Review of SoundScriber Music Transcription Software

Music transcription software is a weak spot in audio programs -- sure, there's software that will slow down music for you, but not everyone can work with a distorted version of a song.

Tiny, freeware SoundScriber does something much more mundane, but something more useful for many who transcribe music: "walking," its most unique feature, breaks down a piece into chunks a few seconds long and repeats one chunk a few times before moving on.

The length of each segment, the number of repetitions, the pause between each repetition and how much each segment overlaps with the one before it are all user-definable. Walking can be turned on and off by pressing ctrl-F7 and ctrl-F5, respectively, even while SoundScriber runs in the background -- useful while transcribing on another program such as Anvil Studio or even Notepad. SoundScriber has a speed control slider, so a song can be sped up or slowed down, but it changes the pitch of the audio file so its use is limited to interval analysis. All user settings can be saved in separate files, so a configuration with more repetitions than usual can be loaded for use with new pieces.

My favorite feature after Walking is the ability to add bookmarks to a piece. Each segment of the song can be meticulously identified with "Verse 1," "Chorus 2," "Bridge" and so on, or the user can mark sections needing transcription and access those sections quickly. It's very streamlined and easy to use -- important qualities when dealing with a particularly challenging piece. Similar to yet different from bookmarking, SoundScriber also lets the user jump to a point in the song. I didn't find jumping as useful as bookmarking, but it can be helpful in some cases.

The program weighs in at 100KB unzipped and uses almost no memory, so older computers can find new use as transcription stations. As an added perk SoundScriber can work as a quick-and-dirty mp3 player for any computer running Windows 95 or better.

SoundScriber has only a few shortcomings, most of which are nitpicks. It can't use Ogg Vorbis audio or RAW data. Rewinding and fast forwarding are sluggish, and songs can only be broken down in chunks of one to ten seconds long, which some may find limiting. The interface is utterly bland and looks much like the audio settings in Windows 98. Pieces can only be played one at a time, so you can't create a playlist of "to-do" songs.

If slowdown programs don't help you with music transcription SoundScriber may be what you need.