I'm finally at a point where I feel like I'm complete with this first major release of the tool and can get back to my normally scheduled life.
A huge thank you to everyone who tested it out, gave feedback, or reported bugs.
ABC Transcription Tools is a free, web-based, open-source tool for converting music in ABC format to standard notation and tablature.
It runs 100% client-side in your browser. You can even copy the source code from the GitHub link below and run it locally on your computer. No server required.
It can generate PDF files as well as URL Share links and QR Codes for sharing your tune sets with others.
The demonstration video below shows:
Importing an ABC tune set
Tablature options
Exporting to PDF files
Generating a QR Code for sharing
ABC Transcription Tools is available at:
Launch the tools with "The Kesh" and "The Lilting Banshee" pre-loaded:
Launch the tool with the Michael Coleman set ("The Tarbolton" - "The Longford Collector" - "The Sailor's Bonnet") pre-loaded:
Launch the tool with a transcription of "Muireann's" jig ( by Niall Vallely) for Anglo Concertina pre-loaded:
GitHub repo with full source code:
Here are a bunch of tune set QR codes to play with:
eskin Posts: 2294 Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2001 6:00 pm Please enter the next number in sequence: 1 Location: Kickin' it Braveheart style. Contact:
Post by eskin » Fri Feb 17, 2023 11:12 pm
Here are three sets of polkas I've learned from the "Sliabh Notes" recordings:
The Blackwater - Kathleen's - Mícheál's
The Annaghbeg - Pete Bradley's - Newmarket
Many A Wild Night - Walsh's #1 - Walsh's #2
Links to QR codes images listed below that you can scan with your phone.
The Blackwater - Kathleen's - Mícheál's
The Annaghbeg - Pete Bradley's - Newmarket
Many A Wild Night - Walsh's #1 - Walsh's #2
More tune set QR codes to scan at:
Moof Posts: 236 Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2022 4:26 pm antispam: No Please enter the next number in sequence: 8 Tell us something.: My motto: If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing badly. (Fortunately, as otherwise I'd never be allowed near a musical instrument.)
Post by Moof » Sat Feb 18, 2023 5:34 am
Thank you for this, Michael.
I'm a relative novice on low whistle, and I've been using the tool the last couple of days to pick out settings of tunes that will give me a bit of a challenge but aren't beyond my skill level. For quick visual scanning I find tabs easier than dots, and it's great to be able to load in several settings and see immediately which ones I can play, and also which ones offer up some of the variations that a more experienced player would be able to add themselves.
Given the time it still takes me to get on top of a new tune, I've got several weeks' work cut out already!
eskin Posts: 2294 Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2001 6:00 pm Please enter the next number in sequence: 1 Location: Kickin' it Braveheart style. Contact:
Post by eskin » Sun Feb 19, 2023 3:50 am
A huge bunch of updates and a complete UI rework this weekend to make the ABC tool much easier to use, particularly with larger sets of tunes.
New features added 19 Feb 2023 include full screen mode, ability to show/hide the controls while editing, a much better experience viewing and editing tune sets with many tunes (ABC editor and controls now stay at the top, with tunes scrolling below), and capo fret offset control for stringed instrument tablature.
ABC Transcription Tools is a free, web-based, open-source tool for converting music in ABC format to standard notation and tablature (with optional capo offset for stringed instruments).
It can generate PDF files as well as URL Share links and QR Codes for sharing your tune sets with others.
You can also transpose tunes up or down in semitone increments.
This demonstration video shows:
Importing an ABC tune set
Full screen display
Tablature options
Exporting notation to a PDF File
Generating a QR Code for sharing
ABC Transcription Tools is available at:
Launch the tool with "The Kesh" and "The Lilting Banshee" pre-loaded:
Launch the tool with the Michael Coleman set ("The Tarbolton" - "The Longford Collector" - "The Sailor's Bonnet") pre-loaded:
Launch the tool with "Muireann's" jig (by Niall Vallely) for Anglo Concertina pre-loaded:
Here are a bunch of tune set QR codes to play with:
eskin Posts: 2294 Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2001 6:00 pm Please enter the next number in sequence: 1 Location: Kickin' it Braveheart style. Contact:
Post by eskin » Sun Feb 19, 2023 5:59 am
Added "New ABC" button to create a new skeleton tune.eskin Posts: 2294 Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2001 6:00 pm Please enter the next number in sequence: 1 Location: Kickin' it Braveheart style. Contact:
Post by eskin » Fri Mar 03, 2023 2:42 pm
A lot has happened with the ABC Tools as of the start of March 2023!
Here are the the latest demos and links:
Try the ABC Transcription Tools here:
Feature demo: Tune autoscrolling:
Feature demo: Playing your tunes:
Feature demo: "Click and Play"
Feature demo: All about ABC Share URLs and QR codes:
Feature demo: New PDF annotation features:
Feature demo: Using iOS desktop shortcuts to bookmark tune sets:
Feature demo: Scanning a tune set QR code with your iOS device's Camera app and saving an iOS desktop shortcut:
Feature demo: Hiding the Title and Links:
Feature demo: Changing the playback instrument:
Feature demo: Widescreen Responsive Editor Demo
eskin Posts: 2294 Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2001 6:00 pm Please enter the next number in sequence: 1 Location: Kickin' it Braveheart style. Contact:
Post by eskin » Mon Mar 06, 2023 10:42 am
New demo video for my ABC Transcription Tool (updated 6 Mar 2023)
eskin Posts: 2294 Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2001 6:00 pm Please enter the next number in sequence: 1 Location: Kickin' it Braveheart style. Contact:
Post by eskin » Mon Mar 06, 2023 7:45 pm
ABC Transcription Tools is now (finally!) able to export PDF tunebooks with one tune-per-page or intelligently layout multiple tunes to fit on each page.
Try the ABC Transcription Tools here:
eskin Posts: 2294 Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2001 6:00 pm Please enter the next number in sequence: 1 Location: Kickin' it Braveheart style. Contact:
Post by eskin » Fri Mar 10, 2023 12:26 pm
With the new extended range whistle tablature in place, here are some new example PDF tune books generated with the tool.
These have new typography, everything is using serif fonts, looks nicer.
These include a title page, table of contents, page headers/footers, and page numbers:
Tin Whistle Tablature Tunebook Examples
Try the ABC Transcription Tools here:
http://michaeleskin.com/abc
eskin Posts: 2294 Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2001 6:00 pm Please enter the next number in sequence: 1 Location: Kickin' it Braveheart style. Contact: