Back to the original topic, I had a project today that caused me to use and learn much more about Song Master Pro, and I can say I am far more impressed with it than before.

Song Master Pro identified the chords better than any other resource I have ever used, and I've tried a lot. This may be the first program I would trust with the task.

It's a small thing, but so valuable, to have the tempo identified with accuracy to the tenth of a BPM. The song I was studying turned out to be a steady 115.2 bpm. Why they recorded or released it like that, I have no clue, but it means that I cannot get BIAB rendered tracks to match it exactly. At least with this knowledge, I can make precise tempo adjustments in my DAW. [I really wish BIAB would support non-integer tempos; it's something I've requested for several years and if nothing else, it would make it possible to change tempos within a bar smoothly.]

The first thing I had to do was pitch shift the song, into the key I wanted to perform it on horn. I have several programs that do this, but it's nice to stay in the same tool awhile. Not only does it adjust the pitch in terms of half-steps, but also in cents. I raised the pitch 13 cents to where I wanted it. [Some out there will claim that you can't hear such small adjustments, but I can, and I've proven it to disbelieving engineers].

I then used the Mix, Extract Stems. It works very well, and I think has more power than any of the Spleeter variations. This made .WAV files for Drums, Bass, Piano, Guitar, and what they call The Rest for sounds other than those named. Each of these can be saved, muted or soloed, and adjusted by volume. This may be the most helpful tool I've ever used to decipher a song. [Then BIAB can take over.]

I had some trouble with extracting MIDI and making use of it, but it does appear it can be done once I figure out a couple of nuances. For example, I can take an audio bass, turn it into MIDI, move it to a DAW, and assign a Bass (or other) virtual instrument. I can also view that MIDI in music notation form in my DAW or in my dedicated notation program (as Mario mentioned).

We have all grown up with BIAB having to explain to new users how MIDI is not Audio, and Audio is not MIDI.

But the world is changing.

ps I love the GUI. Everything is where I would have guessed. What a pleasure.


BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.