Get cleaner MIDI notes from a recording
Transcription estimates note pitch and timing. Overlapping instruments, percussion and reverberation can be mistaken for extra notes. Start with a short phrase from an isolated instrument and keep the recording for comparison.
Choose a mode for the source
| Setting | Useful for | Check after conversion |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Pitch | Isolated instruments playing chords or several notes at once | Listen for phantom notes and missing chord tones |
| SwiftF0, experimental | One pitched melody at a time, up to 60 seconds | Check repeated notes and slides |
| Weak-note recovery | Quiet notes missed by the default detection pass | Compare against extra notes in noisy sections |
| Join short fragments | A sustained note split into fragments | Make sure intentional repeats stay distinct |
Work through one phrase
- Use Audio Trim to keep a clean solo. Leave enough space to hear the initial attack. A fade over the attack can make the onset harder to detect.
- Send the clip to Audio to MIDI. Listen to the original and synthesized notes at the same spot. Change one setting at a time so you can tell which one helped.
- Use the piano roll to correct pitch, starts and lengths, or open a downloaded MIDI in MIDI Studio for event inspection and editing. Download a new copy and test it with your intended instrument.
If two instruments overlap, look for a solo passage or an isolated stem. The browser conversion estimates notes from the supplied audio and does not separate the mix into instruments.
Diagnose the first wrong note
Start with a phrase you can verify by ear, such as four clearly separated guitar notes followed by one sustained note. Listen at the first difference between the recording and the preview. If the first note is missing, try a clip with more room before the attack. If the long note becomes several notes, compare short-fragment joining on and off. If two clearly separated notes become one, turn joining off and compare their starts in the piano roll.
Extra notes that follow the rhythm of another instrument usually call for a cleaner source. If they appear mainly at the end of quiet notes, compare weak-note recovery on and off. Pick the setting that preserves the phrase with the fewest corrections. A larger note count alone does not tell you which setting worked better.
Verify the MIDI in the project where it will be used
Compare the converted phrase with the source from the same starting point. Check the first and last note, the longest held note and any quick repeated passage. A plausible melody can still have awkward note lengths. Fix individual starts or ends before applying a grid to the entire phrase, especially when the performance intentionally pushes or drags the beat.
Export the MIDI and open it on an instrument track in your DAW. Compare the same passage with the original audio at the intended project tempo. The browser synth is useful for checking pitch and timing, but it is not the recorded instrument. If the result sounds wrong only after changing instruments, check the destination patch and the playable pitch range before rerunning transcription.