My cats have assumed control over my audio equipment as I was coming up with this musical idea:
Sadie: “I don’t care what you’re doing. I’m taking a nap over here. I could care less about your volume controls or your effects pedal.”
Willow: “Nice bouncy keys. Interesting….”
Alex: “Wanna wank, wank, wank? Forget about it! It’s time for me to chew on these nice looking cables.”
So, if you think you are qualified to be a music transcriber, the next question you will ask is, “Where and how do I get some jobs?” In many ways, getting a job as a music transcriber can be difficult. Given the advances on the Internet, however, it’s never been easier to promote yourself as a music transcriber and apply for jobs.
The Two Most Important Items in Applying for the First Job
The two most important items you will need in your attempt to bag a music transcription job is your portfolio and your resume. Your portfolio should contain a variety of samples of sheet music. You should have at least one of these:
I would consider these kinds of sheet music as the most universal. Here are some reasons why you need to have these kinds of
Piano scores can easily demonstrate your attention to detail as well as how well you can translate a way a pianist plays music into the written format.
As for lead sheets, I would say that they can be used by all sorts of musicians. Some groups (such as one of the organizations I’ve worked with named MSE Music Services, an entertainment/orchestra provider in the Philippines) even prefer lead sheets as they are faster to read along. I would call a lead sheet the Swiss knife of sheet music as any musician with considerable sight reading skills can play along, even if it’s just reading the chords.
Full scores tend to serve well in showcasing your transcription skills. It gives the impression that you are knowledgeable with writing and transcribing for a wide array of ensembles.
What I think is the most popular now are guitar notation/tablature and lead sheets. The reason for that is the guitar is a very popular instrument meaning that there are many guitar enthusiasts who’d want to learn how to play like their heroes.
As far as writing your resume, be honest. You don’t want to give your potential clients false impressions. Just show on your resume that you have the skills. If you have a degree in music, you can showcase that to attract clients.
Applying for Freelance Music Transcription Jobs
One of the best (and probably the safest) ways of applying for music transcription jobs is by setting up an account in a freelancing website like oDesk or Elance. Upload your portfolio, write a good description about yourself, set up a profile, look for music transcription jobs and then start applying.
When you start applying or bidding for a transcription job, remember to write a good cover letter. It should be brief but it should highlight your skills, experience and qualifications. Make sure to direct your potential client to your portfolio in order for them to see the quality of your work.
You can also put up your own website or place you ads as a music transcriber in online classifieds. You can get a few leads by putting in some time for that task.
Financial Matters Concerning Your First Music Transcription Job
You should expect that your first job would only have a price of about a few dollars. Remember that at this stage you are trying to establish yourself and so you will need to build up your reputation first. As your reputation improves, you’ll gain some leverage to charge more.
Despite saying that you should try out first some cheap jobs to gain experience, don’t work for free. If a potential client asks you to transcribe a whole song as a test, you need to get paid for the time you spent. If they’re not willing to pay for the test, bargain with them that you will transcribe perhaps a few bars as a sample. If they insist, tell them to take their business elsewhere. Working for free cheapens the profession and gives people the wrong idea that music transcription is easy. Music transcription is definitely not easy and you don’t want to be treated like a slave as they profit from the hours you’ve spent trying to nail those weird piano chords into standard notation.
Final Words
Do some research about transcription rates so that you can set up a competitive rate for yourself. In determining your rate, you have to establish one that will shoulder the costs of your operation and other things while providing the best price possible. In these times, you’ll be lucky to find someone give you a job that allows you to charge your hourly rate, especially if you’re a freelancer on sites like oDesk. There are numerous cases of clients getting ripped off by unscrupulous freelancers, so my advice is do not go that route. If you’re lucky enough to get a transcription job that pays by the hour, make sure to deliver your goods on time and with excellent quality.
That’s all of what I can think of for now on how to bag that first job. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Since music transcription is a very exciting field, there are those who ask what are the qualifications of a music transcriber. If you haven’t had the opportunity to understand how that works out based on my previous entries, this entry will tell what I think are the qualifications for a freelancing music transcriber.
If you’re expecting to say that you need a music degree to be a music transcriber, then I will tell you that I am living proof that you don’t have to have one. I certainly didn’t attend a conservatory, and all the knowledge that I gained in music transcription and music in general is through practical means. However, let me say that in all sorts of jobs in the music industry, having a music degree is an advantage but it does not guarantee that you’ll be a pro at music transcription or any music job. So, if you’re planning to take up music in college or are already taking up music, by all means try your best to complete your degree. Again, it’s definitely an advantage but it’s not required.
Now, in any sort of job or occupation, the most important thing is that you can demonstrate that you can do the job well. Unlike in the healthcare sector where having a license is necessary, music jobs in general do not require that. It all boils down to whether you can do the job or not. One of the best ways of demonstrating that is having a portfolio of your works. Now, the question would be, “What if I don’t have a portfolio?” You can always try to transcribe some samples on your own first, save them as PDF files and then you can use them as samples when you try to hunt for music transcription jobs.
Another qualification you’ll need is good working knowledge of music theory. You have to understand how standard notation is written down. You have to be able to read standard notation. This is absolutely necessary as a music transcriber. When you jot down notes onto piece of manuscript paper or input them in a program like Sibelius, you have to be able to produce sheet music that’s neat and very easy to read. No matter how complicated the music might be, the simplest manner by which you can interpret musical ideas into paper is the best way, and you certainly need to be grounded on music theory for that.
If you can already transcribe music and have a portfolio, it’s already enough evidence that you have a good ear for music. Most people offering transcription jobs would be convinced that you can handle it. There are also those clients or employers who want to make sure that you can really pull it off, and so you will be subjected to a transcription test. A transcription test is something you shouldn’t be afraid of. By all means, go for it. If you already have a portfolio and enough chops to produce a quality transcript, then I’m sure you can tackle such tests.
If you plan on being a music transcriber, have a good understanding of how music is arranged and played. You should be able to at least sing in tune and play an instrument, preferably a keyboard instrument. The more you know about how instruments work, the better you can become a music transcriber. Other than trying to learn how to play musical instruments, listen to a variety of music. It will definitely help you become familiar with all the sorts of genres you might have to transcribe.
So to sum it all up, your qualifications as a music transcriber are the following:
As long as you can demonstrate that you have all the qualities of a good music transcriber, I don’t see why you can’t get a music transcription job if you don’t have a music degree.
There probably is no single way about how to become a music transcriber.
One would say that every serious musician in the planet has had to do some music transcription in one way or another. A good examples would be one of my guitar heroes, Steve Vai, former music transcriber for Frank Zappa. Jazz musicians have been known to do this in order to figure out the improvisation methods of their influences. It’s easy then to say that to be a music transcriber one should start by having great love and dedication for music.
Let me tell you a little story about how I became a music transcriber. As far as growing up as a musician, I had limited access to sheet music and so it was helpful that I relied on my ears to learn new songs. What I would consider my first entry into music transcription would be jotting down chords of various songs I wanted to play while I listened to my cassette tapes. Being able to transcribe music came out of necessity. I am not very good at memorizing pieces (I must have some sort of memory deficit) and so transcriptions of music became great memory tools for me. That was the start of being a music transcriber, the desire to learn new songs.
When my playing skills and my knowledge of music theory further improved, I transitioned from just jotting down chords to actually transcribing songs, whether it be in MIDI or in a scorewriter such as Sibelius. Sometimes, I still do it by hand, especially when an idea for a composition starts popping into my head.
Going back to the topic “how to become a music transcriber”, one may be able to simplify it in a few steps:
There’s not a lot of steps, but just as I said in my previous piece about music transcription, it takes a great deal of patience. If you have a music degree or currently studying in a conservatory, music transcription will always help as an additional skill. If you do not have a music degree, don’t fret. I don’t have one but I sure can transcribe music and play an instrument relatively well. Whether your goal is to be able to study and analyze your favorite artist or composer’s works or to become a professional sheet music provider, the knowledge of music transcription will always be helpful.
So, why are you still reading this? Prepare your manuscript paper or your scorewriter and start walking the path on how to become a music transcriber.
Music transcribers may be some of the most patient people in the world. Although I cannot say that I have such patience, I believe I have enough that turned me into one. How does one really go about becoming a music transcriber? There are many approaches and certain qualifications to become one.
First off, a music transcriber should have really good knowledge of music theory. A music transcriber needs to be able to interpret what is heard and turn it into standard written notation. As there are many ways of interpreting a piece of music onto paper, a music transcriber should be able to determine the best way of writing down music that would make it easy for any sight-reading musician to accurately reproduce.
I believe that a music transcriber should also be a musician. It’s not just about jotting down notes into Sibelius or Finale. I think that in music transcription, a transcriber should try to play himself or herself the music with his/her instrument of choice. In many cases this could be a piano, but a few people like myself use other instruments like a guitar, sax or any other instrument. Not only does trying to play the music help the transcriber understand what’s happening to the music, it also improves the transcriber’s musical ear. It also happens to be a fun activity too. If you want evidence of that, take a look at serious jazz musicians who have been transcribing the solos of their heroes, a task called “woodshedding”.
A music transcriber should have a good sense of rhythm. Every note in any kind of music follows a certain time frame, hence following that time frame by being able to follow the rhythm is actually one of the first steps of being able to reproduce what is heard into what is written.
Music transcribers should love all kinds of music. It helps to listen to all styles and genres be it classical, jazz, metal, rock, pop, polka or what have you. An open musical mind leads to being able to enjoy the arduous task of music transcription.
The last (and probably the most important) thing allows a person to be a good music transcriber is patience. Imagine having to listen to one song over and over again, bar by bar, part by part, riff by riff, lick by lick, and then writing them all down into paper (or Sibelius/Finale). It is tedious, stressful work that can be very frustrating a lot of times. Like medical and general transcriptionists, music transcribers experience “ear fatigue”. However, the rewards of such diligence are great.
If you happen to possess such qualifications, you could possibly be a music transcriber. It’s also one way of improving your musical skills. Just listen to people like Steve Vai and Franz Liszt, music transcribers themselves, and you would have clues as to what made them who they are as musicians.
I just finished 8 out of 10 animation clips meant to become “digital gifts” by Flipbook. I just hope I can complete pending compositions as well as sound design for the last two clips and then proceed to working on a new music transcription assignment courtesy of Music Preparation Services in India. I’m hoping that all would go well as I wake up tomorrow early morning.
While I’m feeling drowsy and ready to pack up for the night, I’m glad I had supper with my wife and son at Sen Lek, great Thai food on a shoestring budget.
This is my second big project courtesy of Guitarzoom.com
If you desire to be a lead guitarist, then check out this new guitar instruction course by Steve Stine called Solo Fire. Visit the link below to know more:
http://guitarzoom.com/solofire/
Music transcription in standard notation and guitar tablature format by none other than yours truly. If you want to know the “how” of rock guitar soloing, then this is the best course out there.
Now, if you’re looking for the “what” of rock guitar soloing, check out another course called 96 Rock Licks by Steve Stine. As usual, the tabs for these were my own transcriptions.
