I Tested 9 Piano Audio-to-Sheet Music Transcription Websites/Software
Ever since I started practicing the piano again, I've had a constant need: practicing piano accompaniments for pop songs. However, most of the sheet music online includes the melody, and pure piano accompaniment scores are relatively rare. Scores with almost no errors are even rarer.
So I figured, AI should be quite advanced by now. Using AI for stem separation and transcription, followed by manual proofreading, should work fine. Pop song piano accompaniments aren't overly complex to begin with. Letting AI transcribe the general structure, and then manually proofreading to delete or modify unnatural parts, would complete the whole workflow.
(Software like Logic and Cubase can now directly separate stems for songs. There is currently a free piano stem separation website called mvsep, but free users have to wait in a queue.)
After testing 9 piano audio-to-sheet music websites/software, my theory was confirmed. A few of them have an accuracy rate between 80% and 90%. This article will discuss the ones I consider the best on the market right now.
The standardized testing method was: upload low-quality piano stem audio (extracted from songs, so the quality won't be high), check their transcription results, and incidentally test additional features, such as editability, chord symbols, etc.
Direct conclusion:
Piano2Notes
Ivory (Piano-to-Notes AI)
I will introduce 5 websites, with Piano2Notes being my top recommendation.
Capella audio2score pro
Trial Period: 15 days
Price: 188 dollars for a lifetime license
It has two versions: the "start" version cannot be edited and can only be exported, while the "pro" version allows editing. After testing, the error rate is quite high without adjustments, popping up many weird notes. The automatically generated chord symbols are basically all wrong, and it cannot recognize chord inversions. You can only adjust the sensitivity by dragging it to the far left. This yields a relatively more accurate score, but at the cost of missing some notes, which can only be filled in manually by ear.
Overall, it's a usable software, but given this level of performance, paying 188 dollars for a lifetime license is really not worth it.
Songscription AI
Website: https://www.songscription.ai/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Price: The Plus plan is 10 dollars/monthm with multiple export formats supported. The Pro plan is 31 dollars/month.
Free users have 15 minutes of transcription. The automatic chord marking has some accuracy, but isn't entirely correct. It cannot accurately identify seventh chords and slash chords. The accuracy rate is over 80%. Even the free version allows online editing and features a piano roll mode, letting you intuitively see which notes are unnatural. It supports importing from YouTube. Overall, Songscription AI is more than enough, even if you just stick to the free version.
AnthemScore
Trial Version: Supports the first 30 seconds of audio.
Price: Lite version is 34.7 dollars, cannot edit notes, cannot playback. Pro version is 47.01 dollars, supports all features. Studio version is 119.74 dollars, supports lifetime free updates.
Anthem's pros are very obvious: the accuracy is solid, at around 80%. The exported sheet music does not come with automatic chord symbols. The Pro version allows editing, and it has a piano roll window, making editing much more convenient. The cons are also very obvious. The UI is not clean or intuitive, looking like software released around 2005. Note editing has a certain learning curve. It requires downloading the software, doesn't support subscriptions, and is strictly a one-time purchase. If you want a lifetime license, AnthemScore is definitely better than Capella audio2score pro. However, this software clearly falls short in terms of user-friendliness. You'll understand once you download its trial version. Overall, it's sufficient, but a hassle.
Piano2Notes
Price: Can export to PDF, MIDI, Music XML, etc. Maximum length is 15 minutes. The Pro version offers monthly or annual subscriptions: monthly rent is 13.82 dollars, annual rent breaks down to 5.76 dollars per month. 50 scores per month. Adds online editing capabilities. The Universe version unlocking the full suite of Klangio Transcription Studio tools, including guitar, drums, violin, etc.
This is my top recommendation. The accuracy is great, and the sheet music is intuitive and visually pleasing, unlike others that cram everything together. The automatic chord symbols are accurate, and it's the only website that can relatively accurately identify seventh chords. It includes a Pianoroll mode to more intuitively observe unnatural notes. Supports importing from YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. The Pro version allows online editing, and can be exported as MusicXML to be edited in other software.
Ivory
Price: Monthly rent is 10.56 dollars, annual rent is 69.31 dollars. Supporting with MIDI / PDF / MusicXML export formats. 100 scores per month. Supports direct import from YouTube.
The piano sound library used for playback is the best among all the websites/software I tested. Accuracy is solid. Includes a Pianoroll mode for more intuitive viewing. The downside is that online editing is not powerful enough, which is extremely difficult to use. It's recommended to export as MusicXML and edit in other softwares. Overall, besides the playback sound library, it falls short of Piano2Notes in every other aspect.
