La Touche Musicale, a French start-up based in the La Turbine incubator in Cergy, is set to showcase its cutting-edge PianoConvert technology at CES 2025. This innovative app allows users to transcribe piano music from YouTube videos and audio files into PDF, MIDI, and XML sheet music formats with unparalleled precision.
PianoConvert is like having a magical music assistant in your pocket. Here’s how it works:
- Find Your Music: First, you grab the YouTube link of your favorite piano piece or upload an audio file (like an MP3 or WAV) of the song you want to transcribe.
- Paste and Convert: Next, you paste the YouTube link or drop your audio file into PianoConvert. The app’s AI gets to work, analyzing the music with impressive accuracy.
- Get Your Sheet Music: In just a few minutes, PianoConvert will produce a complete sheet music transcription. This includes all the notes, chords, tempo, and measures, neatly organized in both treble and bass clefs.
- Download and Play: Finally, you can download your sheet music in PDF, MIDI, and XML formats. Now you’re ready to play your favorite tunes whenever you want!
It’s a super handy tool for composers, pianists, and music teachers who want to save time and effort in creating or finding sheet music. Plus, it’s incredibly easy to use.
AI Technology and Precision: PianoConvert utilizes Deep Learning models and Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) to deliver highly accurate piano transcriptions, boasting a precision rate of 97%. The AI system is continuously trained on large datasets of piano music to improve accuracy and adapt to various styles and complexities in real-time.
Supported File Formats: PianoConvert accepts YouTube links for piano performances (up to 10 minutes in length) and MP3 or WAV audio files (maximum file size of 15MB). The generated sheet music can be downloaded in PDF (for printed sheet music), MIDI (for use in music production software), and MusicXML (for digital notation and editing).
Subscription Plans: PianoConvert offers both a free tier and several paid subscription options:
- Free Plan: Users can transcribe the first 30 seconds of any piano piece.
- Pianist Plan: €9/month or €48/year, includes 9 full transcriptions per month, and allows users to adjust the start and end times for custom transcription.
- Virtuoso Plan: €12/month or €72/year, includes 25 full transcriptions per month, and also includes start and end time adjustment features.
- Maestro Plan: €20/month or €120/year, includes 100 full transcriptions per month, and all premium features, including start and end time customization.
Pricing for the US market has not been announced yet.
Customization Tools: Users with a subscription plan can manually set the exact time frame for transcription, allowing them to skip unwanted sections, such as intros or jingles, ensuring more precise results.
Technical Specifications
AI Model: PianoConvert’s AI engine is powered by some seriously advanced Deep Learning tech, mainly using Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs). These models are like super-smart pattern recognizers, designed to pick up on the nuances in piano audio files and videos, ensuring top-notch transcription accuracy, even for the trickiest pieces.
Platform Compatibility: PianoConvert is a fully responsive web app that works seamlessly on all modern web browsers, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, and Microsoft Edge. Whether you’re on a desktop, laptop (Windows, macOS, Linux), tablet, or smartphone (iOS, Android), the app is optimized to give you a smooth experience.
Processing Speed: PianoConvert is built for speed, completing transcriptions in under 3 minutes, no matter the file size or input method. So, even if you’ve got a long or complex piano piece, you can expect quick results.
Limitations and Restrictions: There are a couple of limits to keep in mind. YouTube video transcriptions are capped at 10 minutes per video, and audio file transcriptions are limited to a maximum file size of 15MB for MP3 or WAV uploads.
Technology Behind PianoConvert
PianoConvert’s transcription process relies on an advanced AI infrastructure. At its core, it uses Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), which are particularly well-suited for handling sequences of data like music. These models can process musical notes over time, ensuring that the transcription remains true to the original piece. The AI has been trained on thousands of piano performances, ranging from classical compositions to modern tunes, enabling it to accurately transcribe a wide range of genres and styles. Additionally, PianoConvert’s AI continuously learns and improves based on new data, enhancing its accuracy with each use.
Hands Splitter: Advanced Note Separation Technology
PianoConvert goes beyond simple transcription with its proprietary Hands Splitter model, which automatically separates piano notes into distinct treble and bass clefs. This ensures that every transcription, whether output as sheet music or a MIDI file, is optimized for immediate use by pianists. The Hands Splitter guarantees high accuracy in assigning notes to the correct clef, providing a clear and easy-to-read score with the treble clef (right hand) and bass clef (left hand) appropriately mapped. For users exporting their transcriptions in MIDI format, the Hands Splitter ensures that the MIDI files are already divided into two tracks: one for each hand, ready for immediate integration into digital music software. This feature delivers a professional-level transcription experience, eliminating the need for manual editing, and is essential for pianists looking to play directly from the sheet music or use the MIDI files for practice and performance.
Expanding Horizons: Future Developments
While PianoConvert currently focuses on piano music, La Touche Musicale plans to soon expand its AI-driven transcription technology to other instruments. The start-up is preparing to develop tools like GuitarConvert, VoiceConvert, and DrumConvert, which will allow musicians across various disciplines to benefit from AI-generated sheet music in the near future.
