How to Convert WAV to Tablature
Converting WAV to tablature consists of two separate processes, musical transcription and tablature writing. To create a tablature file based on a WAV recording, you will need to transcribe the music, make string position choices and write the results in tablature format.
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Instructions
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Put on your headphones and listen to the WAV file. Sketch out the structure of the music on a piece of paper. This will help you avoid having to transcribe repeated sections.
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Play back the WAV file and focus only on the drum sounds. Try to play along with your hands or by tapping your pencil. Write out the drum pattern on a blank sheet of tablature using Drum Solo Artist's "How To Read Drum Tabs" as a guide.
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Play back the WAV file and focus only on the bass, if a bass is present. Sound out the melody by striking notes in different positions on your own stringed instrument until you match the pitches used on the recording. Download and print Fretplay's template for bass tabs and write out the notes in tablature format.
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Download and print Fretplay's template for guitar tabs. Play back the WAV file and focus on the lead guitar. Sound out the melody on your instrument, and write out fret numbers on the appropriate strings on the template. Listen to and transcribe the remaining stringed instruments one by one.
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Go to your instrument of choice and sight-read your tablature transcription to check your work. Play it slowly and make sure it sounds right. Listen to the WAV and make any necessary corrections.
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Tips & Warnings
If you take music lessons, it could be a good idea to bring your final tablature and the WAV file to your next lesson for feedback.
As of 2010, available software options can identify basic frequencies in an audio file, especially simple melodies played by a single instrument, but they have trouble with separating multiple instruments played at the same time and trouble with guitars. This may change in the future as software improves.
"Audio-to-tablature" conversion is a misnomer. Conversion implies a simple change in encoding. However, audio cannot be "encoded" into tablature because the two formats contain such dissimilar information. Audio files are real-time recordings of physical sounds. Tablature files are sequential, diagrammatic instructions for a stringed instrument player to perform a piece of music.
Tablature files are for stringed instruments and drums only. There is no way to transcribe keyboards to tablature format.
References
Resources
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