Audio inputs, supported formats, and local drum separation

The source determines how much evidence Backbeat Forge can recover. Start with the cleanest file available, but do not postpone a useful draft just because the only source is a full mix.

Supported input paths

The Full mix and Drum stem commands accept WAV, MP3, FLAC, OGG, M4A, and AAC audio. Import MIDI accepts .mid and .midi percussion files. All three paths end in the same score workspace, but only audio paths run onset detection.

Full mix

Use Full mix for a mastered song, rehearsal bounce, or multitrack export that still contains other instruments. Backbeat Forge uses its bundled HTDemucs drum model locally, then analyzes the separated drum evidence. Separation can reduce bass, guitar, and vocal interference, but it cannot reconstruct information that mastering or source quality has already hidden.

Listen critically when the arrangement contains distorted guitars, strong bass attacks, claps layered with snare, brushed drums, or cymbals masked by broadband material. If a separated hit is uncertain, the score keeps confidence evidence visible so you can correct the draft rather than accepting an invented certainty.

Drum stem

Use Drum stem when the file already contains drums alone. This command skips separation and goes directly to onset and kit-piece analysis, making it faster and reducing separation artifacts. A drum stem can still contain room bleed, effects returns, click spill, or limiting, so it remains a source to review rather than a ground-truth label file.

MIDI performance

Use Import MIDI when note events already exist. Backbeat Forge maps General MIDI percussion into its kit and notation model, then lets you inspect the written rhythm in the same workbench. MIDI import does not prove that the original audio was transcribed correctly; it is a separate route for arranging or reviewing an existing drum performance.

Local processing and bundled resources

Audio decoding, separation, detection, score generation, and project saving run on the desktop. The release packages include the drum-separation model and ONNX Runtime required for the supported platform, so the normal transcription path does not upload the recording.

Next, follow the transcription workflow. If analysis fails or produces an empty draft, use Troubleshooting. You can get the current installers from the download page.