score exactly, with exceptions such as the Beethoven Symphonies).  It's a commendable endeavor and it's great to know people are still concerned with this ancient practice. 

[Daevren]

In terms of transcribing improvised solo's of jazz people,  yes.

[thierry13]

I'm sure llhyperdude is : Lang Lang hyper dude !! It's Lang Lang in person! 

[llhyperdude]

Thank you for the replies.

>>thierry13<< I could only wish...

>>allchopin<< Thanks for your encouraging words. I suspect that offering transcriptions as a service in addition to other means of making money would provide enough income. I'm just trying to find something that I'll really enjoy doing.

You mention "being able to hear progressions rather than individual notes," and I suspect this is my biggest weakness. Hopefully college will provide the resources to address that problem.

Thanks,
-llhyperdude

[allchopin]

>>allchopin<< Thanks for your encouraging words. I suspect that offering transcriptions as a service in addition to other means of making money would provide enough income. I'm just trying to find something that I'll really enjoy doing.

You mention "being able to hear progressions rather than individual notes," and I suspect this is my biggest weakness. Hopefully college will provide the resources to address that problem.

I personally don't think that focusing all your work on just transcription will get you very far. 

Being able to transcribe is just one of the many facets of being a good musician.  It may be a good warm-up to composition if you're inexperienced in the field.  I would suggest you get Finale 2004 (or other reputable notation program) if you don't already have it and the Amazing Slow Downer (trial will probably suffice here https://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/AmazingSlowDowner/) and create respectable transcriptions that you think people might be interested in.

Having the ability to hear musical progressions is helpful to this cause because you can hear an excerpt (anywhere from 5 seconds to several minutes) and be able to skeletally reproduce it on a piano.  Mozart as a small boy was able to listen to an opera in church which was not supposed to be heard outside of the church, and leave hours later with everything in his head, which he was then able to write down.  This is an advanced stage of being able to hear and remember progressions, rather than remembering 'A major, Bb, C minor, F, etc.'  You don't need college to teach you to do this, but it will certainly help.

[llhyperdude]

"I personally don't think that focusing all your work on just transcription will get you very far."

Oh, I definitely agree...there are so many other sides to music that should be explored. I am not really experienced in composition, but transcribing has sparked my curiosity to composing.

I'm pretty comfortable in Finale '05 and Adobe Audition. I'm not sure that making transcriptions would be the problem. I have done enough to feel pretty confident about my work. What I'm worried about is following Copyright laws and finding out where to get the music printed (professionally). How would I go about getting permission to write out the music and sell my transcription? I would like to sell professional-grade prints of the transcriptions but most printers I've seen can't print larger than 8 1/2 x 11.

[silva]

illhyperdude if you want to attempt to transcribe some music for me (a ray charles song) Ill pay you handsomley

its not standard, it is just a piano with a bass and drum (I would just like the bass and piano) Its something Ive been after for soooo long you could give it a go as an experiemtn

- Silva

[bsonnen]

If you would be interested in a church position, I think there would be a significant demand for an arranger who could transcribe church music.  A music director would love to be able to hand you a CD and have you write  transcriptions for his particular choir and orchestra.  Keep in mind that many churches have very unusual combinations of instruments in their "orchestras" - they take whatever instrumentalists they can get.  Therefore, there is a need for someone to tailor the music to their specific instrumentation and abilities.  Writing for church choirs and orchestras might be a very good starting point for your career.  I would think that churches might prove to be a profitable market for your work as well.

Orchestration courses are the best preparation for this; most of the exercises require you to transcribe piano music for orchestra.  However, you'll find it to be very tedious and time consuming work.     

[Brian Healey]

To add to what has already been said, I've found that generally, the more theory you know (the more you understand how music works), the easier transcribing becomes. It makes perfect sense. Also, if you are an improvising musician, ear skills are about the most important thing to develop.

Peace,
Bri