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May 14, 2014

Soundslice – Making Sheet Music Interactive

ss-soundslice
Soundslice is a web-based application that gives life to sheet music and guitar tablature. Users can purchase interactive sheet music and sync guitar tabs with online videos that they can watch and listen to in real-time.

Every musician could use some practice, and you’re no exception. Get more out of the instructional videos you’ve been watching on YouTube by creating a Soundslice account. The platform itself includes three main components: Pitch Perfect, which is where you can buy interactive sheet music and tabs; licensing, where Soundslice licenses its technology to other vendors; and the transcription community. This community is where you and other users will go to transcribe YouTube videos. Soundslice was built on YouTube’s API, and its transcription service is arguably the most important part of the platform. The hybrid audio player and notation viewer syncs notations with real audio from YouTube videos, which makes it possible for you to watch and listen to musicians playing guitar, while simultaneously reading the music they’re playing.

As you get deeper into Soundslice, you can try advanced features like half-speed (playing videos at half the speed without influencing the pitch) and looping small sections (which is useful when you’re having trouble perfecting a particular riff). Ultimately, Soundslice is an excellent tool for anyone who is interested in improving their musical skills.

Practical Uses:

  • Improve your guitar skills
  • Hear what music should sound like as you read the notation being played
  • Learn to play a particularly difficult song
  • Purchase interactive sheet music

Insider Tips:

  • Check the “completed” page to find a list of videos that have been transcribed
  • Transcriptions support a sliding speed scale between 25% and 125%
  • Soundslice recommends the “measure-based technique” as the fastest way to transcribe videos
  • Musicians can make extra money by selling their tabs to Soundslice

What we liked:

  • Soundslice is an excellent tool for self-taught guitarists
  • In addition to guitars, Soundslice supports other stringed instruments like bass and banjo
  • Users can play videos at half speed
  • People can use Soundslice on their desktops or tablets

What we didn’t like:

  • There isn’t currently a way to print Soundslice tabs

Alternatives:

  • None

Company Info:

  • Launched: November 2012
  • Privately Held
  • Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois
  • Founded by: Adrian Holovaty and PJ Macklin
  • Web site: http://www.soundslice.com

Costs:

  • Songs start at $1

Comments

  1. Hey, Adrian from Soundslice here. Thanks for the review.

    I should point out that the tabs in our sheet-music player (the ones that are for sale on the site) are indeed printable. Check out the Print button at lower right on this example page: http://www.soundslice.com/v2/auld-lang-syne/

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