chord detection/recognition software

[CeeCee_C]

All -

I have come across what I believe is a very useful aid to identifying chords in recorded music.

The primary product is sonic visualiser, used with its (vamp) plug-in chordino; http://www.sonicvisualiser.org/download.html and
http://www.vamp-plugins.org/download.html,
respectively.

The primary advantage to using these products is that they are gnu/free software foundation supported, which, as the name implies, means that they are free to non-commercial users (I may be wrong about the exact terms under which use is free).

Notes for Windows users.

1. Create folder C:\Program Files\Vamp Plugins. Download the plug-ins in their zip-file packaging and move the files to that directory. Do not leave them in the folders that were zipped or they may not be recognized.

2. I was initially frustrated that Sonic Visualizer appeared not to recognize the plug-ins. On a hunch, I loaded an mp3 file, tried again, and it worked. So apparently, an audio file has to be loaded in order for the plug-ins accessed from the "Transform" pull-down menu to be enabled.

This software isn't perfect, but I've tried it on a number of songs that had been frustrating me and was pleasantly surprised by the usability of the results.

The chords are displayed at the top of the frequency spectrum. I've not yet figured out if there's a way to generate a list of chords in a more concise format, but I'm working on it and will let you know when/if I succeed.

There are other (commercial) products out there and I may try them, but since this took zero $ and very little time to get to where I am now, I think it's worth climbing a little higher up the learning curve before trying anything else.


Hope you find this helpful.

Addendum:

Right after I sent out this message, I determined that a list of chords and time points within song can be produced using the Data Editor window. I've included a screen shot, but the relevant help item can be accessed from http://www.sonicvisualiser.org/doc/r...en/#dataeditor.

cc

[Phil Goodson]

CC,

I though you'd know by now that the easiest way to find those chords is just to ASK on this forum.

That way, you always get at least 3 different answers to choose from!

[Beanzy]

I've just done "It'll Shine When It Shines" and "Across The Sea" and found it's really useful for those chord transitions I can't figure out.
Am7 and E seem to be ones I need to tune my ear into more to recognise them on the fly.

Thanks for sharing this one CeeCee_C, I can see my self using this one a lot, epsecially to speed up my chord recognition.

[John Kasley]

Thanks for the lead. I enjoy learning and working with audio software so I'll be downloading this and trying it out. My first and continuing reaction is that it's more fun and probably more satisfying to figure out the chords to a tune, appropriate inversions and potential substitute chords based on my somewhat limited knowledge of music theory.

[Ovca27]

Hello! I have come across an amazing application - "AnySong Chord Recognition", it detects chords withing any audio-track. I've tried it, works amazingly well. But this kind of software is for Android users only. If you have a Mac or PC, try Chords Pickout.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egBk1Fv29Sw

[John Flynn]

I tried the Sonic Visualizer, but I could not get it to do anything but just play tunes. I will have to keep experimenting with it.

I did find an iPhone app for $1.99 called Chord Detector. So far, it seems to work reasonably well.

[Beanzy]

Hi John, I got a bit stumped by it initially.
But eventually I found the following menus which gave the result in purple.

[John Flynn]

Beanzy: I can't get the SV transform menu to recognize and list Chordino as a plug in. Also, the Data Editor selection described in the OP is grayed out. Any ideas?

[Beanzy]

Yep that happened me too...... and I've completely forgotten what I did......
I'll mull it over a bit as it was one of those 'Doh!' "why didn't they stick that bit in neon lights?" moments when I found it.

Oooh... I remember.
You'll have downloaded the zipped files to "Downloads" or somewhere equivalent.

Then you need to unzip them to Program Files. Sonic Visualiser will have made its own folder but you'll need to create a Vamp Plugins folder manually in Program Files and unzip any plugins and nnls-chroma files to there;

Then open each unzipped folder within the Vamp Plugins folder and drag out the files of type Security Catalog; DLL; N3; and TGZ so they sit alongside their folders within the Vamp Plugins folder

That way the Sonic Visualiser programme sees them when it goes to the Vamp Plugins folder, where it would miss them if they were still in the folders they were unzipped to.

Now the big question is why very very smart people who can write this software can't make the unzipping process do that, or the boffins writing the main program can't get it to drill down a layer and find it? I couldn't, but then I couldn't even think of the programme idea in the first place so that doesn't count.

When the Sonic Visualiser programme sees these then the greyed out menus will be there properly instead.

[John Flynn]

Beanzy: Thanks. I deleted everything and started all over, exactly as you said to, and it worked. FYI, I read on Vamp website that Chordino also works with Audacity. I tried it and at first blush I think it works better than with Sonic Visualizer, although I have yet to experiment with them both extensively.

BTW, I agree with those who say there is great value in figuring out chords by ear and also these programs are not perfect by any means. However, I think these programs can do two things: First they can get you in the ballpark quickly when starting to figure out chords for a tune. They instantly give you list of what the chords probably are, then you can figure out where they got it wrong. Second, at the end of the process, they can be a double check. In a tune where the chords are complex, it is easy to get it 90% right by ear, but still miss a quick change or a nuance. You can got through the computer-generated chord list and say in effect, "The program thinks I'm missing X chord in this spot. Oh yeah, I can hear there is something there I'm not doing. It may not be what the computer says it is, but it's something like that. Let me listen to that spot more carefully."